Friday, 24 May 2019

US NAVY - New LCS have More Punch

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Littoral Combat Ship builders are researching how to cram in additional lethal power into the existing Freedom- and Independence-variant ships.
Lockheed Martin and Austal USA are each conducting a two-phase look at how to upgrade the original LCS hulls, Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president of small combatants and ship systems, told USNI News earlier this month. The move came from a call in 2017 from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to backfit more capabilities onto the LCS.
“What they did is, underneath our class design services contract that we already have, they issued a technical instruction, where we were awarded roughly $2 million to go start the work on Phase 1 to develop the packages that would be for the installation and integration of those systems,” he said.
Those systems include Raytheon and Kongsberg’s anti-ship Naval Strike Missile, the Nulka MK 53 Decoy Launching System (DLS), the SLQ-32(V)6 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) system, and a modification to the ship’s fire control system for its 57mm guns.
The work also includes a look into a possible upgrade of the ship’s TRS-3D combat radar.
“They haven’t made a final decision on what they would want to do on radar upgrades,” DePietro said, noting that Lockheed Martin’s LCS-17 and beyond are already set to use a solid-state version of the radar, the TRS-4D.
“And then the Austal USA ship has the [SAAB] Sea Giraffe radar, which has also gone into a solid-state version. So they’re having us look into those two options as well as, you know, future technologies which could include other rotating solid-state arrays.”
Additionally, Lockheed is installing the Component-Based Total-Ship System – 21st Century (COMBATSS-21) combat system, derived from the Aegis Combat System common source library, on the Austal-built Independence-variant ships to create a common training and logistics infrastructure for both variants.
Freedom-class LCS St. Louis (LCS-19), left, in Marinette, Wisc., on Dec. 15, 2018, as Billings (LCS-15) is under construction and preparing for commissioning. US Navy Photo

The Navy is set to review the upgrade plans this month, ahead of a planned draft request for proposal, DePietro said.
The second phase of upgrades could include backfits of laser weapons and the installation of an eight-cell Mk-41 Vertical Launch System on the Freedom variant, or newly developed single-cell Mk-41 launchers throughout the ship.
In addition to the lethality upgrades, Lockheed is studying using the LCS platform as a mothership for the Navy’s planned fleet of unmanned surface vehicles.
“We’re trying to study that under our own investment while the Navy looks at these. To really try to offer, what’s the right capability for the right price for the LCSs so they’re relevant tomorrow, today, et cetera,” DePietro said.

FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL FISHERMAN IN MALAYSIA WATER


Five Vietnamese trawlers nabbed in Terengganu waters in 72 hours

KUALA LUMPUR: Another five Vietnamese trawlers, with 40 fishermen, were detained in two separate operations over the past 72 hours for encroachment and poaching in Terengganu waters.
In the first incident last Tuesday, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) pursued three trawlers, manned by 23 fishermen, for nearly five hours before overpowering the culprits in the South China Sea.
MMEA deputy director-general (operations) Vice-Admiral Datuk Mohamad Zubil Mat Som said KM Pekan, from the agency’s Kuantan base, spotted the three vessels fishing illegally about 100 nautical miles off Terengganu.
“The three vessels scampered off upon seeing us approach and we gave chase, finally forcing them to surrender.
“None of them had valid travel documents or permits to fish,” he said.
Zubil said that in follow-up operations last Wednesday, KM Pekan spotted a suspicious five-man trawler with a cloned registration of a local vessel, fishing 30 nautical miles off Terengganu.
“Upon closer examination, our men discovered that the trawler’s engine number did not match its registration on its fishing licence.
“The registration was also found to be false and the tekong failed to activate the onboard vessel tracking and monitoring system,” he said.
He said KM Pekan is now actively involved in the Operasi Makmur, Operasi Iman and Operasi Damai, Series 30/2019 - enforcement operations covering Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.
The MMEA’s third success was scored also last Wednesday when KM Segantang detained another Vietnamese trawler, with a crew of 12, about 79 nautical miles off the Kuala Terengganu estuary.
Zubil said all five seized trawlers were now berthed at the agency’s jetty in Kuala Terengganu, to facilitate investigations under the Fisheries Act 1985 and Immigration Act 1959/63.
“We will intensify our operations via patrols and enforcement under the just launched Ops Pagar for Ramadan, to protect the sovereignty of our waters,” he said, adding that under the integrated multi-agency Ops Naga, a total of 31 Vietnamese trawlers with a crew of 171 had been detained earlier.
These include the MMEA’s vessels - KM Jujur, Penyelamat 7, Kilat 17, KM Segantang and KM Pekan – that managed to nab a total of 17 Vietnamese trawlers in Terengganu waters.
The Royal Malaysian Navy’s KD Laksamana Muhammad Amin and KD Laksamana Tan Pusmah detained 11 vessels, the Marine Police’s PSC 35 and PGR 18 detained one, and the Fisheries Department’s PL 108 detained two.
The MMEA also has Kilat 2 on standby, while the Fisheries Department has PL 77, PL 92, PL 111, PL 107 and PL 87 vessels involved.
Additionally, the MMEA has deployed one Agusta-Westland AW139 helicopter, the Royal Malaysian Air Force Beechcraft King Air B200T and the police Beechcraft Super King Air B300 aeroplane for aerial surveillance.
To date, a total of 164 fishing vessels were screened by the MMEA, 13 by the RMN, 84 by the police and 64 by the Fisheries Department.


