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Archief => Archief onrust in de wereld => Topic gestart door: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 25/06/2013 | 07:49 uur

Titel: Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 25/06/2013 | 07:49 uur
Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade

June 25, 2013

LONDON (Reuters) - Asian powers are outpacing the United States to become the biggest spenders on defense by 2021 and are fuelling an "explosion" in the global arms trade, a study showed.

The global arms trade jumped by 30 percent to $73.5 billion between 2008-2012 in spite of the economic downturn, driven by surging exports from China and demand from countries like India, and is set to more than double by 2020, defense and security consultancy IHS Jane's said on Tuesday.

"Budgets are shifting East and global arms trade is increasing competition. This is the biggest explosion in trade the world has ever seen," said Paul Burton, a senior manager at IHS Jane's whose study looked at 34,000 defense acquisition programs.

The United States has accounted for the lion's share of global defense spending over the past decade, but budget cuts in Washington, as it withdraws from countries such as Afghanistan, mean that it will account for just 30 percent by 2021 to fall behind Asia at 31 percent.

Military spending in the Asia Pacific region - which includes China, India and Indonesia - will rise 35 percent to $501 billion in the next eight years, compared to a 28 percent fall in U.S. spending to $472 billion over the same period, IHS Jane's said.

"The big Western defense companies have no option - export or shrink - but this could be sowing the seed of their own demise; the opportunities in the East are a double-edged sword, fuelling a trend which threatens U.S. dominance of defense." said Guy Anderson, senior principal analyst at IHS Jane's.

China's ramp-up in defense spending in recent years is worrying its neighbors such as Japan, with whom it is currently embroiled in a stand-off over a series of uninhabited islands, despite its repeated reassurances that there is nothing to fear.

Japan, as well as India and South Korea, are among countries being courted by weapon makers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and BAE Systems who want to sell them fighter jets and other equipment to make up for reduced spending in their Western home markets, but such deals tend to require investment in the buyers's defense industries.

India, for instance, is speaking exclusively to France's Dassault Aviation on a $12 billion order of 126 warlanes and wants 50 percent of the work to be given to Indian companies.

China is expected to increase its defense budget by 64 percent to $207 billion by 2021, compared to India and Indonesia which are respectively forecast to spend 54 and 113 percent more, the study said.

These countries aspire to build thriving defense industries capable of developing modern equipment such as fighter jets and aircraft carriers, and may be able to export "world class kit" rivaling that of the West in a decade as a result of their willingness to spend, IHS Jane's said.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Michael Roddy)

http://news.yahoo.com/asia-driving-explosion-global-arms-trade-study-004656657.html
Titel: Re:Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: Mourning op 25/06/2013 | 11:15 uur
Niks aan de hand, mensen... we kunnen er nog wel een bezuiniging tegenaan gooien...















:dead:
Titel: Re:Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: dudge op 25/06/2013 | 11:30 uur
Citaat van: Mourning op 25/06/2013 | 11:15 uur
Niks aan de hand, mensen... we kunnen er nog wel een bezuiniging tegenaan gooien...















:dead:

Ja, natuurlijk kan dat, ze kopen dit toch alleen om vredesmissies mee te doen?  :angel:
Titel: Re:Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: Mourning op 25/06/2013 | 11:39 uur
Een van de m.i. meest alarmerende aspecten wordt overigens in het artikel niet aangestipt, nl. dat je voor een Euro in de meeste Aziatische landen veel meer kunt kopen/betalen dan wij hier in Europa doen. Niet omdat zij zoveel efficienter zijn, want dat zijn ze volgens mij zeker niet, maar wel omdat het prijs- en loonpijl daar in de meeste landen nog steeds significant lager ligt dan hier. "We" worden dus eigenlijk nog veel sneller ingehaald.

Dit betekend dat men daar grotere krijgsmachten kan onderhouden en/of men veel meer kan investeren in het materieel, waar wij in Europa bij juist die beide aspecten op massale schaal aan het bezuinigen zijn.

Dit heeft tot gevolg dat we kleinere krijgsmachten hebben (is nu al vaak het geval), welke bovendien volstrekt onvoldoende investeringspercentages hebben m.a.w. met materiaal welke niet meer volledig up to date is of erger, waarbij je vraagtekens kunt zetten bij de effectiviteit en inzetbaarheid ervan.

