The Biden administration has approved the sale of 16 F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters to Jordan. Here, Jordanian and U.S. F-16s wait on the flightline at Misawa Air Base, Japan, during a 2014 exercise. (Staff Sgt. Tyler McLain/Air Force)
The Biden administration said Thursday it has cleared a possible sale of as many as 16 F-16 fighters and related equipment to Jordan worth up to $4.21 billion.
The State Department also approved a possible additional sale to the United Arab Emirates of spares and repair parts for air defense systems that would bring its value up to $65 million, as well as a possible $23.7 million sale to Saudi Arabia for data and voice communication systems. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Thursday of the possible foreign military sales.
Jordan wants to buy as many as 12 F-16C and four F-16D fighters, all Block 70s, as well as 21 F100 engines, either made by General Electric or Pratt & Whitney, five of which would be spare engines. Lockheed Martin in Greenville, South Carolina, will be the principal contractor for this sale.
The arms package would also include numerous weapons and systems to arm the fighters, such as six AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods, 72 LAU-129 missile rail launchers, 21 M61A1 Vulcan cannons, 100 KMU-556 Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits for 2,000-pound GBU-31 bombs, 102 KMU-572 JDAM tail kits for 500-pound laser JDAM GBU-54 bombs, 200 MK-84 or BLU-117 or equivalent bomb bodies, 204 MK-82 or BLU-111 or equivalent bomb bodies, ammunition, smoke flares and flare cartridges.
Jordan also wants to buy 31 Link 16 Low-Volume Terminals for both aircraft and ground stations, radars, mission computers, GPS navigation systems with anti-spoofing modules and multiple other pieces of equipment.
The sale would mean fewer than 20 U.S. contractors would be assigned to Jordan for three years to provide on-site logistics support.
State said the fighter sale would help modernize Jordan’s air force and make sure its military can continue to work together effectively with U.S. and coalition forces on common goals such as fighting terrorist or other violent extremist groups.
A THAAD interceptor is launched from the Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, during Flight Test THAAD-23 on Aug. 30, 2019. (Missile Defense Agency)
The UAE Foreign Military Sales Order would provide more spares and repair parts for the Homing All the Way Killer, or HAWK, Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target, or Patriot, and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, weapons systems, as well as additional logistics and other support.
State had already approved a deal for this equipment in a previous $30 million sale; the latest proposed amended foreign military sale case would extend that by three additional years and bring the total value to $65 million.
The sale approval comes weeks after UAE used one of its THAAD systems to intercept a ballistic missile during a Jan. 17 attack by Houthi militants in Abu Dhabi, which marked the first time THAAD is known to have been used in a military operation. The Lockheed Martin-made system destroyed a midrange ballistic missile fired at an Emirati oil facility near Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. and French forces.
Saudi Arabia is also approved to buy 31 Block 2 Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals, or MIDS-LVTs. These will be added to a previous $3 million sale of 11 Block 1 MIDS-LVTs.
The newly-purchased MIDS-LVTs are intended to be installed on THAAD platforms. The first round of MIDS-LVTs were installed on Patriot systems.
DARPA flies a Black Hawk helicopter without a pilot for 30 minutes
The Black Hawk is kitted out with Sikorsky Matrix autonomous flying technology.
DARPA’s ALIAS program was used to fly the helicopter autonomously.
The Black Hawk was kitted out with Sikorsky Matrix autonomous flying technology, and DARPA says it repeated the “uninhabited flight” on Monday.
“Pilots can focus on mission management instead of the mechanics,” Stuart Young, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said in a statement. “ALIAS … includes the ability to operate aircraft at all times of the day or night, with and without pilots, and in a variety of difficult conditions, such as contested, congested, and degraded visual environments.”
The US military has been experimenting with autonomous helicopters for years. For instance, the Navy has been evaluating Northrop Grumman’s unmanned MQ-8C Fire Scout for close to a decade, and a self-flying K-Max helicopter delivered cargo to Marines in remote locations in Afghanistan.