'Whole-government' approach may help Malaysia win 'war' against illegal Vietnamese fishermen

KUALA LUMPUR: The implementation of a ‘whole-government’ approach to fight against the menace posed by illegal Vietnamese fishermen is bearing fruit.
Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong said Op Naga, a multi-agency task force operation launched two weeks ago, was a more thorough coordination involving the relevant enforcement agencies.
“This has been a very long standing problem for us. And now, we are having more of a ‘whole-government’ involvement with the participation of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, navy, air force, Customs, Immigration, police, Fisheries Department and even the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said.
He added that the announcement by Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah on a possible treaty with Vietnam by year’s end was a good move, in the hope of finding a permanent solution to the illegal fishing issue.
Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Munir Mohd Nawi said the multi-agency task force approach should be continually exercised.
“This is the best possible way to curb encroachment of foreign fishing vessels and to safeguard the billions of ringgit in our fisheries resources.
“On our part, the department will continue to implement resource management programmes to restore the depletion of fish and marine life,” he said, adding that one of the initiatives was to introduce artificial reefs on a large scale.
“The situation is so dire that we have to get the artificial reefs going. We are very serious about this matter,” he said.
On Saturday, Saifuddin had revealed that Malaysia and Vietnam had agreed to find a solution to the perennial issue of encroachment by the latter’s fishermen into Malaysian waters.
Saifuddin had broached the subject during his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minha, who is also their Foreign Minister, during an official visit to Hanoi.
He had told them that the problem had become a major encumbrance for Malaysia as the lockups to detain their fishermen and jetties berthed with seized fishing trawlers were cramped.
Additionally, Saifuddin had highlighted the fact of Malaysia having to bear expenses to feed the detainees, pending deportation.
The treaty with Vietnam is expected to be similar to the one clinched with Indonesia and other neighbouring countries.
Malaysian enforcement agencies had seized a total of 748 trawlers and detained 7,203 fishermen from Vietnam between 2006 and early this month.
“At a prior meeting, the Vietnamese government had also given an assurance that it would educate its fishermen against continuing to encroach Malaysia’s waters,” Saifuddin had disclosed.
Op Naga, launched on April 26, scored credible success by screening 226 Vietnamese trawlers, seizing 28 of them and detaining 123 of its crew for illegal activities.
The New Straits Times learnt that the 28 vessels had been berthed at the MMEA jetties in Kuala Terengganu, Tok Bali and Kemaman in Terengganu.

OP NAGA: Where and when Vietnamese trawlers were seized
APRIL 26-30, 2019: (All detained off Kuala Terengganu by MMEA’s KM Pekan)
• April 25: 142 nautical miles
• April 25: 141 nautical miles
• April 25: 145 nautical miles
• April 26: 53 nautical miles
• April 26: 51 nautical miles
• April 30: 143 nautical miles
• April 30: 153 nautical miles
• April 30: 141 nautical miles
• April 30: 138 nautical miles
• April 30: 136 nautical miles
• April 30: 138 nautical miles
• April 30: 140 nautical miles

MAY 2-18, 2019
• May 2: 32.7 nautical miles off Kuala Pahang by Fisheries Department’s PL 111
• May 2: 103.2 nautical miles east of Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Laksamana Muhammad Amin
• May 3: 21.8 nautical miles off Pulau Redang by MMEA’s BM Penyelamat 7
• May 3: 3.26 nautical miles off Pulau Perhentian Kecil by Marine Police’s PA 6
• May 3: 101.5 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Ganyang
• May 4: 157 nautical miles north-east
off Kemaman by RMN’s KD Laksamana Tan Pusmah
• May 4: 126 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Laksamana Muhammad Amin
• May 8: 63 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by BM Penggalang 17
• May 9: 73 nautical miles off Tok Bali by RMN’s KD Laksamana Muhammad Amin
• May 11: 7.1 nautical miles off Pulau Tenggol by Fisheries Department’s PL 108
• May 11: 134 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Pahang
• May 11: 134 nautical miless off Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Pahang
• May 13: 149 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Pahang
• May 13: 153 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by KD Pahang
• May 16: 105 nautical miles off Tok Bali by RMN’s KD Laksamana Tan Pusmah
• May 17: 100 nautical miles off Kuala Terengganu by RMN’s KD Laksamana Muhammad Amin


Reasons for Vietnamese fishermen encroachment 'surge'

