on Monday, June 28, 2010

Army won’t field deadlier Corps round


Special Operations Command and now the Marine Corps are fielding a deadlier 5.56mm round, but the Army says soldiers can’t have it. Instead, the service is holding on to its dream of environmentally friendly ammunition.

Army ammunition officials are on their third attempt at redesigning the Cold War-era M855 5.56mm round by adding a better-performing, lead-free bullet. The service had to halt the M855A1 Lead-Free Slug program in July when the new bullet failed to perform under high temperatures. The setback delayed fielding by nearly a year.

The newest version of the green round is in the live-fire test phase, and Army officials said they are confident it will be ready for combat use by June.

The Marine Corps, however, doesn’t share this confidence. The Corps has dropped its plans to field the Army’s M855A1 and approved the new SOST round for Marines to use in Afghanistan. SOST, short for Special Operations Science and Technology, is SOCom’s enhanced 5.56mm round. It isn’t green, but it is deadlier than the current M855 round and it’s available now, Marine officials say.

The Corps’ decision to purchase about 2 million SOST rounds in September illustrates the growing frustration with the M855’s performance on the modern battlefield.

The M855 was developed in the 1970s and approved as an official NATO round in 1980. In recent years, troops have widely criticized it. They complain it is ineffective against barriers such as car windshields and often travels right through unarmored insurgents, with less than lethal effects.

Jason Gillis, a former Army staff sergeant, first witnessed the M855’s shortcomings in 2004 on the streets of Baghdad. He was a squad leader with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, on patrol when a vehicle began speeding toward his unit.

After several warnings, “both of our M249s opened up instantly, forming a crisscross pattern of tracer that met at the vehicles engine compartment and windshield. Within seconds, riflemen and grenadiers were executing magazine changes while the vehicle kept rolling and finally stopped 10 meters from my lead troops,” Gillis recalled in an e-mail to Army Times. He is now a freelance writer who often focuses on military small-arms issues.

“Assuming the driver was most likely riddled beyond recognition, we were all astounded to see the driver emerge from the vehicle completely unscathed,” Gillis wrote. “Closer inspection revealed that the M855 ammunition had failed to effectively penetrate the vehicle’s windshield despite the fact over 400 rounds were expended at extremely close range and on target.”

Other soldiers say they like the M855 because it’s lightweight, but wish it had more punch.

“The idea of being able to carry 210 rounds [basic load] is quickly overshadowed by the fact that it takes more than one and even more than two rounds to drop the enemy,” Staff Sgt. Charles Kouri, 82nd Airborne Division, told Army Times.

Army going ‘green’

Army officials acknowledged that the M855 “has not been providing the ‘stopping power’ the user would like at engagement ranges less than 150 yards,” according to a June 17, 2005, Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition briefing.

Ballistics experts maintain, however, that no bullet is perfect and that it is highly unlikely any bullet will cause an enemy to drop every time after just one shot.

“There is not a bullet in this world that will do that,” said Dr. Martin Fackler, the former director of the Wound Ballistics Laboratory at the Letterman Army Institute of Research and a combat surgeon during Vietnam. “Even if you take the guy’s heart apart, he can still shoot back at you for 15 seconds because he’s still got enough oxygen in the blood in his brain to do it.”

Still, the Army pushed forward with two priorities: to find ammo that performs better and is also lead-free. As part of a larger effort to study bullet lethality, the Army began revamping its green bullet program, an effort that began in 1996.

The first attempt featured a tungsten-nylon blend that didn’t perform well and proved to be almost as harmful to the environment as lead.

Another attempt, with the M855A1 LFS, appeared to be the solution. The new round was made of a bismuth-tin alloy with a steel penetrator. Army officials said the M855A1 provided more “consistent performance” than the M855 round, and performed better against barriers such as windshields and car doors.

The Army has spent about million on the LFS program since fiscal 2007.

