The oldest trick in the book

BBC NEWS | South Asia | US soldiers killed in Afghanistan
While a massive offensive kicks off in the South, a deadly attack on a camp occurs in the East. This is classic insurgency warfare. Lie low when the enemy comes in force, strike them hard at their weakest point (or the point where they think is the safest).

It's relatively "easy" to make an IED and detonate one as a vehicle drives past. That is a target of opportunity. In comparison, it takes quite some effort to plan an attack on an army camp, using a mixture of troops, mortars, and a suicide truck. This is a deliberate target.

There are no easy solutions in sight for the war in Afghanistan.

Delays for Heron UAV programme in Turkey

Timeturk
Incorporating a customer package into a weapons system is often tricky, as can be seen in the delay to the Heron UAV programme in Turkey. Quite a few countries like to be "nationalistic" by requiring a certain proportion of local content in a foreign-acquired weapon. The other common requirement is technology transfer from the overseas manufacturer. This often results in less bidders, slower delivery (more time to incorporate local content instead of the original specification), and possibly, poorer performance. opswarfare remembers that Turkey's attack helicopter programme has been delayed for a very long time for similar reasons.

Chinese Fishermen Serving as Early Warning?

Ares Homepage
Interesting intel on the North Korea situation. As usual, great comments too, furthering the discussion. There is no easy solution, as even limited airstrikes on nuclear facilities may result in a full-scale North Korean attack on South Korea and Japan.

Parliament query on Mine Ban Treaty

OrderPaper5.pdf
The following question was tabled in Parliament today.

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
1. Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence
(a) whether Singapore is working towards ratifying and acceding to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction;
(b) what impediments still exist to Singapore doing so; and
(c) if he will provide an update on what steps Singapore has taken to address the humanitarian concerns surrounding the use of anti-personnel land mines.

opswarfare will be tracking it to see MINDEF's response.

Tested Early by North Korea, Obama Has Few Options

NYTimes.com
As mentioned in my twit, the article seems to suggest that Resolution 1718 hasn't been fully utilised. I'll be verifying this, but in the meantime, another question that begs to be asked is whether a naval blockade would work, or rephrased, how would North Korea react to such a move?

opswarfare thinks the chances of the Obama government trying it is slim. But if it did so, North Korea might try to circumvent through its land border with China.

More likely is an increase in alert status in the short term, and an increase in troops in South Korea in the medium term. Overt monitoring of traffic (short of a full naval blockade) is also possible.

And I'm sure all the Aegis ships in the region are been reprepped for missile interception...

North Korea’s Nuclear Test: Another Fizzle?

FAS Strategic Security Blog
A friend was asking me today what all the fuss was about North Korea in the news. Well, this is what the "fuss" is about; whether they are calling a bluff, or are they for real. Iran's provocations look manageable in comparison...

Traditional media vs blogs - an unscientific but quick comparison

opswarfare previously wrote about the standoff between Somali pirates and the US Navy.

The 20th April 2009 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology (AWST) had a short article in its 'News Breaks' section. (see below)

SHIPBOARD UAVS PROVE COMBAT NEED Use of Boeing/Insitu's Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle, flown from the USS Bainbridge to monitor Somali pirates' treatment of a hostage U.S. ship captain on board the pictured lifeboat, showed both strengths and weakness.

On the plus side, the aircraft can use its persistence to sit on top of an event with an unblinking infrared (IR) or electro-optical (EO) eye, provide critical 3D situational awareness and be directed by the tactical commander, explains Capt. J.R. Brown, the program executive officer (PEO) for Navy and Marine Corps UAVs.

However, Scan Eagle presents users with a low-resolution picture and cannot provide both EO and IR coverage during a single flight, Brown notes. "Warfighters want more and they want better."

So the Navy plans to replace the Scan Eagle with a specialized, small tactical UAV-competition for up to 56 systems officially started Apr. 2-which simultaneously would provide EO/IR real-time, high-resolution, full-motion video around the clock; a communications relay for a much larger surveillance footprint; and the ability to look into Afghanistan's deep valleys, says Gary Kessler, deputy PEO for unmanned aviation.

But, with the increasing demand for surveillance capabilities, the Scan Eagle's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services will be shifted to smaller craft, such as smaller littoral combat ships and boats, as they are replaced by larger capital ships. The small, tactical UAV is scheduled to be operational in 2012.

So how does this article compare with the opswarfare post? The AWST article comes across as more techy and also manages to look into the future. My post comes across as newsy, with video and additional focus on the SEAL snipers that eneded the standoff. Looks like I still have some way to go...

LFWA Exercises Desert Ram, Western Defender, Total Ram

Canadian Army
A major training exercise to prepare Task Force 3-09 for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Plenty of coverage and stories, with a good variety of topics, from simulation to safety, and also links to coverage by TV stations.

Hercules tanker to take on multiple roles

Harvest Hawk modification to KC-130J Aircraft
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is implementing a fast-track project to obtain a "gunship-lite" capability, by bolting on a 30mm cannon and Hellfire missiles on existing Hercules tanker aircraft. With the installation of targeting sensors for firing the cannon, the Harvest Hawk may also be able to serve as a surveillance platform.

Imdex Asia 2009

Military Nuts
Photos and discussions from the Milnuts forum. Some of the forumers got the opportunity to visit the visiting warships. opswarfare attended during the previous IMDEX, and it was a blast, including a memorable tour of an Australian Collins-class submarine.