Saturday, February 22, 2014

Philippines Agrees on Deal to Buy 12 FA-50 Fighter Aircraft From South Korea

South Korea and the Philippines have agreed on a $422 million deal for the purchase of twelve FA-50 light fighter aircraft. Barring any unforeseen issues, an actual contract could be signed a few weeks from now in March.

A deal for the FA-50 had been hoped for as early as last year, but a deal could not be agreed upon due to differences on the terms of the contract. A natural disaster in the Philippines caused by a Typhoon further complicated agreement on a contract.

South Korea wanted more upfront payment and less after sales support. The Philippines wanted the opposite, but both sides were able to meet each other half way to work something out.

If a contract is signed in March, the first FA-50 are expected to be delivered 18 months later in the second half of 2015. The Philippines would the become the second export customer for the FA-50 after Iraq and South Korea itself.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Saudi Arabia Orders Armored Vehicles and Proceeds With Typhoon Fighter Aircraft

After several years of finding the right candidate, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS), the Canadian division of general Dynamics from the United States, has received a $10 billion contract from Saudi Arabia for armored vehicles. With options included, the contract increases by another $3 billion.

The vehicles are to be a new design, but in order to enter production in 2016, the vehicles will likely have to make use to a certain extent of existing designs. GDLS currently manufactures the eight-wheeled Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) for Canada, which is derived from the Swiss Piranha family of armored vehicles.

In addition, GDLS manufactures parts for the American Stryker, which in turn is based on the LAV. The four-wheeled Ocelot is produced for the United Kingdom. The vehicles can be fitted with a range of weapons such as the TOW missiles which Saudi Arabia will have in large quantities.

Regardless, the vehicles will be designed and developed to meet Saudi Arabia's specific needs and local conditions. To cover the vast distances of flat, open and undeveloped terrain, the vehicles will need to be fast and relatively light with good off-road capability, sufficient range and able to deal with hot, dusty desert conditions.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Russia Starts Upgrading Project 1144.2 Orlan (Kirov Class) Missile Cruisers

After some delay, Russia has begun upgrading the Admiral Nakhimov, one of its Project Missile 1144.2 Orlan (Kirov class) nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers at the Sevmash shipyard. There are a total of four Project 1144.2 cruisers:
  • the Admiral Ushakov, commissioned as the Kirov in 1980
  • the Admiral Lazarev, commissioned as the Frunze in 1984
  • the Admiral Nakhimov, commissioned as the Kalinin in 1988
  • the Pyotr Veliky, formerly the Yuri Andropov was commissioned in 1998
Of these four, only the Pyotr Veliky is currently in active service. All four are scheduled to undergo an extensive upgrade.

Although quite old, the Kirov class cruisers remain the most heavily armed ships in service and will continue to have this distinction after modernization is complete. Some of the changes to be made include:
  • Replacement of the P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) with the P-800 Onyx (Oniks) long-range supersonic anti-ship missiles
  • Replacement of the naval S-300 with the S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile complex
  • Replacement of the AK-630 and Kashtan Close-In Weapon Systems with the Pantsir system
Work on the Admiral Nakhimov is expected to be complete by 2018.