The Army had planned to start issuing the first of 20 million M855A1 rounds last August, until an 11th-hour problem surfaced when some of the bullets did not follow their trajectory or intended flight path. The slug proved to be sensitive to heat.

The latest setback led the Army to search for a new lead-free slug material and prompted the Marine Corps, which was interested in the M855A1, to go with SOCom’s new 5.56mm round instead.

“We put our money toward SOST because of the lead-free failure,” said Chief Warrant Officer-5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner. “That lead-free bullet in the last six months just fell apart on them under extreme heat.”

More accurate round

SOST rounds have similar ballistics to the M855 round, meaning combat troops don’t have to adjust to using the new ammo, military officials say.

Using an open-tip match round design common with some sniper ammunition, SOST rounds are designed to stay on target better than existing M855 rounds after penetrating windshields, car doors and other objects.

Compared with the M855, SOST rounds also stay on target longer in open air and have increased stopping power, according to Navy Department documents obtained by Marine Corps Times.

At 62 grains, they weigh about the same as most NATO rounds, have a typical lead core with a solid copper shank and are considered a variation of Federal Cartridge Co.’s Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw round, which was developed for big-game hunting and is touted in a company news release for its ability to crush bone.

SOCom developed the new round, formally known as the MK318 MOD 0, for use with the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, which needed a more accurate bullet because its short barrel, at 13.8 inches, is less than an inch shorter than the M4 carbine’s.

SOCom first fielded the SOST round in April, said Air Force Maj. Wesley Ticer, a spokesman for the command. It also fielded a cousin — MK319 MOD 0 enhanced 7.62mm SOST ammo — designed for use with the SCAR-Heavy, a powerful 7.62mm battle rifle.

SOCom uses both kinds of ammunition, Ticer said.

The Corps purchased a “couple million” SOST rounds as part of a joint million, 10.4-million-round buy in September — enough to last the service several months in Afghanistan, Marine Corps officials said.

Despite the popularity of the SOST, the Army isn’t backing away from its goal to perfect its green M855A1 round.

“SOST is a good round, but SOST is not a lead-free slug,” said Lt. Col. Tom Henthorn, chief of the Small Arms Branch at the Soldier Requirements Division at Fort Benning, Ga.

The Army will continue to develop an environmentally friendly 5.56mm, as well as a lead-free 7.62mm bullet, Henthorn added, “because we care about the environment.”

Small arms training accounts for about 2,000 metric tons of lead going into the environment every year, Army officials say. The Army first began its quest for green ammunition in response to environmental groups that pressured some states to prohibit some National Guard units from using their training ranges.

Run-off from lead-contaminated soil can contaminate water sources that supply communities located near the ranges, environmental groups maintain.

“We do have real reasons why we are doing this,” said Chris Grassano, product manager for Maneuver Ammunition Systems. Grassano, however, did say that the Army does not have a “significant percentage” of training ranges that have been closed because of lead damage to the environment.

The latest M855A1 design features a solid copper slug instead of bismuth-tin. During production qualification testing, Army testers will shoot 400,000 rounds of the new version, making the M855A1 “the most tested round we have ever developed,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Woods, product manager for Small and Medium Caliber Ammunition.

The new round addresses the consistency problems of the M855, but Army ballistics officials said “we are not at liberty to compare it to SOST,” Grassano said.

While copper is more expensive than lead, Army officials said they could not provide a cost estimate for the M855A1 compared to the current M855.

If all goes well in testing, the M855A1 will be ready in June in “sufficient quantities to satisfy the needs of theater,” Grassano said. “We are pretty confident that once we get it into soldiers’ hands, they will be satisfied with” the new round.

———

Staff writer Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.


Source: Army Times

on

Lapan Operasikan Stasiun Bumi di Biak

Lapan Operasikan Stasiun Bumi di Biak


23 Januari 2010

Coverage satelit Lapan Tubsat (photo : Lapan)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa (Lapan) telah mengoperasikan stasiun bumi yang dibangunnya sendiri di Pulau Biak, Papua, demikian diumumkan Lapan hari ini di Jakarta.