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The use of artificial intelligence in military applications is undeniably growing. While many systems are at an experimental stage, the technology is maturing rapidly.
At the end of 2021, NATO officially implemented its first artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. The paper sets out the challenges the military faces when using AI and recognises six basic principles for using it responsibly, with collaboration at the forefront. Similarly, the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) executive research agency the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) stresses the importance of responsible and trustworthy use of AI applications.
NATO strategy
The NATO document says AI will support the alliance in its three core tasks: collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security. The strategy also presses the importance of committing to collaboration and cooperation among member states if NATO is to retain the technological edge. This would include allies and members building on existing adoption efforts to ensure interoperability, and standardisation, which is integral to NATO.
AI technology is evolving at a radical pace and the potential capabilities it offers are clear. But how NATO will manage to harmonise different countries’ approaches remains an issue, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) research fellow for defence and military analysis Dr Simona R. Soare believes.
“For countries like the United States, it is a priority that allies agree practical guidelines for the operational use of AI-enabled systems and the necessary data-sharing, a challenge that should not be underestimated,” she wrote in an IISS blog post.
“Some allies, meanwhile, are not satisfied with the granularity of the six principles of responsible use, while others consider that overemphasising the normative approach risks ceding technological advantage to peer competitors.”
The six principles are lawfulness, responsibility and accountability, explainability and traceability, reliability, governability and bias mitigation. While the strategy aims to provide a foundation for NATO and its allies to encourage the progress of AI applications by responsible means, it also aims to protect and monitor its related technologies and innovative aspect by addressing security policy considerations.
Soare thinks, however, that the extent to which NATO is willing to adopt AI is also questionable.
She says: “The strategy is meant to be implemented in a phased approach, partly to build political support for AI military projects. Initial ambitions seem modest, reportedly focusing on mission planning and support, smart maintenance and logistics for NATO capabilities, data fusion and analysis, cyber defence, and optimisation of back-office processes. As political acceptance grows and following periodic reviews of the strategy’s implementation, the goal is to also include more complex operational applications.”
The strategic document, Soare says, is not clear on the allocation of roles and resources of the different NATO and national innovation bodies, and how each body would coordinate to implement the AI strategy.
“While NATO has adopted the AI strategy, there is no dedicated line of funding for it. Finance will depend on a combination of common budget funding and off-budget mechanisms such as the NATO Innovation Fund. Besides the uncertainty over the availability of funding, some Alliance agencies are concerned that their budgets could be cut and redistributed towards the implementation of the AI strategy,” she writes in her blog.
Delivering AI for the UK
“Future conflicts may be won or lost on the speed and efficacy of the AI solutions employed,” says the 2021 Defence Command Plan.
Drawing upon the MOD’s Integrated Review, Defence Command Plan and Integrated Operating Concept, Dstl’s vision sets out the roadmap of how to deliver AI and automation capabilities rapidly. Dstl believes that the one thing that connects future physical systems, virtual systems and data science is AI.
At the heart of the delivery approach lies continuous development and experimentation that involves agile software development and close end-user engagement. The vision recognises the importance AI will play in multi-domain integration, but equally understands the importance of collaboration between the UK Government, the military, industry and tech sector in delivering the AI vision.
The approximate funding allocated for suppliers to work with Dstl on AI projects is £7m in the financial year 2021/22 but is set to increase to £29m in the next one.
Similarly to the NATO strategy, Dstl aims to help the MOD understand how AI can be adopted ethically and responsibly while it enhances defence capabilities. Potential applications developed under this vision include autonomous platforms, computer network defence, sensing, logistics and security. To achieve these, however, requires establishing user confidence and making adoption easier.
Successful AI applications
Dstl opened its new National Innovation Centre for Data in Newcastle (NICD) last year, expanding the UK’s capabilities by creating a new AI and data science unit. The NICD addresses the shortage of data analytics skills in the country and helps companies and organisations to exploit data.
