Chinese General: Country Needs 3 Crriers

BEIJING - China needs at least three aircraft carriers to defend its interests, a general said, days after the state media broadcast footage of its first carrier in a rare public mention of the project.
"If we consider our neighbors - India will have three aircraft carriers by 2014 and Japan will have three carriers by 2014," Gen. Luo Yuan, a senior researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences, was quoted as saying by Beijing News.

"So I think the number [for China] should not be less than three so we can defend our rights and our maritime interests effectively."
His comments, published July 29, came after China sought to downplay the capability of its first aircraft carrier, saying July 27 the vessel would be used for training and "research."
Beijing believes that the three Japanese carriers it referred to, built for helicopter operations, could eventually be converted into full aircraft carriers.
China recently confirmed it was revamping an old Soviet ship to be its first carrier, a project that has added to regional worries over the country's fast military expansion and growing assertiveness on territorial issues.
"We are currently refitting the body of an old aircraft carrier, and will use it for scientific research, experiments and training," defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a news briefing.
Asked whether the carrier's addition to China's military arsenal would significantly raise the country's military capability, Geng said only that to "overrate or underrate the carrier's role are both incorrect."
The United States has welcomed China's mention of the carrier, calling it a step toward better transparency between the Pacific powers.
China's People's Liberation Army - the largest armed force in the world - is extremely secretive about its defense programs, which benefit from a huge and expanding military budget boosted by the nation's runaway economic growth. The PLA also operates the country's navy.

U.S., China Discuss Weapons Sales to Taiwan

WASHINGTON - The United States and China on July 29 held top-level talks on Taiwan, with Washington working preemptively to avoid a fallout as a decision nears on whether to sell fighter-jets to Taiwan.
U.S. officials have said that they will decide by Oct. 1 on whether to sell F-16 jets to Taiwan, a longstanding request from the self-ruling island which fears that China's rapidly growing military has gained a major edge.

Wang Yi, the top Chinese official in charge of Taiwan, met with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined part of the closed-door session, a State Department official said.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency said Wang "stressed that the Chinese mainland has been steadfast in opposing the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, because it harms Sino-U.S. ties and the peaceful development of the cross-strait relations."
Burns took office as the State Department's No. 2 just July 28 after his nomination was held up by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who said he relented only after Clinton agreed to release a long-delayed report on Taiwan's arms needs. The jets would be built in Cornyn's home state.
Congress is a stronghold of support for Taiwan, with the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week voting without dissent on a measure urging "immediate steps" for arms sales.
China considers Taiwan to be a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979 but Congress at the same time approved the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the United States to provide the islands enough weapons for self-defense. The law states that the U.S. administration will make the decision without consulting China.
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said he spoke about arms sales to Taiwan during a visit earlier in July to Beijing and "clearly, the Chinese would strongly prefer us to stop doing this."
But he said he explained to his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Chen Bingde, that the United States has "responsibilities, and they're legal responsibilities, in my country to support the Taiwan Relations Act."
The United States last year approved $6.4 billion in weapons for Taiwan, including Patriot missiles and Black Hawk helicopters, but not jets or submarines. China lodged a protest, suspending military ties with the United States for months.
Mullen has strongly advocated dialogue, saying it will be crucial to avoiding miscalculations as China ramps up its military budget.
The Pentagon offered praise on July 29 after China made a rare acknowledgement that it is building its first aircraft carrier.
State television on July 27 broadcast footage of the old Soviet ship, which is being refitted in the port city of Dalian. The defense ministry said the carrier would be used for "scientific research, experiments and training."
"That's a good sign to us. We've always talked about the need for transparency so that we better understand what their intentions are," Pentagon spokesman U.S. Marine Col. Dave Lapan told reporters.
He said that the Pentagon was already well aware of the carrier project, "but it's at least a positive sign that they are being more forthcoming."
China showed footage of the carrier at a time of high tensions on the South China Sea with Vietnam and the Philippines. China's defense ministry did not say when the carrier would be finished.
At a joint news conference during Mullen's visit, China's military chief Chen defended the project and noted that the United States has 11 aircraft carriers in service.
"China is a big country [and] we only have quite a number of ships, but small ships. And this is not commensurate with the status of the country of China," Chen said.

