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February 2010 APA Analyses Journal
Assessing the Sukhoi PAK-FA



Latest APA NOTAMs [Click here ...]
Analytical Perspectives on Contemporary Defence Topics

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Daily Report - Air Force Magazine




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July 2010




David Pughliese
The Vancouver Sun
31/07/2010 CF-18s intercepted Russian bombers, Ottawa says
Scott Fontaine
Air Force Times
31/07/2010
USAFE chief: Don’t rely on UAVs
Y. Mallikarjun
The Hindu
27/07/2010 Interceptor missile hits the bull's eye
News Report IANS/RIA Novosti
24/07/2010 Russia denies selling S-300 air defence systems to Azerbaijan
Alan Williams The Ottawa Citizen 24/07/2010 Flying solo
Eric Palmer
DoD Watch
24/07/2010 Senior Australian Defence leadership deception on the F-111 retirement
Editorial Independent Contractors of Australia 23/07/2010 Australian military aircraft (JSF): A bad deal?
Paul McLeary Ares / AW&ST 22/07/2010 Watchdog Slams Pentagon O&M Bookkeeping
Maxim Pyadushkin and Michael A. Taverna AW&ST 22/07/2010 Russia Gets Su-35S by year-end, Libya to Follow
News Report Defpro.com 21/07/2010 Farnborough 2010 - A World of Opportunities for Rosoboronexport
Peter Goon APA NOTAM #65 17/07/2010 Is the JSF Affordable? An Australian’s Perspective
Carlo Kopp APA NOTAM #64 17/07/2010 Reassessing Iran's Air Defences
News Report Brahmand.com 13/07/2010 S-500 missile defence system to join Russian armed forces
News Report ITAR-TASS 13/07/2010 Russian Air Force to have many S-400/S-500 regiments by 2020 – general
Joe Keohane The Boston Globe 11/07/2010 How facts backfire - Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains
Peter Goon APA NOTAM #63 09/07/2010 F-35 JSF Program: When is “Affordability” Not?
News Report TV-Novosti 06/07/2010 Made-in-China airplanes may undermine sales of Russian high quality jets
Brian Spegele Wall Street Journal 06/07/2010 China Seizes on F-35 Remarks
Pankaj Lakhotia Stock Watch India 05/07/2010 Air force’s SU – 30 MKIs to be upgraded
Chris Mills APA NOTAM #62 05/07/2010 How? The Deadly Question for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Carlo Kopp The Diplomat (Japan) 01/07/2010 China Air Force Steps it Up

June 2010

Greg Grant - Defense Tech - 30/06/2010 - China to Test Carrier Killing Missile On Fourth of July?
News Report - RIA Novosti - 30/06/2010 - Russia may lose billions for breaching missile contract with Iran
David A. Fulghum, Douglas Barrie - AW&ST - 29/06/2010 - Sukhoi T-50 Prototype Demonstrated For Putin
Golnaz Esfandiari - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - 29/06/2010 - Iran's Intelligence Ministry Urges Moving Away From Russia
News Report - Defpro - 28/06/2010 - India clears Rs 15,000 crore Sukhoi deal
News Report -United Press International - 21/06/2010 - Iran out, but Russia eyes Turkey for S-300
Steve Gutterman - Reuters - 17/06/2010 - Putin boasts new jet fighter better than U.S. plane
Michel Chossudovsky - GlobalResearch.ca - 11/06/2010 - UN "Green Light" for a Pre-emptive US-Israel Attack on Iran? Security Council Resolution Transforms Iran into a "Sitting Duck"
News Report - Xinhua - 11/06/2010 - S-300 missiles fall under UN sanctions against Iran: Kremlin
Office of the Spokesman - Dept of State - 09/06/2010 - Sale of S-300s to Iran Under UNSCR 1929 (Taken Question)
Iskander Rehman - IDSA - 08/06/2010 - China’s String of Pearls and India’s Enduring Tactical Advantage
News Report - rttnews.com - 08/06/2010 - Russia Signs Mega Defense Contract With Algeria, Uganda
News Report - Pravda.ru - 04/06/2010 - China Creates Pirate Copy of Russia’s Su-33 Fighter Jet
News Report - Brahmand.com - 02/06/2010 - Algeria to receive Russian Su-30, Yak-130 planes in 2011
News Report - United Press International - 01/06/2010 - Algeria 'to cut U.S. arms, go Russian'

May 2010

Muhamad Fairoz Azizan And Nuraqalby Mohd Reda - Bernama.com - 31/05/2010 - RMAF Hope To Buy State-Of-The-Art Fighter Jets To Beef Up Air Defence
News Report - PressTV (Iran) - 25/05/2010 - Iran warns Russia over S-300 delivery
News Report - Space Daily - 17/05/2010 - Russian Officer Says Developing New Weapon For Space Defense

