UAE to Build Integrated Air Ops Center in 2012

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to build an integrated air operations center next year as part of a layered ballistic missile defense system, the deputy commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defense said Nov. 12.
The air operations center would control air defense and missile assets, as part of preparations for an "emerging missile threat," Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Naser Al Alawi told an air chiefs conference organized by conference and consulting company Inegma, and held ahead of the Dubai Airshow's Nov. 13 opening.

The air operations center would be a "force multiplier," Al Alawi said.
A layered missile defense would offer "upper and lower" level protection, he said.
The UAE has orders for interceptors at the upper level, namely the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot advanced capability (PAC-3) missiles, respectively, from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
On the new air operations center, Lockheed Martin and ThalesRaytheonSystems are competing to win a contract, reported to be worth $1 billion, for delivering the integrated air and missile defense system, which is seen as a defense against Iranian threats.
A system that included interceptors against lower level threats and which might afford protection against saturation attacks appeared to open up opportunities for European missile maker MBDA.
"A versatility of interception is the right answer to multi-threat and saturation attacks," MBDA chief executive Antoine Bouvier said on the sidelines of the conference. "A segmentation of interception is not."
A multi-threat environment consists of attacks from aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, with a possible mass launch of the latter weapon.
"Is an upper level only the right answer to a globalized threat?" Bouvier asked.
An upgraded version of MBDA's Aster missile, the NT1 due to be developed by 2015, could help counter the lower level threats and saturation missile attacks, he said.
Al Alawi's remarks appeared to confirm a move by the UAE toward a greater layered approach in its air and missile defense system, Bouvier said.
The UAE has reportedly cut a 2008 planned purchase to 96 THAAD missiles from 144, two AN/TPY-2 radars from four, and two batteries from three. That procurement also included six communications units and nine launchers. If all options had been exercised, the deal would have been worth $6.95 billion.
The UAE also signed up for the PAC-3 missile in a deal valued at over $1.8 billion over the life of the program.

Report Says UAE Will Receive 'Bunker Busters'

WASHINGTON - The United States has plans to provide thousands of advanced "bunker-busting" bombs to the United Arab Emirates as part of efforts to contain Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 11.
The advanced munitions are designed to demolish bunkers, tunnels and other thickly reinforced targets, making them well-suited for a potential strike on Iran's underground nuclear facilities, the newspaper said.

The proposed package to the UAE - said to include up to 3,900 joint direct attack munitions (JDAMS), and other weapons - is to be formally presented to Congress "in the coming days," the Journal said.
In recent years, President Obama's administration has moved to shore up Arab Gulf countries with major arms deals, part of a policy of strengthening regional allies to ramp up pressure on Tehran.
The long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear program flared this week when the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had "credible" evidence that Iran was trying to build nuclear warheads for its medium-range missiles.
Iran denies it is seeking atomic weapons, insisting that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
The United States and Israel have in turn warned that all options are on the table for dealing with the issue, including military action.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Nov. 10 warned of the risks from any military strike on Iran, saying it could have a "serious impact" on the region.
Panetta added that a military strike on suspected Iranian nuclear sites would only delay Tehran's nuclear program for about three years.
The United Nations has slapped four rounds of sanctions on Iran since 2006, and the United States and European Union have imposed their own restrictions.
Israel has signaled it may stage air strikes against Iran's nuclear sites, and Tehran has threatened to hit back against any attack or even the threat of military action.

U.S. Marines to Be Based in Darwin: Report

SYDNEY - U.S. President Barack Obama will use a visit to Australia next week to announce that America will begin stationing Marines at a base in Darwin, reports said on Nov. 11.
In a front page exclusive, the Sydney Morning Herald said the new permanent military presence was a sign of heightened concern about the rise of China.