Ik vermoed dat de westerse wereld ergens tussen 2030-2040 een ernstig pak slaag gaat krijgen of een bloedneus gaat oplopen, want deze trend kan niet anders dan gevolgen hebben voor de machtsverhoudingen in de wereld en wetende dat er nogal wat potentiele twisten zijn waar men over kan kiften en de belangen gigantisch vind ik dit op zijn minst zwaar alarmerend.
Titel: Re:Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: dudge op 25/06/2013 | 12:22 uur
Citaat van: Mourning op 25/06/2013 | 11:39 uur
Een van de m.i. meest alarmerende aspecten wordt overigens in het artikel niet aangestipt, nl. dat je voor een Euro in de meeste Aziatische landen veel meer kunt kopen/betalen dan wij hier in Europa doen. Niet omdat zij zoveel efficienter zijn, want dat zijn ze volgens mij zeker niet, maar wel omdat het prijs- en loonpijl daar in de meeste landen nog steeds significant lager ligt dan hier. "We" worden dus eigenlijk nog veel sneller ingehaald.

Dit betekend dat men daar grotere krijgsmachten kan onderhouden en/of men veel meer kan investeren in het materieel, waar wij in Europa bij juist die beide aspecten op massale schaal aan het bezuinigen zijn.

Dit heeft tot gevolg dat we kleinere krijgsmachten hebben (is nu al vaak het geval), welke bovendien volstrekt onvoldoende investeringspercentages hebben m.a.w. met materiaal welke niet meer volledig up to date is of erger, waarbij je vraagtekens kunt zetten bij de effectiviteit en inzetbaarheid ervan.

Ik vermoed dat de westerse wereld ergens tussen 2030-2040 een ernstig pak slaag gaat krijgen of een bloedneus gaat oplopen, want deze trend kan niet anders dan gevolgen hebben voor de machtsverhoudingen in de wereld en wetende dat er nogal wat potentiele twisten zijn waar men over kan kiften en de belangen gigantisch vind ik dit op zijn minst zwaar alarmerend.

Dat komt er nog eens bij ja. Het vergelijken van dollars levert dan ook niet een alleszeggend plaatje op. En ja, die roze bril moet af, en snel!
Titel: Re:Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: Zeewier op 25/06/2013 | 13:17 uur
Politiek in Europa: geen wapenhandel en geen oorlogen meer!
Hé, dat is gek. De rest van de wereld denkt daar anders over.  :omg:
Titel: Re:Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade
Bericht door: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 16/07/2013 | 08:59 uur
The Submarine Race in the Malaccan Strait 

By   Zachary Keck /  July 16, 2013 

Along with the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf near Iran and Oman, the Strait of Malacca is the world's most important shipping chokepoint.

Linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, the Malacca Strait is by far the shortest maritime route connecting Persian Gulf energy producers to their largest consumers in countries like China, Japan, and South Korea.

50,000 merchant ships carrying 40 percent of all world trade pass through the 900-km long (550 miles) strait each year. It's particularly strategic for regional energy supplies. According to the U.S. government's Energy Information Agency (EIA), in 1993 about 7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and petroleum products—at the time about 20 percent of global seaborne traded oil— transited the Strait of Malacca. By 2011, this number had risen to 15 million bbl/d or 33 percent of all seaborne traded oil.

Northeast Asia's dependence on oil coming through the strait is remarkable. Japan relies on the Malaccan Strait for about 90 percent of its oil imports. As recently as 2010, China relied on the strait for some 80 percent of its imported oil. Little wonder then that former President Hu Jintao famously referred to China's Malacca Dilemma.

Three nations—Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia— sit atop the Malaccan Strait, which is just 1.7 miles (2.7 km) wide at its narrowest point. While foreign navies like the United States have traditionally operated in the area, and China's navy has increasingly taken a strong interest in doing so, the naval forces of these littoral states should not be overlooked.

Indeed, taking stock of their strategic location, all three countries have acquired submarine forces, with Indonesia in particular possessing considerable subsurface ambitions for the future.

The Republic of Singapore's Navy (RSN) has one of the most formidable submarine forces in the region, commissioning its sixth vessel in May. All six of the vessels were purchased from Sweden in two different batches.

Four of Singapore's submarines are of the Challenger-class variant. Purchased from Sweden in the 1990s and delivered between 1995-1997, the Challenger-class submarines displace 12,000 tons when submerged and can travel about 20 knots underwater. Each unit has 6 torpedo tubes and carries about 10 of Sweden's Type 613 torpedoes and 4 of Sweden's Type 431 torpedoes.

With these submarines ageing, Singapore again turned to Sweden for its underwater capabilities, agreeing to purchase two Archer-class submarines in 2005.The Archer-class vessels are highly upgraded versions of the Västergötland Class diesel-electric submarines Sweden has long operated. Notably, the Archer-class vessels have air independent propulsion (AIP) systems, allowing them to operate quietly and remain submerged for weeks. They also have 9 torpedo tubes and carry 12 Black Shark heavy torpedoes, 6 type 431/451 light torpedoes, as well as mines.

