U.S. Marines Seek Ideas for New Vehicles

The U.S. Marine Corps wants a new family of vehicles to carry out the business of amphibious warfare, and has issued a series of requests for information (RFIs) seeking industry input.

The U.S. Marines want to upgrade about half the existing fleet of amphibious assault vehicles while a new amphibious combat vehicle is developed. Here, an AAV comes ashore Feb. 6 during an exercise in Thailand. (Staff Sgt. Leo A. Salinas / U.S. Marine Corps)

The Corps needs a replacement for the canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), a complex, high-speed amphibious vehicle that had grown too expensive to buy and operate and no longer fit the tactical bill for the way amphibious assaults will be carried out.

In lieu of buying EFVs, the Marines are seeking industry proposals to upgrade the service's existing AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs), and to create an amphibious combat vehicle (ACV) able to perform across a full range of military operations.
Additionally, the Marines issued an RFI for a new Marine personnel carrier (MPC) that would complement the AAV in land operations.
The RFIs were published Feb. 18 on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website at www.fbo.gov.
The moves were expected after Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced his decision Jan. 6 to cancel the EFV and develop a lower-cost alternative. A number of requirements for the ACV were set out in the RFI, including:
* The ability to autonomously deliver a Marine infantry squad from an amphibious ship to shore a minimum distance of 12 nautical miles, at "a speed to enable the element of surprise in the buildup ashore." The notice acknowledges that a high rate of speed "may prove to be unaffordable."
* Protection against direct and indirect fire, mines and improvised explosive devices. The protection can be modular, "applied incrementally as the situation dictates."
* Employ open architecture principles to rapidly integrate new technologies, and be reconfigurable to carry out alternative roles, including operation of heavy mortars or rockets, and logistic or medical evacuation missions.
* Be powerful enough to engage and destroy similar vehicles, provide direct fire support to dismounted infantry and maneuver with M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.
The Marines want the vehicle to be configured in several variants, including as a squad maneuver/fighting vehicle, a command-and-control vehicle, and for recovery and maintenance.
The AAV sustainment and survivability upgrade effort seeks to modernize about half the Corps' 1,057 existing AAV7s. The new request builds on a previous RFI issued Aug. 18, and adds new requirements to improve the vehicles' lethality, propulsion system, command-and-control facilities and water mobility.
The accelerated MPC development effort is being made in conjunction with the Army, which issued the RFI on behalf of both services. The Marines intend to carry out "an aggressive, competitive acquisition approach with the intent to field an MPC fleet as rapidly as possible," and the notice directs competitors to assume a start date of Oct. 1, 2011. The wheeled vehicle is intended as a replacement for the existing Light Armored Vehicles operated by the Marines.
The Marines are seeking responses to the AAV RFI by March 4, and those to the ACV and MPC on April 22.

Philippines, Communists Aim For Peace in 18 Months

MANILA - The Philippine government and communist rebels waging one of the world's longest insurgencies are aiming to sign a peace pact within 18 months, the two sides said after holding landmark talks.
The parties released a joint statement late Feb. 21 following the end of a week of negotiations in Norway in which they committed to try and sign a "comprehensive agreement" to end hostilities by June of next year.

"The two panels expressed satisfaction over the achievements of the first round of formal talks," the statement said.
The negotiations in Oslo were the first between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) sides since 2004.
The communists have been waging a rebellion since 1969 and still have about 5,000 New People's Army guerrillas based in the mainly poor, rural areas of the Philippines.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, including dozens of rebels, civilians and security forces over the past few months.
Analysts said before the talks began in Norway that there was little chance of a quick end to the rebellion, with the communists determined to overhaul the country's economic model and railing against corruption by the nation's elite.
In his own statement released late Feb. 21, chief government negotiator Alex Padilla said even he had begun the talks with a "sense of dread" that they would be the "beginning of a dead end".
"But we have taken the first step," Padilla said.
"We have agreed on a timeframe of 18 months to produce the substantive agreements - on socio-economic reforms, on political and constitutional reforms, and on the end of hostilities and disposition of forces, leading to a final political settlement."
Nevertheless, Padilla expressed deep caution over the many hurdles still facing the peace negotiators.
"It will be hard, harder, perhaps, than anything else we have done in our lives to stay the course, which, in the first place, asks us to keep faith in the process. Are we up to this?" The next steps will include a range of lower-level working group meetings over the next few months to cover issues such as social and economic reforms.
Political and economic reforms will be discussed in another working group.
The government said it would also "work on appropriate measures to effect the expeditious release" of 14 detained communist rebel leaders that the NDF has long demanded be freed.
The government said it would also consider releasing four other communists the NDF had recently added to the list.
However, it made no firm commitment on releasing any of them.
In a reciprocal "confidence-building" measure, the communists said it would take steps towards releasing an unspecified number of people it was holding as prisoners.
One of the key reasons the previous round of peace talks broke down six years ago was a demand by the communists that the government have them removed from international terrorist lists.
However, there was no mention of the terrorism issue in the joint statement.
Another reason the talks fell apart in 2004 was the communists' distrust of then-president Gloria Arroyo, who vowed to crush the rebellion by the end of her term.
Her time in power ended in June last year with her military quest to extinguish the rebellion unfulfilled.
Her successor, President Benigno Aquino, immediately said he wanted to pursue peace talks with the communists.
He placed former human rights lawyers and other people deemed favorable by the communists on his peace negotiating panel.

