DEFENSE NEWS

 INS Vikramditya - India's second aircraft carrier- is back on its feet. Three of the ship's eight boilers that had malfunctioned during trials in last year have been "opened up and set right," a senior Navy official told NDTV.
Originally built as the Admiral Gorshkov in the Soviet Union, the $2.3 billion (about Rs. 12,500 crore) aircraft carrier is being refurbished by Russia, the world's second-largest arms exporter for India, its biggest customer.
The induction of the 45,000-tonne aircraft carrier that can carry about 30-odd aircraft was delayed by almost a year, leading to a severe reprimand by Defence Minister AK Antony in October.

Sources told NDTV that the problems in the ship's boilers had surfaced when the aircraft was pushed to perform at speeds over 26-27 knots per hour. The INS Vikramaditya can do a maximum of about 28 Knots per hour. The Sevmash shipyard in Russia which is refurbishing and refitting the aircraft carrier hasn't officially informed India about the possible reason for the malfunction of the boilers.
In sea trials last year, the ship sailed for 100 days and its flight deck - the most critical part of an aircraft carrier - is operational, senior officials told NDTV. 
The MiG-29KUB two-seat naval fighter jet will be positioned on the Vikramaditya. It will be equipped with Russian-made KH-35 air to air missiles.
But because the seas in Northern Russia are frozen, the INS Vikramaditya can sail out of the port only in June this year for "delivery acceptance trials" - the penultimate stage before a ship is commissioned.
On acceptance of the ship from the builder, it will be formally commissioned with the Indian tri-colour being hoisted on top of ship after which start its journey to towards India.
The Navy intends to commission the ship in Russia and sail it back to India by October- November 2013. It is expected to join active service by December.
Interestingly, the Indian Navy will showcase the aircraft carrier on January 26 at Republic Day parade in New Delhi. The Navy tableau will include a scaled-down model of the INS Vikramaditya.

Norway's Kongsberg Defence Systems has revealed plans to develop an encapsulated submarine-launched variant of its Joint Strike Missile (JSM), with development expected to be considered as an option for Norway's submarine fleet beyond 2020.

A derivative of the Nytt Sjomalsmissile/Naval Strike Missile (NSM) surface-to-surface guided missile, which entered service with the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) in October 2012, JSM was initially conceived as an air-launched multimission precision-guided weapon designed for internal carriage on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). While retaining the imaging infrared seeker and GPS-aided navigation and guidance package of NSM, the JSM air vehicle has been substantially re-engineered to meet requirements for air launch and internal integration in the JSF weapons bay.

Changes include a slimmer, reprofiled airframe, a new turbojet engine, a revised intake arrangement, and new shoulder-mounted wing surfaces. Additional internal volume for fuel pushes range out to over 275 km; a two-way Link 16-compatible datalink is also incorporated.

Kongsberg is now looking to grow JSM into a wider family of precision-guided missiles, with the submarine-launch variant one option under study.

The government has formed a committee to negotiate with a Chinese team on purchase of three frigates to enhance Thai’s naval strength in the resourceful Gulf of Thailand, officials said. Both the sides will work out details of the state-to-state frigate purchase agreement the groundwork of which was laid during the visit of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Thailand in November 2012.
The Thai government has recently approved the purchase of two medium-sized frigates with a budget of 1 billion U.S. dollars after denying allegation about the countrys navy persistent request for submarines. However, Beijing had offered three of its Type 054T frigates at a very lower rate and the number of the frigates on conditions that Bangkok can not be denied. Some source said these special offer include six Z-9EC ASW helicopters.
Officials said the armed forced division had planned to utilize budgetary allocations of the 1 billion U.S. dollar fund, approved by the Yingluck Cabinet for the procurement of the frigates, is to be spent for a 10-year period, beginning from current fiscal year. The three frigates are unlikely be procured at the same time.
Type 054T frigate may be an improved version of the Type 054A frigate, possibly designated F40T, for which discussions have been held between Thailand and China.
Officials said commissioning of the type 054T frigates would help the capability of the Thai maritime force in Anti-submarine warfare in the Gulf of Thailand, the dimension of which had changed a lot in the last one decade amid growing interest of Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam in the area.
Officials also said Malaysia also plans to acquire two more Scorpène class submarines and Vietnam has recently purchased from Russia six Kilo class submarines and Russian submarine have already been delivered, the delivery of all six submarines will be completed before 2016 and most important thing is Cambodia has already started Submarine project.
Thailand and its neighbor Cambodia were on the edge of conflict in the Gulf in the past 10 years over oil and gas exploration by the latter in the disputed areas. Both the countries had engaged in legal battle over the disputed areas in an international court.
Besides, Thailand is still running a legal battle against another neighbor, Malaysia, over maritime boundary and also the most revealing public statement by any military top brass on the nature and consequences of the Thai Deep South conflict since violence resumed in January 2004.

China is unlikely to use the KJ-2000 or KJ-200 as airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, due to weight, size, and other factors. The Liaoning needs a type of medium-sized AEW aircraft that do not occupy much space, military expert Du Wenlong said in an interview with China Central Television on Jan. 19.
Another military expert Li Li said that an AEW variant of the Xian Y-7 is probably being tested for use as AEW aircraft on the Liaoning, but it still faces problems concerning wing folding and hangar capacity.
Du said that the existing KJ-2000 or KJ-200 is not the suitable AEW aircraft for the Liaoning. Carrier-based AEW aircraft must features light weight and small size, while the two models of AEW aircraft are too heavy. The KJ-2000 weighs more than 100 tons. The KJ-200 weighs dozens of tons, and has a relatively big size. Carrier-based AEW aircraft should have a small size, and occupy small space because every inch of space on an aircraft carrier is extremely valuable. The Liaoning needs a type of medium-sized AEW aircraft which can combat in coordination with the J-15 or the next-generation carrier-based aircraft, so as to form a sound maritime attacking and defense system.
Will the Y-7 variant be used as AEW aircraft on the Liaoning? Li explained that the Y-7 weighs over 20 tons, and meets the first criterion for carrier-based AEW aircraft. However, some other basic factors also deserve attention. The variant must have folding wings to become carrier-based AEW aircraft, but it is difficult to convert the Y-7's conventional wings into folding wings. Furthermore, the variant must be small enough to fit into the Liaoning's hangar, but the Y-7 has a higher height than most other domestic fighter planes. China is probably doing related tests, and can try to solve problems concerning the catapult. If these problems are solved, the size of AEW aircraft will not be a bother anymore.
Du said that the Liaoning is carrying out training to use helicopters as AEW aircraft for the moment, and it is hard to say whether it will continue like this. It is acceptable if China uses AEW helicopters on the Liaoning to combat in coordination with other carrier-based fighter planes, but carrier-based AEW aircraft had better be fixed-wing, so the scope, height, and accuracy of surveillance will meet the military's requirements.