KUALA LUMPUR: VIETNAMESE trawlers encroach on Malaysian waters partly because it is less stringently policed compared with the sea around the Paracels and Spratlys archipelago, where Chinese forces have a strong presence.
Vietnamese fishermen are also venturing further out into the open sea after over-harvesting, dredging and the building of artificial islands had damaged 160 sq km of their country’s seabed.
A fisheries industry expert said poaching had also resulted in the depletion of Vietnam’s fish stock by as much as 70 per cent over the past 20 years.
Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Munir Mohd Nawi said these had caused the Vietnamese fishermen to trespass on Malaysian waters to plunder some RM6 billion in marine resources a year.
The worst part was that the illegal fishermen used dragnets that destroy the priceless marine ecosystem including corals.
Vietnam’s fishing industry employs more than 4.5 million people and is the world’s fourth largest exporter of fish after China, Norway and Thailand.
The Vietnamese Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep) reported that the country’s catch amounted to US$10 billion (RM41 billion) a year.
Former Maritime Institute of Malaysia (Mima) director-general retired First Admiral Datuk Chin Yoon Chin said there were more than 80,000 trawlers operated by Vietnamese fishermen.
“Their favourite catch are the expensive bluefin tuna and equally high-priced yellowfin tuna. Other popular ones are grouper, squid, cockles and shell-fish, crabs, shrimps, snapper, lobsters, oysters and baby sharks.”
A Bluefin tuna reportedly sells for US$200 per kg, while yellowfin tuna can fetch US$8 per kg. Earlier this year, a 277.6kg bluefin tuna was sold for US$3 million in Japan.
“The extraction of this natural resource in the South China Sea has been the cause of many international spats recently.
“The area is biologically diverse and home to 3,365 species of fish. It is also one of the five most productive fishing zones in the world with regard to total annual marine production.
“It helps the coastal economy and is crucial for the export trade and food security of 12 countries and territories it borders.”
Chin added that since 1998, Vietnam had offered US$65 million in economic incentives and preferential loans to its offshore fishermen to upgrade their vessels with powerful engines and modern equipment.
“Private businesses and foreign-invested businesses linked to Vasep are also given tax reductions during the first three years of offshore fisheries business,” said Chin.
He said there were 31 ports from where the Vietnamese trawlers operated.
However, only seven could accommodate large vessels equipped with 400hp engines — Lach Bang and Lach Hoi in Thanh Hoa province; Cua Hoi in Nghe An province; Xuan Pho in Ha Tinh province; Song Gianh in Quang Binh province; Con Co in Quang Tri province; and Thuan Phuoc in Da Nang province.

'We lack assets to combat illegal fishing'

Malaysian maritime agencies do not have enough “muscle” to thwart illegal fishing by Vietnamese vessels in the nation’s exclusive economic zone waters. (NSTP Archive)
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian maritime agencies do not have enough “muscle” to thwart illegal fishing by Vietnamese vessels in the nation’s exclusive economic zone waters.
They lack adequate number of vessels and equipment, owing to budgetary constraints.
The New Sunday Times has learnt that some of the Vietnamese vessels were 24m long and powered by 400-horsepower engines.
They were equipped with 
magnetic compasses, global positioning systems, electronic chart display and information systems, navigational charts, automatic identification systems and high- and very-high frequency radios.
Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Admiral Datuk Mohd Reza Mohd Sany said most of the Vietnamese fishing vessels had modern navigational gadgets to monitor 
the presence of Malaysian authorities in their vicinity.
“Some of the vessels can sustain more than two weeks at sea and are supported by a mothership to provide replenishment.”
He said enforcement agencies like the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), RMN, marine police, Fisheries and Marine departments were ill equipped and lacked the required resources due to obsolescence.
Reza said 60 per cent of RMN’s vessels were more than 35 years old, with two 50-year-old patrol craft.
“Some of them are even older than my years of service with the navy,” he said, adding that despite these challenges, RMN’s vessels had soldiered on.
He said they maintained a continuous presence in our waters through various operations, at least eight of which required a 24/7 and 365 days-a-year patrol at sea.
Reza said the punishing schedule had caused rapid deterioration of the vessels and required a carefully managed system to uplift morale of the crew, as they spent extended time away from their families.
“We are committed and determined to fulfil our mission to defend Malaysia’s sovereignty and maritime interests.
“The threat may differ and we may not have the best of equipment, but we will always be there when needed.”
He said RMN was enhancing its fleet capabilities.
It is acquiring new assets, like six littoral combat ships (LCS) from France for US$2.8 billion (RM11.76 billion) and four littoral mission ships (LMS) from China for RM1.17 billion.
Reza said: “It is pertinent for RMN to be adequately equipped.
“It will not only guarantee the nation’s maritime security, but also enable and encourage 
maritime-based economic activities. It is a worthwhile investment,”
He was referring to RMN’s “15-to-5 Transformation” programme aimed at restructuring the RMN’s 15 classes of vessels to five categories: LMS, LCS, multi-role support ships (MRSS), new-generation patrol vessels and submarines.
RMN, Reza said, had a strong network of cooperation with other 
government law enforcement agencies, periodically nabbing illegal foreign fishing vessels in Malaysian waters.
“For example, there is an ongoing operation in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where eight illegal Vietnamese trawlers were apprehended in the space of 14 days,” he said, adding that the seized vessels were handed over to MMEA for action.
Royal Malaysian Air Force chief General Tan Sri Affendi Buang said they were providing “eye-in-the-sky” surveillance for Malaysia’s maritime and naval vessels, using CN235 and C130 Hercules aircraft.
“Lately, we have detected an increased presence of Vietnamese fishing vessels in the northeast area off Peninsular Malaysia, in the South China Sea.
“We are monitoring the situation and providing information to our enforcement agencies for further action.”

