Scuffle in the South China Sea #49

China slams the Philippines definition of 'reef.'

The new Chinese Coast Guard cutters are likely to operate in the South China Sea.

China has stated it will ignore the Philippines' lawsuit decision by The Hague.

 China is pushing its own agenda at the Singapore security summit.

The Summit was dominated by the South China Sea scuffle.

China says the US is provoking it in the South China Sea.

The US will not back down in the South China Sea and will respond to China.  In fact, if China does more, the US has vowed action.

This one shoal may be the line in the sand for the South China Sea.

The US SecDef is saying China is building a Great Wall of Self-Isolation.

The US is proposing a security framework for Asia and asked China to join.

The interaction between the US & China is being called the  'Dialogue of the Deaf.'

The American P-8 and the South China Sea.

McCain is pushing the US to respond more to China in the South China Sea.

Vietnam will be formally asking for P-3 patrol planes.

Those Crazy Kids and Their Crazy Flying Machines

This year, we've seen a number of important developments in the race to bring personal flyers to market. A team of flying enthusiasts from Hungary took to the skies in a proof of concept tricopter named Flike in March, Malloy Aeronautics announced plans to develop its Hoverbike for the US Department of Defense at the Paris Air Show in June, and the JB-9 made its maiden flight around the Statue of Liberty just last month. Now a team of students from Singapore has joined the fray with a battery electric multicopter called Snowstorm that's being designed for recreational flying.

The Snowstorm vertical take-off and landing prototype is the culmination of two semesters' work under a collaborative program at the National University of Singapore known as FrogWorks, which challenges students to design and construct clean leisure craft. The eight-strong student team prototyped the design by initially building a scale model, before starting work on a version that could carry, and be controlled by, a single pilot.

Mounted to a hexagonal anodized aluminum frame with carbon fiber plates and tubes and Kevlar ropes are 24 electric motors that each drive a 76 cm (30 in) diameter prop. The aircraft's three lithium batteries, each designed to function independently as a safety measure, provide enough juice for five minutes of flight with a 70 kg (155 lb) pilot aboard. The pilot's seat is secured to the frame by a five-point harness and six landing gear legs, each ending in an inflatable ball, break out below.

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Singapore's Navy Unveils Unmanned Surface Vehicle, aka Robo Boat

The existence of a new and never before seen unmanned surface vehicle (USV) currently undergoing sea trials with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) was revealed on the service's Facebook page on 1 November.

Specifications of the indigenously developed Venus 16 USV were not disclosed, although IHS Jane's Unmanned Maritime Vehicles indicates that the vehicle has an overall length of 16.5 m and width of 5 m, displacing 26 tons at full load. Powered by a waterjet propulsion system, the vehicle is thought to be capable of attaining a maximum speed of in excess of 35 kt.

Details of the prototype USV's payload were likewise kept under wraps, but IHS Jane's understands that this vehicle has been configured for mine countermeasure (MCM) missions. A launch and recovery cradle with what appears to be a towed side-scan sonar system can be seen on its payload bay under cover.

"Our navy will be integrating more and more unmanned technology as part of the navy of the future," the service stated in its announcement. "The Venus 16 unmanned surface vessel (USV) is one of the unmanned systems currently being tested to support our maritime security operations."

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US Navy to Operate 4 LCS Singapore by 2018

Four US warships designed to fight in coastal areas similar to Southeast Asian waters will be operating out of Singapore by 2018, up from one currently, a senior US Navy official said Tuesday.

The "rotational deployment" of the vessels, called littoral combat ships (LCS), comes as China continues to flex its muscles in the South China Sea and tensions remain on the Korean Peninsula.

"We will soon see up to four LCS here in Singapore as we rotationally deploy Seventh Fleet ships," said Rear Adm. Charles Williams.

"We envision four ships here by May 2017 to sometime in 2018 ... but I think what you have is that by 2018, four LCS ships will be rotationally deployed here to Singapore."

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Robopocalypse in Singapore! Autonomous Vehicles Tested! EGADS!

Major Battery Breakthrough at Nanyang Technology University?

Scientists at Nanyang Technology University (NTU) have developed ultra-fast charging batteries that can be recharged up to 70 per cent in only two minutes.

The new generation batteries also have a long lifespan of over 20 years, more than 10 times compared to existing lithium-ion batteries.

This breakthrough has a wide-ranging impact on all industries, especially for electric vehicles, where consumers are put off by the long recharge times and its limited battery life.

With this new technology by NTU, drivers of electric vehicles could save tens of thousands on battery replacement costs and can recharge their cars in just a matter of minutes.

Commonly used in mobile phones, tablets, and in electric vehicles, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries usually last about 500 recharge cycles. This is equivalent to two to three years of typical use, with each cycle taking about two hours for the battery to be fully charged.

In the new NTU-developed battery, the traditional graphite used for the anode (negative pole) in lithium-ion batteries is replaced with a new gel material made from titanium dioxide.

Titanium dioxide is an abundant, cheap and safe material found in soil. It is commonly used as a food additive or in sunscreen lotions to absorb harmful ultraviolet rays.

