Dutch Parliament Clears F-35 Purchase

The Dutch Parliament has ratified the government’s choice of the F-35 as the Netherlands next-generation fighter, putting an end to a 15-year debate.

The vote on whether the stealthy plane will replace the Dutch fleet of F-16s occurred the evening of Nov. 7.

The first Dutch F-35 takes to the skies. The Dutch Parliament voted Nov. 7 to purchase the F-35 as their next-generation fighter

“This is a very important moment in history: Finally we can give clarity to our military and to our international partners,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Dutch minister of defense, said in a statement released by the government. “With this choice for the F-35, we provide the Dutch Armed Forces with the best aircraft available to deal with the challenges of our time and of the future.”

Both Lockheed Martin, prime contractor on the plane, and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney reacted positively to the news.

“Lockheed Martin is honored that the Netherlands Government has selected the F-35 as the F-16 replacement,” Lockheed Martin said in a company statement. “We are proud that for more than 30 years, the Royal Netherlands Air Force has owned and operated Lockheed Martin aircraft. Flying the F-35 will represent the next chapter of our partnering by providing the very best aircraft capabilities possible for Netherlands’ national security. Dutch Industry is currently involved in designing and manufacturing the F-35 and this program provides high technology jobs and long-term technology benefits to the Netherlands.”

“Pratt & Whitney is honored to be part of the Dutch government’s selection of the F135-powered F-35 Lightning II, and we look forward to supporting the Royal Netherlands Air Force and Dutch aerospace industry,” said Tyler Evans, director of international business development at Pratt & Whitney Military Engines.

,” Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the F-35 Joint Program Office, said.

The Dutch government selected the fifth-generation fighter Sept. 17, releasing a statement calling the plane “a well-considered choice for a high-tech, future-oriented air force.’

The purchase will be for 37 of the F-35A conventional-take-off-and-landing variants, which will be the most widely produced model of the jet. The US Air Force intends to purchase more than 1,700 F-35As

The Dutch have budgeted €4.5 billion (US $6 billion) for the F-35, which they believe will cover the 37 planes — a nmber the government’s statement says could grow.

“If, within the given financial parameters, there is room to purchase more aircraft in the coming years, the Netherlands will do so,” the statement read.

The Netherlands has already purchased two F-35A variants, while the first Dutch pilot is currently in training school at Eglin Air Force Base.

Nine countries are partner nations on the F-35 program, including the Netherlands. But countries that sign on as partners are not automatically guaranteed to purchase the planes. Other partner nations that have yet to commit to the jet include Denmark, which hopes to select a fighter by mid-2015, and Canada, whose decision to purchase the F-35 has been frozen due to a political scandal.

hilippines To Buy 8 AgustaWestland Attack Helicopters

The Philippine military is buying eight AW109 Power helicopters from Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland for 3.4 billion pesos

The poorly-equipped Philippine military said Thursday it is buying eight helicopters from Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland for 3.4 billion pesos ($78.7 million) to help in the fight against guerrillas.The eight AW 109 Power helicopters will be used mainly to support troops in battling insurgents but can also be used for maritime patrols and “territorial defense,” said air force spokesman Col. Miguel Okol.“These will be armed helicopters for close air support ... in general, it is for internal security operations,” he said.The twin-engine helicopters will be an improvement over the military’s aging fleet of US-made MG-520 attack helicopters since they will be able to carry more men and weapons and will be night-vision capable, he added.The Defense Department said the contract was for 3.4 billion pesos but gave no further details.Air force vice commander Maj. Gen. Raul Dimatatac said the new helicopters were urgently needed as the Philippines only had about seven MG-520 attack helicopters still flying.AgustaWestland said on its website that deliveries of the helicopters would begin next year.The Philippine military is battling both a 4,000-strong communist insurgency in the hinterland as well as various Muslim guerrilla groups in the southern island of Mindanao. a territorial dispute with China over parts of the South China Sea.Earlier this year, the navy announced it was acquiring three naval versions of the AW 109 Power helicopter.
The cash-strapped Philippines has one of the weakest militaries in Southeast Asia but has been seeking in recent months to obtain new equipment.

US To Spend Billions 'Modernizing' Nuclear Arsenal

The United States plans to spend billions to upgrade a decades-old atomic bomb designed to stop a Soviet invasion of Europe, as part of a controversial project to modernize its nuclear arsenal.