Source: Iranian Ships to Pass Suez on Feb. 22

CAIRO - Two Iranian naval ships are likely to pass the Suez Canal on Feb. 22, a canal source said Feb. 21, en route to Syria on a purported training mission that Israel regards as a provocation.
"Their shipping has indicated this evening that their passage will be made on Tuesday at dawn," said the source on condition of anonymity, a day after a canal official said the two vessels would transit the canal on Feb. 23.

Reportedly bound for Syria, a destination that necessarily involves passing Israel, the patrol frigate Alvand and support ship Kharg would be the first Iranian warships through Suez since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Officials at the Egypt-run canal had previously said privately that they expected the two vessels to pass on Feb. 21, just days after the U.S. aircraft carrier Enterprise steamed through Suez in the opposite direction.
That was later revised to Feb. 23.
In the wake of President Hosni Mubarak's ouster on Feb. 11, Egypt gave its green light on Feb. 18 for the Iranian warships to transit the canal into the Mediterranean.
Egypt's official MENA news agency has reported that the request for the ships to transit the canal said they were not carrying weapons or nuclear and chemical materials.
The 1,500-tonne Alvand is normally armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-tonne Kharg has a crew of 250 and facilities for up to three helicopters, Iran's official Fars news agency has said.
On Feb. 20, after a weekly meeting of his cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ships' arrival in the region as an Iranian power play.
"Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal," he said.
"Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative and other developments that reinforce what we have said in past years about the Israel's security needs," he added, according to a statement from his office.
Earlier this week, Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the move a "provocation."
But an Iranian diplomat said: "This will be a routine visit, within international law, in line with the cooperation between Iran and Syria, who have strategic ties."
"The ships will spend a few days in Syrian ports for training purposes," having already visited several countries including Oman and Saudi Arabia," the diplomat added.

Belgium Probes Arms Sales to Kadhafi Regime

BRUSSELS - Belgium's regional government of Wallonia came under fire Feb. 21 for authorizing the sale of weapons to Libya in 2009, prompting a probe into whether the arms were used against protesters.
The governments of the French-speaking region asked the Belgian ambassador in Tripoli to ask Libyan authorities how the weapons have been used, said Christopher Barzal, spokesman for Wallonia's regional leader Rudy Demotte.

Wallonia gave an export license to Liege-based FN Herstal for the sale of 367 F2000 assault rifles, 367 P90 submachine guns, 367 Five-Seven handguns, 20 Minimi light machine guns, 22,000 rifle grenades and 1.134 million rounds of ammunition for these weapons, for a total value of 6.9 million euros.
The license also authorized the sale of 2,000 FN 303, a compressed-air gun that fires projectiles which, according to the firm's website, can be used to stop a "hostile but unarmed individual or group" among other things.
The sale of these so-called "less-lethal" weapons was valued at 5.3 million euros.
The final use certificate states that the weapons are for the exclusive use of the Libyan army's 32nd elite forces battalion for a mission to protect "humanitarian aid convoys to Darfur", Barzal said.
The Belgian Human Rights League expressed fears that the weapons could have been used by the regime of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to repress anti-government protests, but it admitted it had no proof.
"The probability is very low, but we have asked the ambassador to verify urgently," Barzal said.
The European Union lifted an arms embargo on Libya in 2004.
In Belgium's decentralized political system, the regions are responsible for approving licenses for arm exports.

Italy on Alert as Libyan Colonels Flee to Malta

ROME - Italy put its air bases on maximum alert on Feb. 21 after two Libyan air force colonels fled to the Mediterranean island of Malta in fighter jets saying they had refused orders to bomb protesters.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had been reticent to criticize veteran Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, also condemned the "unacceptable" use of violence against civilians and said he was "alarmed" at the turmoil in Libya.

