drone-88 South East Asia Military Balance

Taiwan Special Force

Thailand to receive first UH-72A in April 2015

Airbus has produced the first of six UH-72A light utility helicopters for the Royal Thai Army (RTA), officials at the company's production facility in Columbus, Mississippi, said on 14 May.The aircraft will be delivered in December to the US Army, which will transfer it to the RTA, according to a company spokesman. The remaining five aircraft will be built in 2015.

Thailand requested six UH-72As through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process in 2013. The contract is worth USD77 million and would be the first international sale of the aircraft, a variant of the EC145 civil helicopter.Thailand is recapitalising its rotary wing fleet. In February 2011 it acquired three Mil Mi-17V-5 multimission helicopters from Russia, with three further helicopters ordered. In October 2012 the RTA signed a contract for two AgustaWestland AW139s for transport and utility missions with delivery set for this year.In August 2009 the Defense Security Co-operation Agency announced an FMS of three UH-60L aircraft, while in March 2010 the Thai government approved a proposal to purchase three UH-60Ms. In October 2011, the Thai Cabinet approved a USD90 million plan to procure two further Black Hawks.

http://www.janes.com/article/37906/thailand-to-receive-first-uh-72a-in-april-2015

All Modern Chinese fighter jets in one photo

From left to right you can ID:
Shenyang J-11, Chengdu J-10, Shenyang J-8II, Shenyang J-8, Chengdu J-7, Shenyang J-6, Shenyang JJ-2. Front row: Xian JH-7A, Nanchang A5.

S. Korea to donate warships and boats to Philippines

Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk

South Korea will be donating a lightly armed warship to the Philippines after its decommission by the end of this year, the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said Thursday.

In a statement, the department said that South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwang Jin announced the donation of one of its Pohang-class corvettes to the Philippine Navy when he met with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in Seoul last Friday.

"Minister Kim said South Korea's gesture is a small token compared with the great contribution of Filipino troops during the Korean War," the statement said, adding that the donation is "yet another sign of the two countries' growing defense cooperation."

South Korea has already agreed to give the Philippines a landing craft utility and 16 rubber boats.

The Philippine Navy's biggest ships are frigates, two of which were acquired in recent years from the United States, while it also has three offshore patrol vessels.

South Korea is giving the Philippine Navy a transport ship, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Monday.Seoul will also send 16 rubber boats and computers.Gazmin went to Seoul Thursday to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin."They gave an LCU (Landing Craft Utility), rubber boats, and computers," said Gazmin, who returned to Manila last Saturday.He did not immediately say when the equipment will arrive in the Philippines.Gazmin also discussed humanitarian assistance and disaster response with Kim.

He also expressed his gratitude for the role of South Korean troops in the ongoing rehabilitation of typhoon-hit Eastern Visayas.At least 500 South Korean troops arrived in Leyte last December to help in the construction of structures, including school buildings.They are due to return to South Korea by December this year.The transport ship will boost the capability of the Navy, Gazmin said. It can be used in the transport of troops for operations, and relief goods intended for calamity victims.Last March, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista signed a P18.9-billion contract with Korean Aerospace Industries for the supply of 12 FA-50 fighter jets for the Philippine Air Force.