Oman seeks Bid for Euro-fighter

The government of Oman has requested that BAE Systems submit a formal bid for the supply of Typhoon fighter aircraft. The move clarifies the Middle East nation’s continuing commitment to the program following delays in completing negotiations.

A spokeswoman for the U.K.-based defense company said it expected to complete negotiations by the end of the year, with deliveries of the first aircraft taking place 36 months later.

The request for proposals involves a squadron’s worth of Tranche 3 standard aircraft — about 12 airframes — a support package and training for the Omani air force.

Last month, Oman ordered a second batch of 12 F-16 Block 50’s from Lockheed Martin in a $600 million deal

The Omanis formally stated their intention to purchase the Eurofighter Typhoon in early 2010, and company executives said at the time that the deal could be ready for signing within months.

In a statement, BAE said it welcomed the release of the request for proposals, adding that the news underpins its long-standing defense and security relationship with the sultanate as a major equipment supplier.

The most recent major equipment sale was signed in 2007 to deliver three corvettes to the Omani navy in a deal valued at 400 million pounds.

The warships remain undelivered for technical reasons.

The first of the Khareef-class vessels should have been handed over in 2010 but have been delayed following the discovery of technical problems during sea trials.

The spokeswoman denied that the signing of the fighter deal between the two sides is dependent on the agreement of a get-well package for three corvettes.

The spokeswoman said the first of the corvettes is now scheduled to be handed over at the end of the second quarter.

The Omanis’ commitment to Typhoon follows recent competition losses for the fighter in Japan and Switzerland.

A decision by India on whether to select the Eurofighter aircraft or its French rival, Dassault Rafale, is imminent.

Earlier this month, BAE announced that talks with the Middle East’s first Typhoon customer, Saudi Arabia, over amendments to a deal to supply 72 fighters, were dragging on and would likely affect its 2011 earnings.

The original deal called for the first 24 aircraft to be delivered from the BAE production line in the U.K., with subsequent assembly in Saudi Arabia.

BAE and the Saudis announced a change of plan last February over where the final 42 aircraft would be built but are still haggling over the details.

Typhoon is a four-nation program involving the Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. So far, it has exported the aircraft to Austria and Saudi Arabia

Asian Navies Shift to Bigger Vessels, Downplay Littoral Ops

TAIPEI - As Western navies build fewer aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines, Asian navies are moving in the opposite direction, ignoring the littorals with construction and procurement of larger warships and submarines.

The U.S. and Europe have stepped back from larger platforms designed for the Cold War and invested in smaller platforms such as the U.S. Navy's Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). But this is not the case in East Asia and the Pacific, where there have been increases in spending on destroyers and submarines in Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, said Bob Nugent, vice president of naval advisory services at AMI International, based in Seattle.

One of the most notable cases involves Taiwan's procurement of four Kidd-class guided missile destroyers and plans to procure eight submarines. Japan and South Korea have also invested heavily in guided missile destroyers equipped with advanced phased array radars.

Even in budget-challenged Southeast Asian countries, the trend has been a shift from smaller to larger platforms, such as frigates and large corvettes. Examples include Singapore's Formidable-class frigates, Indonesia's SIGMA-class corvettes, Malaysia's recent decision on the SGPV/LCS frigates, and Vietnam's plan to buy SIGMAs and the pending delivery of Russian-built Kilo-class submarines.

The main reason regional navies are ignoring littoral capabilities has to do with geography. In the region, "the home team enjoys an enormous advantage of range and proximity and the attacker would have to be prepared to conduct pre-emptive strikes against the coast state's bases before conducting operations in the littoral," said Sam Bateman a regional naval specialist at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore.

The U.S. Navy should "think twice" about deploying classic sea control/power projection capabilities, such as carrier battle groups, within range of subs and land-based strike aircraft, Bateman said. The U.S. Navy's new LCS will be "hugely vulnerable without close-air support and that cannot be guaranteed."

The U.S. and Singapore have recently agreed to allow the U.S. Navy to station the LCS in Singapore.