Malaysia wages 'war' on Vietnam trawlers
KUALA LUMPUR: MALAYSIA has sent a strong message to Vietnam that it is fully committed to protecting its billions of ringgit of fish and marine resources in the South China Sea.
On April 25, Malaysia initiated a multi-agency task force to safeguard its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from poaching by Vietnamese trawlers.
Wisma Putra followed it up by sending a strong protest note to Hanoi, via its ambassador here on May 8, signalling its “war” against the marauding trawlers.
The task force is understood to have mobilised an assortment of maritime, naval, marine and fisheries assets and thousands of personnel, with “eye in the sky” support from the air force.
The latest success was on May 11 when the Royal Malaysian Navy’s patrol vessel, KD Pahang, detained a fleeing Vietnamese trawler about 130 nautical miles northeast of Kemaman, along with its crew of 14.
On the same day, another trawler with 29 crew members was detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), about 80 nautical miles off Kuching, Sarawak.
On May 4, MMEA detained a Vietnamese trawler, with a crew of 24, 83 nautical miles from Kuala Pahang.
MMEA director-general Admiral Datuk Seri Zulkifli Abu Bakar said the task force would not relent in battling the illegal activities of Vietnamese fishermen, who were illegally harvesting RM6 billion worth of fish annually.
Indirectly, the destruction of coral reefs on idyllic islands off Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Sarawak and Sabah is affecting Malaysia’s mega tourism industry.
The New Sunday Times has learnt that Malaysia is contemplating increasing the severity of punishments for the culprits as a stronger deterrent.
Zulkifli said: “The Vietnamese fishermen do not seem to be rattled by the increased punishments from their authorities who have amended their Fishery Law. Even the Yellow Card issued (in October 2017) to Vietnam by the European Union does not seem to be effective.”
The Yellow Card is a warning that Vietnam has not been tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, resulting in a complete ban on exports to Europe, which is the world’s biggest importer of fisheries products.
The global value of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is estimated at €10 billion to €20 billion (RM46.64 billion to RM93.27 billion) a year. Between 11 million and 26 million tonnes of fish are caught illegally a year, constituting at least 15 per cent of world catches.
Thailand was slapped with a Yellow Card in April 2015, but it was removed in January this year after it successfully addressed shortcomings in its fisheries legal and administrative systems.
Zulkifli believes the Vietnamese authorities face a daunting task in tackling the situation.
“I believe there are tens of thousands of Vietnamese fishing vessels and their authorities are having a hard time containing them.”
The NSU has learnt that there are 80,000 Vietnamese trawlers, and the fishermen, who are driven by poverty, resort to poaching because they want to reap quick profits.

MMEA wants two 'motherships', UAVs to combat illegal fishing by foreigners
KUANTAN: Having two ‘motherships’ would help the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) win court cases against foreign fishermen it detains as these ships can launch unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
MMEA director-general Admiral Datuk Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the UAVs can be launched on routine patrols to take photographic evidence of illegal trawling by foreign fishermen.
He noted that these foreign fishermen, who are mostly from Vietnam, tend to cut lose their trawling nets at the first sign of trouble.
“As a result, they (illegal fishermen) tend to be acquitted by the courts as there is insufficient evidence against them. With these motherships, the UAVs can use their onboard cameras to take pictures (of illegal fishing activities) as evidence.
“When the UAV encounters (illegal fishing activities in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ), the mothership can launch six smaller boats to the scene.
“Even if they (illegal fishermen) cut the nets, we have already got the evidence (to win court cases against them),” he said.
Zulkifili was speaking after a ceremony for the handing over of duties between outgoing MMEA Eastern Region commander First Admiral Datuk Mamu Said Alee and his successor First Admiral Zulkarnain Mohd Omar at the regional Region headquarters here today.
He said having motherships with UAVs and the smaller vessels would enable the agency to patrol 100 nautical miles in every direction.
He said this was important in light of the fact that MMEA had caught 102 foreign fishing boats from Vietnam encroaching in Malaysian waters between January and this month alone.
Zulkifili said having such motherships would boost MMEA’s holistic approach to tackling encroachment of the country’s EEZ by foreign fishermen as their activities cause huge losses to Malaysian fishermen, among others.
“For example, trawling by foreign fishing boats scrape the sea bottom and damage coral reefs, which are the natural habitats of fish and other marine life.
“It was reported that the Fisheries Department has estimated between RM3 billion and RM6 billion in losses annually (from illegal fishing activities).
“However, when ecosystem damage is taken into account, the losses suffered by the nation would be larger and possibly beyond repair,” he said.
In June, Zulkifili had said MMEA needs two vessels to act as motherships to augment security and surveillance of Malaysian waters.
He had said having motherships would greatly help MMEA in joint cooperation efforts with other enforcement agencies such as marine police and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to safeguard Malaysian waters.
Recently, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had called on maritime enforcement agencies to protect the country’s EZZ from encroachment by foreign fishing vessels at all costs.
He said the encroachment by foreign vessels had caused the country to lose between RM3 billion and RM6 billion in revenue yearly.

RM300 million for US-made helicopters, bought through dubious firm and never delivered.

