gdp's Comments

Pacific Sentinel : News Story: Forbes Falls Off SecNav Wagon; Hedge Fund Guy From Hong Kong Next

Sat, 14 Jan 2017 05:16:06 +0000

Well this makes him seem a bit better. https://goo.gl/HYqX4H

Pacific Sentinel : News Report: India to Purchase Sole C-17 Transporters in Boeing\'s Inventory

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 05:26:10 +0000

This is also a BIG part of the issue... "the non-availability of ground equipment has adversely affected to a large extent." ...if they fix that, and work with other nations to work out the best way to use/load them, the C-17's will work out fine for them.

Pacific Sentinel : Editorial: Did Ukraine Just Lose 5 Indian Air Force Planes?

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 05:47:48 +0000

Clarification on Wrong Reporting (on AN-32) by a Certain Section of Media ( http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2015/03/india... )

Pacific Sentinel : Editorial: Missile Defense and the North Korean Nuclear Threat

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 03:52:22 +0000

Random Google search for "ballistic missile defense", I've had that image for a couple of years now so I for get exactly where it came from, but these sites ( http://goo.gl/5G3lyn ) are using it also.

Pacific Sentinel : News Story: PLA should expand special forces, says PLA paper

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:38:14 +0000

Yes I know (Singapore_Anti-Terrorist_Training.jpg) it's a stock shot of special forces in action.

Pacific Sentinel : AUS: Second Landing Helicopter Dock ship departs Spain, Australia bound

Wed, 1 Jan 2014 11:56:41 +0000

I agree completely, & have said so on numerous occasions when the topic of the LHDs comes up.;)

Pacific Sentinel : Editorial: India - Defeating the Cruise Missile Threat

Sun, 27 Oct 2013 03:55:18 +0000

For the record, I don’t agree with this analysis, a lot of the missiles mentioned are out of use in the Chinese arsenal & reliance on Cruise Missiles as a deterrence is silly when you have Ballistic Missiles in your Arsenal. =/ But it’s been posted for a balanced view from all sides. ;)

DoD Buzz : A modest proposal for closing U.S. overseas bases

Mon, 9 Sep 2013 10:15:57 +0000

Actually Japan IS the gateway, Korea is the front door, if the north attacks, the south will be absorbed in the fight & won’t have time to worry about logistics/maintenance/so on, that’s where Japan comes in, far enough away that attacks will be limited, but close enough for rapid reinforcement & resupply. Japan is also the logical place to base Early Warning Radar for detection of Ballistic missile launches from the DPRK & China as well as missile interceptors to protect Hawaii & south west USA

Pacific Sentinel : Philippines: AFP to buy 2 fighter jets for PAF; Hamilton class cutter for PN

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 09:50:40 +0000

This is a very old story; the Philippines are negotiating to acquire F/A-50 fighters from South Korea, see the links below. ;) http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2013/01/news-... http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2013/03/news-... http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2013/04/news-... http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2013/06/news-... http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2013/07/edito... http://pacificsentinel.blogspot.com/2013/07/news-...

Pacific Sentinel : Think Tank: (F-35) The Warplane You Have

Mon, 27 May 2013 05:47:50 +0000

Sorry your message took so long to be posted, every now & then the system decides to send a message to be moderated, & I only check that once a day. :S -- I still don’t think the US Government would allow LockMart to integrate SMART-L into Aegis; it’d be far too politically incorrect for them. The F125 Baden-Württemberg-class sounds interesting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F125-class_frigate ) especially the 2 years on deployment part, I don’t think much of the weapons load though, for anti-piracy it works, but not for major combat operations & while they happen infrequently these days, it’s better to have the capability & not need it, than not have it when needed. Unfortunately that picture of Hessen isn’t working for me, I’m just getting a “403 Forbidden - You do not have permission to access this document” message. =/

Pacific Sentinel : Think Tank: (F-35) The Warplane You Have

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:13:44 +0000

I agree, SMART-L would be very useful for the RAN, but the Australian Government went for the US Aegis system for interoperability with the USN, and I doubt the US Government would have allowed integration of SMART-L into Aegis. My 2 cents on the AWD: I would have preferred an enlarged “Sachsen” class frigate; with an enlarged fuel tank for longer range & an additional 2 VLS as dedicated ESSM launchers (the 4 8-cell VLS in the bow would carry 32 SM-2 & the 2 additional 8-cell VLS in the stern [Aft of the funnels & before the SMART-L] would carry 64 ESSM), but the rest of the ship much the same as it is now. Great link you found, he certainly seemed to think highly of the “Sachsen” class. ;)

Pacific Sentinel : AUS: Agreement reached by Australia and Sweden in relation to Submarine Technology

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:56:39 +0000

Submarines aren’t my area of expertise I’m afraid, I can only post what I’ve read on the subject, that said, the Type 216 ( http://goo.gl/i66aG ) looks quite good. We’ll just have to hope it all works out & we end up with a sub that works this time!

