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

Jeff Head said:

The GoWind based vessels are very decent ships.

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Jura said:

some time ago Oct 12, 2016

and now I read in Russian Internet (

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) the first of the series of Malaysian LCSs (they're based on Gowind-2500) would be launched August 24 (pennant number 2501, the name: Maharaja Lela) etc.:

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Jura said:

some time ago Oct 12, 2016

and now I read in Russian Internet (

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) the first of the series of Malaysian LCSs (they're based on Gowind-2500) would be launched August 24 (pennant number 2501, the name: Maharaja Lela) etc.:

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Jura said:

Monday at 7:48 AM

and
As battle winds down, Mindanao ulama seek end to Marawi bombardment
August 20, 2017

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One hundred days after militants loyal to Islamic State took over parts of a southern Philippine city, the military is confident the end is in sight for what has been its biggest security crisis in years.

After a lightning strike on May 23 on Marawi City, the Dawla Islamiya rebel alliance has held out against daily artillery bombardment and air strikes by jets and bombers, and its snipers remain placed in the rubble of the city’s business district.

But now, says Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the military’s Marawi task force, rebel-held areas are shrinking, and there are signs the fighters are low on food and ammunition, and starting to flag.

“Hopefully, the Marawi siege is going to be over within the next few weeks,” he told reporters.

“Their strength continues to decline. We are inflicting casualties on them almost every day.”

The military has, however, missed repeated targets and deadlines to crush the rebels, whose strength and resolve it accepts it has under-estimated. The conflict in the southern region of Mindano has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and killed nearly 800 by government count - 133 soldiers and police, 45 civilians and an estimated 617 militants.

Residents say they fear the bodies of many more civilians could be in the rubble of the lakeside city. Estimates of civilians trapped in the fighting at one point were over 2,000, although authorities say 1,728 have been rescued.

The Red Cross says it is investigating the whereabouts of 179 missing people.

The protracted occupation has heightened concerns that Islamic State’s radical ideology may have gained a deeper foothold in the southern Philippines than was previously imagined, and raised questions about whether the military can contain a wider rebellion.

The presence of foreigners among the fighters is fanning fears that Mindanao could become a draw for extremists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, and those being pushed out of Syria and Iraq.

Armed forces chief Eduardo Ano said strategic gains had been made against the Islamist militants in the past week, including retaking the police headquarters and the city’s central mosque.

All routes in and out of Marawi had been sealed off, he said on Tuesday, and the hard core of about 50 rebels were preparing for their “last stand” and would have to decide whether to surrender, or be martyred.

NO WAY OUT
“That’s our main goal: No way out, no way in,” Ano said.

“If they want to go to heaven as they declared, we will give them the chance.”

The Marawi fighting has been the biggest security crisis of the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, who declared martial law in Mindanao until the end of the year, and has urged lawmakers to approve funds to beef up the army by 20,000 troops.

On Wednesday, he said the conflict was by no means “the beginning and the end” of an extremism problem that stemmed from decades of separatist unrest.

Experts say the ability of two hardline groups from different parts of Mindanao - the relatively new Maute group, and the more established Abu Sayyaf - to carefully plan each step of the takeover of a city illustrates the ease in which extremists could organize and rally around Islamic State’s agenda.

The military says key to countering that will be whether it can kill or capture the main leaders, who it believes are still inside a conflict zone of about half a square kilometer (0.2 sq miles) in size.

One challenge will be securing what are believed to be dozens of hostages. Failure to do that could be a disaster for a military already criticized for the massive destruction caused by air strikes that have had mixed results. In two instances, the bombs have hit ground troops.

Duterte said the reason why the battle had gone on so long was because of the government’s desire to keep hostages safe and to avoid bombing a mosque where rebel leaders were believed to be taking shelter.

“It would have just created more animosity and outright hostility against the government,” he said.

Rodolfo Biazon, a former lawmaker and military chief, said that after Marawi is retaken, the government should seek more than a military solution and try to stop rebels from regrouping, by targeting recruitment and tackling radical ideology at the grassroots level.

“Remove the community support, and it will not last long. This should be the primary effort,” Biazon said.

“All Islamic radical groups should be targeted not physically alone, but psychologically by removing the water from the fish.”

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Indonesia receives first ARISGATOR amphibious vehicles

The Indonesian National Armed Forces have taken delivery of its first five M113 Arisgator amphibious armored personnel carriers from Italy.

According to the

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еhe first five amphibious armoured personnel carriers were delivered on board a transport aircraft of Singapore Airlines. The Arisgator is an amphibious version of fully tracked armored personnel carrier developed by the Italian company of ARIS SpA (Applicazioni Rielaborazioni Impianti Speciali).

The M113 Arisgator is a light and reliable amphibious vehicle capable of performing several tasks at very low costs. To improve the amphibious characteristics of the M113 a special oceanic kit has been developed by ARIS, which enables the vehicle to operate safely in ship-to-shore operations as well as rivers.

This kit weighs between 1,350 and 1,700 kg including bow, roof and stern units, all of which are made of light alloy as is the basic M113 series hull.

The Arisgator can carry eight fully equipped troops and can also be fitted with various external weapon stations.

