Air Force forms anti-submarine group

The Ministry of National Defense released a statement Tuesday to announce the establishment of an Air Force anti-submarine group, part of efforts to safeguard the country.

The Air Force took possession of 11 S-2T anti-submarine planes from the Navy during a commissioning ceremony at an air force base in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan.

The main missions of the anti-submarine group will include countering the threat of submarine attack by opposing forces, said Chief of the General Staff Gen. Yen Ming at the ceremony, according to the statement.

Although Taiwan-China relations have improved a great deal in recent years, the military must remain vigilant, Yen said.

The new group will also receive the first batch of 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft to be delivered by the United States by the end of this year.

The P-3C, the most capable Orion version, has advanced submarine detection capability.

In 2007, the U.S. government approved the sale of the P-3Cs with T-56 turboprop engines, and other associated equipment and services, at an estimated cost of US$1.96 billion.

Obsolete before deployment: Boeing up update P-8A electronic warfare components to stave-off obsolescence

U.S. Navy is asking the Boeing Co. in Seattle to upgrade electronic warfare (EW) subsystems in the P-8A Poseidon Multi-Mission Maritime aircraft to overcome obsolescence issues -- ever before the new maritime patrol jet is deployed to active-duty Navy flight squadrons.

Officials of U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station Md., awarded Boeing an $8.5 million contract Thursday to update the electronic support measures (ESM) sensor digital measurement unit of the P-8A to ensure the EW components are not obsolete by the time the aircraft is widely fielded.

The P-8A, a military variant of the Boeing 737 jetliner, first flew in 2009, and was approved for low-rate production the following year. The first production version of the aircraft was handed over to the Navy last March. Initial operating capability of the P-8A is not expected until next year.

Obsolescence in new weapon systems is a common problem among U.S. Department of Defense major systems that can take years, if not decades, to design, manufacture, and deploy.

ESM involves search, interception, identification, and location of enemy radar or radio communications. Other onboard EW systems then can jam or avoid the enemy radio signals. The Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems segment in Linthicum, Md., is in charge of the P-8 EW systems.

Northrop Grumman is supplying the P-8's electronic warfare self-protection (EWSP) suite, which includes the Terma AN/ALQ-213(V) electronic warfare management system (EWMS), directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) set, radar warning system, and BAE Systems countermeasures dispenser. Just this month the Northrop Grumman ESM system for the P-8A was officially designated

Ultimately, the Navy plans to buy 108 P-8A aircraft from Boeing to replace the service’s fleet of 196 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, which are approaching the end of operational life. The P-3 is a version of the Lockheed Martin Electra four-engine turboprop aircraft.

The P-8A is a specially hardened and reinforced version of the Boeing 737 passenger jet, and is designed to operate at extremely low altitudes over the ocean during close-in searches for potentially hostile submarines. The P-8A is designed to withstand the rigors of low-altitude turbulence and exposure to salt spray.

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon, a Navy version of the 737 jetliner, will replace the P-3 Orion for long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare.

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon, a Navy version of the 737 jetliner, will replace the P-3 Orion for long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare.

Navy officials plan to use the P-8A in tandem with the Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -- a maritime-patrol version of the Global Hawk long-range surveillance UAV. Plans call for using BAMS to detect potentially hostile submarines and surface ships, and upon detection, to call in the P-8A to take a closer look or to attack hostile vessels with torpedoes and missiles.

Boeing will build the Poseidon aircraft at its factory in Renton, Wash. The 737 fuselage and tail sections will be built by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., then transferred to Renton where all structural features will be incorporated in sequence during fabrication and assembly.

The P-8A’s flight management system and the stores management system have been developed by GE Aviation Systems in Grand Rapids, Mich. (formerly Smiths Aerospace). The cabin has as many as seven operator consoles.

The Poseidon’s MX-20HD digital electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) multi-spectral sensor turrets come from L-3 Communications Wescam in Burlington, Ontario. The MX-20HD is gyro-stabilized and can have as many as seven sensors, including infrared, CCDTV, image intensifier, laser rangefinder, and laser illuminator.

The aircraft has the upgraded APS-137D(V)5 maritime surveillance radar and signals intelligence (SIGINT) system from the Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) segment in McKinney, Texas.

The APS-137D(V)5 radar, which is installed on the P-8’s enlarged nose fairing, provides synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for imaging stationary ships and small vessels, coastal and overland surveillance, and high-resolution imaging synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) for imaging surfaced submarines and fast surface vessels operating in coastal waters.

The P-8A will have the CAE Inc. advanced integrated magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) system. The Navy plans to arm the P-8A with the MK 54 torpedo.

Boeing will supervise most of the work under the current contract at Northrop Grumman in Linthicum, Md. Boeing will do other work on the contract in Seattle, and should be finished with the job in April 2015.