Para teknisi Lapan membuat stasiun bumi itu dengan mengintegrasikan komponen-komponen yang dibelinya dan membuat sebagian software (perangkat lunak) sendiri untuk mengoperasikannya.

Sebuah kemajuan karena dua stasiun bumi sebelumnya yang ada di Rumpin dan Rancabungur, Bogor, bukan dibuat sendiri tetapi dibeli dari Amerika Serikat.

Stasiun bumi Biak digunakan untuk menerima data dari LAPAN-TUBSAT, satelit mikro yang berbobot hanya 100 kilogram yang dikembangkan bekerjasama dengan Universitas Teknik Berlin, Jerman.

LAPAN-TUBSAT diluncurkan ke orbit polar dengan ketinggian 635 km di atas permukaan bumi pada Januari 2007. Dengan dua kamera, satelit itu mampu memotret berdimensi 5 meter dan lebar 3,5 km serta 200 m dan lebar 81 km.

Perangkat komunikasi tersebut telah berhasil mengambil berbagai citra di wilayah Indonesia bagian barat, mencakup Singapura hingga Bali.

Pada tahun lalu, LAPAN-TUBSAT digunakan untuk memantau pembangunan jembatan Suramadu dan proyek jalan tol di wilayah utara Pulau Jawa. Citra LAPAN-TUBSAT dapat dilihat di situs http://www.lapantubsat.org/.

Stasiun bumi Lapan di Biak memiliki antena untuk menangkap sinyal satelit berorbit rendah. Dalam menangkap sinyal satelit semacam itu, antena harus dapat bergerak atau berubah orientasi secara cepat karena satelit muncul dan hilang dari horizon dalam waktu singkat, kurang dari 15 menit.

Beroperasinya Stasiun Bumi penerima Biak menambah cakupan LAPAN-TUBSAT hingga wilayah Indonesia timur, bahkan hingga pantai utara Australia.

Keberhasilan beroperasinya stasiun bumi di Biak menunjukkan bahwa teknisi Lapan telah menguasai teknologi perekayasaan stasiun bumi untuk satelit orbit rendah.

Lapan akan membangun stasiun bumi serupa mulai awal tahun ini di Kotatabang, Sumatra Barat, sehingga menambah cakupan LAPAN-TUBSAT melampaui Aceh hingga Semenanjung Malaya.

Bila stasiun bumi Kototabang terwujud, maka hanya wilayah Indonesia bagian tengah saja yang belum tercakup LAPAN-TUBSAT. Namun, itu tidak berlangsung lama karena pada 2011 akan dibangun stasiun bumi di Parepare untuk menjangkau wilayah itu.


Baca Juga :

Belajar Satelit, Lapan dan Telkom Kirim 7 Orang ke Rusia
22 Januari 2010

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com ? PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) dan Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional (Lapan) sepakat mengirim tujuh pegawai mereka ke Zhelesnogorsk, Krasnoyarsky, Rusia, untuk mengikuti pelatihan mengenai satelit.

Pelibatan tenaga kerja dari Lapan dimungkinkan oleh salah satu lingkup pekerjaan yang dicantumkan dalam kontrak pembelian satelit Telkom-3 antara PT Telkom dan Joint-Stock Company Academician MF Reshetnev ISS Russia.

Pengiriman pegawai kedua perusahaan ini diawali dengan perjanjian kerja sama yang ditandatangani Direktur Utama Telkom Rinaldi Firmansyah dan Kepala Lapan Dr Adi Sadewo Salatun, Jumat (22/1/2010) di Jakarta. Turut menyaksikan penandatanganan itu Menteri BUMN Mustafa Abubakar dan Menteri Ristek Suharna Surapranata.

