by KYLE MIZOKAMI
Noteworthy reading on events in Asia and the Pacific.
AUSTRALIA
Eric Palmer at ELP Defens(c)e Blog has a post up about Australia’s acquisition of the F-35 Lightning II fighter bomber. According to the post, the Australian government has scant idea how much the entire F-35 program will cost. Palmer points out 2005 quotes by Australian defense officials in which they estimate costs per plane (including support and life cycle costs) for Australia as significantly cheaper than the numbers the United States Air Force quotes for itself. Palmer chalks up the discrepancy to ignorance.
CHINA
Galrahn at Information Dissemination has a post on the collision between a Chinese submarine and USS John S. McCain‘s towed sonar array, including some key quotes from various news sources. Sources indicate the incident was not intentional on the submarine’s part, “No sub skipper in his right mind would use his sub to damage a towed array.” The incident underscores recent heightened Chinese submarine activity and increased confidence on the part of the PLAN in their submarine capabilities.
JAPAN
Blogger MTC, at the Japanese politics and society blog Shisaku, notes how one article in a Japanese newspaper, in this case the Yomiuri Shimbum, beget a series of bad articles in the international press, each hyping the threat to Hawaii from an anticipated July Taepodong launch. MTC notes, with considerable frustration, how the overall story evolved from a rocket being fired toward Hawaii to a rocket being launched on Hawaii. MTC laments the lack of analysis done by reporters on the physics of launching rockets, the political suitability of splashdown locations, and even the actual range of the Taepodong rocket.
THE KOREAS
ROK Drop’s GI Korea points to a paper written by the International Crisis Group on North Korea’s chemical weapons stockpiles, and makes a dry observation regarding South Korea’s attitude towards the north’s nuclear program. GI Korea also notes a very large self-propelled howitzer purchase by South Korea as the country starts its latest military modernization program.
(Photo: Creative Commons)
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If I remember right, there was an incident earlier this year, closer to the mainland, where a series of trawlers tried to detach a towed array from a destroyer/boat/research vessel “because they didnt have that newer style of array? could this be another attempt, nah.