Indonesia turns down South Korean offer of F-5E/F Tiger IIs

Indonesia has turned down an offer by South Korea of surplus Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II interceptors to bolster the TNI-AU's Tiger II fleet. This linked article from Indonesia's Tempo newspaper is in Bahasa, but the gist of the article is in the paragraph below:

According to the TNI-AU's Chief of Staff Marshal Ida Bagus Putu, the RoKAF Tiger IIs are virtually in the original specification as delivered from Northrop in the 1970s, unlike the TNI-AU's fleet, which underwent an avionics upgrade in the 1990s. It was felt that the difference in configuration would add a burden to the maintenance cost.

Indonesia operates the survivors of 12 F-5Es and 4 F-5F two-seaters delivered in 1980. The aircraft underwent an upgrade in the 1990s, Belgium's SABCA installing new avionics offering commonality with the TNI-AU's F-16s and Hawk 109/209s, rewiring, structural repairs on at least one aircraft and a radar upgrade. This improved the F-5s air combat and ground attack capability, and enabled the type to serve as a lead-in trainer for the F-16s.

Spotter's badge for the article goes to ASPI's Natalie Sambhi (‏@SecurityScholar).

Taiwanese F-16 crashes into sea; pilot rescued

RoCAF (Taiwan) F-16B of the 455th TFW. Photo © unknown

A Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force F-16A crashed into waters southwest of Chiayi in southern Taiwan on Wednesday, but its pilot ejected to safety, according to the RoCAF. The pilot, Lieutenant Wu Yen-ting, reported an unspecified problem soon after takeoff and ejected shortly after. He was rescued by a RoCAF S-70 Search and Rescue helicopter.

Chiayi (嘉義) is home to the 455th Tactical Fighter Wing of the RoCAF, which operates three squadrons (Tactical Fighter Groups in RoCAF parlance) of F-16A/B Block 20s.

Taiwan wants more than F-16s to replace F-5s, but who's selling?

Photo © Reuters

Taiwan's Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu has said that even if the United States were to soften its stance, Taiwan may not necessarily agree to buy 66 F-16C/Ds from the United States as the island looks for more advanced fighters for the future. Taiwan has been lobbying to acquire the F-16C/Ds for some time, however the United States has baulked at the sale for fear of antagonising China and offered to upgrade Taiwan's current fleet of 145 F-16A/Bs instead.

Which is well and good, but for the fact that with China continuing to successfully isolate Taiwan diplomatically, it is questionable that any of the countries who currently have advanced fighter programs will be willing to sell and risk China's ire. There aren't all that many 4th Gen fighter types available on that market now, and that already small pool shrinks even further once one takes into consideration the political/diplomatic minefield selling weapons to Taiwan currently is.

With the recent announcement that the survivors of the Republic of China Air Force's F-5E/F Tiger IIs are due to be retired in 2019, Taiwan's fighter needs in the face of a strengthening China will become more pressing, yet without a radical change in how the United States and other nations view their relationship with China vis-a-vis Taiwan, the latter will find it extremely difficult to find willing seller of arms.

Anyone can ID this aircraft seen at a PLAN bomber base? [SOLVED]

© Google

The above is a Google Earth satellite image, taken in January 2010 of Changzhou-Benniu (常州奔牛) airport/airbase in Jiangsu Province, China. It is a civil/military aerodrome, and the military side is the home to a regiment of People's Liberation Army - Navy (PLAN) Xi'an H-6 bombers. So it's no surprise to see H-6s parked on the ramp (like the aircraft on the left in the above photo) on the satellite images of the base taken at various times.

But it's the aircraft on the right that left me scratching my head. Using Google Earth's measurement tool, it comes up to an approximate length of 20m and a wingspan of 18m, with air intakes on either side of the fuselage and twin exhausts just after the wing trailing edge. The wing chord of this unidentified aircraft also appears to be thick, reminding one of the British Buccaneer. It appears to be a military aircraft of some description and is painted in the same white scheme as the PLANAF H-6s, but the plan view and wing shape does no appear to look like any aircraft known (by me) to be in the PLA (either PLAAF or PLANAF) inventory.

