News Digest
ASIA-PACIFIC DEFENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE
The inaugural meeting of the Defence Planning Committee (DPC) was held on May 3, 2018 under the Chairmanship of the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Besides the three Service Chiefs, the DPC comprises Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Lt General Satish Dua, who is also the Member Secretary. The members deliberated upon the geo-strategic landscape and agreed to chart a time-bound action plan in keeping with its broad mandate.
INDIA SEEKS ARMED UAVS
The Indian government has announced its intention to amend a deal with the Pentagon. Instead of buying 22 unarmed Guardian naval surveillance drones, New Delhi now favours the acquisition of armed drones that can boost ‘Hunt and Kill’ capabilities. In June 2017, the Trump administration had agreed to supply long endurance high-altitude surveillance armed UAVs at a cost of around $3 billion. Manufactured by General Atomics, Predator-B has both land and naval versions and can be armed with air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles and laser guided bombs. The Predator-B is capable of hunting and destroying targets across seas and over land borders. This matter is likely to be discussed during the twoplus-two dialogue between the Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Sawaraj and Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary Defence Jim Mattis.
CHINA’S FOURTH-GENERATION FIGHTER AIRCRAFT
China’s fourth-generation J-10C Chengdu fighter aircraft has entered operational service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. The variant boasts of improvements on its predecessor, the J-10B and comes equipped with an indigenous active electronically scanned array firecontrol radar and new air to air weapon capability—the new PL-10 short range and long range PL-15 infrared-homing air-to-air missiles. Developed to be the mainstay of Beijing’s single-engine fighter fleet, the J-10B/Cs are capable of multi-role missions including air-to-air, air-to-ground and naval strike missions. Chinese analysts claim, that with three drop tanks and air-to-air missiles, the J-10B/C could have a combat radius of 1,200km, enough to perform air superiority missions in the Korean and Japanese airspace from its Yanji base in Northeastern China.
PAKISTAN TEST-FIRES ENHANCED CRUISE MISSILE
In a statement on April 14, 2018, Pakistan’s military said that it has conducted a successful test of an enhanced version of the locally-developed Babur cruise missile. The Babur Weapon System-1 “can strike targets both on land and sea with high accuracy, at a range of 700km. It is a low flying, terrain-hugging missile, which also carries certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads.” Nuclear-armed Pakistan said the Babur Cruise-3 missile has a range of 450km and can fly low to evade radar and air defences.
AMERICAS BOEING’S AGM-84 MISSILE FOR SAUDI ARABIA
The production line of the AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) is being restarted all for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A US Navy contract awarded to Boeing for $64 million will see the SLAM’s updated H/K expanded response variant put back into production with the deal also covering the redesign of obsolete, nearly obsolete or uneconomical parts to support production and improve future sustainment. The work will be completed by March 2019. Saudi F-15SA warplanes are likely to carry the munitions.
ISRAEL CONSIDERING PROCUREMENT OF V-22 OSPREY
Israel is considering joining the potential procurement of V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft with a larger heavy-lift package that aims to replace its fleet of aged CH-53 Yasur helicopters. Tel Aviv had initially put a pause on buying six Ospreys last year, three years after the US State Department cleared the potential sale. However, the freeze was short-lived with Israeli officials restarting talks over their purchase late last year. According to NAVAIR officials, any sale of V-22s