Some lawmakers and experts dismiss the effort as a colossal waste of money that could derail arms control talks with Russia.

But top commanders and government officials argue the B61 nuclear gravity bomb needs to be maintained so other weapons can be scrapped and to ensure America retains a “credible” force.

An undated file picture shows a B-2 Spirit Bomber dropping a B61-11 bomb casing from an undisclosed location. 

“The B61 is the only weapon in the stockpile that fulfills both tactical and strategic missions,” General Robert Kehler, head of Strategic Command, told a congressional hearing last week.

Designed as a short-range “tactical” weapon to deter Soviet forces from overrunning Western Europe, the bomb has been in service for the US Air Force since the 1970s.

There are five versions of the bomb, which has an estimated yield of 0.3 to 360 kilotons, equivalent to 360,000 tons of TNT.

Washington removed thousands of tactical atomic weapons from Europe after the Cold War ended. But 180 of the B61 bombs remain in Europe, the only American nuclear weapon still deployed on the continent, at NATO bases in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Under President Barack Obama’s planned upgrade, the various models of the bomb would be replaced by a modified version, the B61-12, which would have a smaller yield and more accuracy.

Pakistan army shows its might by brining down drone during military exercise

ISLAMABAD: Amid continued tensions with the US over drone strikes, Pakistan army has successfully shot down a "drone" during a military exercise that was watched by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. 

The event also marked the culmination of five-year series of exercises jointly conducted by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force at firing range in Khairpur Tamewali, about 75 kilometres from international borders.

During the "Azm-e-Nau 4 Exercise" atBahawalpur in Punjab province yesterday, the army air defence demonstrated its anti-drone technology by successfully bringing down a drone by targeting it with the 35mm Oerlikon guns, The News daily said. 

The event also marked the culmination of five-year series of exercises jointly conducted by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force at firing range in Khairpur Tamewali, about 75 kilometres from international borders. 

The drones are an emotional issue in the country and the public opinion has been further divided with the latest strike by a CIA- operated spy plane on Friday that killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. 

Pakistani politicians, except a few handful, have criticised the strike saying it was deliberately done to scuttle the peace talks with the Taliban. 

However, security analysts and former military officers are happy that Pakistan's number one enemy has been killed. 

The drone strike had renewed calls from some sections of the political and religious class to shoot down the US operated unmanned plane. 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, who arrived at a helipad near the firing range in Cholistan desert, was received by Kayani. 

South Korea Defense Expo Kicks Off

An international aerospace and defense exhibition kicked off here Tuesday with more than 300 defense firms at home and abroad participating in the biennial event.

A model of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is displayed Oct. 28 during a press day for the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition in Goyang, north of Seoul.

A total of 360 aerospace and defense contractors from 28 countries as well as top military officials and CEOs from 45 nations are participating in the fair, the ninth of its kind, to showcase their latest weapons systems and technologies.

The exhibition at the Korea International Exhibition Hall (KINTEX) in Ilsan, just north of Seoul, continues through Nov. 3. The fair is focused on arms exhibition; an air show was held separately last week at an air base outside Seoul.

“This is the largest defense fair ever held in Seoul,” South Korea’s Defense Ministry Kim Kwan-jin said in a welcoming reception at a Seoul hotel Monday. “This exhibition is expected to serve as a venue for global aerospace and defense companies to boost their exchanges and cooperation further.”

This year’s show drew attention in the aftermath of a fiasco for the country’s fighter jet procurement program.

Last month, a top decision-making body of the country’s arms acquisition agency turned down the selection of Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle, which remained as the sole bidder after its competitors — Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter Typhoon — had been priced out before final evaluations.

A task force led by officials from the Ministry of National Defense was set up to review the requirements before restarting the fighter jet project, codenamed the F-X III, for 60 high-end aircraft to replace the older fleet of the F-4s and F-5s.

Boeing, which won the previous two phases of the F-X plans for 60 aircraft, is still waiting on South Korea to re-issue its new requirements for the F-X III program.

“I think we’re reasonably confident that there is still prospect for the F-15,” said Howard Berry, Boeing’s F-X III campaign director. “Obviously, we’re waiting with much interest with what happens with the current task force team’s evaluations.”