The violence in Libya also sent shockwaves through the Italian stock market, which dropped 3.59 percent as some of Italy's biggest companies have extensive Libyan capital or major investments in the north African state.
Meanwhile, authorities in Malta said they were holding two Libyan pilots who landed earlier on Feb. 21 for questioning after the men said they were forced to flee their base in eastern Benghazi when it was taken over by protesters.
"One of the pilots requested political asylum" after the two descended from their single-seater Mirage F1 jets, a government spokesman said.
Two helicopters also landed at the same time carrying seven passengers who said they were French nationals working on oil rigs near Benghazi, the base of the popular uprising.
The markings on the French-registered Super Puma helicopters were for Heli Union - a company specializing in air transport for oil and gas majors.
The helicopters were given permission to land but had not been given clearance to leave Libya, indicating they had escaped, military sources said.
Malta is the European Union member state closest to Libyan shores, located just 340 kilometres (210 miles) north of the Libyan coastline.
After the landings in Malta, Italy said it had put its air bases on high alert and was moving air force and navy helicopters to southern Italy.
Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said Italy was also deploying the Elettra, a military vessel used for intelligence and reconnaissance.
Italian experts have warned of a massive influx of refugees from Libya if there is a power vacuum in the country.
Berlusconi is to meet with the defense, foreign and interior ministers Feb. 22 for talks on the crisis in north Africa.
Italy and Libya signed a friendship treaty in August 2008 that opened a new chapter in relations and led to massive investments, formally ending historic resentment against Italy - Libya's colonial ruler between 1911 and 1942.
Berlusconi said at the time that Italy would invest five billion dollars in Libya as compensation for colonization over the next 25 years.
Italy has since become the biggest exporter to Libya, with a 17.5 percent share of the market, and it is the main outlet for Libyan exports.
Libya and veteran ruler Moamer Kadhafi's family have also taken major stakes in leading Italian businesses including its biggest bank UniCredit, the defense and industry giant Finmeccanica and first-division football club Juventus.
Italian energy giant ENI, the biggest foreign oil producer in Libya, saw its share price plummet 5.12 percent after it said it was evacuating "non-essential" expatriate employees and the families of all foreign staff.
Finmeccanica, whose share price dropped by 2.69 percent and in which Libya has a 2.01 percent stake, also said it was also pulling out of the country.

Alleged Break-In Clouds S. Korea-Indonesia Deal

SEOUL - South Korean intelligence officials allegedly broke into the hotel room of a visiting Indonesian delegate last week to copy computer files on possible arms deals between the two governments, according to sources here and Feb. 21 news reports.
Seoul officials are expressing concern that the episode could provoke a diplomatic feud and harm the government's efforts to sell its T-50 supersonic trainer jet and other defense equipment to the Southeast Asian nation.

The Indonesian government has asked Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to figure out just what happened, said ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae.
"We are verifying the facts, and we agreed to inform the Indonesian authorities as soon as we are done," Cho said.
Officials with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) denied the allegations and declined to elaborate.
South Korean police has been investigating the Feb. 16 incident, which occurred at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, where a 50-strong Indonesian delegation was staying.
The delegation led by Hatta Rajasa, coordinating minister for the economy, and Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, arrived here Feb. 15 for a three-day run to discuss ways of boosting economic ties with Seoul.
Indonesia's potential purchase of South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle trainer aircraft was referred to as a top topic, as Jakarta has shortlisted the T-50, co-developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin of the United States, as one of the three candidates for its advanced jet trainer requirement.
Competitors are said to be Russia's Yak-130 and the Czech-built L-159B, according to the Defense Acquisition Procurement Agency.
According to police officers, three unidentified intruders, two men and one woman who are believed to be members of the NIS, broke into a suite on the 19th floor of the five-star hotel.
The break-in was made right after most of the delegation departed for the South Korean presidential office for a courtesy call on President Lee Myung-bak.
The alleged trespassers may have used a USB memory stick to copy files from one of the two laptop computers left in the room but fled after being witnessed by an aide to a visiting Indonesian envoy.
Whether or not the intruders succeeded in getting access to the computer files remains unclear, according to the police. The laptops were handed over for an investigation, but the Indonesian aide requested their return the next day.
"If that's true, I'm just surprised that this kind of amateurish operations had been conducted," a military source said. "Only thing we can guess is that the Lee Myung-bak administration could be too pressed to make the first sale of the T-50 following the back-to-back defeats in the trainer contests in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore for the past years."
Citing an unidentified government source, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the agents "were trying to figure out the Indonesian delegation's negotiating strategies" regarding the potential purchase of the T-50, K2 Black Panther main battle tank and the K30 Biho 30mm self-propelled twin-gun system.
The KAI-Lockheed team has fought an uphill battle to explain to potential customers the T-50's performance-to-price ratio after it lost to Italy's M-346 jet both in the UAE and Singapore because of the "luxury" jet's price of about 25 billion won ($22 million).
The single-engine T-50 features digital flight controls and a modern, ground-based training system. It is designed to have the maneuverability, endurance and systems to prepare pilots to fly next-generation fighters, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, the F-22 Raptor, the Rafale and the F-35 Lightning II.
The jet has a top speed of Mach 1.4 and an operational range of 1,851 kilometers.
Potential customers for the South Korean trainer jet include the United States, Iraq, Greece and Poland.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Jakarta Post, Hatta claimed the intrusion was a "misunderstanding." The Indonesian economy minister said the three intruders were actually hotel guests who happened to enter the wrong room.
"Instead of entering their own room, 1961, the guests unintentionally entered room 2061, which belonged to an Industry Ministry official," Hatta said. "But the misunderstanding was immediately cleared up. And the laptop which was unintentionally opened by the guests consisted only of PowerPoint slide shows about the condition of our industry, which would be presented by Industry Minister M. Hidayat before our Korean counterparts."