So, if you know, or would like to hazard a guess at what the aircraft is, do leave a comment below. It might just turn out to be something really prosaic and nothing earth-shattering, but I'll be most appreciative if it could be identified. Sorry, no prizes for the right answer though! (Other than perhaps a smug sense of self-satisfaction for the person who gets it right)

And if you would like to see the image on Google Earth for yourself, go to 31°55′07″N 119°49′20″E. Remember the image was dated Jan 3 2010, so you have to access Google's historical imagery to see this.

[UPDATE]: Thanks to Blitzo over at Key Publishing Forums, the mystery is now solved. Below is a photo, first posted at China Defense Forum last year, showing that our mystery "plane" is a mockup (for training purposes maybe?) of some sort. As expected, there was a perfectly logical answer, and nothing sinister whatsoever.

UPDATED: USAF KC-135 crashes in Kyrgyzstan, photos of crash site

A USAF Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker of the 22nd Air Refuelling Wing, normally based at McConnell AFB, Kansas has crashed soon after takeoff from Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan. Serialled 63-8877, the KC-135 was supporting coalition forces participating in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan when witnesses reported seeing the aircraft crashing into a hillside.

The aircraft, carrying three crewmembers, came down at 14:55 local time in the Panfilov district, between the villages of Cholok-Arik and Chorgolu, some 90km west of Bishkek, near the border with Kazakhstan.

Manas AB is located about 23km (14 miles) from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Below are some photos of the crash site:

UPDATE: Sadly two of the crew have been found deceased among the wreckage of the aircraft. According to the Air Force, the crew were from the USAF's 92d Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. The aircraft itself had just recently arrived in-theater, having been logged by European planespotters in the Netherlands and United Kingdom departing RAF Mildenhall bound for Manas on the 2nd of May.

Meanwhile a new photo (below) has appeared purportedly showing the scene soon after the aircraft impacted the ground. Of note are the thin wisps of smoke near the top of the photo; which may (or may not) lend credence to eyewitnesses who said they saw the aircraft explode and fall to the ground in flames.

Australia confirms acquisition of 12 EA-18G Growlers, recommits to F-35

Click for hi-res. © Commonwealth of Australia

Confirming earlier reports, Australia has confirmed that it will acquire 12 new-build Boeing EA-18G Growler Electronic Attack aircraft in its Defence White Paper released today. (see P.77 and 88 of the White Paper). The Royal Australian Air Force's current fleet of 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets will retain their current configuration.

Australia has also reaffirmed its commitment to the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program, and expects to induct 3 operational squadrons of F-35s from 2020 to replace its current fleet of F/A-18A/B Hornets(P.88 of the White Paper). A decision on whether to replace the existing RAAF Super Hornets with more F-35s will be made closer to 2030.

China wants more (and bigger) aircraft carriers

Photo: Xinhua

Not exactly unexpected news, but a senior officer with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has said that China will have more than one aircraft carrier, and its next aircraft carrier(s) will be larger and carry more aircraft, including more fighters. China has recently completed the refurbishment of the Liaoning, a Kuznetsov-class carrier that was purchased unfinished from Ukraine soon after the turn of the century.

Rear Admiral Song Xue, deputy chief of staff of the PLA Navy, has also revealed that China plans for its future carriers to operate at least two aviation regiments on one carrier, including fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, anti-submarine aircraft, electronic countermeasure (ECM) planes and helicopters. As we have revealed on this blog before, there have already been sightings of what could possibly be China's future carrier-borne Airborne Early aircraft, based on the Y-7 transport (albeit heavily modified - possibly to fit inside a carrier) and reportedly designated the JZY-01.

So far, only the Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark carrier-borne fighter and the Changhe Z-8 helicopter have been pictured operating on the Liaoning. However, as she's widely expected to serve mostly as a training carrier, training up a core of naval and air crew, developing tactics and establishing a doctrine in carrier operations, we will probably see more training aircraft such as the Guizhou JT-9 carrier-borne trainer flying from the Liaoning.