A CONTROVERSIAL procurement contract for “non-existent” light attack helicopters for the army, initially estimated to be worth RM300 million, is now believed to be in the region of more than RM350 million.
Defence industry sources believe that the procurement package, secured via direct negotiations four years ago, was handled under “suspicious circumstances”.
One source told the New Straits Times that many details in the procurement package were “very hazy” and dubious in nature.
“We believe there were a lot of hidden expenses and financial irregularities. A lot more is expected to be known as investigators dig deeper into the case.”
A news portal had previously reported that six McDonnell Douglas MD530G light scout attack helicopters had been ordered for RM300 million, during the previous Barisan Nasional administration.
The deal was allegedly secured during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition in 2015.
However, it was alleged that the army never took delivery of the helicopters. The news report said a contract for the helicopters was signed in November 2016, with delivery supposed to be made in two batches by last year.
It also claimed that a local agent had already been paid 35 per cent of the contract value, amounting to some RM113 million.
In an immediate response, the Defence Ministry said it had initiated an internal investigation into the procurement package.
Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu told New Straits Times that a high-level team of investigators were carrying out due diligence on the issue.
“The team is now carrying out a detailed investigation to ascertain if there was foul play and if proper procurement procedures were conformed with.
“We expect the findings to be forwarded to other agencies like the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for further action,” he said, declining further comment.
NST has since learnt that Mohamad has briefed Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the developments.
This marks the second scandal to hit the Defence Ministry’s previous leadership.
Earlier this month, Mohamad had unveiled a land-swap controversy involving the ministry.
Investigators had found that there were losses in excess of RM500 million in 16 land swap projects involving 1,286ha of the ministry’s land, worth RM4.756 billion and involved development costs of RM4.886 billion.
The 16 projects were on a design-and-build basis where the cost would be borne by the private sector.
Mohamad said many discrepancies were found, including the sale of land at lower prices, while other land swap projects were given to unqualified developers.
MACC recently said it would be summoning former defence ministers Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as well as Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to have their statements recorded.




KUALA LUMPUR: Military helicopters bought during the previous administration for over RM300 million have yet to be delivered to the Royal Malaysian Army, a source close to investigations into allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the purchase of defence assets told FMT.
It is understood that six MD530G light scout attack helicopters, manufactured by MD Helicopters of US aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas, were ordered in 2016 by the defence ministry (Mindef) then headed by Hishammuddin Hussein.
The helicopters, better known as “Little Birds”, had reportedly impressed Mindef officials during a demonstration at the 2015 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) exhibition.
But an investigation into the deal has revealed more startling details, including the fact that the Malaysian army never took delivery of the helicopters.
“It was found that the helicopter which performed at LIMA 2015 wasn’t really an MD530G but another variant, the MD530F (with the serial number N369FF),” the source told FMT.
FMT contacted Mindef for more details but was told that investigations are still ongoing.
The ministry recently published its findings on suspicious “land swap” deals involving military land, and urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate what it said could be discrepancies resulting in the loss of some half a billion ringgit involving 16 projects.
FMT now understands that after Lima 2015, a local company with strong ties to “a very senior” Mindef official (“Company A”), which was the appointed agent in Malaysia for MD Helicopters, had made a proposal to Mindef to acquire the six MD530G.
The proposal was then submitted to former prime minister and finance minister Najib Razak for approval.
It is understood that the finance ministry gave the green light for the acquisition from Company A through direct negotiations.
It is also learnt that the Economic Planning Unit exempted the deal from undergoing value management checks.
A contract was signed in November 2016, in which the helicopters were to be delivered in two batches with the second batch scheduled to arrive by last year.
As per the contract, Company A was paid 35% of the contract value, amounting to some RM113 million.
“The main issue is that no real due diligence was done with the government,” said the source, adding that the approval was given just about four months after submission of the proposal.
“The decision-making process for vital military assets would take time so that market research, due diligence, and value management checks could be done.”
The source said in the absence of due diligence, Mindef was not aware that at the time the agreement was made with Company A, it had already been terminated as the local agent for MD Helicopters over its failure to meet financial obligations.
“This was very irresponsible because it opened up the government to the risk of financial losses and a failure to obtain the helicopters.”
There were also concerns among the top brass of the Malaysian Air Force about the ability of the MD530G.
“One complaint was that it did not have a combat-proven record,” a retired air force official told FMT.
The contract was also “vague and lacked key details”, including issues over military specifications and the certificate of airworthiness (CoA), required by helicopters in order to operate.
There was also another major problem with the deal.
In 2015, Company A sent a proposal to Hishammuddin worth US$60 million.
“Just three months later, it submitted another proposal, this time over US$70 million,” the source told FMT.
“In just three months, the price inexplicably went up by over 20%.”
A separate investigation into Company A found that it was financially weak before the deal was struck, having suffered losses in 2015 and 2016.
The deal is also believed to have been the first contract for the company, which had no experience in implementing a multi-million ringgit agreement.
“It only owned computers, furniture and office supplies valued at under RM50,000. Mindef could have gone directly to MD Helicopters and saved millions in taxpayers’ money.”

Monday, 20 May 2019

Lasers: Beyond The Power Problem

Miitary lasers are getting more and more powerful, fast. But raw power isn't all you need for a workable weapon.