IDEX: UAE To Modify Black Hawks Into Gunships

ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates is set to turn a number of its Sikorsky Black Hawks into gunships in a deal with the U.S. helicopter maker worth nearly 1 billion Arab Emirate dirhams ($272 million).

The announcement of a plan to buy weaponization kits for 23 of its Black Hawk UH-60M helicopters was the pick of a 4 billion Arab Emirate dirham order bonanza unveiled by the UAE armed forces at the IDEX show Feb. 21 in Abu Dhabi.
Included in the list of 21 orders was a second deal with Sikorsky, this time a program to train Black Hawk pilots and technicians in a contract valued at 65 million Arab Emirate dirhams. The scheme to turn the UH-60M into an air assault machine gives the U.S. helicopter maker a launch customer for the Battle Hawk weaponization package it has been working on for some time now.
A Sikorsky spokesman here was unable to give additional information on the deals.
Information previously released by the company shows the weaponization package will give the UAE military a helicopter able to fire rockets, heavy-caliber machine guns and missiles from four weapon stations.
The bulk of the work will be undertaken by AMMROC, the maintenance, overhaul and repair center set up here last year in a joint venture between Sikorsky and a local company, Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies.
With further development work still needed on the weaponization package, sources said it was likely the first modified helicopters would be handed over to the UAE around 2014. The deal could be expanded later to cover further weaponization kits, the sources said.
UAE has long been tipped as a launch customer for the Battle Hawk package, but Sikorsky wasn't the only helicopter manufacturer to benefit from new orders here.
AgustaWestland secured a 336 million Arab Emirate dirham order for the delivery of four AW139 rotorcraft for VIP duties.
The helicopter deals kicked off what is likely to become a daily routine of contract announcements here if the last IDEX show provides an example. Almost every day at IDEX 2009, the IDEX spokesman arrived in the press center to reel off a long list of orders running into billions of dirhams.
The centerpiece announcement in 2009 was the purchase of Alenia Aermacchi M-346 trainers and light attack aircraft. That deal remains on ice with the two sides at loggerheads over a number of issues, and there is little indication the deal will be signed any time soon.
Asked whether there had been any progress toward signing the deal, IDEX spokesman Maj. Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi said there was "nothing much happening in that area."
Then, as now, many of the announcements for small-value deals caught contractors by surprise.
Included in the list of contracts this time around is South Korean company Hanwha, which is supplying arms and ammunition; engines for unmanned air systems from Denel of South Africa; fire control systems for naval guns from Selex of Italy; munitions from Diehl BGT Defence of Germany; and bulletproof vests from local company Al Naboodah Protection.
The IDEX spokesman there would be more deals to come over the next few days.

Mullen: Iran Not Behind Mideast Protests

DOHA, Qatar - Iran foments instability in the Middle East but is not behind popular protests in Bahrain and other countries in the region, top U.S. military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, said Feb. 21 in Qatar.
"Iran, I still believe, is a country that continues to foment instability in the region, take advantage of every opportunity," said Mullen, who is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But "from my perspective that has not been the principal focus of what happened in Egypt or what happened in Bahrain or any of these other countries," he said, referring to popular protests against various Middle East regimes.
"Those are by and large internal issues, as opposed to issues fomented by some external forces," Mullen said, although "there's always concerns in this region with Iran and certainly the U.S. has them as well as all the regional players."
Iran "was part of the discussions today with the Saudis," Mullen said.
Mullen, who began a Gulf tour Feb. 20 in Saudi Arabia, could travel to Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is headquartered, as part of his trip, people travelling with him said.
Protests in the tiny Gulf kingdom, which is ruled by a Sunni dynasty but has a Shiite majority, began on Feb. 14, and are still ongoing.
Seven demonstrators have been killed since the anti-regime protests began, according to an AFP tally based on relatives of victims and opposition officials.
However, the U.S. Navy has said the demonstrations have not disrupted American operations in the kingdom.
"As far as Fifth Fleet operations, no, the demonstrations have not had any impact here - we're continuing to conduct our regular business out here," a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet told AFP on Feb. 21.
In the Qatari capital Doha, Mullen met with Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and army chief of staff Gen. Hamad al-Attiyah.
Mullen is to also travel to the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, possibly Bahrain, and then to Kuwait to participate in ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the liberation of the country from Iraqi occupation.