As Flightglobal's Greg Waldron notes, if the PLA Navy were to operate a variety of (larger) aircraft types, it would also mean that it will almost certainly have to look beyond the current Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) mode of carrier operations and invest in a Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) capability. Liaoning is equipped for STOBAR operations with a ski jump aiding aircraft take offs at the front of her flight deck, but this imposes fuel and payload restrictions on the J-15, limiting the type's combat effectiveness. More importantly, it prohibits larger aircraft (or aircraft with poorer thrust-weight ratios) from operating from the Liaoning. If China goes down the CATOBAR path, the challenge will then be for China to design and manufacture a working catapult system, as the only other countries operating the CATOBAR system at the moment are the United States, France and Brazil, and the willingness of these countries to transfer CATOBAR technology to China is questionable at best.

Oh, Rear Admiral Song has also said reports that the new carrier is currently being built at shipyards in Shanghai are not accurate. Whether that means that construction of China's next carrier has yet to begin, or if it is already being built someplace other than Shanghai, he did not say...

NOTE: This piece also appears at Asian Security Watch.

A couple of updates

I'm now guest blogging with the great team over at Asia Security Watch. If you haven't been there before, hop over now!

Have had a couple of news items/features/photos published in a couple of magazines the past couple of months. The Published Work section has been updated last week, which means...

...I haven't updated the info about the appearance of two of my photos on May 2013's Air Forces Monthly. One photo of two RAAF Hornets refueling taken from my ride on the RAAF KC-30A MRTT at the recent Avalon Airshow, and a photo of a Republic of Singapore AF F-15SG Strike Eagle at Exercise Pitch Black 2012.

North Korea's 1940s-vintage Il-28 bombers photographed from China

Photo © Jacky Chen/Reuters

Despite the presence of the relatively modern MiG-29 interceptor in its ranks, the Korean People's Air Force of North Korea is, for the most part, still operating some very aged and obsolete aircraft. That last fact has again been re-emphasized in the latest photo of the KPAF's equipment, courtesy of a Reuters photographer who snapped the above photo of four Ilyushin Il-28 "Beagle" (or its Chinese clone, the Harbin H-5) bombers sitting on the ground at the KPAF base of Uiju. The airbase is located just 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) across the Chinese border town of Dandong in Liaoning province, from where the photo was taken. Interestingly, the leftmost aircraft in the photo appears to carry wingtip tanks, a rarity for Il-28s with the exception of specialised reconnaissance or Electronic Warfare versions used by the Soviet Union.

The Il-28 stemmed from a 1947 Soviet requirement for a twin-engine tactical jet bomber. Powered by unlicensed Soviet copies of the Rolls-Royce Nene jet engine, the first flight of the design took place in July 1948 and entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1950. The Il-28 was capable of a top speed of 900km/h (560mph) and could carry up to 3 tons of bombs in an internal weapons bay or wing pylons.

The People's Republic of China received over 250 Soviet built Il-28s from 1952, and when Sino-Soviet relations soured in the late 1950s, China started manufacturing its own unlicensed copies of the Il-28 designated the Harbin H-5 (哈尔滨 轰-5). Widely exported, the Il-28/H-5 served, or in the case of North Korea, is serving with the air forces of some 20 former Warsaw Pact nations and/or Soviet client states.

The KPAF reportedly received 24 Soviet-built Il-28s in the late 1960s followed by Chinese-built H-5s thereafter, eventually operating two regiments of the bombers. As with many things about North Korea, the current strength and serviceability of the KPAF's Beagle fleet is unclear, but judging from the protective covers placed over the front fuselage and engines of these four aircraft, these relics from the earliest days of the Cold War do appear to still flyable.

Oh, and I like the fact that there doesn't appear to be any fences separating the public road the cyclists in the photo are on, from an military active airbase. In North Korea of all places!

