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An interesting podcast on the Thai military and the role of politics in the recent re-shuffle

I just finished listening to a very interesting podcast on the 01 Oct re-shuffle within the Thai military from Radio Australia's Connect Asia program. There is also a transcript of the podcast on the ABC's Radio Australia Connect Asia website. The person being interviewed is John Cole, a former US Army Foreign Area Officer who graduated from Thai Staff College. John Cole also wrote an article in Asia Times Online about the reshuffle. The podcast is very informative on the thinking behind the reshuffle, who links to who and also what the military structures mean. There were also the mandatory statement on what a return of Thaksin may mean:

I think if you were looking for the one back breaker that could break the deal that you opened this interview conversation with, the one deal that could break, the one deal breaker issue would be to have everybody wake up one sunny morning and find that Thaksin's already landed at Don Mueang and he's back and I think the military. While hearing from my friends and former associates and classmates in Thai staff colleges, that's the one thing that could set the whole thing on fire.

Indonesia looking to buy second hand F-16C/D aircraft from the US

This article from the Jakarta Post reports that Indonesian Air Force officers will travel to the US to acquire second hand F-16C/Ds that are currently stored in the aircraft boneyard in Arizona. The details of the purchase are:

The 30 aircraft will come free of charge. But six of them will be cannibalized for their parts. The Indonesians are expected to spend US$400 million to US$600 million equipping the rest with advanced avionics and weaponry and buying 28 Pratt and Whitney engines.

On the face of it this seems to be a good deal. Yes, Indonesia will still need to integrate the weapons and avionics but it has had US aircraft for a while so hopefully this upgrade work will not be technologically difficult. Where the news starts getting a bit more questionable is talk of politicians wanting the air force to avoid getting reliant on US weaponry again. This has been an ongoing Indonesian ambition since the Leahy provisions were passed into US law about ten years ago. The rationale is that if the Indonesian military becomes overly reliant on the US for weapons, including spare parts, then Indonesia will be vulnerable to another US arms embargo. The problem is the flip side, over diversification of Indonesian weapon systems. The SU-27s and SU-30s are still without weapons and there are reports that their electrical systems are incompatible with existing Indonesian systems. Indonesia has British, US, Russian and South Korean aircraft. Who would want to be an Indonesian logistics officer.

Another interesting paragraph in the article is where critics, not further defined, give a good list of alternates for acquisitions.

Critics question why greater priority is not being given to maritime reconnaissance aircraft, ocean-going patrol craft and transport planes, but protecting a nation's air space is a source of pride for a military - and a president - concerned about national sovereignty.

Worth a read.

Ancient Chinese copper sword discovered in Jiangxi Province

(Source: www.china.org.cn)

A well preserved warring states sword has been found in East China according to this article:

A copper sword dating back more than 2,200 years has been discovered in east China's Jiangxi Province, local archaeologists said.

The design and shape of the sword indicate that it was forged during the Warring States Period (475 BC - 221 BC), according to Li Guoli, curator of the Nanchang Museum, where the sword is currently being stored.

Still worried about China's new ASBM, the untested one

The DF-21D (Source: www.china-defense-mashup.com)

The word capability is a very over-used term in military circles, especially amongst analysts and journalists. Just because a country acquires a new weapon it does not mean that the country has a new capability. True, a badly used bomb is still a bomb but it may not deliver to its full potential if it is not used properly. An untested weapon is also not really a capability. This is all just a long introduction to explaining why I am bemused about all the hype surrounding the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) supposedly being developed or even deployed in China. This article at the East Asia Forum is more restrained than most but it is still painting the untested DF-21D as a game changer for the US Navy when operating in the Pacific Ocean:

Chinese military planners, without even fully testing the ASBM system, have placed US forces in a challenging position. Even if General Chen’s statement was an exaggeration or a theoretical range, this debate demonstrates the difficulties US strategists face in dealing with this new weapon. And now with the possibility of a larger range, US planners will need to ponder long and hard if and how they might use surface combatants in the Pacific Ocean during a conflict.