Libyan Fighter Jets, Helicopters Land in Malta

VALLETTA - Two Libyan fighter jets with four military personnel on board who said they had escaped Benghazi air base after it was taken over by protesters landed in Malta on Feb. 21, military sources told AFP.
Two civilian helicopters also landed on the Mediterranean island around the same time, carrying seven people who said they were French nationals working on oil rigs near Benghazi, although only one had a passport, the sources said.

The helicopters were given permission to land in Malta but had not been given clearance to leave Libya, indicating that they had escaped, they added.
The fighter jet personnel requested fuel for their aircraft.
All those who have landed are being held at the airport in Malta until their identities are confirmed.

IDEX: Airbus Predicts Mideast A400M Sales

ABU DHABI - Airbus Military sees potential sales of 50 to 100 of its A400M military airlifter in the Middle East and North Africa, Didier Vernet, head of market development at the aircraft company, said Feb. 21 at the IDEX trade show.

Asked about export prospects for the turboprop transport plane in the Middle East region, Vernet said, "Yes, we have prospects."

Airbus Military estimates the world market for military airlifters to total about 800 units over the next 30 years as replacements for the current 1,800 transport fleet. The European company hopes to snare about half the replacement market with the A400M, which aims to hit the segment for payloads of 25 to 50 tons.
The planned KC-390 from Brazil and the Lockheed Martin C-130J would grab sales in the market segment for 12- to 25-ton payload.
Airbus Military hopes the A400M will meet requirements for flying heavier armored vehicles, humanitarian equipment and helicopters.
The company needs to sign contract changes agreed with the seven European launch customers before it can begin selling the A400M to potential export clients.
With a total of 174 units ordered - 170 for the European nations and four for Malaysia - Airbus would fit export deliveries around the planned production of 2.5 to three units per month that is expected from around 2015-2016.
Export prices for the A400M would depend on the mission package selected - 50 "plug in" options are offered - the number of units and services required.
Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain and Turkey are the seven European launch customers. Britain has canceled three orders and Germany seven for the A400M amid budget constraints.

IDEX: Dassault-UAE Talks Progress on Rafale Sale

ABU DHABI - Talks between Dassault Aviation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a possible sale of the Rafale fighter jet are going well, with Dassault officials hoping for a deal in the medium to long term, an executive of the aircraft company said at the IDEX trade show.

"The discussions are going well," the executive said. An announcement on the Rafale was not expected in the near term, he said. In the short term, Dassault was supporting the Mirage 2000 operated by the UAE, while the Rafale was seen as a medium- or long-term prospect, he said.

Good relations between the UAE and France have been restored after hitting a rough patch last year, when a report ran late June in the daily newspaper Le Figaro which offended the Abu Dhabi authorities.
The Dassault family owns the Figaro and is the controlling shareholder of Dassault Aviation.
At a low point in bilateral relations, UAE defense officials asked the U.S. government for technical information on the F/A-18 Super Hornet. Subsequently, relations were smoothed out between France and Abu Dhabi.
"They managed to fix it," a gulf defense official said. "The talks are back on."
French Prime Minister François Fillon recently visited Abu Dhabi, seen as a sign of improved ties between Paris and the UAE.
France sets great store by an export sale of the Rafale, which is the standard bearer of national prestige in world politics, a much-needed source of cash for the straitened defense budget and an export beacon for the French aerospace industry.