Nevertheless, Boeing appeared to withdraw its Silent Eagle marketing in Korea, as the company is displaying an advanced F-15 model, not the Silent Eagle

US Think-Tank: North Korea Upgrading Main Launch Site

North Korea has undertaken major construction work at its main missile launch site, possibly to cater to larger and more mobile weapons, a US think-tank said Tuesday.

Satellite images taken earlier this month suggest construction of a second flat mobile launch pad at the Sohae missile site, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University posted on its 38 North website.

This picture taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Dec. 12, 2012, shows North Korean rocket Unha-3 lifting off from the launching pad in Cholsan county, North Pyongan province in North Korea.

Work has also been carried out on Sohae’s main launch pad, “possibly to upgrade that facility to handle future larger rockets,” the post said.

The pad was used for the launch in December of the North’s Unha-3 carrier, which successfully placed a satellite in orbit.

The launch was condemned by most in the international community as a disguised ballistic missile test that violated UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

North Korea insisted it was a purely scientific mission and vowed to push ahead with similar launches in the future.

“Activities related to the upgrading of the Unha launch pad may be completed soon, allowing Pyongyang to proceed with another space launch should it decide to do so,” the institute said.

North Korea is currently pushing for a resumption of six-party talks on its nuclear program, but the United States says it must first demonstrate a commitment to denuclearization.

Another long-range rocket launch would be taken as a step in the opposite direction and almost certainly result in fresh sanctions.

Last week, the US-Korea Institute said satellite images showed North Korea had built two tunnel entrances at its nuclear test site in a sign it plans more detonations. 

US Army Network Proves Mettle In Afghanistan

Integrated Team: Soldiers integrate Nett Warrior into their training during the Network Integration Evaluation 13.1 at Dona Ana Range, N.M. Budget cuts may slow the network exercises.

Despite some changes, one of the most celebrated innovations in soldier communication and situational awareness to hit the battlefield over the past 12 years of war is working just fine in Afghanistan, US Army leaders insist.

But leaders are concerned about the availability of funding to upgrade the network next year.

At the moment, Capability Set 13 — a suite of radios, smartphones and vehicle-mounted data terminals linked by a robust on-the-move network — is working well with elements of the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, which is tasked with training and advising the Afghan Army.

While the systems had been tested for several years in brigade-sized exercises at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the 4/10 deployed with about half its combat strength as it focuses more on advising than war fighting.

They’re also one of the last units to deploy, as US troops prepare to pull out by the end of 2014.

So while the size and scope of the mission is much different from what the capability sets were tested for, commanders say the technology is just as useful in a smaller environment.As US forces leave — there are still about 50,000 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, which will drop to about 33,000 by the 

spring — the capability sets “are also enabling our retrograde operations so that we don’t have to leave that infrastructure in place. We can take it down” while still giving the 4/10 full situational awareness, said Col. Mark Elliott, director of the Army’s LandWarNet/Mission Command Directorate.

“The mission that we had planned for Capability Set 13 was a brigade mission,” Brig. Gen. Dan Hughes, program executive officer for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), told Defense News. But since that mission no longer exists in Afghanistan, the brigade commander uses the assets a bit differently.

For instance, vehicles equipped with gear to allow them to function as mobile tactical operations centers are called points of presence. Col. Mario Diaz, the 4th Brigade Combat Team’s (BCT’s) commander, used his point of presence “more than he is using the lower pieces of [the network], because he needed to go deeper through some valleys” where communications were only possible through satellites, Hughes said. “He didn’t put in the pieces that we thought. He uses the point of presence and got enough bandwidth out of that to do his mission.”

Cobra Crash Serious Blow For Pakistan Army

Pakistan's loss of a Cobra attack helicopter on patrol will be difficult to replace as the fleet agesPakistan’s counterinsurgency efforts suffered a serious blow yesterday with the loss of an AH-1F Cobra gunship. The fleet is aging fast as it is heavily deployed in harsh terrain along the border with Afghanistan.

A report by the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted the military’s Inter Service Press Release (ISPR) media arm saying the helicopter had made a forced landing near the town of Rahwali after a “technical fault.”

The two crew members were said to have suffered slight injuries, and were taken to nearby Central Military Hospital, Gujranwala. The crash site was secured by local police and Army personnel.

The skids have collapsed, and the engine and tail separated.

However, the number in service is uncertain. Some sources cite approximately 40, but it is unknown how many are operational and how many are being cannibalized to keep the others flying.