But it is not all about concepts and research. At a successful sea demonstration in 2021 during a three-week NATO exercise called Formidable Shield, the Royal Navy tested two AI-based applications on the Type 45 Destroyer HMS Dragon and Type 23 Frigate HMS Lancaster.
Canadian IT expert CGI’s System Coordinating Integrated Effect Assignment (SYCOIEA) platform detects supersonic missile threats earlier than conventional systems and provides a rapid hazard assessment to commanders so they can take the most adequate countermeasure option.
The second system was British engineering company Roke’s autonomous Startle system, designed to support sailors with continuous monitoring. It can detect contacts that exhibit anomalous or suspicious behaviours and create alerts to operators to enhance preparedness and counter-action.
Meanwhile, on the ground, soldiers from the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade deployed an AI engine prototype specifically designed for British Army operations. The system was developed by Dstl and the Army Headquarters Directorate of Information and defence industry partners, including IBM, ESRI and Janes.
It aims to save time and effort, and can help personnel operate more effectively by quickly analysing the surroundings and providing information. The demonstration aimed to explore ways to build trust in the AI system.
M1 Abrams are the only active main battle tanks of the US Army
Via: Sgt. Christopher McCullough
Main battle tanks are key military weapons as they provide direct fire and durability on the battlefield. Today, it’s common to see military units that consist of main battle tanks only, as these weapons are advanced enough to perform operations without other units. In modern years, their impressive development led to awesome machines with very powerful armor and high-tech systems.
Some top-class battle tanks are the Challenger 2 of the United Kingdom, the K2 Black Panther of South Korea, and the German Leopard 2A7. For many, the German tank wins any comparison, something that makes it the most powerful in the world. The best American of this kind, the M1A2 SEP, is not far behind the European masterpiece. The US Army battle tank is a part of the M1 Abrams line that started back in 1979.
M1 Abrams
Via: US Air Force
The M1 Abrams are legendary tanks that started serving the US Army in 1980. They have proved countless times their reliability and effectiveness as they have served in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and more. The manufacturing companies are the Lima Army Tank Plant and the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant (from 1982 to 1996). Their designer is Chrysler Defense, which have now the name General Dynamics Land Systems. In total, the companies built more than 10,000 units.
The M1A2 Abrams are third-generation main battle tanks and some of the heaviest in the world. Currently, there are three operational versions of the Abrams line: the M1, the M1A1 and the M1A2. The US Army was planning on replacing the tanks with the Future Combat Systems XM1202, but the project got canceled. Now, the the Army plans on maintaining the current Abrams and upgrade them in any possible way.
The MIA2 started production in 1986 and the first one started serving for the US Army in 1992. The M1A2 provides the tank commander with a thermal sight and can shoot two targets at the same time. The armor consists of second generation depleted uranium.
Then, the System Enhancement Package (SEP) upgrade came and changed the already improved capabilities of the M1A2. The M1A2 SEP is still today the backbone of the armored forces of the United States. In total, the US built 240 new M1A2 SEPs, upgraded 300 M1A2 thanks to the SEP version, and also upgraded 400 M1A1s to the MI1A2 SEP configuration.
The armor of the SEP version has upgraded deplete uranium components that makes it one of the best in the world. The Army can extend the level of protection by adding explosive reactive armor. The weapon of the tank is the 120 mm M256 that has a range of 2.5 miles. The weapon shoots M829A3 APFSDS ammunition and M1028 rounds. The second choice is an excellent ammunition against infantry targets at the range of 0.12 to 0.3 miles.
There is a modern and capable fire control system in the tank with a ballistic computer. The two thermal sights use second generation FLIR technology that also provides night vision capabilities. The main battle tank also features a digital battlefield management system that can distinguish friendly and enemy targets. The system display at live-time the location of nearby friendly vehicles. The crew of four includes the commander, the gunner, the loader, and the driver. The AGT 1500 gas turbine engines develop 1,500 hp and provides decent performance to the vehicle.
