Iskander :Russian New Generation Tactical Ballistic Missile

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/ss-26.htm

Designed as a new replacement of the famous Scud Missile,Iskander short range Tactical Ballistic Missile offers significant improvement compared to Scud,particularly in term of greater accuracy and reduced radar signature(to overcome counter-measure,such as interceptor missile).Russia began testing the system in 1996 and mass production began in 2005.

Iskander could be used to destroy military installation (airbase,barracks), enemy artillery battery,air defence and missile defence assets,which is shown in Russia-Georgia military conflict in august 2008.Typically armed with conventional warhead,it can be configured differently from anti personnel,delivering cluster bombs,to bunker buster,even some source reported that it can be armed with nuclear warhead to become a tactical nuclear missile.Recently,to counter NATO missile shield plan,Russia would have deployed such missile to Kaliningrad,which forced the United States to cancel the plan.

Export version,SS-26 Iskander-E(E=export),has a reduced range of about 280km with a warhead weighted about 400kg(to complement MTCR agreement that prohibits export of tactical missile with payloads of 500kg and 300km range).Rosoboronexport,Russia's military middle-man,has said that among countries that shown interest in acquiring the system is MALAYSIA,India,UAE and Syria,and also trying to promote Iskander-E to other countries as well.


Iskander-E in Malaysian service:possibilities?
Malaysia right now is in aggressive pace to modernize its already decent military capabilities.The acquisition of PT-91M MBT(Poland),ASTROSS II MLRS(Brazil),Scorpene SSK(France) and Su-30MKM(Russia) already spark shock and awe to neighboring countries,which also began spending as well(except the Philippines.They still lag behind and their armed force is largely counter-insurgency oriented).But the real question is,Will Malaysia ever bought one?

Perhaps the safest answer is NO,not for the time being at least.There is another more urgent equipment to be replaced,particularly S-61A4 transport helicopter,the late Inderapura(ex USS-Newport) class LST,new armoured APC,to name few.Even after all these have been replaced,Malaysia also need a new type of weapon to fill the gap,especially self-propelled artillery and attack helicopters(which will be reviewed later).And current economy situation calls for budget cuts and at this point what is important is to maintain current capability until funds is available(and then there is stupid opposition parties with their stupid rhetoric.phuk em.hard DX)

Other than that, the nature of the missile(as a theatre-level tactical ballistic missile) might cause tension between neighboring countries.While it is a great deterrent weapon,it also might cause other countries to develop/acquire similar capabilities as well and arm race standoff is the last thing ASEAN countries need(not just it will scare investor and thus dampen economy,it will also make the friendly,mutual relationship that have been made decades,or even centuries ago,to become tense,or even being cut off entirely).

What important first is to completely modernize our armed force to be a network-based integrated tri-service of the 21st century,like Republic Of Korea Armed Force and  Japan Self Defence Force.After that,sky is the limit for us.

JAS-39 Gripen:Malaysian Prospect

Recently many people(from average layman to military pundits,local military magazines,even people from Mindef) has been talking about major military acquisition from Sweden,which include state of the art Erieye AEW system and Swedish pride in the sky,JAS-39 Gripen. While Erieye is almost(God Willing) to be bought by Malaysia(issues right now is the aircraft.C-235 would the best option,since RMAF already operated it and thus will ease logistics)
Gripen,however,would be quite a different story.

JAS-39 GRIPEN:overview

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAS_39
 
Gripen started as a replacement of entire bulk of Swedish aircraft(Draken and Viggen) which would be obsolete in the 21st century,After evaluated few aircraft available in the market,Swedish Air Force decided to develop a new Fighter aircraft which would completely fulfill its requirement,which is low maintainance cost(even lower than the then new US lightweight fighter programme,the F-16 Falcon),and the ability to operate in dispersed area(unique to Swedish defence doctrine.It proposed that the aircraft would be able to land at anywhere with tarmac on top of it,refuel and rearm, and fly again,with just 5 crews and supply)

Upon entering service,already few countries impressed with its capabilities and started buying some(Up to a point where Swedish Air Force is "forced" to give them JAS-39 that is supposed to be in Swedish Air Force fleet for export).Current Operator include:Sweden,Czech,Hungary,South Africa,UK(as test aircraft) and recently,Royal Thai Air Force(to replace aging F-5s and to counter its neighbors' state of the art aircraft in induction,which is Flanker in Malaysian/Indonesian/Vietnam service and Singapore with their F-15SG).Export prospect is looking good for Gripen,with many countries already began to find replacement for their aging F-5,MiG-21,old french Mirage and even early batch of F-16.However it faced serious challenge(and even back stab and dirty play,especially from the American) from other aircraft models,such as American F-16 C/D block 50/52/52+,F/A-18E/F, Mulltinational Eurofighter Typhoon,French Dassault Rafale and Russian MiG-35 and latest Flanker series(Su-30MKM/I variant,Su-30MK2 variant and Su-35.Long live cheap,great russian aircraft  : D).