The US has delivered extra airframes with a small number arriving in Pakistan in 2007 and made operational again with the help of US firm DynCorp.

More recently eight ex-Jordanian AH-1S Cobras were delivered earlier this month.

Regardless of the number in service, Pakistan cannot afford to lose any.

A spokesman for ISPR, asked how many of the ex-Jordanian Cobras are flying or if any details of the crash are available, would only say, “No such details [are] available right now.”

Israel Suspects China in Failed Cyberattack Vs. Defense Industry

Israeli authorities suspect Chinese involvement in a failed cyberattack targeting 140 top defense industry executives and program officials, according to Israel’s Channel 2 News.

The attempted attack took place several weeks ago in the form of an email sent to scores of industry executives and program officials from an unnamed German company “known to Israeli industry,” said Nir Dvori, the network’s senior defense reporter.

In his Oct. 27 report, Dvori said, “defensive measures” managed to detect and “close down” the threat before recipients had an opportunity to open the mail and release a Trojan horse embedded within the seemingly innocent correspondence.

“Defensive measures discovered the attack and thwarted it. The assessment here is that the attack came from the Chinese defense industry,” Channel 2 reported.

Myriam Nahon, an MoD spokeswoman, said the ministry does not comment on media reports involving cyber matters.

In interviews here, several defense industry executives confirmed that firms were conducting refresher training on protocols and procedures associated with information and network defense. None of the executives contacted agreed to elaborate on the incident or to identify the German firm that served as an unwitting delivery vehicle for the attempted cyberattack.

Retired Maj. Gen. Isaac Ben-Israel, chairman of the research council that led to the 2011 establishment of Israel’s National Cyber Bureau, also declined comment on the specific event reported by Channel 2.

Nevertheless, in an Oct. 28 interview, Ben-Israel said authorities here were unlikely to make public accusations or to elaborate on methodologies employed by suspected cyber offenders.

“Thousands of cyberattacks are directed at us every day; some of them more sophisticated and some of them less so. The problem is that as good as we are at detecting and thwarting such attacks and as credible as we are in forensic investigations after the fact, there always remains the problem of attribution.”

According to Ben-Israel, a former director of Israeli defense research and development, “cyber offenders unfortunately do not leave their signature in Mandarin Chinese, Russian or any other language. ... We can suspect, but we can only suspect; and redouble defensive measures for the attack.”

As US Aid Dollars Flow, Afghanistan Closing Off to US Oversight

The US government-funded watchdog that tracks billions of dollars worth of American development aid to Afghanistan says much of the country is too dangerous for inspectors to check in on US-funded projects. And when NATO forces leave, things will get even worse.

According to a Monday letter from the head of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to US government officials, the percentage of the country accessible to US civilian oversight personnel has been quickly shrinking from about 68 percent of the country in 2009 to about 45 percent.

And that area is expected to constrict even further to about 21 percent by the end of 2014, when most US and NATO troops are scheduled to complete their withdrawal, SIGAR chief John Sopko wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Rajiv Shah, head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“We have also been told by State Department officials that this projection may be optimistic,” Sopko warned, “especially if the security situation does not improve.”

Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and the waste and abuse involved in reconstruction projects has been a problem that has proven too widespread for NATO forces and their civilian partners to crack.

Last year, the United Nations predicted that Afghans pay about US $3.9 billion a year in bribes to public officials.

Despite the fact that the United States has allocated more than $96 billion for Afghan aid and reconstruction over the past 12 years, Washington’s anti-corruption activities in Afghanistan “are not guided by a comprehensive US strategy or related guidance that defines clear goals and objectives for US efforts to strengthen the Afghan government’s capability to combat corruption and increase accountability,” SIGAR reported in September.

Sopko’s letter asks the Pentagon and State Department for help in planning oversight missions outside of what he called the “oversight bubbles” that exist around major population centers such as Kabul, Kandahar and Herat where US civilians can operate with some degree of security.

Anything outside of those bubbles is essentially off-limits. American military officials have told the SIGAR staff that they will provide civilian access “only to areas within a one-hour round trip of an advanced medical facility,” Sopko wrote, making any aid projects outside of those bubbles a mystery, even though US dollars continue to be spent on projects there.

The tightening restrictions have already had some real effects. This year, SIGAR inspectors were unable to visit $72 million worth of projects in northern Afghanistan, Sopko wrote.