Taiwan to take delivery of P-3C anti-sub aircraft

Taiwan's Navy will take delivery of two U.S.-built P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft next year, according to local media reports.

The military's plan to build a hangar at an air base in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan to accommodate the advanced anti-submarine aircraft, however, has remained on the drawing board, the reports said.

Some military experts said they are afraid that the new anti-submarine aircraft may become "shelterless" once they are delivered to Taiwan.

The Navy dismissed the speculation Friday, saying the so-called "shelterless" scenario would never happen.

Even if the hangar construction project fails to be completed in time, the Navy said, the new P-3Cs can be kept in the Air Force's hangar for C-130H aircraft.

The following are excerpts from a special report on the issue in the Friday edition of the United Evening News:

In 2007, the U.S. government approved the sale of 12 P-3Cs with T-56 tunboprop engines and other associated equipment and services for about US$1.96 billion.

The P-3C is the most capable of Orion version, with superb submarine detection capability.

U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin recently posted a photo on its website, which showed a P-3C Orion aircraft successfully completing its first functional trial flight in late July. The company noted in photo caption that it's the first P-3C to be delivered to Taiwan.

The move drew concern from Taiwan's Navy and the photo has since been removed from the Lockheed Martin website.

While two P-3Cs are scheduled for delivery to Taiwan next year, the military has not yet arranged any bidding for hangar construction.

Military sources said the Ministry of National Defense (MND) intends to put the P-3Cs under the control of Air Force instead of the Navy.

The sources cited unidentified naval officials as saying that they don't know whether to start preparing for an open tender for the hangar construction as the MND may want the Air Force to handle the case.

Meanwhile, naval sources also questioned the ministry's decision to penalize a naval fleet captain for steering a three-frigates fleet out of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) during a training drill in late July.

While the fleet sailed out of Taiwan's ADIZ, it did not intrude into Japan's territorial seas surrounding its island of Yonaguni.

Although Japan sent its P-3Cs to monitor the Taiwanese fleet, it did not file any protests to Taiwan's government afterwards because the fleet had navigated in open seas throughout its training exercise.

Against this backdrop, the sources said, the defense ministry's decision to punish the fleet's captain Chang Feng-chiang was not justifiable.

The defense ministry issued a statement Friday that it has formed a task force to investigate the incident and has brought the matter to the attention of military prosecutors.

Some naval officials in private that if the ministry takes issue with the country's naval fleets making innocent passage on open seas, how Taiwan can defend its sovereignty claim to the Tiaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by China and Japan.

VP-30/P-8A Poseidon: Let the training begin

The P-8A Poseidon assigned to VP-30 cut short its training mission on June 8 when the flight management control system malfunctioned and the crew was ordered to return to base.

The P-8A Poseidon assigned to VP-30 cut short its training mission on June 8 when the flight management control system malfunctioned and the crew was ordered to return to base.

“Most everything is running smoothly as the transition from P-3C Orion to P-8A Poseidon gathers momentum,” said VP-30 Commanding Officer Capt. Mark Stevens in a June 8 interview.

“In our sole P-8, we’re averaging 150 flight hours per month, which is high – but necessary – to stay on track with our ‘train-the-trainer’ plan. The goal is to have our core cadre of qualified P-8 instructors ready to welcome VP-16 in mid-July.

He explained, “After the ‘War Eagles’ turn in their P-3s, the pilots, NFOs and aircrew will check in at the P-8A Integrated Training Center (ITC) and start their CAT II transition syllabus, which takes about five months.”

“The squadron’s maintainers will check in at CNATTU Jax (Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit) for organizational-level maintenance classes taught by Boeing instructors, after which they’ll check in at VP-30 and embed themselves in our maintenance department. Eventually they get their PQS (Personnel Qualification Standards) booklets signed off for the P-8A.”

(PQS is a compilation of the minimum knowledge and skills that an individual must demonstrate in order to qualify to stand watches or perform other specific routine duties necessary for the safety, security or proper operation of a ship, aircraft or support system.)

Stevens added, “By January, they’ll return to Hangar 511 and stand up their maintenance department and complete a series of drills in preparation for their ‘safe for flight’ inspection.”

He concluded, “By the end of January, the War Eagles will stand alone and begin their 12-month IDRC (Inter-Deployment Readiness Cycle) in preparation for the first deployment of a P-8 squadron.”

As the fleet replacement squadron for the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF), VP-30 is concurrently training aircrew and maintainers for both P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon.

“It’s very challenging for our roster of instructors –but training people to safely operate the retiring P-3 is no less important than the transition to P-8.” 

“Our plan is to transition two squadrons each year.”

The squadron’s second P-8A from the Boeing production line in Seattle, Wash., will be accepted by VP-30 in July. An additional P-8A will arrive at NAS Jacksonville each succeding month, so the squadron will be operating six Poseidon aircraft by the end of 2012.