The Pakistan Navy Custodian of The Country's Coastline

As the custodian of the country's coastline, territorial waters, and Sea Lines Of Communications (SLOCs) the Pakistan Navy has a vital role to play in the defence set-up of the country. The Pakistan Navy's primary role is to guard the country's territorial waters and oversee enforcement of jurisdiction over nearly 240,000 square miles of waters constituting Pakistan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The navy is also tasked with protection of Pakistan's SLOCs, its 960km long coastline and its ports, especially the port of Karachi. Barely 150 km from the Indian border, Karachi has the only developed berthing facilities for handling the bulk of Pakistan's trade, naval dockyards, repair and overhauling facilities as well as the strategic national petroleum reserves. Another port of significance is Port Qasim, a more modern commercial port designed primarily for grain exports, but without naval shore facilities. Of lesser importance are the subsidiary ports of Pasni. Jiwani and Gwadar. Critical SLOCs are the maritime routes running from Karachi to the Persian Gulf, the Suez Canal, East Africa and the Far East. After the Passing of the UN Law of Sea Convention of 1982, Pakistan acquired an EEZ of about 240,000 square miles. In order to provide protection to this vast area, the Pakistan Government decided to raise the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), which was formally inaugurated on 1 January 1987. The MSA implements the local and international laws in the EEZ, and provides surveillance against poaching by illegal vessels and unauthorised survey by foreign craft. It also conducts SAR missions, and implements measures for control of pollution and fishery protection. Available SAR facilities include aircraft, surface vessels and a network for the reception of distress signals. Secondary navy's mission comprise coastal surveillance; SAR duties, hydro-graphic surveys, maintaining navigational aids, and law enforcement. As regards in particular the latter, in recent years the navy's role has been expended to include narcotics interdiction, anti-terrorist operations, anti-smuggling, elimination of piracy and combating environmental pollution. The naval headquarters is situated at Islamabad but the fleet as logistic commands are in Karachi, together with most of the training facilities. During the late 1980s, in association with the expansion of the fleet, the Pakistan Government ordered the construction of a new major base at Ormara, 200km west of Karachi. The Ormara Project was named "Jinnah Naval Base" after the founder of the nation. During the 1980s, the Pakistan Navy went through an unprecedented period of growth. It virtually doubled its surface fleet from nine main surface combatants in 1980 up to 16 by 1989, also acquiring sophisticated long-range anti-ship missiles and enhancing its maritime reconnaissance capabilities. This expansion process also proved the navy's ability to manage the added administrative, maintenance and operational loads. The submarine force currently consists of two HASTMAT class (AGOSTA type) built between 1976 and 1980, four HANGOR class (DAPHNE type) built between 1967 and 1970 and one KHALID class (AGOSTA 90B type), all of these boats being of French origin. The HASHMATs were modified in 1985 to fire Sub-HARPOON depth-to-surface anti-ship missiles. The HANGOR class boats, now close to obsolescence, will be replaced by three new AGOSTA 90B type submarines, first of which has already been inducted into Pakistan navy. The main assets of the naval air wing currently consist of two P-3C ORION and four improved Breguet ATLANTIC anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft, four F-27 maritime surveillance and EW aircraft, plus thirteen ship-borne helicopters, comprising six Mk45 SEAKINGs, three LYNX ASW/attack types and four SA-319B ALOUETTE IIIs. The Marine Corps is the youngest force in the Pakistan Navy. With its establishment the navy has become capable of operations on four dimensions, i.e., on the sea with surface combatants, under the sea with submarines, in the air with naval aircraft and on the ground with the Marine Corps. The Pakistan Navy is moving from the old to new technologies at a rapid pace. The navy will have to consolidate the new weaponry, which will take time as this will involve a basic restructuring of personnel and logistics to suit future needs.

President Zardari to seek nuclear technology cooperation with Japan

President Asif Ali Zardari said Monday that since Japan was negotiating a deal with India to cooperate on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the similar cooperation should be extended to his country.
“If Japan is willing to cooperate with India in nuclear technology and (is) giving nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, I do not see any reason why we should not deserve the same,” Zardari said in an interview with the Japanese media in Islamabad ahead of his departure for a three-day visit to Japan, published in leading English newspapers here.
“I do not know what questions would be raised during discussion. It depends,” he said when asked if he will raise the question of nuclear technology cooperation during the visit.
President Zardari recognizes that nuclear power is a sensitive issue for the Japanese people and government.
Neither India nor Pakistan are signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and the talks between Japan and India have triggered an outcry from survivors of the 1945 US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who fear such a deal will hamper global efforts to bring about a world without nuclear weapons.
Japanese firms, however, are keen to export nuclear power generation technology and related equipment to India, which plans to build 20 new nuclear power plants by 2020.
The President said Pakistan never wanted to go nuclear but it was forced to do so when arch rival India detonated a nuclear device in 1974 and again in 1998.

Libya protests: Gaddafi regime shaken by unrest

The 40-year rule of Col Muammar Gaddafi is under threat amid spiralling unrest throughout Libya.

Several senior officials - including the justice minister - have reportedly resigned after security forces fired on protesters in Tripoli overnight.
Witnesses say renewed protests have hit two suburbs of the capital.
In an earlier TV address, Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam conceded that the eastern cities of al-Bayda and Benghazi were under opposition control.
But he warned of civil war and vowed that the regime would "fight to the last bullet".
The BBC's Jon Leyne, in neighbouring Egypt, says Col Gaddafi has now lost the support of almost every section of society.
Reliable sources say Col Gaddafi has now left the capital, our correspondent adds.
'Hatred of Libya' After clashes in the capital overnight were suppressed by security forces, state TV reported a renewed operation had begun against opposition elements there.