The oversight chief didn’t merely write his letter to complain, however.He is asking the Pentagon and State Department for help in finding ways to break free from the bubble.

US Military Targeted Shebab In Somalia Drone Strike

 The US military carried out a drone strike targeting al-Shebab militants in Somalia on Monday, a senior administration official told AFP.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed media rep

orts that American forces had carried out the aerial attack with unmanned robotic aircraft but did not specify who in Shebab had been targeted.

“We share Somalia’s concern about al-Shebab,” the US official said.

In Somalia, witnesses recounted hearing aircraft overhead and a loud explosion, with missiles striking a car believed to be carrying senior leaders of Shebab in the country’s south.

The air strike comes after a raid earlier this month by US Navy SEALs at the southern port of Barawe that failed to capture or kill the alleged target, a senior Shebab leader called Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, also known as Ikrima.

The United States has access to a network of airfields in East Africa, flying Reaper drones out of a base in Djibouti and in southern Ethiopia.

In May, a US drone crashed south of Mogadishu.

KAI Proposes Smaller KF-X Design

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is pushing for South Korea to cut the technical challenges of its proposed KF-X fighter program, offering a single-engine concept that probably has a distant connection with the Lockheed Martin F-16. KAI's KFX-E design should be cheaper to develop and build than the larger proposals put forward by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), the chief proponent of the KF-X.

Also much smaller than and more differentiated from the Lockheed Martin F-35, the KFX-E may offer the further advantage of minimizing competition from that U.S. stealth fighter. But it may have Lockheed Martin or other U.S. intellectual property in its design, exposing it to a foreign veto over sales or even development.

Seoul will probably have a foreign alternative to consider, too. Western proposals for KF-X include twin-tail developments of the F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon, and an advanced version of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Those offerings were included as technology transfer in bids for the separate F-X Phase 3 program for 60 fighters. F-X Phase 3 has been abandoned, but a successor competition will be needed, probably reviving foreign KF-X proposals.

KAI has moved from cooperation to competition with ADD. For a decade, the manufacturer was a design contractor in support of the agency. But industry officials say that at least some KAI executives have long regarded ADD's plan to develop a twin-engine Typhoon-size KF-X as too ambitious. Meanwhile, the South Korean government has repeatedly deferred launching the KF-X. If it goes ahead, it cannot enter service before the mid-2020s. Cutting costs by accepting a smaller size would probably improve the program's chances.

In July, KAI coyly published a picture of a stealthy KF-X concept related to its T-50 supersonic trainer and called KFX-E (or KF-X-E). It gave no details then and did not respond to Aviation Week's request for comment (AW&ST July 22, p. 33). But now the company has stepped up to make its case for the aircraft, arguing at an official seminar that the KFX-E would meet all air force requirements, except for being powered by just one engine.

Top Ten Special Operations Forces in the World

Countries throughout the world train special operation forces within their military, so coming up with a list of top special operations forces in the world is difficult at best.  All special ops forces train their military men to be the best of the best, to take the impossible task and make it possible.  In that respect, all Special Operations units are top.  While the list below may not be everyone’s top ten, some of those listed would certainly be a part of any top ten lists.

10.  Russian Spetsnaz – What sets the Russian Spetsnaz apart from other specially trained special ops units around the world is their daily

exposure to physical punishment.  The purpose for this portion of their training is to teach them to endure physical pain and to work the mind to “enjoy” it since it is impossible to ignore it.  They are permitted to leave the training anytime they desire.  Their missions generally involve reconnaissance and close quarter combat.   Many of the bodyguards chosen for the high-tanking political figures of Russia are chosen from the Spetsnaz.

9.  Pakistan Special Service Group – This Pakistan Special Service Group (SSG) is also known as “Black Storks” a name derived from their unique headgear the “Maroon Beret”.  The SSG has ten specific missions for which they are trained:

• Asymmetric Warfare
  
• Special Operations
• Counter-Proliferation
• Unconventional Warfare
• Foreign Internal Defense
• Special Reconnaissance
• Direct Action
• Hostage Rescue
• Counter-Terrorist
• Personnel Recovery

This elite group from Pakistan is somewhat similar to the US Army’s Green Berets and the British Army’s SAS.  They often conduct exercise missions with Special Forces from other countries such as China and the UK.

