quote:

ORIGINAL: Skjold

IMO, deployments to most* of these islands are purely political and has little defensive value. Most of these islands are from a tactical point of view simply undefendable, but having a military presence reinforces your claim as the other claimants would have to confront the other nations military forces to take any island.

Kinda similar to the Baltics, it is blatantly obvious that the Baltic states are undefendable with the current armed forces of the region and the NATO deployment in the area, but it is more the fact that no matter how few, the Russians still have to fight Americans which is bound to escalate things.

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ORIGINAL: tjhkkr

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/exclusive-vietnam-moves-new-rocket-launchers-into-disputed-south-china-sea-sources/ar-BBvsipu?li=BBnbcA1

Exclusive: Vietnam moves new rocket launchers into disputed South China Sea - sources

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ORIGINAL: redcoat

The UK Ministry of Defence has announced that it has ordered a third Zephyr-S Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), as part of a £13-million contract with Airbus Defence and Space (ADS).

Zephyr-S is the latest version of a highly sophisticated series of ultra-lightweight UAVs, capable of flying up to 70,000ft - twice the altitude of a commercial airliner - for up to 45 days at a time. Referred to as a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), it performs more like a satellite than a conventional UAV.

Coverage in the Daily Mail. Link.

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ORIGINAL: tipsypo


Am presuming none, and just pure surveillance.

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ORIGINAL: wqc12345

I want the "Defender" Venture Star from Larry Bond's Lash Up, that would be very cool to blow up "Evvvil Lairs..." from space. Could CMANO model the mountain 1km space gun? with satellite kill vehicles? I was wondering about that as I listened to the book today.

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The U.S. Navy conducted its first firing from the SeaRAM anti-ship defense system produced by Raytheon installed on the USS Carney (a Flight I Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer) stationed in Rota, Spain.

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Raytheon Company has received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility here. The deal ushers in U.S. manufacturing of the Norwegian-developed weapon system. Kongsberg Defence Systems awarded the initial contract for qualification units. The award follows a July announcement that Raytheon will produce NSM launchers in the U.S. The company also plans to perform final assembly, integration and test of the Naval Strike Missile...

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GE’s Marine Solutions announced that the LM2500 gas turbine Module Modernization Program (MMP) is now underway with General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and the United States Navy. The MMP will inject updated technology into the gas turbine module system and reduce enclosure weight by approximately 50% (excluding base structure).

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The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) welcomed F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Patuxent River Integrated Test Force team of test pilots, engineers and squadron Sailors and Marines aboard to complete developmental testing (DT-III), Aug. 14. The Navy’s newest strike fighter features cutting edge technology to progress from the hazardous ‘Dog Fighting’ of the past to a more technological future of warfare, emphasizing stealth.

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The global Aegis fleet will expand in the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea under a $490 million deal with Lockheed Martin to bring integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) capabilities to new destroyers. The ships will be equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, the latest evolution of the combat system, capable of IAMD. The Aegis system includes Lockheed Martin's SPY-1 radar, the Navy's most advanced multi-function radar system.

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AeroVironment, Inc. today announced the United States Navy has tested and deployed the RQ-20B Puma™ small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) aboard a Flight I Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG Class). Some of these exercises included the use of AeroVironment’s fully autonomous system to recover the aircraft aboard a ship. The US Navy issued a report on August 3 from the Arabian Gulf describing how Puma AE is also being utilized on Navy Patrol Craft.

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A commissioning, naming and flag-presenting ceremony of the new Huai'an corvette (hull number 509) of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) was held solemnly at the Zhoushan Naval Base (located in China's Zhejiang province). The event means that the vessel is officially commissioned to the PLAN. Qujing is the twenty-seventh Type 056 Corvette (Jiangdao class) in the PLAN fleet.

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The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN) has deployed the K-300P Bastion-P (NATO reporting name: SSC-5-C Stooge) mobile coastal defense missile systems (MCDMS) supplied by Moscow, according to a source in the Russian defense industry.

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A steel cutting ceremony took place August 9 at the China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Company (CSOC)'s Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan, for the second batch of C13B Corvettes in presence of the Bangladesh Navy Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed. The two corvettes will join BNS Shadhinota (F111) and BNS Prottoy (F112) which joined the Bangladesh Navy at the beginning of 2016. The C13B-class of corvette shares many similarities with the PLAN's Type 056...