Analysis

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The situation in Libya is becoming increasingly confused and chaotic. There are several reports that Col Gaddafi has now left Tripoli, possibly for his hometown of Sirt or his desert base of Sabha.
In Tripoli itself, elements of the security forces are still on the streets, though the violence seems to be increasingly random.
During the night, there were more brutal attacks on demonstrators who had gathered, after rumours spread that Col Gaddafi had fled the country.
Hour by hour, there are reports of more defections. Almost all major tribal leaders seem to have joined the opposition, as well as important religious leaders and several senior Libyan ambassadors.
The east of the country is already almost entirely out of the hands of the government. Col Gaddafi's hold on power is becoming weaker by the hour.

"Security forces have started to storm into the dens of terror and sabotage, spurred by the hatred of Libya," the Libyan TV channel reported.

An eyewitness in Tripoli told the BBC that the suburbs of Fashloom and Zawiyat al-Dahmani had been cordoned off by security forces.
Protesters were out on the streets and flames and smoke could be seen rising from the area, the witness said.
Amid the turmoil on the streets, senior officials have also begun to desert the regime.
Justice Minister Mustapha Abdul Jalil quit the government because of the "excessive use of violence", the privately owned Quryna newspaper reported.
In New York, Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN denounced the Gaddafi government, accusing it of carrying out genocide against the people.
Libya's envoy to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, announced he was "joining the revolution", and its ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, told the BBC he was also resigning.
In another blow to Col Gaddafi's rule, two tribes - including Libya's largest tribe, the Warfla - have backed the protesters.
Meanwhile, two helicopters and two fighter jets from Libya landed in Malta.
The helicopter was said to be carrying French oil workers, and the fighter pilots were reported to have left Benghazi when an airbase was taken over by protesters.
'Decisive moment'

Mid-East unrest: Libya

• Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has led since 1969
• Population 6.5m; land area 1.77m sq km, much of it desert
• Population with median age of 24.2, and a literacy rate of 88%
• Gross national income per head: $12,020 (World Bank 2009)

Human Rights Watch says at least 233 people have died since last Thursday, though in his speech, Saif al-Islam insisted reports of the death toll had been exaggerated.

The US, UK and French governments are among those condemning the harsh treatment of protesters.
The US has ordered all families of embassy staff and all non-essential diplomats to leave the country.
Italy, the former colonial power in Libya, has close business links to Tripoli and voiced alarm at the prospect of the Gaddafi government collapsing.
"Would you imagine to have an Islamic Arab Emirate at the borders of Europe? This would be a very serious threat," said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, described the protesters' demands as legitimate, calling it a "decisive moment in history" for Arab nations.
Oil price jumps Reports from several cities suggest the country is sliding out of the government's control:

• In Az-Zawiya, 40km (25 miles) west of Tripoli, witnesses say the police have fled, government buildings have been burnt down and the city is in chaos.
• Unconfirmed reports from the port city of Darnah say protesters are holding more than 300 workers hostage - many of them Bangladeshis.
• Several hundred Libyans stormed a South Korean-run construction site west of Tripoli, injuring at least four workers.
• In Benghazi, reports say 11 solders were killed by their commanding officers for refusing to fire on protesters.

The violence has helped to push up oil prices to their highest levels since the global financial crisis of 2008.
At one point, Brent crude - one of the main benchmarks on world oil markets - reached $105 (£65) a barrel.
International firms including BP, one of the world's biggest oil companies, are preparing to pull their staff out of Libya.

Japan probes possible WWII prisoner experiment site

Excavations are beginning at the site of a former medical school in Japan which could yield evidence of war-time experiments on prisoners.

The site in western Tokyo is said to be linked to Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, which used prisoners for biological warfare experiments.
The excavation was ordered after a former nurse came forward.
Toyo Ishii said workers were made to bury dozens of bodies there after the surrender at the end of World War II.
Ms Ishii, now 88, first came forward several years ago.
A nurse in the hospital's oral surgery department, she said she had no knowledge of any experiments on humans at the site, which is said to have been the research headquarters of the unit.
But she and her colleagues were ordered to take bodies and body parts for burial in the compound before US troops arrived.
"We took the samples out of the glass containers and dumped them into the hole," she wrote in a statement in June 2006.
"We were going to be in trouble, I was told, if American soldiers asked us about the specimens."
Excavation of the site had to be delayed until residents had been moved from the area.
"We are not certain if the survey will find anything," Health Ministry official Kazuhiko Kawauchi told the Associated Press news agency.

UNIT 731

• Japanese germ warfare centre with its headquarters in north-east China, 1936-1945
• At least 3,000 people killed at the unit in Heilongjiang, but others thought to have died elsewhere
• So far no-one has been charged and no compensation given to victims

"If anything is dug up, it may not be related to Unit 731."