Pacific Sentinel : AUS: Agreement reached by Australia and Sweden in relation to Submarine Technology

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:26:50 +0000

This is what I've read about why HDW is not an option. [quote] In 1998, the Australian government began to divest itself from its involvement in ASC. The following year, Germany's HDW reportedly reached an agreement with Australian officials concerning Kockums' 49% stake in ASC. HDW was in the process of acquiring Kockums and was interested in ASC as well. However, in November 2000 the Australian government overturned its alleged agreement with HDW and decided to execute its right to purchase the remaining shares in ASC from Kockums and JH. [11] Australian and German sources alleged that the United States pressured Australian officials, suggesting that access to U.S. technology would be negatively affected were HDW to acquire all or part of ASC. [12] At the time, several Australian submarines had already been equipped with an interim USN combat system, and the United States had also provided assistance on hull design. Canberra feared that this and future technology could be compromised if HDW took over ASC. http://goo.gl/7QtCa [/quote]

Pacific Sentinel : India: Reduce Over-Dependence on Imports and Develop in-House R&D - Antony

Mon, 8 Oct 2012 06:54:44 +0000

I didn’t write it, I just found it & reposted it here, it’s a media release posted to the Indian “Press Information Bureau” website, as the link at the bottom of the post shows, but I’m glad your friend found it useful, that’s why this blog exists in the first place. ;)

Defense Tech : Australia buys 12 EA-18G Growlers

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:15:35 +0000

Yes, but the Super Hornets were acquired as a follow on to the RAAFs existing Classic Hornets & as a bridge to the F-35, so you shouldn’t compare the Gripen to the F/A-18E/F, but rather to the F-35 JSF which has a Combat radius of at least 584nmi, the JSF will replace the Classic Hornets & at least half of the Super Hornets, the Growlers however will probably be kept & work alongside the F-35 JSF.

Defense Tech : Australia buys 12 EA-18G Growlers

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:50:06 +0000

The Gripen simply doesn’t have a long enough range to cover the vast distance the RAAF operates in.

Pacific Sentinel : AUSTAL ON TRACK AS (Australian) CAPE CLASS PATROL BOAT KEEL LAYED

Sun, 5 Aug 2012 03:51:22 +0000

Well I don’t know about this particular boat design, it’s built to Civilian (not Military) standards as it’s designed as a non-combatant (Coast Guard/Customs) patrol boat, but yes, I agree that the RAN needs a light combat ship (Corvette) for patrols of the sea around the Natural Gas rigs up north & the top end of Queensland/Northern Territory, as well as around the Cocos Islands. The crappy Armidale class PBs have zero combat capabilities, which make them useless in actual combat operations, replacing them with Corvettes would meet the RANs patrol needs, while giving Australia extra combat ships to add to the Frigate fleet as/if needed, multiplying the combat effectiveness of the RAN under war time conditions, it would also allow for the deployment of more Frigates overseas to assist in Anti-Piracy Operations as Australia would still have combat capable Corvettes at home to protect the borders. As for crew (a big issue for the RAN), an Armidale class PB has a crew of 21 http://goo.gl/afL60 while a Baynunah class Corvette http://goo.gl/1hAuK has a crew of 37, so 16 additional crew per ship wouldn’t be impossible to find, and that’s assuming Austral couldn’t design a Corvette with fewer crew members than a Baynunah class, which I’m pretty sure they could. :D

Pacific Sentinel : UHF Satellite Network System in Australia

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:28:18 +0000

And VERY good news for the ADF (Australian Defence Force), who have been relying on borrowed bandwidth for quite some time. ;)

Pacific Sentinel : PacificSentinel: Should Australia Acquire the \"Arisgator APC\" for the future LHDs?

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:18:37 +0000

As stated above, it was all about budget, the M-113s had a chance of being bought, the AAV7 would have cost too much for Canberra to even consider it, especially with the fallout from the GFC still ongoing. =/

Pacific Sentinel : PacificSentinel: Should Australia Acquire the \"Arisgator APC\" for the future LHDs?

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:13:41 +0000

“hey guys. you're wrong on the sea state max for the AAV. it can go to sea state 5” Well I don’t have 1st hand experience with the AAV7, so I can only go by what it said on the “Military Today” website, so obviously they are wrong. “piggy back on the USMC's marine personnel carrier program” I wish we could, but the folks in Canberra would never cough up the cash for that, the M-113 upgrade was an effort to get us that capability at cost they would swallow, but alas, that’s not going to happen now they’ve cut the defence budget. =/