Lockheed Martin graphic

Lockheed Martin concept for their HELIOS laser for the Navy

WASHINGTON: Integration of lasers on ships and other weapons is the biggest challenge today— not power. Officers and officials say there are lots of devilish details to deal with before the US military can employ laser weapons on the battlefield, from beam control to targeting to controls you can operate without a PhD.
“I’m not as worried about the power,” said Rear Adm. Ron Boxall, director of surface warfare (N96) on the Navy’s Pentagon staff. “Everyone seems to be on this race to get more and more power, and make no mistake, we’ve got to get more power — but to me the problem I have today is the integration of that [laser] into my existing combat system.”
Navy & SOCOM: Integration
The Navy’s already experimented with a 30-kilowatt laser, LaWS, on the USS Ponce, and this year it will field a “roll-aboard” laser to blind sensors, ODIN, that can go on “anything that’s floating,” Boxall told last week’s Directed Energy Summit. But LaWS and ODIN are stand-alone systems that don’t connect to the combat system that controls a ship’s permanently installed weapons and sensors.
Navy DDG-51 Flight III modifications. SOURCE: GAO
That means, among other things, that the laser doesn’t get targeting data from the ship’s radars and must rely entirely on its own built-in optics. Conversely, the laser’s optics can’t provide targeting data to any other weapon on the ship. And you really want the ships’ other weapons to be able to take advantage of the laser as a sensor: Lasers require extremely high-quality optics to work, and, when not firing, the crew of the Ponce found theirs useful as a super-telescope. In fact, Boxall said, lasers are so precise — both as sensors and as weapons — that they both supply and demand much more data, much faster, than the radar-guided missiles that the Navy’s Aegis fire control system is built around.
Getting lasers and Aegis to work together is a top priority for the Navy’s HELIOSlaser program, which in 2021 will install a 60-kW-plus weapon on an Arleigh Burkedestroyer and — unlike LAWS and ODIN — integrate it with the Aegis combat system. The HELIOS laser will actually replace an existing, proven missile defense weapon, a Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) gatling gun.
“I believe that the power will come, I believe that the improvement in beam quality will come,” Boxall said, “but where I’m not yet confident is, very few people are working on that integration.”
While HELIOS will integrate with the Aegis combat system, the admiral said, it still relies on its own dedicated power supply. In the long run, the Navy wants lasers that draw on the ship’s regular electrical system, but modern ships have less and less power to spare as the Navy upgrades their electronics, particularly with the new Air & Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) going on the newest Arleigh Burke destroyers, the Flight III variant. It’ll actually be easier to power a laser on the smaller frigates the Navy is about to buy, said Boxall, because that’ll be a new class whose margin for growth hasn’t yet been eaten up by upgrades. Ultimately, Navy leaders say they want a new cruiser design built for much high power levels.


As Breaking D readers know, Special Operations Command has a similar challenge, but in even tighter quarters: They want a 60-kilowatt weapon on their AC-130 gunships, replacing an existing 30 mm cannon but not impacting the rest of the airplane’s on-board arsenal. That’s the same power as the initial version of the Navy’s HELIOS, but instead of going on a 8,000-10,000 ton warship, it’s going on an aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 77 tons.
“It a really challenging math problem in terms of SWAP,” (Size, Weight, And Power) said Lisa Sanders, SOCOM’s science & technology director. The laser will weigh more than the weapon that it replaces — about 8.5 tons counting gun, ammo, mounting, etc. — and the aircraft can take the extra weight,, but the design is tightly constrained, she said.
SOCOM is also working with the Army on a helicopter-mounted laser, Sanders noted, but that’ll be built into a pod and carried externally, rather than tightly integrated into the aircraft itself. Neither laser program has finalized requirements yet. 


on March 25, 2019 at 7:31 AM

From Sailors To Robots: A Revolution In Clearing Mines

his is the third in our exclusive series on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this global and very real threat. Here we’re looking at the most promising technologies, ships and aircraft that can give the United States the edge in this crucial and complex battle. What works? Read on. The Editor.
Clearing sea mines is so murderously hard that the best defense is to sink the ships or shoot down the planes carrying them before they can be put in the water. But politics, surprise, or fear of escalation might keep the US military from stopping the minelayers “left of splash.” That means somebody had better be ready to go after the deadly explosives in their natural habitat. The great leap forward today is that “somebody” is increasingly likely to be a robot.