The U.S. currently has only a limited deployment in Australia, including the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility spy station near Alice Springs.
Obama arrives in the country on Nov. 16, visiting the capital Canberra before becoming the first U.S. president to travel to the Northern Territory when he lands in Darwin.
It is in the country's tropical north that he will make the announcement with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the newspaper said.
The Australian also reported the plan, saying that other locations for a U.S. presence were also possible, such as Perth in the west.
The U.S. will not be building a new base in Darwin, but instead will use the existing Robertson Barracks near the city.
The base is currently home to some 4,500 Australian soldiers and will need to be expanded to cater for the U.S. Marines, the reports said, citing sources who declined to detail how many troops or sailors would be rotating through.
U.S. Marines are already based at Okinawa in Japan and on Guam as America's chief combat force in the Pacific theater.
Federal cabinet minister Tony Burke would not confirm or deny the reports.
"Can't confirm it. I don't know the answer to your question," he told the Seven Network while Trade Minister Craig Emerson also would not comment when asked on Sky News.
The Herald cited former intelligence analyst Alan Dupont as saying the move was a response to the rise of China, which is boosting its military capabilities.
"And particularly, it's about the increased vulnerability of U.S. forces in Japan and Guam to the new generation of Chinese missiles."
Andrew Shearer, a former senior diplomat at the Australian embassy in Washington, told AFP: "There's no doubt we will see a significant announcement."
But he played down the China threat. "Everyone draws the China connection but it's as much to do with the rise of India as well. It's not all about defense, but to be able to conduct disaster relief, counter piracy and keep shipping lanes free.
"China certainly comes into their thinking, but it's not all about China," said Shearer, the director of studies at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.

U.S. Navy Ship Set for Alt Fuel Demo

Having powered jet fighters, helicopters and small craft with alternative fuels, the U.S. Navy will conduct its largest-yet demonstration next week when a former destroyer takes to sea with a mixture of algal oil and diesel fuel.

The former destroyer Paul F. Foster will be the largest ship yet to operate with so-called alternative fuels. (U.S. Navy)

The Paul F. Foster, a Spruance-class destroyer now used for experimental purposes, will sail from Point Loma in San Diego to her base at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, Calif., powered by a 50-50 blend of hydro-processed algal oil and F-76 petroleum, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) said Nov. 10.

The alt fuel will power one of the ship's LM2500 gas turbines used for propulsion, and the ship's service gas turbine.
The short, overnight transit is part of a commitment by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to demonstrate a Green Strike Group in 2012 and deploy a strike group composed completely of alternatively powered ships, "the Great Green Fleet," by 2016, NAVSEA said in a press release.
In October, the Navy demonstrated the algal oil-F-76 fuel aboard a landing craft utility at Little Creek, Va., where a riverine combat craft also operated with the fuel mix. Yard Patrol training vessels at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., have also used the alt fuel.
Several different aircraft types have flown with alternative fuels, including F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-15 Eagle jet fighters, a T-45C Goshawk training jet, an EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.
Another alt fuel test of a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vehicle is to take place in December at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla.

Norway Should Maintain Submarine Fleet: Study

HELSINKI - Norway's national defense capability would be best served by either extending the life of its submarine fleet or acquiring a next-generation sub, according to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
The study, which examined Norway's submarine needs after 2020 when the Navy's Ula-class fleet is due to be renewed, determined that no other military capabilities are suited to replace its submarines. The direct inference is that Norway should replace its submarine fleet with a new-generation of Arctic-class stealth subs.

The study is a collaboration among MoD, the Defense Forces Command and the National Institute of Defense Research. The Ula-class submarines have had midlife upgrades and are due to be phased out after 2020 unless a new investment program is established.
MoD now plans to analyze how the Navy's submarine fleet can be replaced. This investigation will form a central part of a new study to be completed in 2014.
This new study will examine available options, including extending the life of the current Ula-class fleet or acquiring a next-generation submarine after 2020. It is expected that a final recommendation will be submitted to the MoD and parliament in 2017.
The study given to MoD on Nov. 3 considered three primary options before it concluded that maintaining a submarine fleet is in the best interests of national defense and key to the government's High North and Arctic security strategies.
The study contemplated the consequences of halting investment in submarine capability and phasing out the present fleet. The second option considered the impact of a continuation of the submarine fleet. This included the possibility of prolonging the life of the Ula-class subs, a new acquisition program or a combination of the two. A third option explored alternatives to the submarine, such as the expanded use of surveillance technologies, including sensors.
Sweden has had informal discussions on the possibility of selling its next-generation A26 submarine, which is under development, to Norway. Other possible European acquisition options include France's Barracuda-class submarine or the German-designed Type 212 or Type 214 subs.
Norway's submarine capacity was reduced in the late 1990s when the Kobben-class subs were phased out. This left the Navy with six diesel-electric propulsion Ula-class vessels.
The Ula-class boats are primarily active in coastal policing and defense operations, being limited in their diving depth to around 820 feet. All six subs came into active service in 1989-92 and comprise a mix of German, Norwegian and French engineering technologies and weapon control systems, including Kongsberg's MSI-90U torpedo fire-control platforms.

