Defense Strategies

Monday, December 23, 2013

Submarine Vesikko - The Only Existed U-Boat Type

One of the few survived submarines of the Second World War is located in Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, Helsinki.

Finnish submarine Vesikko was the prototype of the first submarine type of German Navy in 1930's, the Typ II. Vesikko was real hi-tech in its time.

It served both the raise of Germany’s submarine weapon and the Finnish Navy in its fight against the Baltic fleet of Soviet Navy.

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Russia Plans to Deploy Six Carrier Battlegroups By 2025

August 08, 2008: Speaking to journalists on the occasion of the Russian Navy Day celebrations, the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Visotskiy confirmed the the Russian Navy is planning to deploy six aircraft-carrier groups with its Northern and Pacific fleets. They will be operated within a new, network-centric task groups, closely integrated with Russian air force and air-defense assets via Russia’s military-satellite network.

Adm. Visotskiy indicated that six new aircraft carriers and all the necessary support ships will be built to sustain this momentum. Construction of the first aircraft carrier is expected to begin in 2012. The six groups could be fully deployed by 2025.

Admiral Vladimir Visotskiy

At present, the Russians operate only a single aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with the Northern Fleet. Moscow have yet to decide where to build these vessels, as the only facility capable of such scale of work is located in the Nikolayev Shipyard on the Black Sea in the Ukraine.

In the mid 1980s the Russian Navy launched three Type 1143.5 carriers, Admiral Kuznetsov, and Varyag which was delivered as scrap to China. The third carrier, Admiral Gorshkov is being refurbished for the Indian Navy, to be fielded by 2013. Only one aircraft carrier remained in Russian service - the Admiral Kuznetsov. The vessel, carries 12 fixed wing aircraft, including Su-33 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft as well as various types of Ka-27 special mission helicopters (AEW, ASW, SAR). Addressing the construction of Borei class nuclear-powered missile carrying submarines, the Admiral said the Navy plans to modernize at least one Borei-class strategic nuclear submarine which is considered to be the mainstay of the naval component of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces until 2040. Three vessels of this class are currently in construction at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, in the Arkhangelsk region. However, but their completion has been delayed by test failures of the Bulava ballistic missile, its main weapon. Adm. Visotskiy said the first three submarines would be commissioned without significant changes to the initial design, but the fourth will undergo upgrades.

By the year 2025 Russia plans to increase its ocean going fleet size to a total of 300 battleships, exceeding the level it maintained during the 'cold war'. The Russian Navy plans to maintain six battlegroups, each consisting of an aircraft carrier and various combat support and auxiliary ships. Three attack groups are to be based in the Northern Fleet with three others in the Pacific Fleet. This expansion will address Russia's strategic aspirations especially its territorial demands in the melting arctic zone.

According to the Russian Fleet’s Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, three attack groups will be based in the Northern Fleet with three others in the Pacific Fleet. At all times, two carriers will be on alert while two the other two are undergoing repair and modernization. The new vessels will include four heavy carriers: the Kiev, Minsk, Novorossiysk and Baku. The construction of the first carrier will begin in the next decade. Meanwhile, the Russians are planning to construct a new series of surface battleships that will support and protect the carriers. Russia also plans to modernize its Naval Aviation, fielding new MiG-29K instead of some of its 1980's vintage Su-33.

An expansion of Russia's submarine fleet is also underway. Three new submarines are currently under construction and sea trials. The Russian Navy is building a new submarine base in the Kamchatka Peninsula, at the town of Vilyuchinsk, to host the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet submarine force. The base will be designed to support the new Borei strategic missile carrying submarines. The first Submarine, Yuri Dolgoruky, was launched in April 07, series. Its sister ships, Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh are expected to be completed by the year 2010. The Russian Navy currently operates 19 submarines, based in several locations in Severomorsk in the Kola Peninsula. The new base will offer centralized support for the submarine fleet.

North Korea sends threat -- by fax -- to South Korea

Kim Jong-un, pictured on Chinese television watching his father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, lying in state in Pyongyang December 20, 2011, issued a threat by fax to South Korea on December 19, 2013 that it would launch an attack against the South for insulting North Korea during anti-Pyongyang protests on the anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death. (File/UPI/Stephen Shaver) License Photo

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- North Korea's National Defence Commission faxed a threat to South Korea's National Security Council in response to anti-Pyongyang protests in Seoul on the anniversary of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death.The fax from Pyongyang on Thursday threatened to launch a strike against the South "without notice." The strikes would be launched "mercilessly" if "the provocation against our highest dignity is to be repeated in the downtown of Seoul."