More Photos:

	Google Earth satellite image showing Uiju AB on the right and Dandong on the left. The yellow line is the Chinese-North Korean border.
	Il-28/H-5 bombers at Uiju. Google Earth image dated 31st Oct 2012

USAF squadrons grounded due to sequestration, PACAF largely spared

Alaskan Aggressor F-16s grounded

Sequestration has forced the USAF to ground 17 combat squadrons in an effort to cut flying hours across the force by 44,000 hours leading up to September this year. The 17 squadrons will stand down effective Tuesday (9th April) or upon their return from deployments, and the USAF will distribute 241,496 flying hours that are funded to squadrons that will be kept combat ready or at a reduced readiness level called “basic mission capable” for part or all of the remaining months in fiscal 2013.

In the Pacific region, the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) has remained relatively unscathed compared to USAF Europe (USAFE) or Continental U.S-based units, with one PACAF squadron being stood down, four squadrons being reduced to basic mission capable status through to September, one squadron reduced to basic mission capable to July before being reinstated to fully combat capable July-September and nine squadrons being kept fully combat capable.

A summary of how PACAF combat units are affected can be found below:

18th Wing, Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan
44th Fighter Sqn	F-15C/D Eagle	Basic Mission Capable to 7/13, Combat Capable to 9/13
67th Fighter Sqn	F-15C/D Eagle	Basic Mission Capable
961st Airborne Ctrl Sqn	E-3 Sentry	Basic Mission Capable
33rd Rescue Sqn	HH-60G Pave Hawk	Combat Capable
35th Fighter Wing, Misawa AB, Japan
13th Fighter Sqn	F-16C/D Viper	Combat Capable
14th Fighter Sqn	F-16C/D Viper	Basic Mission Capable
51st Fighter Wing, Osan AB, Republic of Korea
25th Fighter Sqn	A-10 Thunderbolt	Combat Capable
36th Fighter Sqn	F-16C/D Viper	Combat Capable
8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea
35th Fighter Sqn	F-16C/D Viper	Combat Capable
80th Fighter Sqn	F-16C/D Viper	Combat Capable
3rd Wing, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
90th Fighter Sqn	F-22A Raptor	Combat Capable
525th Fighter Sqn	F-22A Raptor	Combat Capable
962nd Airborne Ctrl Sqn	E-3 Sentry	Basic Mission Capable
354th Wing, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska
18th Aggressor Sqn	F-16C/D	Stood down 9th April
15th Wing/Hawaii ANG, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
19th/199th Fighter Sqn	F-22A Raptor	Combat Capable

For the full list of USAF units and how they are affected please follow this link.

More joy for the F-35 in Asia?

F-35B Lightning II STOVL Joint Strike Fighter (Lockheed-Martin Photo)

Even as the troubled Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program runs into headwinds elsewhere (with Denmark and the Netherlands being the latest participants/customers to express doubts about purchasing the 5th Generation fighter), it is in the Asia-Pacific where the JSF has been seen in more favourable light among American allies seeking to bolster their air forces against a backdrop of maritime/territorial disputes, North Korean belligerence, increasing Chinese assertiveness and general instability. Japan's order in late 2011 for 42 F-35As kicked off the order book in Asia for the F-35, and the type is currently in the running for two other potentially lucrative sales in the region.

South Korea

South Korea's South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is expected to make the final selection for the winner of its F-X III fighter replacement program sometime later this year, and sources have reported that DAPA has entered final negotiations with the competitors, namely the F-35, Boeing's F-15SE Silent Eagle and the Eurofighter Typhoon. The F-X III winner will replace the ageing McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom IIs currently serving with Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF). South Korea's close military relationship with the United States would put the two American products the front-runners with the F-35 believed to have a slight edge, despite misgivings about the F-35's technical and budgetary problems and the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) already operating the F-15K SLAM Eagle.