Air support is the "elephant in the room" with littoral warfare, Bateman said. Littoral warfare is dependent on fire support directed against targets on land, either from aircraft close-air support or naval gunfire. Despite all the advances with missiles, "the big caliber naval gun remains an attractive and effective way of putting down fire in coastal areas."

Another problem in the Asia-Pacific has been increased tension over exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims, particularly in the South China Sea. Many countries, including China, claim restrictions over naval operations in their EEZs.

Some within the region have invested in stealthy vessels to avoid detection in the littoral environment. Singapore's Formidable-class frigates are based on the stealthy French-built La Fayette-class frigates and Singapore's ST Engineering is conducting research to develop the 27-meter Stealth Interceptor and 57-meter Stealth Patrol Vessel.

Taiwan wants to build a stealthy 900-ton catamaran corvette and is manufacturing a stealthy 180-ton fast-attack missile patrol boat, armed with Hsiung Feng-2 anti-ship missiles. The stealthy SIGMA-class corvettes procured by Indonesia and now being considered by Vietnam are other examples.

For Asian countries dealing with the littoral issue, the challenge is finding the right investment balance among intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and defensive and offensive technologies, Nugent said.

"Unmanned systems are critical to ISR and defense in the littoral now and will become more so for offensive littoral warfare as unmanned maritime systems are more widely armed for all domains in the future," he said. Investments in better sensors and C4ISR are the other areas where the "gaps that create vulnerabilities in ship's self-defense against missiles and torpedoes in the littoral are getting a lot of attention."

Another area of growing interest is the use of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). ST Engineering is developing the 9-meter Venus USV ostensibly for harbor patrol, but the vessel has potential for littoral warfare.

USVs and UUVs will be "particularly useful for littoral warfare as they can be launched outside the EEZ or convenient surveillance range of the coastal state, which is unlikely to have the capabilities of detecting them," Bateman said. "They can be used for surveillance/intelligence collection and as an offensive weapon - to lay mines or fire torpedoes," he said.

There is also potential for anti-submarine warfare, but that capability is as yet "unrealized."

Iran Keeps Tensions High Over Oil Strait

TEHRAN - Iran kept tensions simmering Dec. 31 over its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers by readying war game missile tests near the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

AN IRANIAN WAR-BOAT fires a missile Dec. 30 during the 'Velayat-90' navy exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. (Ali Mohammadi / AFP via Getty Images)

Washington has warned a closure of the strait "will not be tolerated" after Iranian Vice President Reza Rahimi's threat this week that "not a drop of oil" will pass through the channel if more Western sanctions are imposed over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran has brushed off the warning from the United States, which bases its Fifth Fleet in the Gulf, with Iranian navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayari saying it would be "really easy" to close the strait.

A spokesman for the Iranian navy, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, told state television on Dec. 31 that, "in the next days, we will test-fire all kinds of surface-to-sea, sea-to-sea and surface-to-air as well as shoulder-launched missiles" in the final stages of the war games.

He did not say exactly when the launches would start, but explained they would involve tests of "medium- and long-range missiles" to evaluate their operational effectiveness.

The navy exercises started Dec. 24 and are due to end on Jan. 2.

Twenty percent of the world's oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance of the Gulf, making it the "most important chokepoint" globally, according to information released Dec. 30 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Around 14 crude oil tankers per day pass through the narrow strait, carrying a total 17 million barrels. In all, 35 percent of all seaborne oil transited through there this year.

On Dec. 29, a U.S. aircraft carrier and an accompanying missile cruiser passed through the zone where the Iranian navy was conducting its drill. U.S. officials insisted it was a routine passage.

No confrontation occurred, though an Iranian military aircraft flew in close to record video of the aircraft carrier, which was then shown on state television.

Analysts and oil market traders have been watching developments in and around the Strait of Hormuz carefully, fearing that the intensifying war of words between arch foes Tehran and Washington could spark open confrontation.

With tensions rising, the United States said it has signed a $29.4-billion dealto supply Iran's chief rival in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, with 84 new fighter jets.

The sale was a "strong message" to the Gulf region, Washington said.