Mustafa mengapresiasi kerja sama itu. "Dana riset di Indonesia terbatas dan kerja periset seolah sendiri-sendiri. Saya mendukung kerja sama lebih luas antara lembaga seperti Lapan dan perusahaan seperti Telkom ini," kata Mustafa. Dia berharap hasil-hasil riset dapat diterapkan langsung di dunia kerja.

Rinaldi mengatakan, untuk pelatihan selama 18 bulan, dibutuhkan dana Rp 2,7 miliar bagi tujuh pegawai, yang terdiri dari lima pegawai Telkom dan dua tenaga ahli dari Lapan.



Source: Defense Studies

on Friday, June 25, 2010

Unnecessary Fuss




It is the ultimate irony, isn't it? On one hand there's all kind of anti-China hysteria in the India-based mass-media and on the other hand, a MoD-owned defence PSU lke BEL is procuring CETC-built SEC-33 bulk encryptors off-the-shelf! But such encryptors are dual-use items that are procured commercially and many a time even the OEM (CETC) is unaware of the final export destinations of such encryptors. But as long as the encryptor's integral encryption chip is not pre-programmed (and the encryption software is locally installed by BEL in India), there is no operational risk whatsoever to the end-user as BEL is the sole custodian and designer of the encryption software's crypto keys (which is embedded by BEL within the encryption chip)?Prasun K. Sengupta

Source: Trishul Group

on

TN AL Butuh Tambahan Kapal Korvet dan Kapal Patroli Cepat

TN AL Butuh Tambahan Kapal Korvet dan Kapal Patroli Cepat


11 Februari 2010

KRI Pandrong 801 - kapal patroli dilengkapi rudal (photo : Kaskus Militer)

TNI AL Butuh Tambahan Kapal Korvet

Biak - Markas Besar TNI Angkatan Laut hingga tahun 2010 masih membutuhkan tambahan kapal cepat rudal dua unit serta kapal korvet nasional sebagai kapal latih penganti KRI Dewa Ruci.

Kepala Staf Angkatan Laut (KSAL) Laksamana Madya TNI Agus Suhartono di Biak, Selasa, mengatakan, Mabes TNI Angkatan Laut pada 2010 akan memprioritaskan pengadaan kapal patroli cepat untuk menjaga wilayah perairan Indonesia termasuk yang berbatasan dengan negara lain.

"Untuk tambahan kapal cepat rudal pada tahun ini sudah direalisasikan pembuatannya," ungkap Kepala Staf TNI AL Lakdya Agus Suhartono. Ia menyebutkan, kapal patroli cepat yang akan dibutuhkan Mabes TNI AL dilengkapi dengan persenjataan seperti peluru kendali yang memadai.

Pengadaan kapal-kapal patroli cepat, lanjut KSAL Agus Suhartono, diharapkan akan dapat memberdayakan industri pertahanan dalam negeri PT PAL maupun fasilitas perawatan dan perbaikan (Fasharkan) TNI AL karena sudah dapat membuat kapal patroli cepat.

"Kapal patroli masih dibutuhkan karena lebih cepat bertindak serta dapat bermanuver terutama di wilayah-wilayah perairan sempit seperti di sebagian perbatasan laut kita dengan negara lain," katanya.

Ketika disinggung alat utama sistem persenjataan (Alutsista) TNI AL di kawasan Armada Timur telah berusia tua, menurut KSAL Agus, hal ini tidak semua benar karena sebagian kapal itu masih ada yang baru termasuk keberadaan KRI Frans Kaisiepo maupun KRI Mulga.

"Semua fasilitas Alusista yang masih ada dimiliki Mabes TNI AL terus kita rawat dan jaga sehingga dapat berfungsi menjalankan tugas menjaga keutuhan dan kedaulatan wilayah perairan laut Indonesia dari Sabang sampai Merauke," ungkap KSAL Agus Suhartono saat mendampingi Panglima TNI Jenderal TNI Djoko Santoso.

KRI Frans Kaisiepo, lanjut KSAL Agus, setelah dikukuhkan Panglima TNI Jenderal Djoko Santoso akan bermarkas di kawasan Armatim di Surabaya.