U.S. Army Moves Forward on JLTV

The U.S. Army insists it plans to go forward with its open competition for Joint Light Tactical Vehicle following completion of its two-year technology development phase even as many defense analysts have the program pegged for cancellation.
Tim Goddette, director of Sustainment Systems, said in a July 28 statement that the program has taken steps forward, refining the requirements during the technology development phase in order to "meet the designated capability gaps."

A program that could be worth up to $20 billion already has a host of defense companies, including BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, Lockheed Martin, AM General and General Tactical Vehicles, all vying to build the next-generation light vehicle.
Army officials hope to build a spree of capabilities into JLTV to include "fortified improvised explosive device, or IED, protections designed to withstand blast attacks, off-road mobility, variable ride height suspension, exportable power and essential command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or C4ISR, capabilities," Goddette said.
However, budgets are shrinking and the Army also plans to field the Ground Combat Vehicle in the next seven years and complete a recapitalization of the Humvee fleet. Army leaders know JLTV costs can't spiral out of control in the current budget environment.
Originally intended to replace the Humvee, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee wrote in the 2012 defense spending bill that "the operational niche to be filled by the JLTV appears to be shrinking," and cut $50 million off the Army and Marine Corps research and development budget request.
"We gained valuable insight into the cost of each capability and effect that one capability might have on another," Goddette said in the statement. "We've learned that some trade-offs are necessary to pursue an overall strategy that best synchronizes requirements, resources, mature technologies and a cost-reducing acquisition strategy."
One such trade-off could be to not include add-on armor known as B-kits to each vehicle. Goddette said the Army does not expect every JLTV will need that level of armor and protection. He also expects more lightweight protective material to be developed in the coming years.
Goddette also tried to dispel the belief that the Army no longer needs JLTV if it recapitalizes the Humvee fleet, integrates MRAPs and delivers the GCV. He said JLTV and the Humvee recap "complement one another as part of an integrated Light Tactical Vehicle strategy."
"These two competitive efforts are also synchronized with one another to invest a limited amount of resources up front enabling a 'try before we buy' approach and capitalize on the vast experience our industry partners have gained over that past five years," Goddette said

Turkey's Top Commanders Resign

ANKARA - Turkey's top military commander Gen. Isik Kosaner and the chiefs of the three forces abruptly resigned July 29 in the worst showdown between the secular military and the government of Islamist-leaning Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which came to power in 2002, the Turkish media reported.

Former Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Isik Kosaner, right, is shown with NATO Supreme Commander Adm. James Stavridis before their meeting in March. (Turkish Chief of Staff via Agence France-Presse)

Kosaner was the chief of the Turkish General Staff. The other three men who resigned are Army Commander Gen. Erdal Ceylanoglu, Navy Commander Adm. Esref Ugur Yigit and Air Force Commander Gen. Hasan Aksay.

News reports here cited a press statement by the three commanders, which said they saw "a need" to resign.
The resignations came only days before Turkey's annual meetings for military promotions.
More than 40 generals and admirals, of the military's 360-plus flag officers, are in jail and facing coup-related charges.

Germany to Press Maritime Patrol Aircraft Pool

BRUSSELS - Germany is looking to make progress on a maritime patrol aircraft pool, a European Union multinational joint headquarters (JHQ) and other high-priority military ideas at a workshop it is hosting in September and October.

At first sight, the maritime patrol aircraft pool looks to have more potential, as the JHQ has been opposed by the U.K. and requires all 26 EU member states taking part in the EU's defense policy to agree for it to proceed.

"Using the European Air Transport Command as a template, a management structure for the coordination of maritime patrol resources and capabilities could be established, bringing together partial, fragmented national capabilities into a European pool," a German Ministry of Defence official said.

The aim of the workshop is to gain thorough information on member states' interest. "Nations who have declared their intention to participate in this initiative will also have to discuss the topic of sharing the use of maritime patrol aircraft in real-world operations," the official said.

The maritime patrol aircraft pool is one of some 300 proposals for pooling and sharing put together by the EU's military staff. Other high-priority project ideas, which have not yet been planned in detail and have also been forwarded to NATO, include:

■ A JHQ, which the U.K. opposes, would build on the existing German Response Forces Operations Command and be used at the operational level by both the EU and NATO.

■ A maritime auxiliary pool would create a European pool of auxiliary ships.

