India's Joint Ops Doctrine Slowly Takes Shape

NEW DELHI - A joint warfare doctrine adopted in 2010 is slowly improving coordination among India's military forces, but some experts question how effectively this is translating into real-world scenarios.
"Optimum synergy in the Indian armed forces is an oxymoron. While there is a general agreement among one and all that jointness is essential, implementation of this sentiment is lacking, in particular over ownership of assets, and professional nepotism is marring synergy today," said Rahul Bhonsle, a retired Indian Army brigadier and defense analyst here.
In 2010, India defined the joint air-land operations doctrine that seeks to harmonize operations among the three services in important military matters and greatly improve joint fighting capabilities, said a Defence Ministry official.
"On the ground, close coordination between the three wings does gets disrupted, on some occasions due to lack of understanding, which will get sorted out in the time ahead," said Mahindra Singh, a retired Indian Army major general. As future wars are likely to be short-lived, coordination among the three services is vital, he said.
The joint doctrine lays down organizations and procedures to leverage available technology toward the application of air power; however, no details are known of its operational aspects.
Defence Ministry sources said that, based on the joint warfare doctrine, more joint commands are likely to be established in addition to the Andaman Nicobar Command (ANC), which is a joint force of the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
The ANC has pooled its assets and is primarily engaged in protecting the eastern border, especially from a likely threat from China at sea. The Indian Coast Guard also has participated in several ANC exercises since the command was set up 10 years ago.
India has Army, Navy and Air Force troops on the 572-island chain, which lies less than 100 kilometers from the Indonesian coast. A joint command was established there in 2001 as part of a $2 billion plan to boost India's ability to rapidly deploy troops in the region.

European Union Imposes Arms Embargo on Syria

BRUSSELS - An arms embargo imposed on Syria May 9 by the European Union applies to weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment and spare parts. It also covers equipment of this kind that might be used for internal repression.

Syrian army troops are seen pulling out of the southern protest hub of Daraa on May 5. (Louai Beshara / AFP)

According to the decision, published in the EU's official journal May 10, it does not apply to "the sale, supply, transfer or export of non-lethal military equipment or of equipment which might be used for internal repression, intended solely for humanitarian or protective use, or for institution building programmes of the United Nations and the European Union, or for European Union and UN crisis management operations".

Nor does it apply to noncombat vehicles that have been manufactured or fitted with materials to provide ballistic protection for EU and EU member state personnel in Syria. Also exempt is protective clothing, including flak jackets and military helmets, temporarily exported to Syria by U.N. personnel, EU or EU member state personnel, representatives of the media and humanitarian and development workers and associated personnel for their personal use only.
"The EU has decided to impose restrictive measures against Syria and persons responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria. These measures include an embargo on arms and equipment that may be used for internal repression, as well as an asset freeze and a travel ban targeting a list of thirteen individuals," Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, said in a May 9 statement.
"The EU calls on President Bashar Al-Assad to choose the path of reform and national inclusive dialogue and avoid further bloodshed whilst the door remains open," she said, adding that EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria at their meeting later this month.

For U.S. Navy, Time To Say 'No'?

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The high pace of operations demanded by combatant commanders in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and on terrorism is taking its toll on the U.S. military, a top commander said May 10.
As budget growth flattens at the Pentagon, the need is becoming stronger to re-examine those demands and, in the meantime, look for ways to dial back on the response.

"There's an insatiable demand for our forces," Adm. John Harvey, head of U.S. Fleet Forces, told a lunchtime audience at a joint war-fighting conference here.
"The requirements are being driven by the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said, without questioning those war-fighting operations. But for other missions, "in my view we haven't really prioritized them."
A mechanism is needed, Harvey said, to "bring these combatant commands together."
All the armed services are charged with meeting the requirements of combatant commanders, the all-important commanders of joint commands such as Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Last May, for example, Gen. David Petraeus, in charge of operations in Afghanistan, asked the Navy to ratchet up operations to maintain two, rather than one, carrier strike groups on station in the Arabian Sea to support combat operations in Afghanistan.
The Navy turned to its Fleet Response Plan (FRP), a post-9/11 effort to make the fleet more responsive to meet operational surges. The Navy found it could not meet Petraeus' 2.0 carrier group requirement, but has been able to sustain a 1.7 level, meaning two groups are on station about 70 percent of the time.
Currently, the Enterprise strike group is supporting Afghan combat operations, with the Ronald Reagan group having just relieved the Carl Vinson group in the region.
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said earlier this year that the Navy was prepared to sustain those forces in the Central Command region for up to two years.
But the FRP was never meant to be a long-term solution, Harvey said.
"Surge capacity has become routine delivery," he declared. "For almost 10 years the Navy has essentially been operating on a demand-driven model. We have to hit the reset button."
"Over the past 10 years, meeting the demand has generated a price to be paid," Harvey said. "The piper will be paid in his time."
Part of that price has come in missed routine maintenance periods for ships, resulting in reduced service life and measurable increase in the number of failed material readiness inspections, Harvey said.
"Since 2005 an average of 50 ships a year violate our maintenance red lines in order to meet our operational commitment," he noted, adding that the number of ships failing inspections doubled from 2005 to 2009 to about 14 percent.
Harvey and his commands have been striving to reverse the worst of the trends. "We are doing an FRP reset," he said, looking at maintenance and training schedules and manning levels.
"I truly believe we have begun to reverse the most worrisome trends," he said. "We are seeing marked improvements in the material condition of our ships."
But, he said, "we have a long way to go."
"We need to take care of our ships and sailors and Marines and make sure that in the future we have the force wended," Harvey said. "Perhaps that means saying no to things today so we have the wherewithal to have the forces we need tomorrow."
At the heart of the discussion is "the sustainment of our force for the future," he declared. "The answer is a really hard look at the demand signal, how we respond to that signal."
"There has to be a conversation," he pleaded. "It has to take place. My belief is it's pretty much a one-way conversation."
The first step, he said, "is to establish a truly sustainable deployment level."
The problem is affecting all services, Harvey said. "For way too long, we have assumed the services are able now and will continue to be able to provide the same capability and ability as they have in the past," he said, calling that "an increasingly shaky presumption."
"We are each part of the greater whole. The individual components must be strong and whole."
"You cannot separate the performance of the joint force from the unique capabilities each service delivers to the joint force," he said. "At some point you have to have more certainty in terms of deployment, maintenance, training. That's what we are aiming for."
"Making the hard decisions concerning what, when and where we will dial down is a far better path to follow than the past of least resistance and take a percentage cut of what we are trying to do," Harvey said.