Naturally found in spherical shape, the NTU team has found a way to transform the titanium dioxide into tiny nanotubes, which is a thousand times thinner than the diameter of a human hair. This speeds up the chemical reactions taking place in the new battery, allowing for superfast charging.

Invented by Associate Professor Chen Xiaodong from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, the science behind the formation of the new titanium dioxide gel was published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials, a leading international scientific journal in materials science.

Prof Chen and his team will be applying for a Proof-of-Concept grant to build a large-scale battery prototype. With the help of NTUitive, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTU set up to support NTU start-ups, the patented technology has already attracted interest from the industry.

The technology is currently being licensed by a company for eventual production. Prof Chen expects that the new generation of fast-charging batteries will hit the market in the next two years. It also has the potential to be a key solution in overcoming longstanding power issues related to electro-mobility.

“Electric cars will be able to increase their range dramatically, with just five minutes of charging, which is on par with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars,” added Prof Chen.

“Equally important, we can now drastically cut down the toxic waste generated by disposed batteries, since our batteries last ten times longer than the current generation of lithium-ion batteries.”

The 10,000-cycle life of the new battery also mean that drivers of electric vehicles would save on the cost of battery replacements, which could cost over US$5,000 each.

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Singapore has Been Quietly Boosting its F-15 Numbers

Singapore appears to have quietly boosted the size of its F-15SG fleet from 24 aircraft to 40, according to Boeing financial statements, aircraft registration filings, and US congressional reports.

Singapore originally bought 12 F-15SGs - with an option for eight more - under a contract signed in December 2005. In October 2007 the city-state modified this option by buying 12 more to give it a total of 24.

These aircraft have all been confirmed as delivered and have US-type serial numbers running from 05-0001 to 05-0024. Several remain in the United States with the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF's) 428th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base (AFB) in southwestern Idaho, while the remainder are active in Singapore with 149 Squadron.

Aircraft operating in Singapore use four-digit serial numbers in the 83xx sequence, starting at 8301, although these do not run consecutively.

In January 2014, several aircraft with new serial numbers - 05-0025, 05-0028, 05-0030, 05-0031, and 05-0032 - were seen at Mountain Home AFB. These had not been previously reported and suggest that Singapore has obtained another batch of eight aircraft.

Meanwhile, a 26 November 2012 letter from the US State Department to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner under the Arms Export Control Act refers to the "sale, modification, and follow-on support of eight F-15SG aircraft to the Government of Singapore".

Figures released by Boeing show that eight F-15s were delivered to an unspecified customer in 2012.

Boeing financial data also shows that a total of 93 F-15s were delivered from 2005 to 2012. South Korea has confirmed that it received 61 and Singapore that it received 24 for a total of 85, leaving eight unaccounted for in public records.

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Japan, Singapore Want V-22 Ospreys to Counter China

Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are seeking a variety of helicopters, including the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, to offset China’s growing maritime threat in the East China and South China seas, and to deal with other security issues, such as humanitarian and disaster relief missions.

The stronger trend in Asia appears to be toward procuring utility helicopters, but attack helicopters are also in demand.
The Osprey

Japan and Singapore have expressed interest in the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter and flies like a plane.

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Singapore to Regulate Bitcoin Exchanges

Singapore plans to regulate virtual currency intermediaries, to combat potential risks from money-laundering or terrorism-related financing.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said the intermediaries, such as virtual currency exchanges, would need to verify their customers' identities.

They will also have to report any suspicious transactions.

The move makes Singapore the second country after the US to impose such measures.

The city-state says the regulations for transacting digital currencies will be similar to those currently imposed on money changers and remittance businesses that undertake cash transactions.

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Singapore Testing Unmanned Surface Vehicle for Antisubmarine Warfare

Singapore Technologies (ST) Electronics has begun testing its Venus unmanned surface vehicle (USV) for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations.

Speaking with IHS Jane's at the Singapore Airshow on 11 February, Ng Tee Guan, vice-president of marketing for ST Electronics said that the company has integrated one 16.5 m-long Venus USV platform with a launch and recovery system for dipping sonars and is currently conducting a series of tests on the unit including its deployment abilities under various sea states.

The Venus USV is an indigenous effort believed to have grown out of Singapore's previous involvement in the US Navy's Spartan Scout Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) programme.

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Singapore Buys Type 218SG Attack Submarines (SSK) From Germany

In early December, German shipbuilder Thyssen announced that Singapore’s navy had contracted two Type 218SG U-boats, a variety previously unknown. While the Type 216 concept has been in public discussion Type 218 had not. As it seems, Type 218SG is an improved version of Type 214, adjusted to Singapore’s specific needs, thus the “SG” suffix. Given its size and operational profile, Type 214/218SG subs are very well suited for operations in coastal waters, such as those around Singapore. Thyssen’s offered Type 216 concept is would have been too large.

Thanks to the air-independent propulsion (AIP) fuel cells the U-boat operates almost noiselessly like a nuclear-powered submarine, but without the heat signature caused by the reactor. In consequence, by 2020, Singapore will receive the most advanced non-nuclear-powered submarines in the Indo-Pacific.

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