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Sea State<\/b><\/p>\nSea State<\/b><\/p>\n
Breaking<\/em>:\u00a0Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced<\/a> France\u2019s DCNS as the winner of RAN\u2019s $50 billion future submarine contract during a surprise visit to Adelaide this morning. The construction of the 12 conventionally-powered submarines, based on France\u2019s nuclear-powered Barracuda-class will be based in Osbourne, South Australia, and will generate an additional 2,800 jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n Russia\u2019s new hypersonic cruise missile is likely to go into serial production in 2018, four years ahead of schedule,<\/span> according to a Russian defence industry source<\/span><\/a>. The 3M22 <\/span>Zircon<\/span><\/i> hyper cruise missile, capable of speeds of Mach 5.0 to Mach 6.0, is<\/span> currently completing tests<\/span><\/a> which are due to finish in 2017. It\u2019s expected the Kirov-class <\/span>Admiral Nakhimov <\/span><\/i>will be the first Russian warship to be equipped with the new missile, when returns to service in 2018 at the conclusion of a modernisation process.<\/span><\/p>\n Tensions between China and Indonesia are once again at risk of escalating, after the Indonesian navy<\/span> detained<\/span><\/a> a Chinese trawler allegedly fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. The incident comes only weeks after a Chinese-owned fishing vessel<\/span> was caught<\/span><\/a> operating close to Natuna islands. The vessel was intercepted on 22 April in Aceh, northwest of Sumatra, after Indonesia received information that the ship was wanted in Argentina. The boat, which had been<\/span> fishing illegally in Argentine waters<\/span><\/a> in late February, has been taken to a naval base in North Sumatra for investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n Russia has found the dolphins it\u2019s been looking for. Following up from our post<\/span> last month<\/span><\/a>, Russia<\/span> has announced<\/span><\/a> Moscow\u2019s Utrish Dolphinarium as the winner of the Ministry of Defense\u2019s contract to supply five dolphins to the Russian military. The dolphinarium will supply three males and two females by 1 August. As we\u2019ve previously mentioned, both the US and Soviet Union<\/span> used dolphins for military purposes<\/span><\/a> during the Cold War.<\/span><\/p>\n Flight Path<\/b><\/p>\n Last week, the US Armed Services Committee asked the US Air Force to work out how much it would cost to<\/span> restart production<\/span><\/a> of its F-22 Raptor, five years after the last stealth fighter came off the assembly line. The request was spurred by a growing perception of weakening US air superiority due to adversaries closing the technology gap. <\/span>Defense One <\/span><\/i>has<\/span> looked<\/span><\/a> at what it thinks it would take to restart F-22 production, including finding the money, reengineering the plane and finding a place to actually build it. The editorial team at <\/span>Breaking Defense<\/span><\/i> don\u2019t think it would be a good idea<\/span><\/a>\u2014it would divert lots of money, time and expertise from the F-35 and B-21 programs and would take a few years before new F-22s would roll off the production line.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s been plenty of discussion about the new US future bomber, the B-21. A<\/span> report<\/span><\/a> released last week by the US House Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces has directed the USAF to submit an assessment by February next year estimating the number of B-21 bombers needed to meet combatant commander requirements. Independent testimony suggests the number needed would be between 174 and 205, almost<\/span> doubling<\/span><\/a> the magic number of 100 that has been touted to date. Whilst final numbers will take a while to determine, the USAF has said that it<\/span> won\u2019t make the B-21 contract value public<\/span><\/a>, claiming that doing so would make it easier for adversaries to work out the aircraft\u2019s range and weapons payload.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re sad to say that the future of Flight Path\u2019s<\/span> favourite blimp<\/span><\/a>, the JLENS, doesn\u2019t look good. The House Armed Services Committee chairman\u2019s mark of the fiscal 2017 defence policy bill came out last week with<\/span> huge slashes<\/span><\/a> to the blimp program\u2019s funding\u2014down to a mere US$2.5 million compared to the requested $45 million. Thanks for the<\/span> memories<\/span><\/a>, JLENS.<\/span><\/p>\n Rapid Fire<\/b><\/p>\n The third rotation of Australian troops deployed to Iraq\u2014including the<\/span> 7<\/span>th<\/span> Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR)<\/span><\/a>\u2014are undergoing pre-deployment training near Adelaide prior to heading off to train Iraqi troops to fight Daesh as a part of the international<\/span> Building Partner Capacity (BPC)<\/span><\/a> training mission.<\/span> For your ocular pleasure<\/span><\/a>, an ABC team attached a 360-degree camera to the rifle being used in combat exercises.<\/span><\/p>\n Australian war veteran support groups utilised<\/span> Anzac Day<\/span><\/a> celebrations on Monday to highlight not only servicemen and women who have died fighting for the nation, but also<\/span> the increasing number of soldiers who have taken their lives at home<\/span><\/a>. In the last 20 years there have been<\/span> more deaths of serving and retired Australian soldiers from suicide than on the battlefield<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> Post-traumatic stress disorder<\/span><\/a> has been recognised as the cause for many of the suicides.<\/span><\/p>\n