(Antara)



Source: Defense Studies

on Saturday, June 19, 2010

Orsk

Orsk






The Project 1171 Tapir Large Landing Ship (Bol'shoy Desatnyy Korabl' BDK) is a beachable, general-purpose LST-type design with bow and stern ramps for unloading vehicles. Produced in at least four different types beginning in 1966, there are numerous variations in detail between units. Many have been retired, and remaining units may be in reserve, given the Russian Navy's decreased emphasis on amphibious operations.

Large Landing Ship "Orsk" was built by Yantar Zavod, Kaliningrad. Laid down 30 Aug 1967, completed 29 Feb 1968, commissioned on 05 Dec 1968.

From 30 Aug 1967 this ship has name "BDK-69", in 2002 was renamed and from 20 Oct 2002 to present moment have name "Orsk".

Source: Black Sea Fleet
Source: Gallery Kapal Perang

on

Seahawk

Seahawk












Source: defence.gov.au
Source: Gallery Pesawat Tempur

on Monday, June 14, 2010

S-70A Black Hawk

S-70A Black Hawk











Source: Australian DoD
Source: Gallery Pesawat Tempur

on

IPMS For New Indian Warships





The above four slides explain what exactly is the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), which L-3 MAPPS is supplying for the Indian Navy's three Project 17 FFGs, three Project 15A DDGs and four projected Project 15B DDGs. The Bangalore-based subsidiary of L-3 MAPPS was set up in early 2002 to specifically undertake systems integration-related applications software development for interfacing the IPMS with the Ukraine-based Zorya/Mashproekt M36E gas turbine-based propulsion plants of the Project 15A and Project 15B DDGs. All 10 warships will also have on board the EMDINA combat management system (CMS) originally co-designed by the Indian Navy's Weapons and Electronic Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE) and TATA Power as part of project MEDINA for further details, proceed to: http://trishulgroup.blogspot.com/2009/03/cms-radars-vls-modules-of-project-11356.html).
The EMDINA CMS is a follow-on to the EMCCA Computer Aided Action Information System (CAAIS), also co-developed by WESEE and TATA Power, under Project MECCA and is presently on board the three Project 16 FFGs, three Project 16A FFGs and three Project 15 DDGs.--Prasun K. Sengupta

Source: Trishul Group

on Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Marksmanship changes to prep GIs for war zone


The Army will replace its Cold War marksmanship strategy this summer with one that has basic trainees shooting more rounds, fixing jams and changing magazines — key skills all soldiers need in today’s combat.

“What we’ve learned through eight years of war is that’s now how our soldiers are having to shoot in combat,” Brig. Gen. Richard C. Longo, director of training for the Army’s deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7, told Army Times. He described the current program, which is geared toward passing a single, live-fire test, as a “very sterile environment and a very predictable marksmanship qualification process.”

Initial Military Training Marksmanship, a program that draws lessons from the war zone, will become the Army standard for teaching new soldiers how to shoot in all five initial entry training centers beginning July 1.

Basic Rifle Marksmanship will still culminate with soldiers taking a timed test in which they fire 40 rounds of ammunition at 40 pop-up targets. Shooting from the prone and kneeling positions, trainees must hit 23 targets to earn a passing score.

However, trainees will then go through a standardized Advanced Rifle Marksmanship course that forces soldiers to shoot from behind barricades, reload, move in a tactical setting and shoot until the targets are “dead.”

The weeklong ARM course wraps up with a Combat Familiarization Fire, an event that “gives the soldier a feeling of, ‘now that you have qualified with your weapon, here are scenarios that you might experience in the operational environment in your first unit of assignment,’ ” said Col. Terry Sellers, operations officer for the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga.

Under the new strategy, infantry trainees at Benning will shoot 730 rounds and non-infantry trainees will shoot 500 rounds. Traditionally, they have shot about 300 rounds.