Its thick armor and powerful 88 mm gun meant it could take on pretty much anything that Britain, America and the Soviet Union had.
via Tank Encyclopedia
In the earlier years of the Second World War, Germany’s technological and military might kept it well ahead of the opposition. It had aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and of course had perfected its tactics when out on the battlefield. What it also had was a lot of highly developed, well armored and powerful tanks that could take on pretty much anything the Allied forces could throw at them. Then in 1942, the German’s introduced a tank that would strike fear and terror into the minds of many an Allied solider and tanksmen.
The tank was officially called the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E. It is better known to us though as the Tiger I. The Tiger tank was first seen in 1942 in Africa and the Soviet Union, and it was one of the most fearsome tanks ever built. Its thick armor and powerful 88 mm gun meant it could take on pretty much anything that Britain, America and the Soviet Union had. There were some issues surrounding it, such as its low production output and its complexity, but despite those problems, the Tiger I was able to instill fear into Allied ground forces like no other vehicle ever built.
The Development Of The Tiger I
via Tank Encyclopedia
The origin of the Tiger I can be traced back to early 1937, with attempts by Henschel & Sohn to create a large tank for the German Army’s Weapons Agency, the Waffenamt. However, the real need for the Tiger I came around 1941. When Germany encountered the large numbers of Soviet T-34s and KV-1s in Operation Barbarossa, they were utterly stunned by the potent nature of these tanks. The development of a new heavy tank was rapidly accelerated, and it ultimately led to the Tiger I after a few prototypes.
via Tank Encyclopedia
Porsche and Henschel competed for the contract, with the latter company winning out. What they created was a leviathan of a tank. The fearsome 88 mm flak gun would be the primary armament, and at it’s maximum the Tiger I’s armor would be as strong as 120 mm. It was powered by the 690 hp Maybach HL230 P45 V12 engine, with a maximum speed of 28 mph on the roads, and around 16 cross-country. Overall, the Tiger I weighed in at around 57 tonnes at its combat weight. A light tank, this was most certainly not.
Ironically, the first known operational usage by Tigers, four of them at Leningrad in 1942, was quite underwhelming. All four were knocked out after being deployed on swampy terrain. But, the German’s soon developed their tactics with the tank, and used the heavy armor of the Tiger to its advantage. It was that armor that made the Tiger so terrifying, as Allied forces, particularly the British in North Africa, found that it was almost impenetrable, apart from around the back of the tank where the engine was. Of course, you had to somehow get around the back of the tank!
via Wikipedia
Certain stories about Tiger tanks helped cement the “Tigerphobia” experienced by Allied forces, Michael Wittman is undoubtedly the greatest Tiger tank commander ever. In one particular action in Normandy on June 13th 1944, Wittmann and his Tiger crew were able to destroy around 14 tanks and 15 personnel carriers, plus two anti-tank guns, within a period of around 15 minutes. This was a truly staggering achievement, and perhaps highlighted just how effective the Tiger I could be if used effectively by its commanders. But it wasn’t all easy going for the Tiger.
The Issues That The Tiger I Faced
via The War Games Website
One issue with the Tiger I was, due to its large tracks, it was a nightmare to transport. The tracks had to be changed for rail transport before its bigger, combat tracks were refitted when it arrived at the front. Reliability, as with a lot of German tanks, also hurt the Tiger I. This was mainly due to issues with the engine and transmission. The interleaved wheels were a nightmare if mud and ice got into them, and repairs to other wheels could take quite a while. And ultimately, the advent of tanks like the Sherman Firefly and the Churchill, plus better anti-tank guns, meant the Tiger would no longer be “invincible”. But the biggest issue, by far, was that only 1,347 Tiger I’s were ever built. Ally this with the fact that tanks such as the Sherman were so numerous, and that the Allies developed tactics to beat the Tiger I, the tank soon found itself facing stiff competition.
Senior Airman Cameron Manson inspects cargo netting on palletized ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine during a Foreign Military Sales mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Jan. 24, 2022. (Roland Balik/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon on Tuesday provided more details about the $200 million military aid package for Ukraine approved by President Joe Biden in December.
