South East Asia Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Russia’s Uralvagonzavod to supply Vietnam with 64 T-90 main battle tanks

The UralVagonZavod (UVZ) has signed the contract to provide 64 T-90S third-generation main battle tanks for the People’s Army of Vietnam, the corporation said in the 2016 report published on Tuesday.

The report identifies foreign contracts among its priorities, noting, among others “a contract with … Contractor 704 to deliver 64 T-90S/SK tanks.”

Under the Russian state standard of national codes, number 704 is assigned to Vietnam.

The T-90S main battle tank (MBT) is a new-generation hi-tech weapon system developed drawing on century-long experience gained in world and Russian tankbuilding industries, lessons learned from combat use of tanks in various countries around the world, studies and analysis of their field service and intensive trials in the most severe environments.

The T-90S is a tracked combat vehicle featuring lethal armament, advanced fire control system, heavy armor protection and high maneuverability. Its main armament is a 125mm increased-accuracy smoothbore gun with a built-in boresighting system and a quick-release barrel. The gun is stabilized in two planes and is loaded by an autoloader.

The autoloader ensures a high rate of fire (up to 7 to 8 rounds per minute) which favorably distinguishes the T-90S from most of foreign MBTs. The ammunition load includes high-performance APFSDS, HE and HEAT rounds. The tank gun’s capabilities to engage ground and low-level air targets have been enhanced through the use of a guided missile system: a laser-beam-riding HEAT missile is chambered by the autoloader and then fired by the gun.

A 12.7mm roof-mounted machine gun enables the commander to deliver pinpoint fire on air and ground targets using remote control actuators.

The tank is fitted with an automated fire control system allowing the gunner and the commander to effectively fire the gun, coaxial machine and antiaircraft machine gun at the halt and on the move, day and night.

The T-90SK tank is designed to provide command and control over subordinate units, facilitate communications with superior commanders, and conduct operations as
part of units and subunits.

This command tank is a derivative of the T-90S tank and is distinguished by an R-168-100KBE HF radio set, TNA-4-3 tank navigation equipment set and PAB-2M aiming circle.

Its basic specifications are on par with the baseline T-90S model. The command tank’s armament system, protection systems, power plant, transmission, running gear, vision devices, deep-water fording kit, self-entrenching equipment, and mine-clearing equipment mountings are similar to those of the T-90S MBT.

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Thailand orders eight additional T-50TH trainer

Thailand has ordered eight additional Korea Aerospace Industries T-50TH advanced jet trainer aircraft.

The deal was approved by Thailand's cabinet on 11 July, says a source familiar with the acquisition. Media reports in from Thailand peg the value of the deal at Bt8.8 billion ($259 million). A contract signing is likely later this month.

This follows a deal in September 2015 for four T-50TH jets. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that two aircraft from this original order will be delivered in December 2017, and two in June 2018.

Fleets Analyzer shows that Thailand operates 19 Dornier Alpha Jets with an average age of 35.1 years, and 35 Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross jets with an average age of 23.8 years.

The Alpha Jet's primary role is listed as ground attack, with a secondary trainer mission. The L-39s, however, are primarily used as trainers, with a secondary role as ground attack platforms.

Powered by the General Electric F404 engine, Thailand's T-50THs will replace the L-39s.

Fleets Analyzer shows 180 T-50 family aircraft in service. Firm orders, not including the additional Thailand jets, stand at 22.

Users include South Korea (145), Indonesia (15), the Philippines (12), and Iraq (six). The T-50 also forms the basis of Lockheed Martin's bid for the USAF's T-X competition to replace the aged T-38 Talon jet trainer with at least 350 new aircraft.

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Boeing Completes Deliveries of F-15SG Jets to Singapore
Boeing has completed the delivery of eight more F-15SG Eagle multirole fighter jets to Singapore, according to data from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

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Jura said:

Sunday at 6:28 PM
I'm wondering what would have to fall so that World noticed, would it be Davao? or it would have to be Manila ...
Admiral: Southeast Asia could be next front for war against ISIS

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The Philippine president flew for the first time Thursday to a besieged southern city to cheer troops who have been trying to quell a nearly two-month uprising by Islamic State group-linked militants, who he warned were plotting to attack other cities.