“As a former division commander, I don’t think you can shoot enough,” said Lt. Gen. James Thurman, the Army’s G-3/5/7. “You’ve got to challenge soldiers in this environment today with different techniques of how you do marksmanship from basic marksmanship to all marksmanship levels.”

The sweeping overhaul is part of the Army’s Outcome-Based Training, a mindset designed to replace what has come to be viewed as a strict, by-the-book training doctrine that required “little or no thinking” with a new methodology designed to prepare soldiers for combat by teaching them why things work rather than just how to follow orders.

It began in late 2007, when Benning officials set out to revamp Army marksmanship training with a goal of shifting out of the Cold War mindset that focused on preparing soldiers for a large-scale, defensive fight against invading Warsaw Pact armies.

Sgt. 1st Class Erick Ochs, a combat-experienced drill sergeant at Benning, said the new strategy is geared toward the realities of the battlefield.

“It’s definitely more combat-oriented,” said Ochs, who has had two tours in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan. It teaches new soldiers that their individual weapon “isn’t just a tool for punching holes in paper; this is a tool that will help me survive on the battlefield,” Ochs said.

In addition to drawing on their own combat experiences, trainers sought help from the Army Marksmanship Unit and the Asymmetric Warfare Group, a special unit established five years ago to help senior Army leaders find new tactics and technologies to make soldiers more lethal in combat.

Many of the techniques used in the pilot come from the training methodology these units have been teaching to combat units for the past several years.

One proven approach is to have trainees begin marksmanship training “shooting slick,” meaning without combat equipment, to become comfortable with their weapons.

The relaxed environment may sound like a radically new idea, but the Marine Corps uses a similar approach when it comes to recruit marksmanship training.

Soldiers in Basic Combat Training will go through the entire 13 days of Basic Rifle Marksmanship and qualify slick. They begin wearing combat equipment on day one of Advanced Rifle Marksmanship.

Soldiers in infantry start slick and add body armor, helmet and load-bearing gear on day 10 of BRM and wear it through qualification.

The new marksmanship strategy grew out of the pilot that infantry trainees have been exposed to since 2008, but there are differences.

Non-infantry trainees shoot with iron sights throughout BRM and begin training with optics and lasers in Advanced Rifle Marksmanship. Infantry trainees learn to zero, with both iron sights and the M68 Close Combat Optic, early in BRM. Zeroing is the process of adjusting the rifle’s sights to ensure that the bullets strike where the soldier aims on the target.

“We want to get the guy using the piece of equipment that he is going to be using in combat as soon as possible,” said Maj. Kevin Butler, operations officer for the 198th Infantry Brigade at Benning.

Butler fought in Afghanistan in 2002 and was severely wounded in a bomb attack in Iraq in 2007.

Infantry trainees also shoot more, 370 rounds in BRM and 360 in ARM. Non-infantry trainees shoot 310 rounds in BRM and 190 rounds in ARM.

“Just like a tank crewman is going to learn to use his weapon in his advanced individual training, the infantryman’s weapon system is his rifle, and he is expected to operate it at a higher degree of efficiency than any other soldier,” Butler said.

All trainees will go through the Combat Familiarization Fire at the end of Advanced Rifle Marksmanship. The tactical lane is designed to look like a setting they might encounter in Iraq or Afghanistan. As trainees move down the course, they must use the partially destroyed cars, rubble and makeshift walls as cover while engaging random targets.

In some cases, soldiers will have to score “multiple hits on a bobbing target to get that target to stay down,” Sellers said. The reality on the battlefield is that the enemy may not go down with just one shot, he said.

“You engaged the enemy, it took you multiple rounds to kill it, and it’s killed,” Sellers said.

To earn a perfect score, soldiers will use all 26 rounds to drop the 15 targets on the course.

Infantry trainees must score 16 hits out of 26 as a requirement for graduation, Butler said.

Non-infantry trainees will not receive an official score.