On March 29, the United States' Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) issued two separate Arms Sales Notifications to Congress, including one for 60 units of the F-35A Conventional Take Off and Landing variant to South Korea. The DSCA notification for the South Korean F-35s provides an interesting insight into the prices of the F-35, with the estimated sticker price of US$10.8 billion for 60 aircraft working out to an average of US$180m per aircraft, although at least one (unnamed) analyst has said that the price estimated was "conservative" and that he expected the final price will be lower than this.

It is worth noting at this point that South Korea has earmarked 8.3 trillion won (US$7.3 billion) for the F-X III program and DAPA considers price to be the most important issue for selecting a final bidder. However with North Korea's recent belligerence and nuclear/missile tests, it remains to be seen if the F-35's reported capabilities will still end up being the decisive factor here.

Singapore

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen's speech in Singapore's Parliament on the 11th of March (full transcript) also touched on Singapore's interest in the F-35. To flesh out the bits regarding the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the F-35, the Minister said:

Investing steadily over the long-term allows MINDEF to keep a constant lookout for platforms with cutting-edge capabilities that can provide Singapore with that strategic advantage. For this reason, we joined the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Programme as a Security Cooperation Participant (SCP) back in 2004. The JSF, as some members know, now the F-35, has the potential to be the most advanced multi-role fighter aircraft for decades to come. Though the F-35 aircraft is still in development, we are nonetheless interested in the platform for our future needs. The F-35 will be the vanguard of next generation fighter aircraft when operational. Our F-5s are nearing the end of their operational life and our F-16s are at their mid-way mark. For the longer term, the RSAF has identified the F-35 as a suitable aircraft to further modernise our fighter fleet. We are now in the final stages of evaluating the F-35. So in the interest of transparency, I'm telling you we're now in the final stages of evaluating the F-35. MINDEF will have to be satisfied that this state-of-the-art multi-role fighter meets our long-term needs, is on track to be operationally capable and, most importantly, is a cost-effective platform. I've given many necessary caveats before we make a final decision, but we are evaluating the platform.

The minister's speech led to a flurry of articles in the media, with Reuters reporting on 14th March that Singapore's upcoming F-35 order was expected to include the F-35B STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) variant. This was followed by another piece by AOL Defense's Colin Clark who wrote on 25th that Singapore was poised to order 12 F-35Bs within the next 10 days (note: this deadline has since passed) as part of an eventual 75-aircraft F-35B order. Singapore's interest in the F-35B is not new, with reports from back in 2011 (which I covered here) already stating the island-state's interest in the STOVL F-35B.

Singapore's potential F-35 acquisition is however, more likely to be a longer term project, with the F-35 being unlikely to be ready in time to replace the last handful of Northrop F-5S/T Tiger II interceptors still serving with the RSAF. These are likely to be replaced with further purchases of Boeing F-15SG Eagles, 24 of which are already flying with a Singapore-based squadron and a training detachment based at Mountain Home Air Force Base in the U.S state of Idaho.

Instead, when (if?) it happens, I expect the RSAF to order 3 squadrons plus a US-based training detachment of F-35s, totaling between 50-60 aircraft, to replace the RSAF's fleet of Block 52/52+ F-16C/Ds in the 2020-2025 timeframe. As is the normal practice, Singapore will not order the whole lot of F-35s at once but in multiple batches of anywhere from 8-24 aircraft per batch. Given the F-35B's weight/load/performance limitations along with its higher costs, I also do not agree with Colin Clark that the RSAF will go for an all-B fleet, and expect that only 1 squadron of 15-20 aircraft to be the STOVL variant, operating alongside the CTOL F-35A.

Despite the F-35 being bedeviled by development issues and cost overruns, both South Korea and Singapore, operators of relatively modern fleets of F-15s, are likely to be able to afford the luxury of waiting for later, full scale production lots of F-35s with (hopefully) more mature capabilities and (hopefully) lower unit prices. They will thus avoid the pitfalls of other F-35 customers like Japan, who will almost certainly end up paying more for their F-35s due to the urgency of their requirements as their current fighter fleet approaches obsolescence.