In response to the faxed threat, South Korea told the North that it would "sternly react" to any provocations.

At the anti-Pyongyang rallies in Seoul, some protesters reportedly burned photographs of Kim Jong-un.

Threats from North Korea occur regularly following perceived provocations by South Korea.

Sources: [Yonhap News Agency] [CNN] [The Telegraph]

Bangladesh gets its first Hamilton class cutter

Bangladesh navy frigate Somudro Joy (F-28) at Pearl Harbor in 2013

DHAKA, Bangladesh, May 30 (UPI) -- Bangladesh received it first decommissioned Hamilton class cutter from the U.S. Coast Guard at a ceremony on Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Calif.

The Coast Guard transferred the 3,300-ton cutter, formerly the USCGC Jarvis, to a 20-member team from the Bangladeshi navy.

The Jarvis -- decommissioned in October and renamed BNS Somudro Joy -- was sold to Bangladesh as an excess defense article through a foreign military sales program, the Bangladeshi news website bdnews24.com reported.

At the ceremony were U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, Cmdr. Coast Guard Pacific Area and Chief of Naval Staff for the Bangladeshi navy Vice Adm. Muhammad Farid Habib, a report by the Bangladesh military website bdmilitary.com said.

The ship's commanding officer Capt. Mohammad Nazmul Karim arrived in Alameda in March to begin preparations to accept the Jarvis. Another 70 crew members arrived this month.

Around 26 former Jarvis crew members will advise the Bangladeshi crew until Somudro Joy sails for Bangladesh this year.

The 378-foot Somudro Joy, which has a helicopter landing deck and hangar, is powered by two Pratt and Whitney gas turbines and two Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines.

The Bangladeshi navy said the guided missile frigate, now the largest vessel in the fleet, will receive a further refit and upgrades after arriving in Bangladesh, bdmilitary.com reported.

Planned upgrades include boosting the vessel's combat capability with more AShM and SAM launchers.

The Jarvis was built by Avondale Shipyards and commissioned in 1972 and will be replaced by Legend class National Security Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Somudro Joy joins the BNS Bangabandhu guided missile frigate built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in the South Korea and commissioned in 2001.

In January, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina commissioned the BNS Padma, the first Bangladeshi-built warship, at the Titumir Naval Base, near Khunla, around 90 miles south of Dhaka.

The 160-foot frigate cost around $7.4 million and has four 37mm and two 20mm cannons, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency reported.

At the commissioning, Hasina said the navies of China, India and Myanmar are becoming more active in the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh needs the Padma to protect its coastal waters.

Hasina also said the country is on target to purchase two submarines but didn't say where the vessels would come from.

Activities are going on to purchase two submarines from a friendly country," she told Parliament while replying to a written question on her government's efforts to modernize the navy, army and air force.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

4 new domestically-manufactured submarines and hovercrafts join Iranian Navy

Iran to Launch New Submarine to Boost Naval Capabilities in High Seas

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran plans to launch a semi-heavy submarine soon in a bid to boost its naval capabilities in the high seas, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced on Wednesday.

“The Defense Ministry will take another step in developing the operational capabilities of this strategic force (Navy) after this advanced submarine (Fateh) joins the Navy fleet in future,” General Dehqan said.

He stressed that as before the Defense Ministry is ready to help the Iranian Navy reach an international balance with regard to its presence in territorial and free waters.

General Dehqan reiterated that the Iranian Navy has shown that it is one of the main security elements and contributors in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

He pointed to the defense ministry’s backup for Iran’s naval forces, and said, “Design and manufacture of different surface, subsurface, light, semi-heavy and heavy vessels like Zolfaqar missile-launching frigate, the advanced Jamaran II destroyer, Al-Sabehat, Qaem, Midget, Qadir and Huvana submarines in different classes, flying boats in different classes and floating pools in different tonnage are part of the Defense Ministry’s backup.”

In September, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that Fateh will be launched this (Iranian) year (ending on March 20, 2014).

“Based on the Navy’s plans, the Fateh submarine will be launched this year," Sayyari told reporters in Tehran in September.

He said that Fateh submarine, Kaman-class missile-launcher warships and Jamaran 2 destroyer will come into operation in the current year.

The Iranian Navy dispatched its 27th flotilla of warships to the high seas in August to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.

According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.

Source: FARS News Agency

Sunday, September 15, 2013

SD-10A Sky Dragon Medium Range Anti-Air Missile System via Chinese Military Review

Another Chinese Advanced Missile System. With all the phased array radars littering the landscape we'll run out of missiles to defeat them before we get a clean battle field to go after the targets they're protecting. If you're not a China watcher you're late.