Iran is subject to four rounds of U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program, which many Western countries allege is being used to develop atomic weapons.

Tehran denies the allegation.

The United States and its allies have also imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran's economy.

The last lot of unilateral sanctions triggered a demonstration in Tehran that led to members of the Basij militia controlled by the Revolutionary Guards ransacking the British embassy. London reacted by closing the mission and ordering Iran's embassy in Britain closed.

More sanctions are on the way.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to soon sign into law additional restrictions on Iran's central bank, which acts as the main conduit for Iranian oil sales.

The European Union is considering other measures that could include an EU embargo on Iranian oil imports, with foreign ministers to meet on the issue in a month's time.

Iran's oil minister, Rostam Qasemi, told the Aseman weekly that sanctions "will drive up the price of oil to at least 200 dollar" per barrel.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, was quoted by the Iranian media telling Islamic republic's envoys who have been gathered in Tehran that "we will give a resounding and many-pronged response to any threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran."

But he and other officials also left the door open to resuming long-stalled talks on Iran's nuclear program.

Addressing world powers involved in the talks, Jalili said: "We officially told them to come back to the negotiation based on cooperation."

Iran's ambassador to Germany, Alireza Sheikh-Attar, told the Mehr news agency on Dec. 31 that "we will soon send a letter, after which (new) talks will be scheduled."

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was also quoted by a website of the state broadcaster as telling a visiting Chinese foreign ministry official that "Iran is prepared for the continuation of nuclear negotiations" on the basis of a Russian proposal.

Taiwan Navy Retires 2 Missile Boats

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan on Dec. 28 retired two patrol boats, the navy's first vessels armed with ship-to-ship missiles, that were hailed as "critical" to safeguarding the island, officials said.

Hundreds of former and active soldiers who had served on board the 240-ton Lung Chiang and Sui Chiang bid farewell to the ships at a ceremony in southern Kaohsiung city, the navy said.

Vice Admiral Chiang Lung-an said the ships "have played a critical role in safeguarding Taiwan over the past 30 years".

The U.S.-made Lung Chiang joined Taiwan's navy in 1978, while the Taiwan-built Sui Chiang came three years later in 1981. Each was armed with four homemade "Hsiung Feng I" (Brave Wind I) anti-ship missiles.

Earlier this year, Taiwan's navy put a squadron of 10 guided-missile boats into service featuring what was described as "stealth" technologies as it looked to boost its defenses amid Beijing's military buildup.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have eased since President Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in 2008, pledging to boost trade links and allowing more Chinese tourists to visit the island.

But Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

The island has governed itself since its split with mainland China in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Vietnam In Talks to Buy 4 Sigma-class Corvettes

TAIPEI - Vietnam is in talks with Dutch-shipbuilder Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) for the purchase of four Sigma-class corvettes, a U.S. defense official said.
Two of the ships will reportedly be built in Vietnam, where the technology transfer will be an "important contribution" to the country's ability to develop its navy and a "national capability for warship repair and maintenance," said Sam Bateman from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

