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Sea State<\/b><\/p>\n
USS<\/span><\/i> Zumwalt<\/span><\/i>, the lead ship of the US Navy\u2019s next-generation guided missile destroyers, was<\/span> formally delivered<\/span><\/a> by shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works last Friday. The eagerly awaited 610-foot ship features a<\/span> tumblehome hull form<\/span><\/a> and is designed for surface warfare, anti-aircraft warfare and naval gunfire support. Its due to be commissioned in Baltimore on 15 October<\/span>\u2014<\/span>after which point it will be up to the US Navy and Raytheon to complete the ship\u2019s combat systems. After the successful conclusion of combat system operational testing, expected by 2018, the ship will be available for deployment. Two additional<\/span> Zumwalt<\/span><\/i>-class ships are currently under construction in Bath. To mark the occasion, <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i> features an<\/span> informative video<\/span><\/a> of the impressive destroyer. However, not everyone is impressed with the ship, with a Russian military analyst<\/span> calling it a \u2018giant washtub\u2019.<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A small naval force from the Indian Navy\u2019s Eastern Fleet<\/span> left Indian shores<\/span><\/a> on 18 May, setting off on a two-and-a-half month operational deployment to the South China Sea and North Western Pacific. The fleet<\/span>\u2014<\/span>which includes two <\/span>Shivalik<\/span><\/i>-class guided-missile stealth frigates, a <\/span>Deepak<\/span><\/i>-class fleet tanker and a <\/span>Kora<\/span><\/i>-class guided-missile corvette<\/span>\u2014<\/span>will visit Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Malaysia, as well as participate in<\/span> Exercise Malabar<\/span><\/a> off the coast of Okinawa in mid-to-late June. China has<\/span> voiced its disapproval<\/span><\/a> at India taking part in maritime exercises in the South China Sea, with a senior Chinese official calling it a \u2018matter of concern\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Flight Path<\/b><\/p>\n Last week, two Chinese J-11 fighter jets<\/span> intercepted<\/span><\/a> an American EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft flying over the South China Sea. The US Department of Defense, probably with the<\/span> April 2001<\/span><\/a> EP-3 collision in mind, deemed the intercept \u2018<\/span>unsafe<\/span><\/a>\u2019 and reported that the jets approached within 50 feet of the EP-3. China\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei<\/span> refuted the claim<\/span><\/a> stating that the Chinese aircraft kept a \u2018safe distance\u2019 and<\/span> demanded an end to US surveillance<\/span><\/a> in China\u2019s \u2018coastal waters\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n A new article from <\/span>TIME <\/span><\/i>looks at<\/span> what the recent spate of buzzing incidents by China (and Russia) mean<\/span><\/a>\u2014some say US resolve, others say US weakness. Sputnik News\u2019<\/span> Loud & Clear podcast<\/span><\/a> has an 18-minute talk with journalist Mark Sleboda who assesses the incident from an anti-US viewpoint and describes the latest EP-3 incident as Beijing\u2019s response to \u2018US hegemony [and] US control and access for its military to all parts of the world\u2019. In response to the incident, US Pacific Command has said it urgently<\/span> needs cameras on its planes<\/span><\/a> to record evidence of aerial misbehaviour\u2014as the internet mantra goes, pics or it didn\u2019t happen.<\/span><\/p>\n Vice News <\/span><\/i>has wrapped up its three-part series on the F-35. Part II looks at<\/span> what makes the Joint Strike Fighter different<\/span><\/a> from other fighter jets and which countries are F-35 customers, while the final part<\/span> examines whether or not the JSF is worth the cost<\/span><\/a>\u2014issues and criticism as well as dollars\u2014and concludes that it\u2019s too early to judge if the program has been worthwhile. <\/span><\/p>\n Rapid Fire<\/b><\/p>\n Once an anti-war candidate, President Obama has now been<\/span> at war longer than any other American president<\/span><\/a>. The firsts don\u2019t stop there for Obama, with<\/span> Foreign Policy<\/span><\/i> outlining<\/span><\/a> how he has \u2018authorised the continuation or re-emergence of two of the most contractor-dependent wars in US history\u2019. In Afghanistan there are three contractors to each US trooper, while the total number of contractors (7,773) nearly doubles that of US troops (4,087) in Iraq. For those keen for a little extra background knowledge,<\/span> Defence News<\/span><\/i><\/a> has put together a handy infographic on the<\/span> top 100 US Defence Department contractors in 2015<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The Thai military junta announced on 17 May that Thailand\u2019s 2017<\/span> defence spending would increase by 3% over the 2016<\/span><\/a> figure. This announcement coincided with the Royal Thai Army (RTA) indicating that it will spend around US$150 million to<\/span> purchase the MBT-3000 battle tank from China<\/span><\/a>. The RTA also recently signalled its intent to replace its CH-47D Chinook helicopters with<\/span> 12 Mil Mi-17V-5 helicopters from Russia<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n From 1984 to 2007, Russia had three divisions of combat rail-based missile systems, or more simply, military trains with missiles. Russia is now set to<\/span> restart the production of those systems<\/span><\/a>. Dubbed the Barguzin rail-based missile system (<\/span>after the strong eastern wind that blows over Lake Baikal<\/span><\/a>), they\u2019ll be in use by Russian forces from 2020 and will be equipped with six<\/span> MS-26 Rubezh multiple-warhead missiles<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sea State USS Zumwalt, the lead ship of the US Navy\u2019s next-generation guided missile destroyers, was formally delivered by shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works last Friday. The eagerly awaited 610-foot ship features a tumblehome …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":468,"featured_media":26758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[113,176,69,39],"class_list":["post-26756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-air-warfare-destroyer","tag-barack-obama","tag-india","tag-joint-strike-fighter"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n