Japan's government has never formally acknowledged that the atrocities of Unit 731 took place.
But witnesses and former soldiers have provided accounts of the work of the unit, which had its main base in eastern Heilongjiang province in China, then part of Japanese-controlled Manchuria.
Viruses intended for use in biological warfare were reportedly tested on prisoners, some of whom were then dissected alive.
Others were said to have been frozen to death in endurance tests.
The site being excavated in Tokyo is close to another where fragments of bone, many showing saw marks, were found in 1989.
Then the health ministry concluded that they could not be linked to Unit 731, but had been brought to Japan for "medical education".

Embrace the Air-Power Revolution

U.S. Can't Approach 5th-Gen Aircraft the 'Old Way'

By ROBBIN LAIRD
Published: 21 February 2011

U.S. air power has reached a turning point. As budget cuts increase and the U.S. Air Force's percentage of the defense budget falls, the crucial requirement is to invest in the future. President Barack Obama is calling for a Sputnik moment in the investment in future technologies, and there is little reason to exclude the Defense Department from such an effort.
Yet this is exactly what is happening. After canceling the F-22 without ever understanding what the Raptor brings to the joint war fighter, the administration is slowing its investment in the F-35, instead putting money into legacy aircraft.
The new aircraft represent a sea change with significant savings in terms of fleet costs and overall capability. But this will not happen unless policymakers understand that the transition is not simply from fourth-generation to fifth-generation aircraft, but a transition from yesterday's approach to war fighting to distributed operations.
The shift is from linear to sequential operations; it is a shift away from fighter pilots who need to reach back for support from large aircraft command-and-control and ISR platforms, to 360-degree dominance by deployed decision-makers operating not in a network but a honeycomb.
The F-35 is a flying combat system able to operate across the spectrum of warfare. It is the first plane that has the combat system to manage 360-degree space. Deployed as a force, it enables distributed air operations, an approach crucial to the survival of our pilots in the period ahead.
The fifth-generation aircraft are a benchmark for a new approach to airpower. The traditional aircraft adds systems that provide capabilities, and the pilot has to manage each new system. The F-35 has five major combat systems that interact with each other to provide capabilities.
Functional capabilities emerge from the interaction of the systems done by the machine and are not simply correlated with a single system. For example, jamming can be done by several systems aboard the aircraft; the machine determines which one through interaction among the systems. The entire system rests on a common architecture with broadband capabilities.
But if airpower leaders simply mimic the operations of older aircraft with fifth-generation planes, the promise of new air operations will not be realized. The result would be a repeat of the failures of the French facing the Germans in World War II, where the French had superior tanks but outmoded tactics and command structures, and achieved predictable results.
The new aircraft simply do not function as do the old. Considerable cultural change will be required in moving to distributed air operations and decision-makers.
And the shift will require developers of weapons and remotely piloted aircraft to think differently about how to leverage the new stealth-enabled distributed air operational capabilities.
F-22 pilots have already called for the change. They don't want to be tethered to the Airborne Warning and Control System; they don't want to be directed by the classic operations of a centralized combat air operations center.
Another key part of the airpower cultural revolution is the approach to maintainability. To hear some Air Force officials, they sound like the union members in the 1970s objecting to changes in the work force associated with digital production of the newspaper. To recall the days of the controversy, union members wanted to keep their typesetting functions in spite of the elimination of the jobs necessary to produce a newspaper digitally. They lost and Rupert Murdoch won.
The same is true of the shift from mechanical to digital maintenance regimes. Many jobs will be eliminated - the U.S. Marine Corps estimates one-third - and the tooth-to-tail ratio much improved.
The administration's ideological opposition to performance-based logistics (PBL) systems is part of the problem of "union style" resistance to change. The last administration signed a PBL with the partners; the current administration should honor it. The benefits are clear; less cost for sustainment for a more capable aircraft.
In short, the U.S. and its partners are on the cusp of an air-power revolution if our leaders have the courage to embrace cultural change. And there is a clear need to direct investments toward the future, not the past. After all, this is change you can believe in.
Robbin Laird is editor of a book on the evolution of air operations, "Re-Norming Air Operations," and co-founder of the defense analytical website Second Line of Defense.

IDEX: NATO, Thales Extend Comms System Agreement

ABU DHABI - NATO has extended with Thales for two years a contract to act as operator of the secure communications system used by coalition forces in Afghanistan, the French systems company said in a Feb. 20 statement at IDEX 2011.

Thales won a contract in 2007 years ago to provide an information and communications service for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The service allows more than 7,000 users in the various militaries to talk to each other on the Afghan Mission Network, the company said.

No financial details were available.
"We are very proud of the renewed trust shown in us by NATO for such a sensitive issue as the outsourcing of its communications capabilities, with all the security aspects that this involves," said Pascale Sourisse, Thales senior vice president in charge of C4I (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence), Defense and Security activities.
The system uses satellite, point-to-point radio links, fiber optics, secure voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and video on demand, the company said.