Sunday, March 18, 2012

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Canada Bails Out Of NATO Airborne Surveillance Programs

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Canada Bails Out Of NATO Airborne Surveillance Programs
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By David Pugliese, Postmedia News - Ottawa Citizen
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 18, 2012: The Canadian Forces hope to save $90 million a year by pulling out of NATO programs operating unmanned aerial vehicles as well as airborne early warning planes, according to documents obtained by the Citizen.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay gave U.S. officials a heads-up last year about the withdrawal, pointing out that it will free up 142 Canadians assigned to NATO for new jobs, the documents show.

The shutdown of Canada’s contribution to NATO’s airborne warning aircraft, known as AWACS, will save about $50 million a year, according to the records obtained under the Access to Information law. Another $40 million a year will be saved as a result of Canada’s withdrawal from NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Program, which would see the purchase of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct surveillance and intelligence gathering.

Canada has been involved in NATO’s AWACS program for more than 25 years and the aircraft were seen as key to the alliance’s success during the recent war in Libya.

U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs as they are known in military parlance, were also used to gather intelligence information during the Libyan conflict. NATO wants to ease the strain on the U.S. UAVs by having a pool of Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles at the alliance’s disposal.

Canada’s pull out from the UAV program will be done by the end of April, the Defence Department confirmed in a recent email. The withdrawal from the AWACS program is expected to take much longer.

The Canadian Forces contingent assigned to the AWACS aircraft is the last major Canadian military presence in Europe.

Canada’s bases and installations there were closed decades ago and troops returned home.

Some retired air force officers have written Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office to protest the decision to withdrawal from the AWACS program. During the Libyan war the AWACS directed fighter aircraft, co-ordinating both attacks and air-to-air refuelling operations.

The Canadian Forces newspaper Maple Leaf also highlighted the importance of AWACS in an article last year heralding how a Canadian frigate transmitted information about ground targets in Libya to a Canadian on-board a NATO AWACS. As a result, Canadian CF-18s then attacked the targets.

Others, such as York University strategic studies professor Martin Shadwick, point out that the withdrawal from both programs further distances Canada from NATO.

But a spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay says Canada is considered a leader in NATO because of its role in the Libyan mission and in Afghanistan.

“In tough economic times, this government believes making action-oriented decisions in support of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law are more essential to NATO member states’ security than any other initiative,” Jay Paxton noted in an email when news leaked out last year about the possible withdrawal from the AWACS program.

In a recent email commenting on Canada’s withdrawal from NATO’s unmanned aerial vehicle program, Paxton stated: “In difficult economic times, this government believes in making tough, action-oriented decisions that are more essential to NATO member-states’ security than any other initiative.”

That decision does not affect the Canadian military’s core capabilities, he added.

Canada temporarily leased unmanned aerial vehicles for the combat mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The military also hopes to purchase such equipment in the future, with such a program expected to start sometime in the summer. The Canadian Forces want to have such UAVs operating by 2017.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By David Pugliese, Postmedia News - Ottawa Citizen
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS 


DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Engaging In Military Buildup While US Cuts Forces

DTN News - CHINA HIKES DEFENCE BUDGET: China Engaging In Military Buildup While US Cuts Forces
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources by Matt Lacy - Greeley Gazette
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 18, 2012: An expert on Communist China says the United States could be making a grave mistake by cutting back on defense spending while China is doing just the opposite.

Beijing recently announced a new defense budget of approximately $106 billion, which equates to an 11.2-percent increase. Cheng says this increase coupled with last years 12.7 percent increase means that China is now spending more on its military than all other Asian nations combined. The new budget comes at a time when the Obama administration, despite calling for a higher priority in Asia, is busily reducing the U.S. defense outlay.
While many critics of defense spending in the United States say that it is larger than the majority of the world, Dean Cheng, a research fellow at the Asian studies Center with The Heritage Foundation  says there are key differences between the two militaries.
“the U.S. is a key enforcer of international norms and safety. It is the American Navy, more than any other, that keeps the world’s sea lanes safe. It is the U.S. Air Force that provides space situational awareness, including conjunction warnings, to all other space-faring nations (including China) and manages the GPS constellation to global benefit—both without charge.”
He goes on to note that by contrast China's military budget is spent almost entirely on Chinese interests. While he acknowledges that with China having the second largest economy in the world it is expected that have a substantial military, and that while the Chinese defense spending increases by themselves should not draw alarm, there are other reasons for concern.
Cheng says there are two aspects of Chinese defense priorities that could spell problems for the United States.
The first thing he says is that the Chinese are focused on countering the US military. "So they buy things like anti-ship ballistic missiles -- which really are of use only against things like American aircraft carriers, but not against, say, Somali pirates," he offers.
Cheng says another advantage the Chinese military has is that it is still more of a local military operating near China rather than maintaining a global presence like the US. This means China can put all of its resources up against only a portion of the US military.
He goes on to note the Chinese Communist Party appears to be taking a more aggressive stance not only against US interests but against its neighbors Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. The government has been making claims of sovereignty over the South and East China seas and expanding its forces opposite Taiwan.
China is not the only military United States should be concerned about. While our military is facing the possibility of close to $1 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years and a reduction of up to one third of our military force, Russia is also engaging on a military buildup.
A 10 year, $640 billion military modernization underway in Russia will include 600 new aircraft, 1000 new choppers and an additional hundred ships added to the Russian Navy including 20 submarines.
By contrast, the Pentagon has said it may be forced to engage in involuntary separations to meet troop reduction goals of 67,100 soldiers form active and reserve Army units, 15,20 from the Marine Corps, 8,600 from the Navy and 1,700 from the Air Force as part of $487 in budget cuts. If Congress is unable to reach targeted spending cuts that were a part of the congressional deal reached during last years debt ceiling debate another $500 billion could be cut from the military budget.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources by Matt Lacy - Greeley Gazette
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS