Main Battle Tanks in ASEAN Armies

Indonesia received its first delivery of pre-owned Leopard 2 main battle tanks from Germany, specifically the "A4" variant, together with pre-owned but upgraded Marder IFVs. This is part of their deal with Germany, which is a major breakthrough for Indonesia as they have been planning for this capability for a long time. 

Indonesia recently received their first Leopard 2A4 tank and Marder IFV from Germany as part of a larger deal.
Photo taken from Kaskus forums c/o Audrey.

Is there a main battle tank race in the ASEAN region? Well, from MaxDefense point of view, there is a spike of purchases and interests for main battle tanks in the region that started a few years ago, and a so-called race is probably only happening in a few member countries.

Within the Southeast Asian region, only the mainland states of Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia traditionally operate tanks heavier than 35 tons, although it is a very well known secret that Singapore keeps an arsenal of main battle tanks since the mid 1970s to avoid giving their perceived threats a reason to include main battle tanks in their arsenal.

Traditional Tank Users:
Vietnam:
Of all ASEAN armies, Vietnam has the largest tank fleet and has been a long time user of Soviet-era T-54/55 series and Chinese Type 59 medium tanks, with several units actually being Vietnam War veterans. Of the estimated 600 to 850 T-54/55 tanks in Vietnamese serivce, around 310 were modernized using Israeli technology into T-54/55M3 standards which involved the replacement of the original Soviet 100mm gun with a 105mm M68/L7 gun, installation of explosive reactive armor, smoke grenade launchers, a new German-made 1,000hp engine, a 60mm mortar and meteo-sensors technology. There were previous reports that Vietnam planned to purchase 150 T-72 main battle tanks from Poland, but did not materialize and budget was instead used to purchase naval assets.

A Vietnamese T-54/55 series tank, modernized by Israel to T-54M3 standard.
Photo taken from ttvnol.com 

Thai Army's elite First Cavalry Squadron base, in the King's Guard with Chinese Type 85 armored vehicles

Direct source: Asian Defense news

Military Spending on the Rise in Brunei

30 Juni 2014

Brunei may purchase new military equipment in 2014/15 (photo : Royal Brunei Navy)

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have highlighted the ongoing tensions between China and countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, with the US also weighing in recently with its proposals for a bigger military presence in the region.

Both Vietnam and Malaysia are undergoing regional military build-ups, and the Philippines doubled its defence budget in 2011 after pledging to conduct joint military exercises with the US.

Meanwhile, Brunei has not been complacent, with additional spending and partnerships shaping the defensive posture of both the nation and the region for coming years.

Vietnam Defense Systems

July 2014 update

1. Vietnam Air Defense System

Currently, Vietnam owns 2 systems (2 full battalions)

2. Vietnam Coastal Defense Complex

to be continued 

Why Japan's Smaller Military Could Hold Its Own Against China

image: wiki

China's soaring military spending - up 12.3% this year - and aggressive gestures in the Pacific could be setting the scene for major conflict. With various countries feuding over Pacific territory, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe compared the ratcheting tensions to Europe before World War I.
China's $188 billion military budget far surpasses the $49 billion budget of Japan, its biggest regional rival, even if it doesn't come close to America's budget of $640 billion.China's military is also much bigger than Japan's, with 2.3 million active personnel compared to 58,000 and lots more equipment. Consequently, China ranks third on the Global Firepower Index, which heavily weights sheer numbers, behind the U.S. and Russia and well ahead of Japan at tenth.

But is China's military actually stronger than Japan's?

First of all, it should be noted that any military conflict between China and Japan would likely draw in Japan's superpower ally. The U.S. is bound by a mutual defense treaty to protect Japan, including the contested Senkaku islands, and it operates numerous military bases in Japan.Even on its own, however, Japan's smaller military has a qualitative advantage over China.The majority of Chinese weapons systems are in various stages of decay, as detailed by Kyle Mizokami at War Is Boring. Only 450 of China's 7,580 tanks are anywhere near modern. Likewise, only 502 of China's 1,321 strong air force are deemed capable - the rest date to refurbished Soviet planes from the 1970s. Only half of China's submarines have been built within the past twenty years.China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a refurbished Soviet ship from the 1980s that is too small to launch most long-range places and will probably be limited to hugging China's coast.

In comparison, Japan has been supplied with advanced military equipment from the U.S. In this coming year alons, it is slated to purchase completely new anti-missile destroyers, submarines, amphibious vehicles, surveillance drones, fighter planes, and V-22 Ospreys from the U.S. Japan also expects to receive deliveries of F-35s starting in March 2017.The F-35 is Liaoning's worst nightmare, China's state-owned Global Times reported based on a Kanwa Asian Defense, which found that the F-35 could strike the Liaoning with hard-to-intercept joint strike missiles from a safe distance of 290km. The F-35 should also be able to locate and engage China's main aircraft, the J-15, before the F-35 is even detected.The Japanese islands are also well-protected by a missile defense system equipped with Standard Missile-3 and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors. These missiles are capable of shooting down a ballistic missile both inside and outside of Earth's atmosphere.

"Japan has the strongest navy and air force in Asia except for the United States," Dr. Larry M. Wortzel, the president of Asia Strategies and Risks, said in a presentation at the Institute of World Politics last September. "They're still restricted by Article 9 of the Constitution, which forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation ... but you don't want to mess with them."While Japan maintains a significant qualitative advantage, however, the vast size of China's military should not be understated, nor its rapid expansion and modernization. No wonder Japan has responded with its first military expansion in more than 40 years.

businessinsider

Japannese upset Chinese Flybys Over East China Sea

Japan protested to Beijing on Wednesday after Chinese fighter jets flew within 100 feet of Japanese military planes in airspace claimed by both nations. Similar flybys in the same area took place several weeks ago.
In two separate episodes on Wednesday morning, Chinese Su-27 fighters flew dangerously close to two Japanese propeller-driven reconnaissance airplanes in skies over the East China Sea.
The flybys are the latest escalation in an increasingly tense test of wills between China and Japan for dominance of the East China Sea, which includes a group of uninhabited islets that both nations claim. Japan took control of the island group when it was a rising imperial power in the late 19th century, but now a newly resurgent China wants to regain what it sees as stolen territory.
The ministry said the Japanese planes had returned safely to base, though the faster Chinese jets came close enough that the crew of one Japanese craft photographed what appeared to be white missiles on the underside of the jets.
A similar encounter took place late last month, when Chinese fighter planes flew as close as 100 feet to Japanese reconnaissance planes in the same area.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said the incidents had taken place in airspace where both nations claim overlapping “air defense identification zones” — areas bordering sovereign airspace where foreign aircraft were required to identify themselves and to provide flight plans. Japan has ignored the Chinese air zone since Beijing declared it late last year.
The flybys could be a sign that China has begun trying to enforce its air zone. 
nytimes

Submarines powers in Asia Pacific Region

heritage.org/research/reports/2006/03/chinas-submarine-challenge

Sea-power trends in the Pacific Ocean are ominous. By 2025, China's navy could rule the waves of the Pacific. By some estimates, Chinese attack submarines will outnumber U.S. submarines in the Pacific by five to one and Chinese nuclear ballistic missile submarines will prowl America's Western littoral, each closely tailed by two U.S. attack submarines that have better things to do. The United States, meanwhile, will likely struggle to build enough submarines to meet this challenge.

A misplaced diplomacy leaves some U.S. Navy commanders reluctant to admit publicly that China's rapidly expanding submarine force in the Pacific is a threat, but if the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and the latest Pentagon "Report on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China" (MPPRC Report) are any indication, they are undoubtedly thinking it. In a speech sponsored by the Asia Society in Washington earlier this month, for example, Admiral Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, commented,
I'm always asked about the Chinese threat and I say, 'It's not a threat,' because you have to have two things to have a threat, and that's capability and intent. There is no question that the PLA navy is modernizing and building its capability and is moving very quickly, but what is the intent?
The Pentagon has already begun to answer this question, but it has yet to do so in a way that shows it takes this threat seriously.
China's Intent
The QDR addresses the question of China's intent:
Chinese military modernization has accelerated since the mid-to-late 1990s in response to central leadership demands to develop military options against Taiwan scenarios. The pace and scope of China's military build-up already puts regional military balances at risk. China is likely to continue making large investments in high-end, asymmetric military capabilities, emphasizing electronic and cyber-warfare; counter-space operations; ballistic and cruise missiles; advanced integrated air Defense systems; next generation torpedoes; advanced submarines; strategic nuclear strike from modern, sophisticated land and sea-based systems; and theater unmanned aerial vehicles…
According to the MPPRC Report's executive summary, China's specific intent is to "build counters to third-party, including potential U.S., intervention in [Taiwan] Strait crises." The report continues, "Deterring, defeating, or delaying foreign intervention ahead of Taiwan's capitulation is integral to Beijing's strategy." To this end, China is expanding its "force of ballistic missiles (long-range and short-range), cruise missiles, submarines, advanced aircraft, and other modern systems."
China's Sea-Power Goals
If they are curious about China's intent, Pentagon planners might look to comments by General Wen Zongren, Political Commissar of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's elite Academy of Military Science. The MPPRC Report quotes General Wen as asserting that China must "break" the "blockade [by] international forces against China's maritime security… Only when we break this blockade shall we be able to talk about China's rise… [T]o rise suddenly, China must pass through oceans> and go out of the oceans> in its future development." In fact, it is the explicit goal of the Chinese Communist Party to "increase the comprehensive strength of the nation."
The Chinese navy-and its submarine fleet, in particular-is a key tool in achieving that goal. The September 2004 promotion of Admiral Zhang Dingfa, a career submariner, to Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and a full seat on the Central Military Commission was a clear signal of the primacy of submarine warfare in China's strategy for the Asia-Pacific region.
Growing Submarine Force
Admiral Zhang led PLAN's submarine modernization program and oversaw the acquisition of four modern Russian-built KILO subs, including the stealthy Type-636. Orders for eight more are on the books, with the first new boats to be delivered this month. That three Russian shipyards are at work to fill China's orders for new submarines betrays this build-up's urgency.
Admiral Zhang isn't relying solely on the Russians. He has also increased production-to 2.5 boats per year-of China's new, formidable Song-class diesel-electric submarine. China is also testing a new diesel-electric that the Defense intelligence community has designated the "Yuan." The Yuan is heavily inspired by Russian designs, including anechoic tile coatings and a super-quiet seven-blade screw. The addition of "air-independent propulsion," which permits a submarine to operate underwater for up to 30 days on battery power, will make the Song and Yuan submarines virtually inaudible to existing U.S. surveillance networks-and even to U.S. subs.
These new submarines will be more lethal when armed with Russian SKVAL ("Squall") torpedoes, which can reach 200 knots. There are reports that the SKVAL is already operational on some Chinese subs. As well, Russia has also transferred the Novator 3M-54E three-stage anti-ship cruise missile to China's submarine fleet for use against aircraft carriers. Each Chinese KILO is armed with four of these missiles.
America's Endangered Submarine Supremacy
In February 2005, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld commented that the size of the Chinese fleet could surpass the United States Navy's within a decade. "It is an issue that the department thinks about and is concerned about and is attentive to." Indeed, the U.S. Navy will hold a series of major naval exercises in the Pacific this summer that will involve four aircraft carrier battle groups, including a carrier normally based on the U.S. East Coast. This will be the first time the Navy has deployed an Atlantic Fleet carrier to a Pacific exercise since the Vietnam War.
However, there is little indication that the Pentagon is taking the Chinese submarine challenge seriously. If it were, the QDR issued earlier this month would have recommended that the erosion of the U.S. submarine fleet come to an end.
But the QDR envisions a "return to a steady-state production rate of two attack submarines per year not later than 2012 while achieving an average per-hull procurement cost objective of $2.0 billion." This means that the U.S. sub fleet will continue to decline for another six years, during which time America's industrial base for constructing subs will further diminish and the per-unit cost of submarines will jump past $2 billion, impelling further cuts in the fleet.
Of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's 35 submarines (including three nuclear attack submarines based in Guam during 2006), about a dozen are underway at sea on operational duties at any one time. Under the QDR's most optimistic estimates, Pacific Command's sub fleet will diminish to about 30 by 2025.
Electric Boat (EB), the nation's preeminent submarine contractor, has announced plans to lay off 900 of its 1,700 designers and marine draftsmen engineers over the next three years. This is a crisis. It will mark the first time in 50 years that the U.S. has not had a new submarine design on the drawing board. EB laid off nearly 200 submarine engineers and machinists in early February-and EB is the only shipbuilder in the nation that maintains submarine designers. As the build-rate for subs collapsed, EB used maintenance and repair work to pay designers' salaries and maintain its staff of highly-skilled steelworkers. But without new orders, EB will lay off almost half of its workforce of over 5,000 over the next three years
U.S. Navy combatant commanders already require 150 percent of the attack submarine days currently available, and these requirements will only increase as the submarine force dwindles. If the United States allows production to dwindle further, expertise will be lost and costs will skyrocket for any new classes of submarines contemplated for the post-2012 period.
Meanwhile, China's fleet of modern attack submarines is growing: China already has ten Song/Yuan/Kilo submarines in the Pacific today, over 50 older Ming-class and Romeo boats, five Han class nuclear attack submarines, and one Xia-class ballistic missile submarine. In addition, China has 25 new boats under contract now; 16 are under construction today, including a new class of nuclear attack submarine designated the Type-093 and a new nuclear ballistic missile sub, the Type-094.
The U.S. has three submarines under construction today. Although the Navy's new 30-year shipbuilding plan calls for 48 nuclear attack submarines in the fleet by 2035, the Navy's top submarine commander, Vice Admiral Charles L. Munns, has testified before Congress that the Navy needs at least 54 boats to fulfill current critical missions. This number will rise as China's navy expands.
If the Navy does not start launching new subs at the rate of two per year until several years after 2012, the force would dip to a low of 40 in 2028, or 17 percent below the Navy's stated needs. And that rate will not even permit the Navy to reach its sub-minimal target of 48 attack submarines until 2034. All of this assumes that the Navy does not decommission ships faster than expected due to expanded operations in coming years.
Recommendations for the Administration and Congress
The United States must return to building at least two, and preferably two-and-a-half, new attack submarines per year beginning in FY 2009. The U.S. must begin procurement for long lead-time components, such as nuclear reactors, in FY 2007 and 2008. These steps are necessary just to hold U.S. subsurface strength steady.
The Administration should also work with key strategic partners in Asia to bolster their fleets. Japan and India are potential submarine warfare partners. Japan must also be encouraged to upgrade its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and surveillance systems.

Update
2013
Vietnam received the second Kilo-class Russian built submarines. This two has been put in operational mode in South China Sea for surveillance purposes. The rest 4 will be delivered annually till 2016.
2014 The map below shows operators of submarines in green, and operators of ballistic missile in orange.

The table below, information was droned by drone88, shows list of countries that are technologically-capable to build submarines. 

Ballistic Missile and its threats

A ballistic missile (BM) is a a missile that has a ballistic trajectory over most of its flight path

The United States divides missiles into four range classes.

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ICBM           over    5500 kilometers
Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile IRBM    3000 to 5500 kilometers
Medium-Range Ballistic Missile MRBM       1000 to 3000 kilometers
Short-Range Ballistic missile SRBM            up to 1000 kilometers

Ballistic orbit

image: wiki

Here is the list of Asia-Pacific nations that possess ballistic missiles powers. Includes Afghanistan, China, India, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. 

Chinese PLA has possessed a large number of ballistic missiles (including short-range, long-range and intercontinental), which posed an emerging threats to US and its allies in Asia Pacific.

No wonder that Japan doesn't possess this kind of offensive weapons even the nation's army is on world top. Because of  Article 9, has been determined that Japan cannot hold offensive military weapons — this has been interpreted to mean that Japan cannot have ICBMs, nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers or bomber fleets. 

Monkey commandos in Chinese Military Forces

2014-05-06 (from thewire.com) — The United States, Russia, and Ukraine have all used dolphins, sea lions and beluga whales in their Naval forces before, and K-9 units are common in many defense forces, but now a new country and animal is joining the military creature scene. China has introduced a group of macaque monkeys to their air force division. According to the Chinese state controlled media, the monkeys joined the People’s Liberation Army to defend against birds. That’s right, the monkeys are up against birds.

Migrating birds have caused issues on the base. (Chinese officials would not confirm which base the monkeys are at, simply referring to it as a Beijing air force base.) The base these monkeys are stationed in sits on one of the largest bird migratory channels in the world, and it is surrounded by the pear blossom trees they like to nest in. In the event they fly into the aircraft engines, the results could be catastrophic; enough to bring down a plane.

In the past, the soldiers used a variety of tactics to rid themselves of the birds: scarecrows, netting, firecrackers, ammunition, and even climbing into the trees to destroy nests. Nothing seemed to work.

According to the Chinese military, the monkeys have been trained to destroy nests and scare birds on command. When their handler blows a whistle, the monkey goes into full bird destruction mode, beginning their climb into the tree. After they destroy the nest and come back down from the tree, the trainer rewards them with a slice of apple. Thus far, the monkeys have destroyed over 180 nests, about six-to-eight nests per day, per monkey. The monkeys have also been trained to walk on a leash along side their trainer, but that might be just for fun.

The People’s Liberation Army is calling the monkey commando their “secret weapon.” If we had a herd of attack monkeys, they would be our secret weapon too.

Source

Vietnam Philippine naval exchange on spratly islands

This is the first time between Vietnamese Naval forces and PH Naval forces. Two islands controlled by Vietnamese and Filipino 4 -5 km far from each others. This exchange shows the closer tight between the two army since China is escalating military in South China sea (East sea). 

Also, by these activities, they admit the presence of each other on Spratly Islands. 

Lockheed has contracted to modify Thai F-16s Radar

Learn more: 
How many F-16 Thailand Air Forces owns? 
The Royal Thai Air Force ordered total of 54 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon aircraft. It received a further 7 F-16A/B aircraft as a donation from Singapore in exchange for the use of training facilities in Thailand by the RSAF.

RTAF F-16 ADF (photo : F-16 net)

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $7,253,896 modification (P00068) to FA8615-07-C-6032 for F-16 production contracts. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $430,377,045. 

This modification incorporates a solution to solve a radar interoperability issue affecting F-16 aircraft produced for Pakistan and Thailand under the basic contract. 

Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2016. 

The contract supports 100 percent foreign military sales for Thailand and Pakistan. 

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WWMK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.

(US DoD)

Philippines beefs up its coast guard

Direct source: Defence studies

BRP San Juan (56 meter) a Tenix class patrol vessel (photo : Timawa)

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard is to hire an additional 1,000 uniformed personnel this year and 2,000 more in the next two years to meet its goal of having a “10,000-strong command” by the end of President Benigno Aquino III’s term in 2016.

The PCG, an agency attached to the Department of Transportation and Communication, has only 606 officers and 6,143 enlisted personnel tasked to guard the country’s more than 36,000 kilometers of coastline and thousands of coastal communities depending on the nation’s marine resources.

“This year, recruiting at least 1,000 uniformed personnel is our target,” Cmdr. Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, told the INQUIRER in a telephone interview Wednesday. “But our bigger goal is to have 10,000 uniformed personnel within the next three years. Ideally, we should have that number of personnel.”

An undisclosed number of new recruits will be assigned to the PCG’s new search-and-rescue base in Roxas City in Capiz, Balilo said.

Ten 40-meter patrol vessel are expected to be delivered three in 2015 and seven in  2016 (photo : militaryphotos)


He said that “with the ongoing personnel recruitment program, the command has also started preparing for the manning of the 10 brand-new patrol boats that we’re getting from Japan in the next two years.”

The command expects delivery of two to three of the 10 patrol vessels by the third quarter of 2015. The seven other 40-meter (131-foot) boats would be delivered the following year.

In December, Malacañang announced that the Japan International Cooperation Agency would provide a $184-million soft loan for the PCG’s acquisition of the vessels to boost the country’s maritime security.

The Coast Guard’s current fleet consists of nine boats, which are mainly utilized in search-and-rescue operations.

Some PCG personnel also man several vessels belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the campaign against illegal fishing and poaching in the country’s territorial waters.

Aside from its uniformed personnel, the agency has 299 civilian employees plus some 6,000 auxiliaries or volunteers nationwide who help it promote safety at sea and protect the marine environment, among other things.

From only P2 billion in 2010, the PCG’s annual budget now stands at more than P4.3 billion.

Balilo pointed out that the PCG’s “increased budget” would boost the command’s operational and administrative capabilities.

He expressed confidence they would get another budget increase next year, saying, “it’s a good thing we’re getting full support from the government.”

The command, he added, is “in a better position to enforce Republic Act No. 9983,” or the Coast Guard Act of 2009, which aims to further enhance maritime safety and prevent sea tragedies.

(Inquirer)

Australia's First EA-18G launch production

Direct source: Defence studies

RAAF EA-18G Growler (image : aviationintel)

The Royal Australian Air Force's first Boeing EA-18G Growler has entered production at Northrop Grumman’s El Segundo plant in California.

As with every "classic" Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and E/F-model Super Hornet before it, Northrop will build the centre and rear fuselage of the Growler before shipping it to Boeing for final assembly and flight testing in St Louis, Missouri.

Australia's lead aircraft, which will be numbered A46-301, is the first of 12 EA-18Gs on order for the nation's air force. It is expected to roll out in mid-2015, before conducting a 12-month flight test campaign with the US Navy in order to meet Australian airworthiness requirements.