“This package includes additional Javelin and other anti-armor systems, grenade launchers, munitions, and nonlethal equipment essential to Ukraine’s front-line defenders,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman. “Those deliveries are ongoing.”
The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon reported that 79 tons of security assistance, including about 300 Javelins, arrived in Kyiv.
The package was not announced previously, but CNN broke news of the approval earlier this month.
“We have a $200 million package that the president just approved right before Christmas that we are now fulfilling,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Fox News on Monday. “I think there’s been at least two, maybe three deliveries already just in the last few days. And they will include additional Javelin anti-tank missiles. They will include some air defense systems. They will include small arms and ammunition, certainly medical support, that kind of thing.”
On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the latest tranche, authorized in December, arrived in Kyiv overnight Friday and into Saturday.
This week, the Pentagon put roughly 8,500 troops on a heightened alert in case of a Russian incursion into Ukraine, and Washington allowed the Baltic states to send American-made weapons to Ukraine.
Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $2.7 billion in security assistance to build the capacity of Ukraine’s forces, including more than $650 million in 2021 alone.
A setup of the British military’s Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP) is pictured in 2015. (British Army photo, via Wikimedia Commons)
LONDON – The British Army is upgrading its existing command-and-control, battlespace-management capabilities in a deal with Lockheed Martin UK that the contractor originally declined to bid on.
The company announced it had secured the contract Jan. 26, saying that the work would enable the early-air-defense-warning system’s out-of-service date to be extended several years to 2029.
The UK arm of Lockheed Martin, based at Ampthill in southern England, developed and supplied the system, known as the Land Environment Air Picture Provision program, or LEAPP for short, to the British in 2014, providing air situational awareness to deployed land headquarters.
LEAPP has been deployed across the world with the British Army, and most recently was deployed as a surveillance capability at two high-profile global events hosted by the UK: the G7 2021 Summit in Cornwall and the COP 26 Summit in Glasgow.
The British Army now wants to update the system and address several obsolescence issues to see the capability through to its new retirement date.
“The extended out-of-service date cements LEAPP’s importance within the land environment and air picture exchange within the land environment, so they [the MoD] saw this as a really key capability and they needed to have the obsolescence issues resolved so that it could be taken forward,” said Richard Turner, Lockheed Martin UK’s SkyKeeper business development manager.
SkyKeeper, is currently the battle management command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (BMC4I) component of the LEAPP program and a key element in Lockheed Martin’s international sales effort in the sector.
But when the Ministry of Defence originally issued its requirements to potential industry bidders Lockheed Martin, the incumbent supplier, said it couldn’t be done for the £10 million ($13.5 million) price tag the military had in mind and opted to forgo a bid.
“The MoD was trying to be as diligent as they could in order to get a capability as cheap as possible and we were just being honest and saying we can’t do what you want for that amount,” said Turner.
A handful of contractors did bid for the LEAPP update but ran into similar issues as Lockheed Martin UK. “The MoD sought potential resolution from other companies, but basically the rest of industry were unable to provide the capability the MoD needed for the money they wanted to spend either,” said Turner.
“Also, we were confident LEAPP is a tremendous capability the Army had and all they needed to do was upgrade that system by finding a little extra money to enable it to be cost effective for us to do it,” said Turner.
That, effectively, is what happened. The deal Lockheed Martin UK and the MoD settled on had a price tag in the region of £20 million, or $27 million.
Despite the LEAPP contract announcement only being made public on Jan. 26 work on the program has been underway at Ampthill for several months.
To avoid entry into service timelines becoming too squeezed a first release of funds by the MoD last summer allowed Lockheed Martin to get ahead of the game on updating LEAPP, said Turner.
The announcement Jan 26 represents the final phase of the contract award.
The enhanced system will boost the Army’s existing command-and-control capability and enable it to effectively communicate via upgraded Link 16 capabilities and seamlessly plug into the wider UK defense digital backbone.