In 2005, Vietnam canceled plans to build Project 2100-type corvettes because the task was beyond its technical capacity.
"Vietnam has been able to assembly BPS 2000 corvettes from knock up kits, but was not able to step up to taking charge of the construction process," said Carlyle Thayer of the Australian Defence Force Academy.
But the SIGMA vessels - the acronym stands for Ship Integrated Geometrical Modularity Approach - "represents a revolutionary new modular technology in which ships from 50 meters to 150 meters can be built," Thayer said.
There has been no confirmation on what type of Sigma-class vessel is under consideration.
Vietnam will be joining Indonesia and Morocco in operating Sigma-class vessels. Indonesia began taking delivery of four Sigma-class vessels in 2007; a year later, Morocco signed a $2.12 billion contract for three vessels that are now being delivered.
"This represents a major stride forward in Vietnamese defense industry capabilities," Thayer said. "The SIGMA class represents a major step forward in technology and tonnage."
Vietnam's navy has been expanding both its surface and submarine fleet with new procurements from Russia, including Kilo-class submarines. The modernization effort is part of a response to China's growing military clout in the South China Sea and territorial disputes over islands claimed by both nations.
"The bottom line is that Vietnam is stepping up the pace of acquiring modern ships capable of defending Vietnamese interests in its Exclusive Economic Zone, such as armed escort for oil exploration vessels," Thayer said.
Beijing has thus far used mainly civilian enforcement vessels in its dispute with Vietnam, but now "China will now have to decide whether to accept the new status quo or commit to deploying PLAN [People's Liberation Army Navy] ships," he said.
In May, three Chinese vessels operated by the State Oceanic Administration harassed a Vietnamese oil exploration seismic survey vessel inside Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone.
China and Vietnam have been bumping into one another in the South China Sea since the 1970s. In 1974, China took the Paracel Islands by military force from then-South Vietnam, but Hanoi continues to claim the islands. Then, in 1988, China and Vietnam fought over the Johnson South Reef in the South China Sea. China sank two Vietnamese naval vessels and opened fired on Vietnamese troops occupying the reef, killing 30.

New Missile Craft for Egypt Delivered

The first of four new fast missile craft for Egypt was dedicated Oct. 25 at a shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and the ship's name was announced.
The S. Ezzat is named after Soliman Ezzat, the admiral who founded and led the modern Egyptian Navy from 1953 to 1967, shipbuilder VT Halter Marine said in a press release.

Construction of the ship began in a newly built fabrication facility at VT Halter in November 2009 under a U.S. Navy Foreign Military Sales program managed by the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command.
The original contract for the program was awarded to VT Halter in November 2005. Since then, the U.S. has awarded the shipbuilder more than $800 million for the ships.
Also known as the Ambassador III class, the stealthy, 550-ton ships are 207 feet long. They are powered by three MTU diesels and designed for a top speed of 41 knots. The ships are armed with eight Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles and an OTO Melara 3-inch gun, with self-defense provided by a Rolling Airframe Missile launcher and a Close-In Weapon System Block 1B. They are designed to operate at sea for up to eight days.
The Egyptian Navy operates several classes of fast missile ships, built in the Soviet Union, Germany and Britain, but the last was delivered in 1982.
The Ezzat is expected to leave Mississippi for Egypt during 2012.
Construction continues on the other three ships: F. Zekry, M. Fahmy and A. Gad. The last ship is contracted for delivery in December 2013.

China Launches Pakistani Patrol Craft

ISLAMABAD - The first of a pair of new Azmat-class fast attack craft built by China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (CSOC) for the Pakistan Navy was launched by Pakistani naval chief Adm. Noman Bashir, at the Xhinggang shipyard in Tianjin, China, on Sept. 20.

The 500-600 ton, 60-meter craft carries eight C-802A/CSS-N-8 Saccade anti-ship missiles.
A tender for two fast-attack craft was released in February 2010. In December 2010, a contract for an undisclosed amount was awarded to CSOC. Construction commenced in March 2011, and according to the Associated Press of Pakistan, PNS Azmat is expected to enter service by April 2012.
Images purported to be of the vessel show it to have a stealthy, angled, slab-sided superstructure. No other confirmed details are available, however.
A second vessel in the class is due to be constructed in Karachi.
Usman Shabbir of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank said the new fast-attack craft comes at a time when the Pakistan Navy is trying to modernize its capabilities while facing financial hardship.
Specifically, the Navy will use Azmat to "secure areas closer to shore, freeing up larger warships for other normal peacetime patrol duties or international commitments such as CTF-150 and CTF-151," which are the combined task forces patrolling waters near the Horn of Africa.
Shabbir did note the vessel's light air defense armament, though, saying it did not offer much protection.
Nevertheless, he welcomed its launch and said the new vessel is a further sign of Pakistan's increasing reliance on China for its defense needs.
"The Sino-Pak naval construction relationship is allowing this to happen", he said.
"This part of the overall Sino-Pak relationship will expand and deepen over time with more warships of various types, and the submarines that are currently undergoing construction in China for Pakistan," he said.
Indeed, during the launch ceremony, Bashir stated the present geo-political situation demanded further strengthening of Pakistan-China relations in order to safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity. The launch of Azmat is a sign of the deepening Sino-Pak relationship, he said, stating, "This relationship over the years has matured in all fields, particularly in defense."