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Jeff Head said:

The GoWind based vessels are very decent ships.

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The Maharaja Lela Class littoral combat ships (LCS) are being built by Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN). The ships are also referred to as second-generation patrol vessels (SGPV).

In July 2014, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Malaysia placed a contract worth approximately $2.8bn with BNS for the construction of six LCS platforms. The official rendering of the LCS was unveiled by the RMN in August 2014.

The keel for the first vessel in class, Maharaja Lela (2501), was laid at Boustead Naval Shipyard in Lumut, in March 2016. The ship was launched in August 2017 and is scheduled to enter service with the Royal Malaysian Navy in 2019. The keel for the second ship was laid in February 2017.

The LCS platforms are intended to perform littoral patrol and surveillance, protection of exclusive economic zone (EEZ), search-and-rescue (SAR), as well as anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-air warfare missions.

Maharaja Lela-class design details
The warship is based on the design of

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corvette developed by Naval Group (formerly DCNS). The stealth platform offers a reduced radar cross-section (RCS), and acoustic, infrared and magnetic signatures.

It has an overall length of 111m, an overall beam of 16m and a hull draught of 3.8m. It has a displacement of 3,100t and can carry a crew of 118.

The LSC features an aft helicopter deck to support the operations of a single helicopter with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 10t, and a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Weapon systems aboard Malaysian Navy's second-generation patrol vessels
The main gun fitted on the forward bow deck will be a BAE Systems Mk3 57mm equipped with a fully automatic, computerised loading system. It will be accommodated in a stealthy turret to reduce the vessel's radar cross-section. The gun can handle 120 ready-to-fire rounds, fire at a maximum rate of four rounds a second and engage targets at a maximum distance of 17km.

The vessel will also be armed with a 16-cell Sylver (SYstème de Lancement VERtical) vertical launching system (VLS) for firing short-range surface-to-air missiles, and two quadruple launchers for Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The NSM can strike sea and land-based targets at a range exceeding 200km.

Two DS30M Mark 2 cannons and two triple-tube J+S lightweight torpedo launchers for firing Nato-compatible lightweight torpedoes will also be included on the vessel.

Sensors/radars aboard LCS
The vessel will be installed with two SharpEye Doppler radars, a Smart-S Mk2 3-D surveillance radar, and a Captas-2 low-frequency active and passive variable-depth sonar. The Smart-S radar detects and tracks small surface targets, helicopters and anti-ship missiles within a maximum range of 250km.

Other systems on-board the vessel will include two Rheinmetall TMX/EO Mk2 fire-control radars and a TMEO Mk2 electro-optical tracking system.

Communications and countermeasures
The communications will be complemented by R&S NAVICS next-generation integrated communication systems suite, including voice and mobile voice terminals with state-of-the-art intuitive graphical user interfaces.

Self-defence against hostile threats will be provided by a Super Barricade

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system and a Thales Vigile radar electronic support measures (RESM) system.

Propulsion of Maharaja Lela-Class
The Maharaja Lela-Class will be equipped with a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) propulsion system integrating four MTU diesel engines driving two variable pitch propellers through two shafts.

Its propulsion system will provide a maximum operational speed of 28kt and range of 5,000nmi at an economical speed of 15kt.

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Jura said:

Aug 20, 2017
now
After 100 days, Philippine army says 'last stand' near for Marawi fighters
August 30, 2017

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The

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military has teamed up with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters as it prepares for a final assault against the Maute armed group in the southern city of Marawi.

Soldiers were seen mingling freely with several hundred MILF fighters who have joined forces for an assault on fighters on the southern island of Mindanao.

The joint operation is the latest tactic by the Philippine government to try to stamp out fighters linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (

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, also known as ISIS) group after months of battling a separate faction of fighters who have besieged the city of Marawi.

The alliance with MILF included "providing them with indirect fire support and even air support and other expertise," Major-General Arnel dela Vega told AFP, adding that the awkwardness of fighting alongside former long-time foes had evaporated.

The Maute group, who have pledged allegiance to the ISIL group took control of Marawi in May. After a three-month siege, the fighters now control only a 500sq metre area.

More than 100 soldiers have died while almost 500 fighters have been killed, according to the Philippine military.

Thousands, including children, have been displaced due to the conflict and now live in host communities or 75 centres across Mindanao.

One man, who only identified himself as Ansari, told Al Jazeera that he refused an offer of $500 and an M16 rifle by the Maute to fight alongside them.

"They are evil. What they do is evil," he said.

"Look how they destroyed Marawi. I wouldn't be a part of them."

He said that many others who accepted the offer did so out of desperation, not ideology.

Vega said troop units would not merge with the MILF fighting groups because they had "different operational tactics and procedures" in the conflict.

"By and large the result has been substantially in our favour," he said.

Meanwhile, the

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has committed $14.3m in emergency relief and recovery assistance for communities affected by the ongoing conflict in Marawi and its surrounding areas.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim announced the donation during a round table discussion with journalists at the US Embassy in Manila.

The aid is in the form of safe drinking water, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, shelter materials and 18 facilities with critical supplies and services to address tuberculosis and maternal, newborn and child health needs.

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