8.  Austria Eko Cobra – This special ops tactical unit is involved mainly in counter-terrorism.  The group retains a low

 profile, despite their high-speed involvement in the war on terror.  In Europe, they are known for their competitive edge over other countries at S.W.A.T. and other competitions throughout Europe.  Though their covert missions are carried without with little or no media, they are still considered by many as one of the best trained counter-terrorist units in the world.

7.  French Army Special Forces Brigade – This French Special Ops group has one of the most rigorous qualification training programs in the world.  This group is subdivided into three specially trained

 areas:

• 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d’Infanterie de Marin which is based in Bayonne.
• 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes based in Martignas-sur-Jalle.
• 4e Régiment d’Hélicoptères des Forces Spéciales, the unit based in Pau.

Israel Air Force Plan Shoots for 10-Fold Boost in Bombs

The Israel Air Force (IAF) is revamping headquarters staff, planning procedures and air operations to support a 10-fold increase in the number of targets it can detect and destroy, the Air Force’s chief of air operations said.

In an exclusive interview with Defense News, Brig. Gen. Amikam Norkin said the institutional revamp — the service’s first since the 1973 Yom Kippur War — aims to shorten the duration of future wars while reducing demand for maneuvering ground forces through massive, persistent and punishing use of precision air power.

More than a year in the making and slated for phased implementation in the coming months, the changes are driven by IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel and his Expanding Attack Capacity (EAC) program.

Officers here say the program affects all aspects of air operations, from the orders received from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) General Staff to the pilot in the cockpit and maintenance crews tasked with turnaround time.

It also involves wholesale changes in mission planning, resource management, bomb damage assessment and the way the IAF coordinates movements with western coalition forces that may be operating in the region.

But perhaps the biggest driver of EAC, experts here say, is significant improvements in so-called sensor-to-shooter capabilities. By mating persistent intelligence collection with precision weapons, the IAF expects to generate an exponential number of new, time-sensitive targets during each day of future fights.

Once implemented, traditional waves of air attack should give way to an express train of precision strikes, allowing “first circle” enemies such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Gaza-based Hamas little time to recover from the initial shock and awe of previous campaigns.

“We’re focusing on the entire system across the full distance,” Norkin said. “The RPMs [rotations per minute] of this engine must be much higher to support a huge surge in the quantity of targets we detect and destroy each and every day of a future campaign.”

In an Oct. 21 interview at this IAF hub in northern Israel, Norkin noted that the 1,500 targets attacked in Israel’s November 2012, eight-day Pillar of Defense operation in Gaza doubled the number of targets attacked in the 34-day 2006 Lebanon War.

“In Pillar of Defense, our daily attack capacity was twice that of Lebanon, despite the fact that [Gaza] was a much smaller area and more densely populated,” Norkin said. “Now, when we talk about the northern area of operations, we’re aspiring for an order of magnitude expansion — maybe more — in the number of targets to be destroyed every day.”

Despite IAF sensor-to-shooter capabilities demonstrated by its destruction of 120-some rocket launchers in the last Lebanon war, Norkin said the IDF realizes it can no longer waste time and assets going after individual launchers. “We all understand that rockets will continue to fall here until the last day of war. A residual capacity to launch will remain with the enemy,” he said.

Under the new concept, Israel will focus on “hurting the enemy where it hurts the most,” Norkin said, referring to leadership, commanders and significant war-fighting assets.

“We won’t be able to push the enemy to the point where he can no longer shoot rockets and missiles. Therefore we need to push him to the point where he doesn’t want to shoot his rockets and missiles,” the IAF officer said.

In a memo to all IAF officers this month, Eshel described the EAC revamp as historic, complex and fraught with risk.

“Some have compared it to a marathon race which demands — while running — that we perform open heart surgery and still finish first,” Eshel wrote.

Nevertheless, the IAF commander said he believed his organization would successfully implement the EAC plan and that prescribed changes would be proven through concrete results.

Expediting the Endgame

Israeli officers and defense experts said the IAF revamp is an essential element in IDF strategy for expediting the diplomatic endgame through maximum destruction of enemy assets and minimal harm to uninvolved civilians.

“As soon as war breaks out, the hourglass is overturned,” Lt. Gen. Benjamin Gantz, IDF chief of staff, said of Israel’s race to achieve optimum operational gain while preserving domestic and international support prior to a brokered cease-fire.