Clad in a camouflage uniform, President Rodrigo Duterte gave a talk to troops and inspected recovered rebel rifles and other weapons in a military camp in Marawi city that is outside of the battle zone but remains dangerous because of stray bullets.

His past attempts to fly to the lakeside city were aborted because of bad weather.

"The soldiers and police are very happy over his visit because this proves that the president is very firm, very dedicated in supporting most specially the operations here," military spokesman Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera told reporters.

Duterte thanked the troops for their heroism and sacrifices, Herrera said.

Duterte told Congress in a letter this week that even though troops have regained control of much of Marawi and killed hundreds of militants, "the rebellion persists and a lot more remains to be done to completely quell the same." The militants' leadership, he said, remains largely intact and has funded diversionary attacks on other southern cities.

The seven-page letter, a copy of which was seen by reporters Thursday, aims to convince lawmakers to extend Duterte's 60-day declaration of martial law in the south until the end of the year. The statements in the letter appear to differ from his assurance last week that the Marawi crisis, the most serious he has faced so far, could end in 10 to 15 days.

In a separate report to the Senate, the military said the attackers' main leader, Isnilon Hapilon, "allowed the escape of 96 young recruits fighting in Marawi and instructed them to continue jihad outside Marawi." Jihad is an Arabic word that militants use to refer to "holy war."

Waving IS group-style black flags, the heavily armed fighters stormed into Marawi, a center of Islamic faith in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, on May 23, occupying buildings, houses and mosques and taking hostages. Several foreign fighters, including 20 Indonesians and a Malaysian financier known as Mahmud bin Ahmad, joined the insurrection, the president said.

Officials say at least 565 people, including 421 militants and 99 soldiers and policemen, have been killed in the worst urban uprising by Muslim militants in the volatile south in decades. Nearly half a million residents have been displaced in Marawi and outlying towns by the fighting.

Duterte wrote in his letter that the leadership of the Marawi siege "largely remains intact despite the considerable decline in the number of rebels fighting in the main battle area." Other radical armed bands "are ready to reinforce Isnilon Hapilon's group or launch diversionary attacks and similar uprisings elsewhere," he said.

Intelligence reports that Hapilon sent funds and ordered allied militants to launch attacks in key cities across the south have been validated, he said.

The attackers' lasting power and large arsenal of weapons have surprised Duterte and his top security officials, who acknowledged they underestimated the combat strength of the militants and their preparations, including the stockpiling of assault firearms in lakeside Marawi. Troops long used to fighting insurgents in the jungles have struggled to rout the gunmen from Marawi's dense urban sprawl.

Despite the large number of troops and checkpoints around the city, "there have been reported entries of reinforcements, weapons, ammunitions and other logistical supplies from outside Marawi city through clandestine routes," Duterte told the lawmakers. Followers of local politicians have backed the siege, which was partly funded by drug money, he said.

The crisis has sparked alarm that the IS group may be gaining a foothold in Southeast Asia, through allied local militants, as it faces major setbacks in Syria and Iraq. The United States and Australia have deployed surveillance planes to Marawi, and China has provided weapons for Filipino troops, including those fighting in the besieged city.

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Thailand to Buy T-50TH Aircraft with ELTA Radars

Thailand will acquire eight KAI T-50 Golden Eagle lead-in fighter trainers from South Korea. The aircraft will replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s fleet of 40 Aero Vodochody L-39ZA/ART Albatros
Thailand’s military government has approved the acquisition of eight KAI T-50 Golden Eagle lead-in fighter trainers from South Korea, adding to four aircraft it acquired in 2015.

The $258 million deal will be paid over a three-year period, according to Air Vice Marshal Pongsak Semachai.

Designated T-50TH, the aircraft will replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s fleet of 40 Aero Vodochody L-39ZA/ART Albatros in the training and combat roles. The first four aircraft expected to be delivered by March 2018.

According to specifications released by KAI, the T-50TH will be fully combat capable, being fitted with fire control radar – expected to be the ELTA EL/M-2032 – MIL-STD-1760 databus and will have provision for the Link 16 data link.

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