Nobody is saying exactly when the update will be complete, but the MoD’s decision to speed the program along with initial funding last year suggests the work will be finished sooner rather than later.
Updating LEAPP is part of a wider push by the British military to improve ground based air defense capabilities.
The MBDA Land Ceptor missile, called Sky Sabre by the British, became operational in the Falklands Islands last year aligned with Saab’s Giraffe surveillance radar.
Further orders for the Common Anti-Air- Modular missile and related systems for the British Army were promised in last year’s defense review but have yet to be agreed with industry.
The US military has indicated its interest in commercial supersonic flight by granting as much as $60 million to Boom Supersonic for its airliner development efforts.
The Colorado-based company has announced that the Air Force awarded a three-year contract to Boom to accelerate research and development of its Overture airliner. Separately this week, Boom selected Piedmont
Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the site of its first full-scale manufacturing facility. There, Boom plans to begin production in 2024, with the first Overture aircraft slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026, and carry its first passengers by 2029.
Boom is designing Overture to carry between 65 and 88 passengers at subsonic speeds over land and supersonic speeds over water—more than twice as fast as current commercial aircraft. The aircraft is designed to operate on 100 percent “sustainable” fuels, and the company says the vehicle will be net-zero carbon from day one.
The Air Force is interested in the technology for rapid global travel and logistics, with potential applications such as executive transport, special operations, and reconnaissance. The Air Force is making this investment through its AFWERX program, which seeks to foster innovation within the military and bring commercial technologies to operational status more quickly. The funding for Boom, known as a Strategic Funding Increase (or STRATFI), represents a siz
able bet on supersonic aviation.
“With STRATFI, we’re able to collaborate with the Air Force on the unique requirements and needs for global military missions, ultimately allowing Boom to better satisfy the needs of the Air Force where it uses commercially derived aircraft,” Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said in a news release. “As a potential future platform for the Air Force, Overture would offer the valuable advantage of time, an unmatched option domestically and internationally.”
The government funding also represents a timely vote of confidence for Boom, which is among a number of startup companies working to develop supersonic aircraft for commercial passenger service. The money could help Boom raise additional private capital to fully fund Overture, which will require an enormous upfront investment. Boom estimates it will take $6 to $8 billion to develop Overture.
Despite two high-profile attempts last century, supersonic flight for commercial air travel has been dead for about two decades. The Soviet Tupolev supersonic aircraft flew just a few dozen commercial flights back in 1977, and the Concorde, flown by British Airways and Air France beginning in 1976, retired in 2003 after economic problems were compounded by a fatal accident in 2000.
Now, with a combination of new technologies, private capital, and efforts by NASA and others to study ways to dilute the impact of sonic booms over land, interest in supersonic commercial travel has been renewed. Outsiders, on the other hand, may have a hard time seeing past all the PR and renderings to know which companies might actually bring an aircraft into service.
The US Air Force presumably has better access to pertinent data, and now it has made a sizable bet on Boom. In turn, Boom is putting down manufacturing roots in a state where powered aircraft first took flight. Perhaps a new generation of commercial supersonic air travel will become a reality after all.
STM modernized the Turkish Naval Forces Command’s submarines. (Courtesy of STM)
After securing great success in developing, operating and exporting its domestic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Turkey is preparing for similar success stories with mini-submarines in the near future. A defense and maritime researcher said the “game changer” combat drones will have an equivalent in mini-submarines that can operate in the “Blue Homeland” that represents the seas surrounding the country.
Kozan Selçuk Erkan, who is one of the experts closely following developments, speaking on Turkey’s submarine building skills, told state broadcaster TRT Haber that there “is a quiet and deep process in line with the spirit of the submarine.”
Stating that Ankara has acquired this strategic approach thanks to the submarine construction programs that have been going on since the 1980s, Erkan points out that more localization rates and new production skills are gained with each new production.
With the development of the Reis class submarines – air-independent propulsion-system submarines developed under the New Type Submarine Project – the country’s industry has reached much higher levels, Erkan said.