“The standard Army qualification is a measure of how well an individual can engage single or multiple targets at a variety of distances,” Butler said. “The Combat Familiarization Fire does a much better job of integrating all the skills someone is going to be required to do in a combat situation.”


Source: Army Times

on

Indonesia Jajaki Pembelian Alutsista ke China

Indonesia Jajaki Pembelian Alutsista ke China


22 Januari 2010
Rudal C-705, TNI AL membutuhkan rudal ini untuk melengkapi armada kapal perangnya (photo : Militaryphotos)

JAKARTA, ? Pemerintah Indonesia akan menjajaki rencana pembelian alat utama sistem persenjataan (alutsista) asal Republik Rakyat China. Bahkan, pemerintah juga akan berupaya dapat merakit produk alutsista China di Indonesia.

Penjajakan itu disampaikan Menteri Koordinator Politik Hukum dan Keamanan Djoko Suyanto, saat menjawab pers, seusai mengikuti Sidang Kabinet Paripurna di Istana Wakil Presiden, Jakarta, Jumat (22/1/2010) malam.

Sebelumnya, Djoko Suyanto bersama Menteri Luar Negeri Marty Natalegawa mendampingi State Councelor RRC (Menko Polhukam) Dai Bingguo secara terpisah menemui Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono di Kantor Presiden, Kompleks Istana, dan Wapres Boediono di Istana Wapres, Jakarta, pada Jumat siang dan sore.

Kunjungan Dai Bingguo beserta delegasi China ke Indonesia bertujuan untuk menindaklanjuti perjanjian kerja sama kemitaraan antara Indonesia dan China yang sebelumnya ditandatangani oleh Presiden Yudhoyono dan Presiden China Hu Jin Tao saat kunjungan kenegaraan Presiden ke China.

Selanjutnya, kerja sama itu ditindaklanjuti oleh masing-masing Menko Polhukam kedua negara pada tahun 2006 dengan membentuk forum untuk menyusun rencana aksi. Rencana aksi sudah ditandatangani dan akan ditindaklanjuti di tingkat teknis oleh sejumlah kementerian, di antaranya Kementerian Pertahanan dan Keamanan dan Kementerian Riset dan Teknologi.

"Kita memang pernah membeli alutsista China beberapa waktu yang lalu. Sekarang tidak lagi. Yang baru kita lakukan sekarang adalah penjajakan. Kita belum sampai kepada jenis alutsista seperti apa yang akan dibeli. Itu diserahkan kepada Kementerian Pertahanan dan TNI sendiri," tandas Djoko.

Dikatakan Djoko, kerja sama pertahanan yang dilakukan kedua negara pada prinsipnya akan saling menguntungkan. "Kerja sama juga akan mengarah pada kerja sama industri pertahanan," tambah Djoko.

Djoko mengatakan, sejak kerja sama kemitraan dilakukan Indonesia dan China, sudah tercapai sejumlah kesepakatan dalam bentuk nota kesepahaman, seperti soal ekstradisi dan antipencucian uang.

Menurut Juru Bicara Wapres Yopie Hidayat, Boediono dalam pertemuan dengan Dai Bingguo menyambut baik dan mendukung kerja sama pertahanan kedua negara itu. "Ini sangat penting, terutama bagi kebutuhan dasar TNI dan pertahanan kita," ujar Yopie.

Yopie menambahkan, kerja sama Indonesia dan China akan semakin meningkat. "Tahun 2010 ini adalah 60 tahun peringatan hubungan Indonesia dan China," demikian Yopie.



Source: Defense Studies

on Friday, June 4, 2010

Moskva

Moskva


Project 1164, Atlant, Slava, Moskva, BLK-COM-1 and Krasina are all designations given to the first ship of a new class of Soviet Rocket Cruiser. As is true with all Soviet and modern Russian warship designs the new cruiser was known by a project number, in this case Project 1164 Russian Code Name Atlant. To the west analysts saw a new shape emerging in the slipway of 61 Kommunara Shipyard 445 in the city of Nikolayev on the Black Sea. Clearly it was the first of a new class of major Soviet combatant. The first NATO code name was BLK-COM-1 (Black Sea-Combatant-Design 1) and then briefly the NATO Code name Krasina. However, soon after NATO learned the Soviet name for the initial ship, Slava, a traditional Russian name meaning Glory, and the class was called the Slava Class Missile Cruiser.