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A Mikoyan MiG-29K (NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) fighter jet from the Northern Fleet’s 100th Separate Shipborne Fighter Air Regiment has landed on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov’s deck for the first time, a source in Russia’s defense and industrial sector said.

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[...]
Larger vessel = more endurance
With a relatively rapid economic development, China's dependence on its maritime supply routes is becoming stronger. The need to protect its vital supply lines and interests overseas (who are now present on almost every continent) becomes paramount. The PLAN will therefore no longer be content to intervene only near its shore lines and on the continental shelf of the country. It now needs to be present where the interests of the country are, and therefore have the ability to fight anywhere in the world, to expand the political will of the Chinese state, protect Chinese nationals and defend its economic interests.

The Type 055 Destroyer is the consequence of this emerging need. For a country like China, which is still lacking overseas supply bases (one is under construction in Djibouti), a larger platform means more endurance at sea. Type 055 are set to have a displacement of 10,000 tons (to be compared with the 7,500 tons full load displacement of the Type 052D destroyer).

The Type 055 guided missile destroyer programme was launched in December 2009, virtually in parallel to the Type 052D programme. Sources close to the local shipbuilding industry and to the PLAN have repeatedly used words like "new thinking", "new concept", "technology leap " and "revolutionary" to describe the ship. Since most of the weapons fit remains similar to the Type 052D, most of that "new technology" likely has to do with the architecture of the combat system, as well as in the electronic, electromagnetic and construction domains. According to a retired PLAN officer, Type 055 combat system is highly integrated and capable of data fusion with sensors belonging to other branches of the military (AWACS and Satellites ?) which represents a leap.

According to Chinese media, the first tranche consist in four vessels (including two built at the Dalian naval shipyard). The unit cost of Type 055 is in excess of 5 Billion Yuan (approx. $750 Million USD). The first keel is rumored to have been layed in December 2014. The first vessel is likely to be launched in early 2017 while delivery to the PLAN should not happen until 2018 at the earliest.

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On 12 August 2016, the FREMM frigate Languedoc, the latest addition to the French Navy (Marine Nationale) fleet departed Toulon naval base for her long cruise. The long cruise is the last long deployment period of the vessel before it achieves "active duty" status. For her long cruise, Languedoc is sailing to the North Atlantic and eventually in the Arctic region. Languedoc is the third frigate of the Aquitaine-class for the French Navy.

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According to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) release, The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Qatar for Mk-V Fast Patrol Boats, equipment, training, and support. The estimated cost is $124.02 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on August 19, 2016.

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Raytheon Company has been awarded a $92,069,954 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the engineering and manufacturing development of the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar. EASR will consist of two configuration variants: Variant 1, a rotating phased array (for amphibious vessels); and Variant 2, a three-face fixed-phased array (for the Ford-class of aircraft carriers).

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Russian defense company Tactical Missiles Corp. (KTRV) is upgrading the Shkval missile-torpedo under an integrated naval underwater armament development program, Director General Boris Obnosov has told the Rambler News Service in an interview.

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ORIGINAL: kevinkin

Strange wrinkle from the North Sea oil fields. Good will gesture or just good business? That is, the contract went the lowest bid.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/china-takes-control-of-north-sea-oil-drilling-0p77tdqrm

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ORIGINAL: redcoat

We will have to keep an eye on the North (China) Sea ... for any signs of mysterious islands appearing on Dogger Bank. We might have to declare war on China ... nationalize their oil rigs and sell them to BP. [:D]

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ORIGINAL: Dysta

quote:

ORIGINAL: redcoat

We will have to keep an eye on the North (China) Sea ... for any signs of mysterious islands appearing on Dogger Bank. We might have to declare war on China ... nationalize their oil rigs and sell them to BP. [:D]

I think China will play victim card again and ditch (scuttle) the oilrig if war is declared, and need more than a navy to stop the 'threat' spreading the sea.

I rather hope not though, but my estimation will be for more geological scanning, and mounting radars for Russian intelligence.

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Russia is finalizing the trials of a sophisticated cruise missile designated as Kh-32 and intended to equip the Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber fleet, according to the Izvestia daily. The cutting-edge missile is virtually invulnerable to ground-based air defenses and interceptors of a potential adversary. Once launched, the product of the Raduga Design Bureau climbs to an altitude of 40 km, to the stratosphere, to dive on the target at a steep angle.