■ Biological detection and defense would be made up of eight subprojects, which comprehensively address capability shortfalls in biological-agent defense.

■ A multinational simulation network would further develop simulation network prototypes such as helicopters. Such networks would offer a broad scope ranging from basic training up to mission rehearsal in complex virtual environments.

■ Multinational academic education would design and implement a European network of military academic institutions with mutual acceptance and recognition of academic qualifications.

As for the JHQ, the German official said that "a detailed analysis of costs has not been conducted so far."

"Next to costs, operational issues are also to be considered. In general, a multinational JHQ could dispose of a 'lessons learnt' department. However, details concerning the possible structure of a multinational Joint HQ have not been worked out so far," he added.

EADS Perplexed by France's MALE UAV Pick

PARIS - The French government's decision to pick Dassault to supply an interim medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV has left EADS managers perplexed, as the European aerospace and defense group reported July 29 second-quarter operating profits which beat market expectations.

EADS chief executive Louis Gallois said he had difficulty understanding why EADS lost to Dassault in its bid to supply a MALE UAV for the French Armed Forces. Gallois was speaking on a conference call on financial results, which showed a 15 percent rise in underlying earnings to 371 million euros ($527 million) from a year ago.

The market had been looking for earnings before tax and interest of 317 million euros ($451 million) for the second quarter, down from 323 million euros a year earlier, a Reuters analyst poll showed.

EADS has asked for an explanation, as it was unclear whether its bid failed for reasons of operational capabilities, price, or timing, Gallois said. French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet said he would give an explanation, Gallois said.

The government's selection of Dassault maintains a national capability to design combat aircraft and reflects a political will to sustain a French design office rather than fund a German capacity based in EADS, Dassault executive chairman Charles Edelstenne said July 28 at the company's first-half results press conference.

EADS had proposed an upgraded version of the Harfang MALE UAV as an interim solution while lobbying for government-development contracts for the Talarion advanced UAV.

In the results for the first half of the year, sales at Airbus Military, the unit responsible for the A400M airlifter, showed an operating profit of 3 million euros ($4.27 million) after a loss of 161 million euros ($229 million) a year ago. The year-earlier loss reflected foreign exchange effects tied to revaluation of the loss-making contract and recovery of fixed costs on the A400M.

The A400M program booked sales of 412 million euros ($587 million) in the first half.

EADS' ability to execute the A400M program, along with the A380 superjumbo and A350 XWB airliners, will determine whether the company delivers the full-year operating earnings forecast at around 1.3 billion euros ($1.85 billion), roughly stable on a year ago, the company said.

EADS forecasts a significant improvement in earnings in 2012 based on higher volumes, better pricing and improvements in the A380 program.

First-half net profit fell 41 percent to 109 million euros ($155 million) on sales up 8 percent at 21.9 billion euros ($31.2 billion). Of total sales, defense revenues fell 4 percent to 4.9 billion euros ($6.9 billion).

New orders in the period rose 89 percent to 58.1 billion euros ($82.8 billion), with net cash of 11 billion euros ($15.6 billion), down 7 percent a year ago. The orders included a first order shared with Boeing from American Airlines.

"Our results for the first half of 2011 mirror the strong demand in the commercial aviation sector," EADS said in a statement.

"In terms of orders, Paris Air Show was record-breaking for us, particularly thanks to the A320neo (new engine version). The recent historic order by American Airlines adds to this remarkable success story as the strong commercial momentum continues beyond Le Bourget," the statement said.

Thales, Dassault Sign India Mirage Upgrade Deal

PARIS - Thales and Dassault signed July 29 a modernization contract for Indian Air Force's Mirage 2000 fighter jet fleet, the electronics company said in a statement.

The deal was worth about 1 billion euros ($1.42 billion) for Thales, a company spokeswoman said.

Thales will supply the RDY-3 radar, navigation and attack equipment, and electronic countermeasures for India's 51 Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft. Dassault will supply a new onboard computer.

"The extensive involvement of Indian industry within the program will consolidate existing ties with the French aerospace industry and will reinforce long-term cooperation based on cutting edge technologies and the sharing of technical know-how and expertise," Thales said.

Separately, Dassault's Rafale has been shortlisted with the Eurofighter Typhoon for India's contract for 126 medium-range combat aircraft in a deal estimated to be worth $10 billion.