Malaysian Prospect
With early retirement of MiG-29N/NUB(which is quite a shame,since that aircraft could be upgraded to MiG-29SMT and continue to be in service beyond 2020) and the proposal of another batch of 18 new MRCA,Malaysia is also considered as a place to make money for aircraft companies.Russia already propose to trade in all MiG-29s for another 6 Su-30MKM(a good thing rather than letting it to collect dust somewhere in the storage facility),but question now is about the other 18 aircraft contract.Russia,again,offered Su-30MKM,as well as Su-35 and MiG-35 to malaysia,while Boeing(USA) offered us F/A-18F.Malaysia is also consider Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale(which is quite a surprise,although a welcomed one).SAAB,realizing the potential,has put Malaysia among its prospect as customer country.

But,while the author(that is "me") doesn't entirely ruled out Gripen as the option for the MRCA contract,it is also unlikely for Malaysia to buy Gripen as well,for few reasons:

1-It is a single engined aircraft.Recent Malaysian military trend tend to opt for 2-engined aircraft because it provided more thrust at lower attitude,since Malaysia is separated by South China Sea
2-Shorter range compared to 2-engined aircraft without in-flight refueling,2-engined aircraft usually has longer range and thus have wider maritime-patrolling range.
3-It carries less payload compared to 2-engined aircraft and 2 aircraft might need to be sent to bombards key target installations  instead of one large 2-engined aircraft.
4-Thailand also operates Gripen(6 aircraft with another six as an option).One of the reason why Singapore ruled out Su-30 and F/A-18F is because Malaysia operates Su-30MKM and are really interested with F/A-18F.

However,Gripen also have some qualities that need to be considered by RMAF as well:

1-Low maintainance cost and less ground operating crew(only five people,usually conscript in Swedish Air Force)
2-The ability to carry sophisticated armaments,including IRIS-T and ASRAAM short range AAM,new AMRAAM version and Meteor BVR AAM,and ALARM anti-radiation missile(plus other NATO-complement missiles and bombs)
3-Low RCS.While it isn't a true stealth aircraft,its nature as a small fighter plus its design means that it has less radar cross section than other non-stealth aircraft
4-AESA radar for later Gripen generation.
5-non traditional manufacturer might offers significant ToT and other assistance that is not available in traditional aircraft manufacturer(especially the American and their "policy" of using their weapon/system)

The author believe that our Malaysian top brass already made a significant research on aircraft we might acquire in the future,based on requirement,budget and other factor(ToT,restriction policy,threat,etc),thus any aircraft that would be procured is deemed as the best aircraft we can buy.

M-4 procurement:overview

It seems that MAF acquisition of M4 is deemed as a bad choice by general malaysian people(of course;if the decision is made by BN government,it IS a bad decision.What the heck with the mentality anyway).Recently,a report which said that M4 failure cost serviceman life in A-stan.It wouldn't be a surprise people will bring this issue and questioned MAF M4 procurement without even doing some kind of research to support their claim.

from the article
http://www.nola.com/military/index.ssf/2009/10/m4_suspected_in_deaths_of_us_s.html

"My weapon was overheating," McKaig said, according to Cubbison's report. "I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about a half hour or so into the fight. I couldn't charge my weapon and put another round in because it was too hot, so I got mad and threw my weapon down."
The soldiers also had trouble with their M249 machine guns, a larger weapon than the M4 that can shoot up to 750 rounds per minute.
Cpl. Jason Bogar fired approximately 600 rounds from his M-249 before the weapon overheated and jammed the weapon.
Bogar was killed during the firefight, but no one saw how he died, according to the report.

    It should be noted that the main factor that contributed to the malfunction is human factor.Apparently the person who handles the weapon become too excited and pulled the trigger too long.which resulted in overheating and,obviously,weapon jam.
Long story short,the main keyword here is sustained rate of fire.

Other than that,one need to consider about operating theatre too.Currently the American are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan,which is known to be hot and dusty.Among other critics are tendency to pick up dust and become too hot.Malaysia aren't as hot,dusty and dry like those countries(Thank God for that),thus M4 should serve us well with less hassle,just like it's predecessor,M16A1.Plus Malaysian terrain offers little opportunity for long range engagement as well(we fight either in the jungle,plantation,or urban area.In Afghanistan,US/NATO frequently engaged Talibans in large,arid, open area,thus they always retaliate beyond their rifle effective range.