PHOTO: USAF Aggressor F-16 air-to-air with RAAF Hornet

As has been reported previously, the USAF Aggressor F-16s of Eielson AFB (Alaska) have been in Australia supporting the RAAF's ongoing Fighter Combat Instructor (FCI) course by providing adversary support. They have since left, but not before going for a photoshoot with the RAAF's Hornets, resulting in this spectacular Photo Gallery.

Click on thumbnail for full size image

VIDEO: J-20 side mounted missile rail and how it may work

Recent photographs of China's J-20 stealth fighter undergoing trials at Chengdu have revealed what appears to be a missile rail protruding out of the fuselage side weapons bay. This interesting video shows how the rail could possibly operate:

Spotters badge for this one goes to Stephen Trimble over at Flightglobal.

VIDEO: Taiwan's Mirage 2000s in action

A very cool video of Taiwan's Mirage 2000-5 fighters and the RoCAF (Republic of China Air Force) pilots who fly them. Spotter's badge to Guillaume Steuer from Air and Cosmos.

Mirage in Taiwan - The ROCAF (Taiwan) Mirage 2000-5 from Wayne Hsu on Vimeo.

N Korean MiG-21s display readiness; but also tells another story

North Korea's propaganda machine has been stepping it up a notch or two over the past weeks, as the isolated Stalinist regime has come under further international sanctions following another nuclear test. There has been a noticeable upsurge in photos of the North's military in action during its winter drills released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) over the past few weeks, including rare photos of the KPAF's MiG-21s operating from highways. These are two that we came across the past couple of weeks:

The above photo, released March 11 by KCNA, shows pilots in front of Korean People's Air Force (KPAF) MiG-21F-13/J-7s at an undisclosed base inside North Korea.

A KPAF MiG-21 (possibly a MiG-21PFM) takes off from a highway somewhere in North Korea as part of recent military preparedness drills watched over by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (standing on the knoll in the background).

The photos also tell another story, and it's one that the North Korean regime wouldn't quite like to hear. The backbone of the KPAF fleet consists of MiG-21s, which in it's latest guise (excluding upgraded versions), is already an obsolete design harking back from the mid-1970s. Unfortunately for the North Koreans, these "3rd-generation" MiG-21s only comprise of a small part of its fleet, with the majority being the "2nd generation" MiG-21PFM or in the case of the first photo, the initial MiG-21F-13 variant or its Chinese copy, the J-7.

Stop for a moment and consider the fact that during the fierce air battles over North Vietnam in 1972, the MiG-21F-13 had already virtually disappeared from the North Vietnamese inventory while the MiG-21PFM, although numerically the most important type, was already beginning to be superseded by the more advanced MiG-21MF in the hands of North Vietnamese pilots. Also, pause to remember that this was more than 40(!) years ago and consider how far fighter technology has advanced since then.

This KCNA video segment below, showing the more MiG-21PFMs and the even older MiG-19/J-6, also illustrates the point. Bravado and martial music aside, it cannot be denied that the KPAF, aside from a handful of MiG-23s, MiG-29s and Su-25s, is woefully outmatched by its South Korean counterpart in terms of modern equipment.

USAF B-52s takes part in S Korean exercises

With tensions high on the Korean Peninsula, a USAF B-52 Stratofortress conducted a training flight over the Republic of Korea, Mar. 19, 2013, where the aircraft practiced dropping bombs on targets at Pilsung Range as part of the U.S. Pacific Command's Continuous Bomber Presence (CBP) in the Pacific Command's (PACOM) Area of Operations. The CBP is an ongoing PACOM mission to bolster U.S. commitment to the security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region while allowing units to become familiar with operating in the theater from a deployed location. Andersen AFB in Guam has hosted the CBP since 2004 when Pacific Air Forces began to routinely deploy B-1, B-2, and B-52 aircraft to Guam on a rotational basis.

Unsurprisingly North Korea was less than pleased with the involvement of the B-52.