For over a century, clearing mines was a brutal, crude and close-up business. Specialized ships, divers, and even trained dolphins had to go right into the minefield. The US Navy has led the world in counter-mine equipment that could be towed from helicopters, but that still means flying low, slow and in a predictable pattern in airspace where enemy aircraft or missile launchers might be watching. There are even reports that China has developed anti-helicopter mines designed to launch themselves out of the water. For more than a decade, the Navy has increasingly invested in technologies to “keep the sailor out of the minefield” by sending unmanned systems in, both under water and on the surface.
Since 2002, when the Navy officially launched its controversial Littoral Combat Ship program, this new remote-controlled approach has been intimately linked with LCS. When fitted with its Mine Counter-Measures module, whose first iteration goes into full-up operational testing this year, LCS will replace the Navy’s remaining 13 wooden-hulled Avenger-class minesweepers.
So it might seem like bad news for mine warfare that the LCS has faced relentless criticism since its inception, culminating in Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s decision in January to truncate the program and develop a better-armed successor. The upgunned LCS unveiled last Decemeber will focus on hunting submarines and fast attack boats, while dropping the minesweeping mission — which has always been a Navy stepchild.
The Navy ethos has been thoroughly aggressive since its birth: “I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm’s way,” wrote John Paul Jones in 1778. The fleet has always favored fast ships that can take the battle to the enemy: aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines, guided-missile destroyers. By contrast, minesweeping is slow, inherently defensive and, well, just not sexy.
New Anti-Mine Technologies
But there are two substantial silver linings for mine warfare. First, the LCS is not all dead. The Navy still plans to build 32 (down from 52) of the original design, the one that can perform mine-hunting missions. Second, new mine-clearing technologies are no longer tied to the LCS program.
Iran’s threats in 2011-2012 to close the Strait of Hormuz jolted the Navy into taking mines more seriously and speeding new equipment to the fleet. Instead of waiting for LCS, sailors have launched mine-seeking underwater drones and mine-killing mini-torpedoes from current vessels, even including inflatable boats. Helicopters have tested a new technology to find mines with a laser beam, the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMNDS).
The Navy even repurposed a decommissioned amphibious ship, the USS Ponce, as what’s called an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), primarily to support counter-mine operations. Two more purpose-built AFSBs will follow, and “the primary mission of the Afloat Forward Staging Base [is] aviation mine countermeasures,” said Capt. Henry Stevens of Naval Sea Systems Command at January’s Surface Navy Association conference. While the AFSB can potentially accommodate a multitude of missions, from special operations to V-22 Ospreys, its design is driven first and foremost by the needs of the massive MH-53E helicopter used for aerial mine-clearing.
Precisely because the Littoral Combat Ship’s design is modular, it’s relatively easy to break off specific systems and use them independently. “The various MCM mission systems are programs of record in their own right, which the LCS Mission Modules program then integrates,” Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) spokesman Matthew Leonard explained. A former top aide to the Navy’s top admiral, Bryan Clark, has proposed taking the entire MCM module and installing it on ships other than LCS, including both future Afloat Forward Staging Bases like Ponce and the smaller Joint High-Speed Vessels (JHSVs).
So, in spite of the decision to curtail the LCS buy, new mine-clearing technologies may end up spreading widely through the fleet. With increasingly aggressive Russia and China amassing hundreds of thousands of increasingly sophisticated naval mines, a revolution in minesweeping might be just what we need.
Divers, Dolphins & Dead Sheep
How primitive can “modern” mine warfare get? At least as recently as the 1990s, US sailors hunting mines spent a lot of time shooting dead sheep.
Both Iraq and Iran used the classic black-spiky-ball mines that are the world’s most common type. Clones of the century-old Russian M-08, these are contact mines that detonate when a ship bumps against their “horns.” Until then, they float somewhere below the surface of the water, anchored in place. Sometimes, though, the anchor chain breaks. Then the M-08 bobs to the surface and drifts about at random until it bumps into something, like a lethal bath toy. It’s also possible, albeit against international law, to set mines adrift on purpose.
But stray mines are hardly the only thing drifting around. Humanity has a multi-millennium bad habit of dumping garbage in the sea. Some of it floats. From a distance — which is definitely how you what to deal with a suspected explosive device — it can be hard to tell that junk from a mine.
“It’s why we used to shoot all the sheep,” said Bob O’Donnell, a retired Navy captain with a long career in mine warfare. “Over in the Persian Gulf, they have all these sheep ships coming from Australia and New Zealand, and when the sheep would die, they’d thrown them into the water. They’d bloat; their little legs would stand up” — and suddenly you’d have a round, dark object with four spiky projections bobbing in the water, looking uncomfortably like an M-08. So, O’Donnell recounted, US sailors would do what mine-hunters have done since at least World War I: go up on deck, shoot the drifting object, and see if it explodes.
That’s how tricky it is to handle mines that you can see. Mines under the water are far harder. In theory, a tethered mine is a pretty obvious target: very few natural or manmade objects float at a specific depth and location with an anchor chain keeping them in place. In the real world, sonar has real difficulties finding them.
The problem is the ocean’s not a bathtub. It’s not the atmosphere, either, where radar can look hundreds of miles. Underwater currents; differences in pressure, temperature, and salt content (salinity); currents; even how sound waves reflect off the bottom — all these factors change how sonar performs, sometimes from hour to hour. “You can optimize your capabilities against a certain kind of threat in the morning and it won’t be that good in the afternoon,” mine warfare expert Scott Truver said.
Even more difficult than mines floating underwater are those on the bottom. “Something that has a ball, a chain, and an anchor, that’s pretty apparent that’s a mine,” said Navy Capt. Frank Linkous, a mine warfare official. “When you start looking at things on the bottom, it could be a mine, it could be a barrel, it could be a tire, it could be a lot of stuff, [like] rocks.” Each suspicious sonar return must be marked as a “mine-like contact” and investigated.
