{"id":21580,"date":"2015-07-14T12:10:23","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T02:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=21580"},"modified":"2015-07-14T12:10:23","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T02:10:23","slug":"sea-air-and-land-updates-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/sea-air-and-land-updates-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea, air and land updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"F-16<\/a>Sea State<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a move that\u2019s shocked the Asia\u2013Pacific and rattled the US, Thailand\u2019s military government has announced that it will purchase Chinese submarines<\/a>. There are several likely reasons for this decision, which effectively moves the country away from the western orbit. After Thailand\u2019s military coup in May 2014, reduced US presence at the annual Cobra Gold military exercises led to tensions between the two countries, as did the US\u2019s \u2018cold shoulder\u2019 when it came to planning future exercises. Thai generals also found support from Beijing in both the 2006 and 2014 coups. The US$1 billion purchase<\/a> of three Type 039A attack submarines took place last week<\/a>, and is expected to exacerbate the drift in US-Thai relations.<\/p>\n

The UAV debate is so ten years ago\u2014now, it\u2019s all about unmanned naval systems. Check out David Blagden\u2019s piece at War on the Rocks,<\/em> which looks at DARPA\u2019s Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) project. ACTUV, if realised, will allow the US Navy to maintain a surface trail on its adversaries\u2019 submarines to overcome the threats they pose to US freedom of maritime manoeuvre. But what impact will this technology have on the survivability of western nuclear arsenals and, as a result, strategic stability? Read here<\/a> to find out.<\/p>\n

And finally, will Japan become a permanent fixture in the US and India\u2019s Malabar naval exercises? Ankit Panda at The Diplomat<\/em><\/a> discusses the strategic impact of Japan\u2019s potential inclusion.<\/p>\n

Flight path<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you missed the uproar last week about the F-35\u2019s limited performance against a much older F-16, ASPI\u2019s Andrew Davies makes sense of the recent tests<\/a>, and explains that there are other more serious questions to be raised about the F-35. However, the critiques have continued. Joseph Trevithick from War is Boring<\/em> has questioned the F-35\u2019s long-range fighting capability, arguing that the F-35\u2019s limited sensors, compromised stealth and too few weapons leaves it outclassed<\/a> even in a long-range fight.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t seem that Australia’s likely to operate two different models of the F-35. Plans to purchase up to 12 short-take-off and vertical-landing F-35Bs for Navy\u2019s two Canberra-class amphibious ships have reportedly been dropped<\/a> due to significant costs related to ship modification.<\/p>\n

Chinese news media reported last week that China\u2019s air force (notably labelled China\u2019s \u2018strategic force\u2019) is in need of a long-range strategic bomber<\/a> capable of striking adversaries in the second island chain\u00ad, which stretches from Japan through to Guam and Indonesia. Whether or not China\u2019s aviation industry can deliver a bomber<\/a> within a short period of time is another matter.<\/p>\n

Last Friday Airbus completed the \u2018first\u2019 all-electric flight<\/a> across the English Channel. While the title is contested by a French pilot who completed the same flight a day earlier, their successes mark positive advances in electric and hybrid aviation.<\/p>\n

Rapid Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment has begun training aboard the amphibious ship HMAS Canberra<\/a>. The training follows the decision to have 2RAR as the Army\u2019s dedicated amphibious unit. Training will culminate in a joint amphibious warfare validation exercise during Talisman Sabre in 2017, with post-2017 plans yet to be finalised.<\/p>\n

The logistics of the planned cut of 40,000 soldiers from the US Army<\/a> were announced last week, alongside an additional reduction of 17,000 civilian roles. The plan is to reduce Army numbers from 490,000 to 450,000 by the end of the 2017 financial year. To put these numbers into perspective, the Australian Army currently has less<\/a> than 30,000 full-time military personnel and less than 19,000 active reservists.<\/p>\n

Rumour has it that Russia is considering reinvigorating plans from the 1980\u2019s to develop tanks with laser capability<\/a> to blind enemy cameras, scopes and seekers. Due to an outrageous price tag and limited capability there\u2019s little chance of laser tanks making a comeback<\/p>\n

Finally, for those who missed ASPI\u2019s \u2018Army\u2019s Future Force Structure Review Options\u2019 Conference last month, videos from the conference<\/a> can now be found on ASPI\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sea State In a move that\u2019s shocked the Asia\u2013Pacific and rattled the US, Thailand\u2019s military government has announced that it will purchase Chinese submarines. 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