Air-Sea Battle Office a Nexus of Networking

The complexities of modern warfare offer a bewildering array of threats, countered by an increasing and sometimes disparate list of countermeasures. Military commanders seeking to thwart an enemy's moves may not be aware of the full range of options, leaving gaps in their defenses even when an effective counter may be available elsewhere.

The Pentagon officially announced the creation of the Air-Sea Battle Office in a Nov. 9 press release. (File photo / U.S. Air Force)

Helping commanders fill those gaps with assets they may not otherwise know they had is one of the prime missions of a new, very small, yet potentially very influential office in the Pentagon, the Air-Sea Battle Office (ASBO).

Although created on Aug. 12, the Pentagon officially announced the office's creation with a Nov. 9 press release. The small group, with a core of about 12 to 15 officers, is drawn from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
Its charter is to examine the full range of threats to the United States, from more traditional air, sea and land-based threats to space and the cyber environment. ASBO is also, according to defense officials, about assuring the ability to move into contested areas and clear them of a threat - also known as anti-access, area denial capabilities.
"It's about access and freedom of action and making sure you have enough of what you need to get after your goals and protect and preserve your vital assets," one defense official said Wednesday at a press background briefing.
The Pentagon stressed that the office is "not about a specific actor, not about a specific regime." Officials resisted efforts by reporters to link the effort to China's rising capabilities.
"We're talking about taking our current state to a higher level," said one defense official.
"Air-Sea Battle represents change," the official said. "Three dimensions of change - institutional, conceptional and material."
Broadly, a Pentagon official agreed, the concept is a highly classified clearinghouse, set up to consider a wide range of current and potential threats. ASBO is charged with gaining familiarity with a vast number of capabilities and potential responses already available in the military, and matching them with threats.
"This is not about telling the combatant commanders to do their job," a defense official stressed. "It's about maintaining a military advantage to operate in the global commons."
A key priority for the office, a defense official said, is "to develop air and naval forces that are integrated."
The Army, for the time being, is not a significant player in the ASBO construct, although one officer is assigned to the group. Officials stressed that the office will evolve and mature, and will not be tied to a specific doctrine or set of responses.
"There is a nearly limitless number of things we can look at to challenge integration," one defense official said.
A report on the group's efforts will be issued, defense officials said, but "the report is not the end state."
Pentagon officials stressed the group has top-level support and will establish "an enduring relationship."
"They're actually very serious about this," an official said.

India Presses Russians on Smerch Problems

NEW DELHI - India is pressing Russia about Smerch multibarrel rocket launchers (MRBLs) that Indian Army officials say have problems with their firing system. The Army is also having difficulties obtaining spare parts for the Russian-built weapons.
An Indian delegation raised the matters last month at a joint meeting in Moscow, Defence Ministry sources said. The outcome of the meeting was not known.

A Russian diplomat here said the firing system problems occur only in isolated cases, and noted that the Army had tested the weapons before bringing them into service.
The Indian Army needs more Smerches, despite the technical problem, an Army official said.
India bought the Smerch in 2005 and 2006. New Delhi asked for technology transfer, but Russia refused.
The Army relies heavily on the Smerch MRBLs, which can fire 12 rockets at once and hit targets out to 70 kilometers, along with the Russian-origin Grad 122mm rocket systems and indigenous Pinaka MRBL.
Its range can be extended to 90 kilometers, the Army official said. It can also launch surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, he added.