Worst of all are mines buried under the bottom of the sea. There is no sonar in current service that can find them, said Navy Captain Aaron Peters, an explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) specialist. “The only things that can detect buried mines right now are your marine mammals,” he said, primarily trained dolphins. But the Navy is working on a new system called Knifefish, with a special low-frequency sonar that can penetrate ordinary soil and detect small, dense objects such as explosives. It won’t be ready until 2017.
Until the new drones and sensors spread through the fleet, the mainstays of mine warfare will remain the MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter and the Avenger-class minesweeper, both of which entered service in the 1980s. The helicopter is literally the cutting edge of the current force. It tows a cable through the water that slices the mooring cables of mines like the M-08, forcing them to bob to the surface where someone can blow them up. Usually those are human beings, highly trained Explosive Ordnance Disposal divers who must swim up to each individual mine, attach an explosive, swim clear, and detonate.
More sophisticated mines, ironically, can be easier to detonate. Because advanced mines detect ships by the noise they make or their magnetic fields, they can be set off prematurely by an “influence sweep system,” a kind of decoy that emulates the acoustic and magnetic telltales of a ship. It’s the MH-53E helicopter, again, that tows the sweep “sled” through the water.
After the helicopters have done all they can from the air, the Avengers sail into the mine field to take a closer look. Hopefully only the stealthier, deeper mines remain by this point, with no contact mines left to bump into near the surface, while magnetically triggered mines cannot detect the minesweeper’s wooden hull. Any surviving mines with acoustic triggers might still pick up the Avenger‘s engines, however, and pressure-triggered mines might sense its hull displacing water.
“For a mine countermeasures guy, the worst problem is a country that’s got a goodly number of mines [of] different types,” said O’Donnell. “You start from the top of the ocean down and you try to take out the different mine types going from shallow to deep, because you’re trying to make it safe for our current mine countermeasures vessels to get in there and work.”
But savvy adversaries will set some mines to lurk on or near the bottom with their sensors turned off so they can’t be decoyed into detonating prematurely. Instead, they go live at some preset time, let out more slack in their anchor chains, and rise. So, said O’Donnell, “you think you got all the mines out, but you didn’t, because two days later one of these close-tethered mines decides to move up.”
That is the kind of danger US sailors face using current techniques and tactics. That is why the Navy is moving towards drones.
“If you look at the ships we’ve lost due to mines, a large number of them are mine warfare ships. It’s still a dangerous mission,” said Rear Adm. John Ailes, who for many years ran the mission modules program for the Littoral Combat Ship. “Right now what we do is we take this wooden ship and drive it into the minefield – with 80 to 90 people at risk. [With the equipment being developed for LCS,] we have a remote controlled system and we stand off.”
Send In The Drones
The workhorse of the new approach is the Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle. “It’s basically a diesel engine with some expensive electronics attached,” Ailes said. The RMMV is what’s called a “semi-submersible”: not quite a surface craft, not quite a sub, it swims along with its upper surface just above the water. Being mostly submerged helps stabilize the small craft in choppy seas, which gives its sonar a much better picture. Being partly exposed to air allows it to burn diesel fuel, which gives it much longer endurance than batteries. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin boasts it can do 24-hour-plus missions. That said, the program has had to work hard to make the RMMV reliable enough to do multiple day-long missions without a breakdown.
The semi-submersible RMMV will be supplemented from below and from above. The Knifefish, a deep-driving drone sub, will find buried mines, while a helicopter-carried Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) will scan for mines floating on or near the surface. (The laser can’t penetrate very far through water). Knifefish won’t enter service until 2017, though, while ALMDS mine-identification software is still struggling to improve its accuracy.
Once it’s working, the ALMDS will allow a fast, wide scan. That is, it will if the airspace over the minefield isn’t in range of enemy anti-aircraft missiles: ALMNDS is currently carried by a manned helicopter, the MH-60S Sea Hawk. (The Littoral Combat Ship will also operate the unmanned Fire Scout, but that’s slated to carry other sensors). The manned MH-60 will also destroy mines, lowering a four-pack of mini-torpedoes into the water — the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) — and using their cameras to check out suspected mines before blowing them up. Of course, if you can’t fly the helicopter over the minefield before you send in the RMMV, and the robot hits a mine you missed, at least you haven’t lost a manned minesweeper and its crew.
The helicopter-carried AMNS blows up mines on a retail basis: It has to return to a mothership to reload after it fires four shots. The wholesale minesweeper will be something called Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS), a smaller version of the mine-detonating decoy sled currently towed by the MH-53E helicopter. One of the many controversies about the Littoral Combat Ship program has been the lack of a helicopter-towed sweep system. The LCS deck can’t accommodate the MH-53, and the smaller MH-60 didn’t have enough power to tow a sled safely. So the UISS will be towed by a robot boat, aka an unmanned surface vessel (USV).
The USV-towed sled is slower than the helicopter-towed version, but it can stay out much longer, Navy officials told me. “With a helicopter you’re only going to get about three hours of mission time,” said Peters. “The [USV] is going to go out and tow 12-plus hours.”
Ultimately, the plan is for a single Littoral Combat Ship to simultaneously control two RMMVs looking for mines and one USV sweeping them. Meanwhile the LCS stands back at a safe distance from not only the minefield but from any nearby enemy forces, protected by its onboard anti-missile systems and potentially by a full-up Aegis destroyer.
“What we do today is we take the wooden Avenger class, which has no self-defense capability and we send it into the minefield, [and] no Aegis ship’s going to go into the minefield with it,” Ailes told me. While critics have savaged the Littoral Combat Ship for its lack of firepower and survivability, there’s no question it’s better armed than the Avengers — whose heaviest weapons are machineguns — and that its hull is made of metal, not wood — which was last considered cutting-edge protection circa 1812. New technology is long overdue.



on April 06, 2015 at 4:31 AM