Commenting on the mini-submarines, Erkan underlined that small submarines, due to their nature, will be more difficult to develop because too many subsystems need to be built into small volumes.
“But this is something our shipbuilding industry can handle now,” he said.
He said that the mini-submarine, coded as STM-500, which was developed by STM that has previously undertaken an important role in the development of the Reis class submarines, will be a platform where the rate of the domestically produced parts is set to be much higher.
“Everyone knows what kind of embargoes our country is exposed to on some strategic subsystems,” he commented, noting that “with the mini-submarines we will produce, a class will emerge in which foreign dependency in this area will remain at the lowest level.”
Describing these platforms as “powerful, high-range vehicles that can stay underwater for a long time,” Erkan pointed to Turkey’s geostrategic position, explaining: “It may not be possible to achieve the desired result with large submarines in areas such as the Aegean Sea, which is also known as the Sea of Islands, with a partially shallow depth, and the Black Sea, which is a closed sea.
“Turkey, which is on the way to becoming a global player, does need submarines like the Reis class, where technology is at the highest level.” He went on to say, “however, mini-submarines, which are cost-effective to manufacture and operate, are of vital importance for us as well for near waters.”
The products produced by Turkey in the defense industry find buyers in different markets of the world, Erkan said, and “Turkey has risen to the top league in the military shipbuilding industry in recent years,” he added.
“As for mini-submarines, we are exactly in the position of tactical class UAVs … When Turkey started to produce tactical class UAVs, there were only large class or expensive tactical UAVs in the world. It would not be wrong to say that Ankara ignited this market in the world with the right choice,” he explained.
“In the small submarine class, we are exactly at the same point currently. In other words, while the West is oriented toward either very large and expensive submarines or very technological and expensive submarines, our orientation to this type of small submarine may create a different market for us,” he added.
Erkan said that many countries in the world want to have a submarine but do not want to be under the burden of operating costs.
“I believe that national mini-submarines have the potential to be a different power multiplier just like UAVs,” he said.
The Russian Navy is kicking off several simultaneous exercises, with ships from the Baltic and Black seas and its Northern Fleet sortieing from their homeports across Europe, the Kremlin has announced.
More than 140 warships and support vessels, along with 60 aircraft and a total of 10,000 personnel, will participate in the drills, according to the Russian MoD.
But the exercises have sparked alarm within Western nations in light of tensions over Ukraine. NATO countries have been surging out ships and aircraft and are accelerating planned deployments in response to Russia’s massing of troops on its border with Ukraine. Ireland protested over Russia’s plans to hold live fire exercises 240 kilometers off the Irish coast in February. Irish fisherman have pledged to disrupt the exercise, according to the BBC.
“We are letting them know that we will be fishing in our traditional fishing areas and if this has an impact on their exercise this would be considered a peaceful protest,” Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organization, said.
“We should be entitled to go fishing there, and if we’re fishing there then these boats, these warships, shouldn’t be having war games.”
The Press Service of the Russian Northern Fleet issued two releases on Wednesday. The first said a detachment of warships and support vessels of the Northern Fleet entered the Barents Sea as part of an exercise with the Arctic Expeditionary Group of Forces and Troops. The release stated that among the ships were the cruiser RFS Marshal Ustinov (055), destroyer RFS Vice Admiral Kulakov (626), frigate RFS Admiral Flota Kasatonov (461) along with support vessels accompanying them.
Slava-class guided-missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov departs Russian Northern Fleet base Severomorsk. Russian MoD Photo
A Royal Norwegian Air Force P-3C Orion from No. 333 Squadron sighted the three warships, which were accompanied by replenishment ship Vyazma and tug SB-406, the Norwegian Armed Forces said in a Tuesday release. The Russian ships were seen at 12.20 Tuesday heading south along the Norwegian coast in the waters north of Finnmark by the P-3C, which was on a routine patrol mission. The Norwegian military did not disclose how long the P-3C followed the Russian ships, nor did it provide details on the eventual destination of the vessels, though it is likely these ships are heading to the planned live fire exercise off Ireland. It noted that Russia had announced it would be conducting major naval exercises.