German Navy Gets Capability to Strike Targets on Land

BONN, GERMANY - The German Navy received its first series-production RBS15 Mk3 type missile on Sept. 22, giving the Navy the capability to attack land targets from sea for the first time.
The heavyweight, fire-and-forget, anti-ship missile will become the primary weapon system of the service's new K130-class corvettes. RBS15 Mk3 has a range of well over 200 kilometers and can also be used to engage land targets from the sea.

The subsonic missile can strike targets in all weather and is equipped with a radar altimeter enabling extremely low sea-skimming. The missile uses GPS and a high-resolution radar seeker.
The German military will procure 30 systems for about 65 million euros ($88.99 million).
The primary contractor is German company Diehl BGT Defence, which has signed a cooperation deal with the Swedish developer of the RBS 15, Saab Bofors Dynamics. It includes marketing, production, deliveries, maintenance and future upgrades for both the Swedish and German navies, as well as for the export market.

Army-to-Navy Transfer of U.S. JHSVs Finalized

The move to transfer custody of all five Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV) to the U.S. Navy was formally agreed upon May 2 with the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Navy and U.S. Army.
The transfer was approved in December during Army-Navy war fighter talks. Previously, each service was planning to buy, field and crew its own force of JHSVs.

Uniformed Army personnel had been training to crew the new ships, with the first vessel scheduled to enter service late this year. Army watercraft personnel have been reassigned, and all JHSVs will be operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command crewed by civil service mariners or contract mariners.
The ships are intended primarily for logistic operations, although they will be armed for self-defense. The aluminum, wave-piercing catamaran JHSVs are under construction by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., based on a commercial ferry design.
In addition to the Navy and Army, the ships are intended for use by "multiple non-Navy customers," according to the memorandum.
The JHSV program was formed in 2006 from a merger of the Army's Theater Support Vessel and the Navy High-Speed Connector programs. The Navy has been handling design, contracting and oversight of the program.
The Army operates a sizeable fleet, including landing craft, tugs and barges to support waterborne logistic operations. At the instigation of the then-Army chief of staff, Gen. George Casey, the services last year discussed the potential transfer of all Army watercraft to the Navy, but in the end only the JHSVs will be transferred.
The Spearhead, first of the JHSVs, has been named by the Army and is scheduled to be delivered in December. The agreement notes that the Spearhead's name will be retained by the Navy, but the Navy can rename the other JHSVs should it choose.
The JHSV program currently envisions a total of 10 ships, but planners have envisioned a greater role for the vessels, and the number may grow to as many as 23.

Construction of Fast Attack Craft starts for Pakistan Navy

On Tuesday, China formally started the manufacturing of two state-of-the-art fast attack missile crafts for the Pakistan Navy. These crafts are an addition to a couple of naval frigates which are being built for the strategic partner.
The ceremony of the Fast Attack Craft FAC(M) of Pakistan Navy was held at Xinggang Shipyard. The Pakistan navy has signed a contract with Offshore International Company Limited (CSOC) & China Shipbuilding for the construction of the two modern missile crafts which will be geared with the latest sensors and weapons.
The Vice Admiral Tanveer Faiz Ahmed of the Pakistan Navy attended the ceremony. The arrangement states that one of the crafts will be built in Tianjin while the other one will be manufactured in Pakistan’s Karachi docks. The first craft was expected to be inducted in the force last October. At the moment there is no information about the financial agreements on this deal.
China is a major weapons system supplier to Pakistan and it is deeply involved in a series of defence projects with its ally. This includes the joint development of the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet which will be manufactured by both countries with engines supplied by Russia.
A couple of naval frigates for the Pakistan Navy are also being constructed in china and at the moment three of them have been inducted into service. The fourth one is still being manufactured in the Karachi Shipyard.