Singapore's traditional rival, Malaysia, has an enormous coastline and is also located along the strategic Strait of Malacca. These factors led the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to determine in 2002 that it would need a small submarine force to patrol its waters.

"We have such a large body of water to police. We need submarines because it is a force multiplier. They can appear anywhere and because they are stealth, they are hard to detect. That makes our deterrent value much higher," Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak explained at the time.

Towards that end, Malaysia turned to France to service its underwater needs, agreeing to purchase two Scorpene-class submarines (the same kind India is now buying from France) and a refitted French submarine for training purchases. The deal was worth 1.035 billion euro at the time, which is today around US$1.3 billion. Both of the Scorpene-class vessels were commissioned in 2009. Malaysia's version of the submarines does not include AIP but they do have the ability to launch EXOCET SM39 anti-ship missiles with a range of 50 km while submerged.

Malaysia's decision to acquire the Scorpene-class submarines has heightened Indonesia's insecurity, causing it to reexamine its own submarine fleet.

As the world's largest archipelagic country, Indonesia has coastlines stretching 108,000 km and claims an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of around 5.8 million square km. It also sits along at least three major maritime shipping lanes, the Malacca, Sunda and Lombok Straits.

Not surprisingly, then, Indonesia's Navy, Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut (TNI–AL), has long seen it fit to operate an underwater force. Since the early 1980s, TNI-AL has operated two submarines, the KRI Cakra and KRI Nenggala, which are U-209/1300 submarines acquired from Germany. Called Cakra-class submarines in Indonesia, both vessels were refitted extensively by a South Korean company in the last decade, which resulted in the modernization of their "propulsions systems, detection and navigation systems, and new fire control and combat systems," according to Nuclear Threat Initiative.

More importantly, Indonesia has signaled it has ambitious plans to expand its underwater fleet, with naval officials at times suggesting the country would like to ultimately acquire between 14 and 18 submarines. Indonesia's Defense Strategic Plan of 2024 called for TNI-AL to acquire at least ten submarines by that time, although many believe financial constraints will make this goal unattainable.

These great ambitions are partly driven by history, Koh Swee Lean Collin, an Associate Research Fellow at the RSIS Military Studies Program, tells The Diplomat.

"During its 'golden age' in the 1960s, the TNI-AL had up to 12 Soviet-built submarines of the 'Whiskey class.'" Colin explains, while noting that financial constraints may limit the navy to eight vessels for now.

Nonetheless, Indonesia is pushing ahead with this slightly pared back goal.

After entertaining bids from Russian, Turkish and French companies, among others, in December 2011 Indonesia ultimately decided to purchase 3 new submarines from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the company that refitted the TNI-AL's existing submarine fleet. The submarines are reportedly of the Type-209/1400 diesel-electric variant, and have been described by Indonesian officials as similar to Malaysia's Scorpene-class. The contract was worth US$1.1 billion, the submarines expected to be delivered between 2015-2018.

Under the terms of the contract, the third submarine will be built in Indonesia, reflecting Indonesia's goal of acquiring the capability to produce submarines indigenously. Indeed, just last month Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro reaffirmed that the country is building the necessary infrastructure to produce submarines domestically.

Indonesia also recently completed a new military base on Palu Bay, which will serve as the country's submarine base. The base took two years to build and cost US$717,000, according to Jakarta Post. The newspaper also said that Palu Bay is "10 kilometers wide and its coastline stretches for 68 kilometers while its depth reaches 400 meters."

Collin, the researcher at RSIS, explains it this way:

"The primary reasons for selecting Palu have surely got to do with geography. It's located first of all astride the Strait of Makassar and the Palu Bay is a narrow, deep inlet (reportedly 400m) which provides maximum security for the submarine force in terms of concealment and defense against attacks. Besides its sitting astride the strategic waterway, Palu offers direct access northwards into the Sulawesi Sea, where Indonesia still has outstanding dispute with Malaysia over the Ambalat offshore oil block."

Overall, Collin describes the purpose of Indonesia's submarine fleet as one of deterrence in peacetime, and sea-control or at least sea-denial in times of war.

"Submarines certainly form a major facet of the whole game plan" of Indonesia's Navy, he says. "Their role is intended largely in peacetime to constitute a 'fleet-in-being' deterrent to any potential foe. In wartime, due to the multiplicity of possible sea approaches the adversary may undertake, it is necessary to carry out effective sea denial using submarines, by focusing them on the strategic SLOCs of the highest priority."

Owing to its geography, "Palu base certainly serves as a 'force multiplier' in this respect," Collin adds.

http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2013/07/16/the-submarine-race-in-the-malaccan-strait/