BAE To Provide Interim Basic Flight Training to Australia

MELBOURNE - BAE Systems Australia has won an 86.6 million Australian dollar ($93.24 million) contract to provide interim basic flight training to the Australian Defence Force over the next six years.
Beginning in January, the contract will provide initial flight screening and basic flight training until the Defence Force's new pilot training scheme, Project AIR 5428, enters service around 2017.

The contract has the option of six one-year extensions if AIR 5428 runs late.
BAE Systems has been the service provider for the Australian Defence Force Basic Flying School since 1999, operating Pacific Aerospace CT-4B Airtrainers from its facility in Tamworth, New South Wales.
"BAE Systems looks forward to maintaining and improving our partnership with defense to continue to deliver the highest quality flying training for the young men and women of the ADF," said John Quaife, general manager for aviation solutions. "We are delighted at the prospect of continuing to work with the ADF to provide all the basic pilot training requirements until a new pilot training system is determined."
The contract requires the CT-4B fleet to undergo a crashworthiness upgrade to bring it into line with the ADF's Crash Protection Policy and contemporary civil standards. BAE Systems and Aeronautical Engineers Australia tested the modifications in February, paving the way for a Supplemental Type Certificate in accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations Part 23 for crash protection requirements.

Russia's Lavrov In Baghdad To Boost Military Ties

BAGHDAD - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pushed for stronger military ties with Baghdad during talks with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari on a visit here Tuesday.
"We are ready to continue collaboration in different fields, especially in the military field," Lavrov told reporters at a news conference. "It is an important element to maintain the sovereignty of Iraq and unity of its land."

It was unclear how long Lavrov would be staying in Iraq, or which other Iraqi officials he would meet with.
The Iraqi military was dismantled and disbanded shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, and it has been taking steps to rebuild ahead of this year's American pullout.
In November, Iraq took delivery of eight Russian-made multipurpose helicopters in a $156-million deal.
It has also signed an order for 140 American M1A1 Abrams tanks, and inaugurated the first in a fleet of 15 high-speed U.S.-built patrol boats in September.
Iraq was on the verge of signing a $900 million deal with Washington to purchase F-16 fighter jets earlier this year, but diverted the funds to food for the poor amid protests over weak public services.
The 45,000 US troops currently in Iraq must withdraw by the end of the year, according to the terms of a bilateral security pact.

Taiwan To Delay Buying Arms From U.S.: Lawmaker

TAIPEI - Taiwan plans to delay buying weapons from the United States to save money so that it can phase out its decades-old conscription system, a senior lawmaker and media said Tuesday.
Taiwan's defense ministry intends to push back the due date for buying Patriot missiles from 2014 to 2017 and postpone buying Black Hawk helicopters from 2016 to 2019 or 2020, according to a statement from lawmaker Lin Yu-fang.

Lin, a defense expert, said the delay was due to the huge price tags of the weapons as well as Washington's later than expected approval of the arms sales.
Local media said the military is tightening its spending to raise money to hire professional soldiers so that it can scrap conscription in the next few years.
The United States last year unveiled a $6.4 billion arms package for Taiwan, including the Patriot missiles and Black Hawk helicopters, triggering an angry protest from Beijing.
Washington has recognized Beijing officially over Taipei since 1979, but remains the island's main arms supplier.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, although the two sides have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.
It has warned Washington repeatedly against arms sales to the island.
A defense spokesman said he could not immediately confirm the reports.

Taiwan to Deploy Supersonic Missile on Warships

TAIPEI - Taiwan has deployed a new supersonic missile on its warships in the latest response to China's rapid naval expansion, a lawmaker said May 8.

The Hsiung Feng III (Brave Wind) missile on display. (Wikipedia)

Military authorities are also mulling deploying the Hsiung Feng III - the first locally developed supersonic anti-ship missile - on mobile launchers, Lin Yu-fang of the Kuomintang party said in a statement quoting Vice Adm. Lee Hao.

"Several types of warships have been armed with Hsiung Feng IIIs [Brave Wind]," the statement said.
It was not clear how many missiles will be produced, but according to Lin, eight Perry-class frigates and seven patrol boats will be fitted with the weapon in the Tw$11.89 billion ($413 million) project.
Analysts say Hsiung Feng III, designed to cruise at a maximum speed of mach 2.0, with a range of up to 80 miles, are difficult to defend against.
Taiwan's defense ministry has expressed alarm at China's naval buildup, although experts say it may still take time for the People's Liberation Army to operate its first carrier group complete with fighter jets.
Tsai Teh-sheng, head of Taiwan's National Security Bureau, confirmed last month that Varyag, a half-completed Soviet era aircraft carrier Beijing obtained in 1998, is expected to make its maiden voyage before the end of the year.
Tsai said the warship will have "certain combat capability" and will serve as a base for China's home-grown fighter jets that are modeled on Russian-made Su-33s.
Taiwan plans to build a new stealth warship armed with guided-missiles next year in response, military officers have said.