A second release from Russia’s Northern Fleet said it started exercises with the Arctic expeditionary group, with Northern Fleet commander Adm. Alexander Moiseev overseeing the drills. During the exercise, the Russian Navy will evaluate the level of preparedness of the command and control organizations of the Northern fleet in planning and conducting actions to resolve crisis situations in the Arctic Ocean region, according to the news release.
The Russian Navy will also assess the coordination of actions of tactical groups of ships and units of coastal troops in the course of joint training and combat missions in the Arctic and test out tactics and methods for conducting naval combat and combat operations in the Arctic, the Northern Fleet said. It will also test out issues in protecting the communications of the Northern Sea Route and the protection and defense of Northern Fleet garrisons. The drills will include countering imaginary terrorist groups, as well as how to block and destroy them. In addition to at sea exercises, a number of exercises will take place at coastal ranges in the Murmansk region.
Up to 30 ships and submarines from the Northern Fleet, along with 20 aircraft and 1,200 personnel, will be involved in the exercise. The ships participating include destroyer RFS Severomorsk (619), frigate RFS Admiral Flota Sovetskogo SoyuzaGorshkov (454) and landing ship RFS Ivan Gren (135).
More than 20 ships of the Black Sea Fleet had departed from Sevastopol and Novorossiysk for exercises in the Black Sea, the Press Service of the Southern Military district said in a Monday news release. Minesweepers RFS Ivan Golubets, RFS Ivan Antonov and RFS Valentin Pikul carried out mine clearance for corvettes RFS Suzdalets (071) and RFS Yeysk (054), and two corvettes carried out anti-submarine drills for combatting simultaneous sea and air attacks on them, according to two releases issued today. Frigates RFS Admiral Essen (490) and RFS Ladney (861) and corvettes RFS Grayvoron (600), RFS Ingushetia (630) and RFS Naberezhnye Chelny (953) carried out air defense exercises with Russian Air Force fighter aircraft from the Southern Military District.
Meanwhile, 20 ships of the Baltic Fleet had departed their home ports to carry out exercises in the Baltic Sea, the Press Service of the Western Military District said in a Monday news release.
A separate Monday release disclosed the departure from Baltiysk of corvettes RFS Stoykiy (545) and RFS Soobrazitelny (531) for a long-range deployment that includes participation in the Russian Navy’s large scale exercise and ensuring the naval presence and display of the Russian flag in various regions of the world. It added that the ships had embarked anti-terrorist security detachments from the Baltic Fleet Marine Corps.
Over in the Arabian Sea, the Russian Pacific Fleet task group that includes cruiser RFS Varyag (011), destroyer RFS Admiral Tributs (564) and replenishment ship Boris Butoma, along with People’s Liberation Army Navy destroyer Urumqi (118) and replenishment ship Taihu (889) of the 39th Escort Task Force, carried out the joint Russian-Chinese anti-piracy exercise “Peaceful Sea-2022” on Monday. During the exercise, the Russian and Chinese ships practiced tactical maneuvering and screening, and carried out an operation to free Boris Butoma, which was acting as a seized vessel.
“The exercise further enriched the connotation of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia in the new era, accumulated useful experience for the two sides to jointly carry out anti-piracy missions, and improved the capabilities and level of the two militaries to jointly respond to maritime threats and maintain the safety of maritime strategic channels,” the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said in a news release.
The Russian Pacific Fleet Task Group is now heading to the Mediterranean Sea to join with landing ship tanks RFS Olenegorskiy Gornyak (012) and RFS Georgiy Pobedonosets (016), in addition to RFS Pyotr Morgunov (117) from the Northern Fleet and RFS Korolev (130), RFS Minsk (127), and RFS Kaliningrad (102) from the Baltic Fleet for an exercise.
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