The recent relaxation of Tokyo’s ban on arms exports has introduced Japan as a budding player in the international arms market. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has given the go-ahead for Japanese firms to compete internationally for arms contracts.
The entry of Japan into the international arms bazaar could shift the balance of power in the Pacific, equipping Asian navies and air forces with affordable, technologically advanced ships and aircraft. It will also upset the status quo among defense exporters, as Japan will carve a niche among American, Chinese, European and Russian firms.
China is unhappy with the export loosening process. An editorial published in PLA Daily warned Southeast Asian countries that Japan was “going all out to break [its] Pacifist Constitution,” and that Japanese arms exports to the region would “deteriorate economic conditions and undermine social stability.”
The "Chengdu FC-1 is a light fighter developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Co., Ltd specifically for the market in the third world countries. Its advantages include a high performance-price ratio, with a unit price of only more than 30 million U.S. dollars," said Xu Yongling, China’s meritorious test pilot of J-10 and air force theory expert.
However, Xu Yongling also pointed out that the Chengdu FC-1 originated from J-7 after all, it is not a fourth-generation warplane in a strict sense, thus with relatively low operational effectiveness.
Britain now deploys six "Typhoon" fighters in the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, while four "Typhoon" fighters four or five years ago. Once the situation becomes tense, or simply if Argentina upgrades its air force equipment, the Britain may keep sending its "Typhoon" fighters or even E-3 early warning airplanes along the route of "mainland Britain-Gibraltar-Ascension Island- Malvinas (Falkland) Island" at any time.
"14 FC-1 fighters seem to have quantitative superiority over six Typhoon fighters, but the Britain can absolutely deploy one or two squadrons of Typhoon fighters and early warning airplanes in the Malvinas (Falkland) Island." In the eyes of Xu Yongling, the introduction of FC-1 actually doesn’t substantially help improve the situation in the Malvinas (Falkland) Island since there is no quantitative superiority and the single-aircraft combat capability is obviously inferior. "Even if less money is spent compared to that for J-10, it is a waste," said Xu.
Only J-10B can contend against "Typhoon"
If Argentina possesses the new-type J-10B which is also a fourth-and-a-half-generation fighter and equipped with the phased-array radar, it is completely capable of fighting the "Typhoon" fighter because the latter is using the traditional pulsed Doppler radar.
With the advanced navigation-power equipment that reaches the level for fifth-generation warplanes, the J-10B can also carry the China-made air-to-air missiles that reach the world's top level -- including the active radar guided medium-range missile PL-12 and infrared imaging guided fighting missile PL-10 which are no way inferior to the America-made medium-range missile AIM-120 and "Sidewinder" fighting missile.
If the J-10 is deployed in the Malvinas (Falkland) Island direction, its limited combat radius is worrying, because after all the Malvinas (Falkland) Island is 500 kilometers away from the mainland of Argentina. But the J-10B has the flight-refuel function, and this is not a big problem if the refueling aircraft is also introduced.
"Facing the Britain, a traditional powerful nation, as well as the surrounding countries such as Chile and Brazil which have introduced fourth-generation warplanes, Argentina would feel ashamed for the old stuffs it is using," Xu Yongling said that the F-16 fighters Chile bought from America were delivered in 2008. At present, Chile has 46 F-16 fighters, one Israeli "Vulture" early warning airplane, and three KC-135 refueling aircraft. Brazil signed the agreement with Sweden last year to buy 108 "Gripen" fighters, and the first batch of 28 such fighters will be delivered in 2019.
In such grim strategic environment, Argentina has to choose the equipment of the same level -- the new model of J-10, in order to have the freedom of choice and leeway. Once the production lines for fighters and ammunition are introduced, Argentina will be able to produce advanced fighters endlessly, making the cost of delivering combat forces from the mainland of Britain too high to bear, no matter the land-based aviation forces or aircraft carrier taskforce.
India handed over its first ever warship export to Mauritius in the eastern port city of Kolkata on 20 December.
Built by the state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata for USD58.5 million, the 1,300-tonne CGS Barracuda offshore patrol vessel (OPV) is designed to combat piracy, smuggling, and poaching.
The 74 m long, locally designed OPV, completed within three years of the contract being signed in 2011, has a crew of 83 and can be employed for search-and-rescue operations and to transport small troop detachments. GRSE officials claim that Barracuda delivers a top speed of 22.5 km/h, against the customer's requirement of 20 km/h.
The Chinese government reportedly will not sell the new J-20—China’s first stealth fighter—to foreign countries. Not coincidentally, the United States adopted a similar policy regarding its own F-22 stealth fighter.
The revelation of the apparent export ban comes as a surprise. Since the Chengdu-built J-20’s 2011 debut, Western analysts have assumed the large, angular, twin-engine fighter would, like most Chinese weapons, become an export commodity.
Instead, it seems Beijing wants to keep the J-20’s high-end military capabilities all to itself. Cash isn’t worth giving up the radar-evading warplane’s secrets.
The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency notified the US Congress in late June of its decision to supply 22 Boeing Harpoon submarine-launched anti-ship missiles to the Indian Navy (IN) for USD200 million via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
The notification followed the IN's 2012 request for Harpoons to provide missile-firing capability to its four German HDW Type 209/1500 SSK submarines following a mid-life upgrade.
The notification was for 12 UGM-84L Harpoon Block II Encapsulated missiles and 10 UGM-84L Encapsulated training missiles. The package also includes two Encapsulated Harpoon certification training vehicles, containers, and spares, IN personnel training and all-inclusive logistics support.
With Moscow consolidating its hold on Crimea, the U.S. State Department is suspending approval of defense exports to Russia, a move that could prevent the launch of U.S. commercial communications satellites on Russian rockets.
“State will continue this practice until further notice,” the department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) said in a March 27 announcement on its website.
DDTC export licenses are required to launch U.S. satellites—or foreign-built satellites containing U.S. components controlled by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)—on Russian launch vehicles.
If the ban on issuing such licenses remains in effect, the effects would be felt most immediately by International Launch Services (ILS) of Reston, Va., and Sea Launch International of Nyon, Switzerland; ILS markets launches on Russian Proton vehicles, while Sea Launch manages flights on Russia’s Zenit launcher.
In what is being described as collateral damage from Russia's annexation of Crimea, some 1,000 documents totalling 488 MB of data detailing correspondence between Russian state arms export agency Rosoboronexport (ROE) and India have been hacked and made public. The documents expose numerous instances of a malfunctioning relationship between India and the key suppliers of its air power assets.
The documents were revealed by a group of anonymous hackers calling themselves the 'Russian Cyber Command', who said they took action to expose the dealings of President Vladimir Putin's government and the: "critical infrastructure companies on which Putin's Russian empire stands".