Advantages of M4 

M4 is an extremely modular and flexible rifle around(A plus side of US MIL-STD system).Everything can be configured and re-configured according to the requirement(from installing optical sight and foregrip to changing the entire upper receiver to have a completely different rifle) without significantly doing some gunsmithing.It will also ease the logistic,up to some degree(because instead of giving a different weapon for different purpose,M4 can be configured to fill the need,thus become a jack of all trade of such).Overall M4 is a battle proven weapon and instead of opting a unproven weapon,why just not stick with whatever that works and slowly doing R&D for our own rifle system that perfectly(or almost perfectly) fit our requirement.

Mi-171:perhaps the best nuri replacement

As we know,Nuri(or S-61A4.I prefer actual designation because more people will understand) have been around in RMAF since....forever and new replacement has been surfaced since 5,6 years ago at least.Problem is, with all state-of-the-art equipments bought(Su-30MKM,Scorpene SSK,PT-91M,etc),MAF already used their budget and have to wait until additional fund(which means RMK-10,or beyond) is available.A replacement is urgently needed as the old chopper is started to wear apart(aging airframe,over-utilized,even other countries already in the process of phasing them out)

But,while these "other countries" are considering for EH-101 and NH-90 as their main workhorse,Malaysia simply couldn't walk that path(actually we can,but we'll be gasping for money).A requirement of up to 48 helos will be bought and procuring such helos will cut more than limbs.There is other cheaper option that can do similar work almost as good and that is Mi-171.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-17

Mi-171,which is derived from Mi-8,has become a workhorse to many countries worldwide.Cheap,simple,reliable airframe and capable of carrying comparable loads as S-61,Mi-171 is perfectly suited to RMAF need for general transport helicopter.Mi-171 can also be equipped with advanced avionics(FLIR,NVG-capability,GPS,system,radar,glass cockpit) at price way under EH-101.What we need as nuri replacement is a helicopter with new airframe,capable of carrying loads as S-61,with decent pricetag(Mi-171 about USD10 million a piece,EH-101 is about 4 times that price) and can be used(or abused,I might say : D) for up to 25-30 years.It is used as general transport helicopter anyway(for tasks such as sending supply/equipment,carrying troops,emergency relief and medium threat handling) and are more than capable for such works.For CSAR or hot-and-high operation or other dangerous operation,that job can be given to EH-725,which will be acquired in the future.


....And just to give a general idea of how would Mi-171 compared to S-61

New MPSS for RMN?

Well I choose this topic as my first topic to be reviewed because RMN old LST already being written off due to fire onboard(RIP KD Inderapura).Nobody is going to weep to it(no casualties, government already decided to buy new one anyway,and it only gonna accelerate such acquisition,etc),not to mention that KD Inderapura is an old ship and deserve to be retired.And people are hyped about such procurement : D

Anyway,back to the topic,about future MPSS acquisition,among contender to the list include(pic shamelessly taken from internet thus I don't claim them myself):-

1-Dokdo Class LHD(South Korea)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dokdo_class_amphibious_assault_ship

2-Mistral class LHD(France)




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_class_amphibious_assault_ship

3-Type071 LPD(China,as in PR China)




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_071

although budget constraint may force RMN to consider a cheaper alternative,such as Makassar-class LPD(Indonesia)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makassar_class_landing_platform_dock


It is tempting to opt for the cheapest option,but consider this;the ship is expected to be in service in at least 30 years without any hassle.Makassar class LPD,reportedly,is derived from civilian (a ferry) design.Type 071 is supposed to be cheaper than the other two option,but when buying Chinese equipment,we can learn from Thailand in this regard(their frigate that have been bought apparently has pretty much malfunction and needed extensive re-work).thus more money is wasted.

I personally prefer Dokdo than other option.It is cheaper than Mistral,yet can carry more helos/troops/equipment than type 071 and Makassar class.Acquiring Dokdo class LHD can also significantly expand RMN capabilites as well.However with current defence budget cut it might as well as good if we bought Makassar class as well(Makassar-class LPD pricetag is about RM70 million a piece.Dokdo Class LHD,on the other hand,cost about 1 billion Ringgit.Although smaller in size,we can acquire 5 or 6 of Makassar class LPD instead of one Dokdo LHD,which equally bolster RMN amphibious capabilities as well)

And,regardless of the type of vessel we'll buy,acquisition of such ship might paved way to the establishment of Malaysian marine corps.

welcome to BorneoDefenceGazette

After months of consideration,I decided to create a dedicated military blog based on my own knowledge and view towards Malaysian,regional and international military trends.It's just a casual blogs (for a more serious reading one can always go to Jane's).

Anyway my knowledge in this field is rather shallow so I wouldn't mind having a constructive comments about anything I write.I am just a casual military observer with having big prospect towards MAF expansion and maturity.