Slava, renamed Moskva on July 7, 1995, was laid down on November 5, 1976. As the initial ship of a new class, building time was slower than those of the sisterships. She was launched three years later on July 27, 1979 and almost another four years would pass until Slava was commissioned on February 7, 1983. Moskva ex-Slava was the first of a planned six ship class of the most impressive surface action warship, with the exception of the Kirov Class RKR, to be built by the Soviet Union or the modern Russian Navy. Three are in service with Russian Fleet, Moskva in the Black Sea, Marshall Ustinov in the Northern Fleet and Varyag (Viking) ex-Cheryona Ukraina in the Pacific Fleet. A forth unit Admiral Flota Lobov has been renamed Ukrayina for service in the Ukrainian Navy. A fifth ship, Rossiya, then Oktyabrskaya Revolutsia and a sixth, Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov were both cancelled on October 4, 1990.

Displacing 9,380 tons (11,490 tons full load) the Moskva is a large ship, measuring 186.4m (oa) 170m (wl) in length, 20.8m (19.2m wl) in beam and 6.23m (8.4m at sonar) in draught. The class bristles with weapons systems and sensors, giving it a modern version of the Fierce Face look, so notable in Cold War Soviet warship designs. Overpowering all else are the sixteen P-500 Bazalt Surface to Surface Missile (SSM) canisters with their 4K80 missiles, NATO Code name SS-N-12 Sandbox. Designed to be carrier killers, the cruisers of the class were designed like the other classes of Soviet Rocket Cruisers (RKR) to offset the strength of the NATO fleets, the carrier. Behind the twin stacks are eight cylinders, resembling the end of a revolver handgun cylinder. Each cylinder has eight Fort (SA-N-6) Surface to Air (SAM) missiles. These missiles are 64S-300MPU/3R41 or 5V-55, NATO Code name Grumble missiles, in their vertically stored and launched (VLS) cylinders. Two cylinders for short range SAMs are found at the stern. One cylinder is on each side of the hangar with twelve B-203A VLS SA-N-4 Osa SAM with a total of 40 9MK-33M-5, NATO Code name Gecko Missiles. One twin Dual-Purpose 130mm/70 (AK-130) gun position is found at the bow and six CIWS AK-30/54 six-barrelled 30mm gatling guns for point AA defense. Rounding out the weapons fit are ten 533mm (5x2) torpedo tubes and two RBU-6000 ASW rocket mounts with a total of 144 rockets. Helicopter support comes in the form of one Ka-27PL ASW or one Ka-2RTS Helix targeting helicopter. Anyway you slice it, the Moskva packs a punch.

The cruisers of the class are powered by four gas turbines each producing 27,500 shp. There are also two cruise turbines, each of 10,000 shp for economical cruising on the two propeller design. The very hot exhaust from the turbines vents through the twin stack structure amidships. The designers of the class used this exhaust to power other auxiliary turbines. There are two exhaust gas cruise turbines each of 1,500 shp, two boost turbine exhausts and two gas turbine exhaust generators to provide steam to auxiliary turbines. Capable of 32.5 knots (30 knot sustained), Moskva has a range of 8,070 nm at 18 knots or 2,200 nm at 32 knots. The complement is 66 officers, 64 michmen (petty officers) and 355 enlisted men.

The Moskva (ex-Slava), which had been in refit at the Nikolayev yard since 1990-91, remained undelivered to the Russian Black Sea Fleet through the end of 1998. The Moskva was expected to return to service to replace the Admiral Golovko as the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.










Source: Black Sea Fleet
Source: Gallery Kapal Perang