Turkey New Anti-Missile System

Turkey said Saturday it was open to new bids in its plan to acquire its first long-range anti-missile system, should its controversial negotiations with China come to nothing.

“It is not a finalized deal yet. If US and European companies make us better offers, we will continue to talk with them,” said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who was quoted by Turkish newspapers.

Last month, in a move that irritated Turkey’s allies in NATO, particularlythe United States, Ankara announced it was entering talks with the China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation (CPMIEC) to buy a long-range anti-missile system.

The US said it had “serious concerns” about the deal estimated at $4 billion (2.9 billion euros). Over the past decade the US has hit the Chinese company with a series of sanctions for selling arms and missile technology to Iran and Syria.

CPMIEC, which makes the HQ-9 missile system, beat out competition

from a US partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, Russia’s Rosoboronexport, and Italian-French consortium Eurosam.

Davutoglu said Turkey had ruled out the Russian company but not the other two. “If offers more suitable for us are formulated, our relevant authorities will evaluate them,” the minister added.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday defended the decision to enter into talks with China. “Nobody has the right to intervene in (Turkey’s) independent decisions,” he said.

Japan's PM Warns China On Use Of Force As Jets Scrambled

Japan’s leader warned China on Sunday against forcibly changing the regional balance of power, as reports said Tokyo had scrambled fighter jets in response to Chinese military aircraft flying near Okinawa.

Verbal skirmishing between Asia’s two biggest economies, who dispute ownership of an island chain, escalated as Beijing warned Tokyo that any hostile action in the skies against Chinese drones would be construed as an “act of war.”

“We will express our intention as a state not to tolerate a change in the status quo by force. We must conduct all sorts of activities such as surveillance and intelligence for that purpose,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an address to the military.

“The security environment surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe. This is the reality,” he said. “You will have to completely rid yourselves of the conventional notion that just the existence of a defense force could act as a deterrent.”

Abe presided over an inspection of the military at which a US amphibious assault vehicle was displayed for the first time, an apparent sign of Japan’s intention to strengthen its ability to protect remote islands.

The defense ministry plans to create a special amphibious unit to protect the southern islands and retake them in case of an invasion.

“There are concerns that China is attempting to change the status quo by force, rather than by rule of law,” Abe earlier told the Wall Street Journal in an interview following a series of summits this month with regional leaders.

“But if China opts to take that path, then it won’t be able to emerge peacefully,” he said in the interview published Saturday.

“So it shouldn’t take that path, and many nations expect Japan to strongly express that view. And they hope that as a result, China will take responsible action in the international community,” Abe added.

Kyodo News reported that Japan scrambled jets Sunday for the third successive day in response to four Chinese military aircraft flying over international waters near the Okinawa island chain.

Two Y8 early-warning aircraft and two H6 bombers flew from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean and back again but did not violate Japan’s airspace, it said.

The Japanese defense ministry was not immediately available for confirmation.

Japan’s military is on increased alert as Tokyo and Beijing pursue a war of words over the disputed islands in the East China Sea that lie between Okinawa and Taiwan.

On Saturday China responded angrily after a report said Japan had

drafted plans to shoot down foreign drones that encroach on its airspace if warnings to leave are ignored.Tokyo drew up the proposals after a Chinese military drone entered Japan’s air defense identificati

on zone near the disputed islands in the East China Sea last month, Kyodo said.

“We would advise relevant parties not to underestimate the Chinesemilitary’s staunch resolve to safeguard China’s national territorial sovereignty,” China’s defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in comments posted on the ministry’s website.

“If Japan takes enforcement measures such as shooting down aircraft, as it says it will, that would constitute a serious provocation, an act of war of sorts, and we would have to take firm countermeasures, and all consequences would be the responsibility of the side that caused the provocation.”

Tokyo and Beijing both claim the small uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Japan administers them and calls them the Senkakus. China refers to the islands as the Diaoyus.

One of Abe’s first decisions as prime minister was to increase the defense budget for the first time in 11 years.

Tokyo also plans to hold a major air and sea exercise next month to bolster its ability to protect its remote islands.

In the Wall Street Journal interview, Abe said Japan had become too inward-looking over the past 15 years, but as it regains economic strength “we’d like to contribute more to making the world a better place.”

The Journal said he made it clear that one way Japan would “contribute” would be countering China in Asia.