The production milestone comes after the first Australian Growler crews started training on the type earlier this year with the US Navy’s VAQ-129 unit at NAS Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington. Six crews will have been trained at the location by 2016.

A first tranche of five or six Growlers is expected to be ferried to Amberley air base near Brisbane, Queensland in early 2017, and will be followed about six months later by the balance of the fleet.

The aircraft will be operated by 6 Sqn – the former General Dynamics F-111C and F/A-18F operational conversion unit. In order to accommodate the Growlers, the unit will relinquish its training role and Super Hornets to the air force's 1 Sqn. Further Australian Super Hornet conversion training will be undertaken with US Navy training units at NAS Oceana, Virginia from 2015.

Australia is scheduled to declare initial operational capability with the EA-18G in mid-2018, with full operational status slated for the early 2020s.

(FlightGlobal)

Indonesia launching Production Panzer Anoa

(MDN), after the military ordered 150 APCs Anoa PINDAD production in 2008, ordnance factory in Bandung, West Java SOE already got it as a fresh blood supply. The total amount of funds disbursed by the government to buy 150 units of APCs Anoa exceeds USD 1 trillion so Anoa production operation was running smoothly.

Not only completing 150 units of APCs Anoa, the weapons technician PINDAD is also currently menggeber production to meet the military orders in an aggregate amount (including 150 units of the first order), reaching more than 300 units. Anoa which already operated some even sent to Lebanon to support the UN peacekeeping duty Indonesia, Indo FPC Task Force TNI Konga XXVI-D2/UNIFIL.

'' A total of 150 Anoa, when it was ordered directly by Mr. Vice President Yusuf Kalla. It was a surprise and a challenge because PINDAD not have experience producing APCs. But thanks to the hard work finally realized PINDAD APCs were ordered by the government,'' said Rudyati Tuning, Head of the Department of Public Relations and Legal PINDAD to Space in PINDAD, Bandung, West Java (14/6). '' At the moment we are working hard to fulfill orders from the military and also Anoa Malaysia. With the capability of producing PINDAD Anoa 80 units per year, we believe the order of the consumer can be met,'' added Tuning.

Komodo

In addition to APCs Anoa, PINDAD also produces tactical vehicles (Rantis) Komodo's design in 2011. Rantis who already tried this has a number of capabilities such swiftly moving on muddy terrain, sand, steep path with tanjakkan 31 degrees and tilt 17 degrees and the ability to roam up to 450 miles.

Source: Space

52 Leopard tanks ready for shipping to Indonesia

image: jakartagreater.com

Jakarta - A total of 52 Leopard tanks ready to be sent from Germany to Indonesia in the first shipment. The amount represents the portion of the total reservation Army in 2013 as many as 164 units. Ceremonial first delivery (roll out) 52 tanks performed in Unterluss, Germany. The delegation High Level Committee (HLC) headed by Vice Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Sjafrie and participated in the troupe of former Army Chief of Staff Gen. (Ret.) Pramod Edhie Wibowo. The delegation is scheduled to depart from Jakarta, Sunday (22/06/2014) this morning towards Hamburg. purchase Leopard tanks is initiated when the Army Chief, General Pramono Edhie Wibowo. The rationale behind the purchase of the main tools of weapons systems (defense equipment) as part of the modernization of defense equipment. "Alutsista Indonesia are among the most backward even among some neighboring ASEAN countries. During the Indonesian only rely on light as a Scorpion battle tank, and the AMX-13. The third type of tank is fairly mild aging, "said Edhie in a statement on Sunday (06/22/2014). Additionally, the purchase of the Leopard is also part of the defense equipment refreshment after 30 years without a refresher. "Refresher is required Indonesia to ensure the unity of the Republic of Indonesia," added Edhie.
Accordance with the purchase agreement in 2013, the last, Kemenhan has ordered 164 Leopard tanks to play the type of medium tanks battle tanks and Marder IFV. purchased Leopard Tank complete with ammunition, bullet drills and spare parts by the Ministry of Defense of the German company, Rheinmettal AG, with the approval of the German government. "Our presence in Unterluss is to see immediately which includes the preparation of the final technical inspection and testing Leopard tank unit to be sent to Indonesia, "Edhie said. "plan 26 26 MBT and Marder could arrive in Indonesia in the near future and could be modeled on the military hut celebration ceremony next October 5th," said Commander Commander Cavalry Weaponry Center (Danpusenkav) Brigadier General Mulyanto.

Source: DETIK