Jane's Defence Weekly - Asia/Pacific

Asia/Pacific

Taiwan's Cloud Leopard to enter series production in November
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on 15 March that series production of the Cloud Leopard (CM-32) armoured personnel carrier (APC) will begin ...
17-Mar-2010

*Indigenous Chinese helicopter makes maiden flight
China's 'new' AC313 medium-lift transport helicopter made its maiden flight from Changhe Aircraft Industries Group test facilities in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, on 13 March. ...
16-Mar-2010

AVIC seeks funds for 20-ton helicopter project
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has urged central government to allocate funds to develop a 20-ton helicopter platform for military and commercial ...
16-Mar-2010

*South Korea's utility helo makes maiden flight
The Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) Surion light transport helicopter made its maiden flight from the company's Sacheon facility on 10 March. According to KAI,...
16-Mar-2010

Pakistan displays naval offensive capabilities during demonstration
Pakistan's navy carried out the largest demonstration of its missile capabilities in years on 12 March, using submarines, surface ships and aircraft. The exercise...
15-Mar-2010

Elbit wins major Australian Army communications deal
The Australian Department of Defence has signed a AUD349 million (USD319 million) contract with Israel's Elbit Systems for the supply of an electronic battle ...
15-Mar-2010

Audit finds 46% of ADF munitions is non-serviceable
Some 46 per cent of Australian Defence Force (ADF) explosive ordnance is non-serviceable, according to an Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report released on ...
15-Mar-2010

Australian DoD pledges to investigate claims of questionable procurement
Australian Defence Minister John Faulkner has pledged to investigate local media reports claiming that a number of luxury items - including oil paintings, golf ...
12-Mar-2010

Indonesia's Super Tucano purchase delayed by loan process
The Indonesian government is finalising a loan worth USD142 million for the procurement of eight aircraft to replace the Indonesian Air Force's (TNI-AU's) grounded ...
12-Mar-2010

Putin arrives in India to sign major defence deals
India has approved a series of agreements with Russia for military hardware valued at over USD4 billion. The deals were scheduled to be signed ...
12-Mar-2010

Afghan president dismisses Pakistani training offer
Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has dismissed a proposal by Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, to train recruits for the nascent Afghan National Army ...
12-Mar-2010

*AgustaWestland receives lift with Indian AW101 contract
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a EUR560 million (USD765 million) contract for 12 AgustaWestland AW101 medium-lift helicopters to transport VIPs, the company announced...
12-Mar-2010

Indian LOH contenders complete winter trials
The first round of winter trials in support of the Indian military's long pending requirement for 197 light observation helicopters (LOHs) estimated at around ...
12-Mar-2010

No delay in wartime command transfer, says South Korea
South Korea will retake control of the operational wartime command (OPCON) in the Korean Peninsula from the United States as scheduled on April 2012, ...
11-Mar-2010

India clears $4bn of Russian military agreements
The Indian Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cleared USD4 billion worth of military agreements with Russia on 10 March ...
11-Mar-2010

Israel targets Indian market opportunities
Israel expects its defence sales with India to soar in the coming year following New Delhi's decision to boost its defence budget by 4 ...
11-Mar-2010

India approves additional payment for delayed Scorpene programme
The Indian government has approved the payment of an additional INR19 billion (USD413 million) to France's DCNS for the import of a variety of ...
11-Mar-2010

China's Yaogan-9 may be ocean surveillance satellite
A Long March-3 space launch vehicle dispatched a Chinese Yaogan-9 surveillance satellite from the Jiuquan Space Launch Center on 5 March. Although China's state...
11-Mar-2010

Saab submits older Gripen for Indian MMRCA evaluation
Saab has said that its chances of winning the Indian Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest will not be affected by its decision to submit...
11-Mar-2010

India on course for usual trend of budget underspend
The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) spent INR241.2 billion (USD5.3 billion) on defence procurement until the end of February: less than two-thirds of the ...
09-Mar-2010

Recession delays New Zealand White Paper
The publication of New Zealand's defence White Paper will be delayed by six months due to economic pressures, New Zealand Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has...
09-Mar-2010

Scale of Afghan air ops pose challenges to coalition planners
Such is the current scale of air operations over southern Afghanistan that the safe management of the main air bases in the region, and ...
08-Mar-2010

Chinese defence budget prompts mixed market response
China's defence budget rise was greeted with an indifferent response on the country's stock exchanges on 5 March as the value of the country's listed...
08-Mar-2010

Boeing to shut Australian manufacturing plant
Boeing has announced that it intends to close a production plant in Bankstown, Sydney, in 2012 as part of efforts to better utilise its ...
08-Mar-2010

*China deploys new Z-9 to Gulf of Aden
For its fifth deployment to the Gulf of Aden China has deployed a new version of the Harbin Z-9C shipborne helicopter, which provides the ...
05-Mar-2010

China gives no explanation for unexpected slowdown in defence spending
China has revealed an unexpected slowdown in the growth of its defence budget, announcing its first single-digit budgetary increase in over two decades. The ...
05-Mar-2010

US boosts Pakistani air power to support border operations
The US military is shipping laser-guided bomb (LGB) kits to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in recognition of the growing role that airpower has played...
05-Mar-2010

India and Russia eye defence deals for Putin visit
Russia and India will reportedly sign several defence contracts later this month during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to India. Citing Russian ...
05-Mar-2010

Pakistan arrests take high toll on Taliban
Pakistan's arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and other high profile Taliban militants last month "has practically wiped out half of the Afghan Taliban's ...
03-Mar-2010

US to send Pakistan laser-guided bomb kits
The US military is planning to ship laser-guided bomb kits to Pakistan to help the country in its fight against Islamic militants. Secretary of ...
03-Mar-2010

Pakistan strengthens relations with Indonesia and China
Pakistan has extended defence ties with Indonesia and China as part of its strategy to diversify military suppliers and industrial co-operation partners. Statements issued...
02-Mar-2010

India, Saudi Arabia hold landmark defence co-operation talks
India and Saudi Arabia have held talks aimed at expanding defence ties between the two countries, the Indian government news service Doordarshan has reported. ...
01-Mar-2010

India considers tandem MMRCA radar competition
The Indian Air Force (IAF) may run a separate radar competition in tandem with its Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme, Russian industry sources have...
01-Mar-2010

*Afghanistan qualifies first C-27A pilot
The Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC) has passed its first qualified pilot for the Alenia Aeronautica C-27A tactical transport aircraft, the US Air ...
26-Feb-2010

*RAN helo contest will be open fight between MH-60R and NFH
Australia is to hold an open competition to select the winner of an AUD1.5 billion (USD1.3 billion) contract to provide at least 24 naval ...
26-Feb-2010

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