April 2010

Chris Hughes - The Daily Mirror -  12/04/2010 - Fury as Russia sells its missile system to Iran - Exclusive
James Kraska - Orbis / FPRI - Winter 2010, Volume 54, Number 1 - How the United States Lost the Naval War of 2015
News Report - RIA Novosti - 07/04/2010 - Russian military set to upgrade bulk of weaponry by 2020
CFP - Aircraft Airworthiness and Sustainment Conference 2010 - Australia
John Markoff and David Barboza - The New York Times - 05/04/2010 - Spying on Computer Spies Traces Data Theft to China
Richard Weitz - The Diplomat - 05/04/2010 - Why China Snubs Russia Arms
News Report - Reuters - 02/04/2010 - China buys air defense systems from Russia

March 2010

Chris Mills and Peter Goon - APA NOTAM - 24/03/2010 - Why the F-22 and the PAK-FA have the “Right Stuff” and why the F/A-18 and the F-35 do not
Stephen Trimble - The DEW Line - 25/03/2010 - Congressional F-35 hater: "I think this will come back and haunt us ... as a monumental mistake"
Chen Hu / Peng Kuang - Global Times [China] - 24/03/2010 - F-35 fighter has become a clumsy white elephant
AVM B J Graf RAAF (Retd) - APA NOTAM - 24/03/2010 - F-35 JSF: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Do No Good
Robert Gottliebsen - Business Spectator - 23/03/2010 - Time for a Canberra shake-up
Carlo Kopp - Joint Forces Quarterly - JFQ 57 (2nd Quarter, April 2010) - Evolving Technological Strategy in Advanced Air Defense Systems [Index]
Linton Besser - Sydney Morning Herald - 13/03/2010 - Defence blows millions in budget rort
Bill Sweetman - Ares A Defense Technology Blog - 12/03/2010 - Seeing The Elephant
Ben Sandilands - Crikey.com - 12/03/2010 - Memo Defence: Come clean now on JSF debacle
Gleb Bryanski - Reuters - 12/03/2010 - Russia to make 1,000 stealth jets, eyes India deal
Roxana Tiron - The Hill - 11/03/2010 - Pentagon tells Senate panel that F-35 is more than 50 percent over cost
Michael Sullivan - United States Government Accountability Office - 11/03/2010 - JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER: Significant Challenges Remain as DOD Restructures Program [Recommended]
Robert Gottliebsen - Business Spectator - 11/03/2010 - Send in Bomber Beazley
David Axe - The Diplomat - 05/03/2010 - US Eyeing Asian Arms Race?
Carlo Kopp [Interview] - ABC Australia Network - 02/03/2010 - Russian fighter

February 2010

Cameron Stewart - The Australian - 25/02/2010 - Scientists warned defence department against Joint Strike Fighter
Chris Mills and Peter Goon - APA NOTAM #59 - 23/02/2010 - PAK-FA, F-35, F-22 and “Capability Surprise”
Robert Gottliebsen - Business Spectator - 22/02/2010 - Air defence in a spin
Mark Helprin - Wall Street Journal - 21/02/2010 - Why the Air Force Needs the F-22: China will field its own fifth-generation fighter in 2018 or 2020
News Report - AFP/Google - 20/02/2010 - Russia will honour Iran missile deal: minister [S-300PMU1]
Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily - 19/02/2010 - Official: Russia to deliver missile defense to Iran; System would make strike against Tehran's nuclear reactors more difficult
Dr Carlo Kopp - Jamestown Foundation / China Brief - 18/02/2010 - Advances in PLA C4ISR Capabilities
Cameron Stewart - The Australian - 18/02/2010 - Top-gun fighter in a spin
News Report - RT.com - 17/02/2010 - Russian company eyes offensive military satellite
Michael Goldfarb - The Weekly Standard - 17/02/2010 - Russian Raptor Killer is a "Game  Changer" The end of air supremacy?
Stephen Trimble - Flight International - 17/02/2010 - Airborne Laser faces uncertain future despite historic intercept test  [Video: Testing Airborne Laser Weapons]
Bill Sweetman - Ares A Defense Technology Blog - 16/02/2010 - JSF - 13-Month Delay Is Official
News Report - Domain-B - 16/02/2010 - Russian 5th-Gen fighter makes second flight news
Ben Sandilands - Crikey.com - 16/02/2010 - Russian jet adds to Joint Strike Fighter already-on-the-nose dilemma
Ben Sandilands - Plane Talking (Crikey.com) - 16/02/2010 - PAK-FA analysis and high level advice point to JSF crisis
News Report - RIA Novosti - 16/02/2010 - Several states look to Russian missiles for national defense systems
News Report - United Press International - 15/02/2010 - Russia blows hot and cold over Iran S-300s
Michael Owen - The Australian - 15/02/2010 - US Deputy Secretary of Defence Bill Lynn can't put price on F-35 warplanes
Chris Mills - APA NOTAM #58 - 15/02/2010 - Sukhoi PAK-FA - Russia's Strategic ‘Game Changer’
Peter Goon - APA NOTAM #57 - 13/02/2010 - F-35A JSF: Not Even Second Place...
Peter Goon and Dr Carlo Kopp - APA NOTAM #56 - 10/02/2010 - A Perspective on the Quadrennial Defense Review
Robert Gottliebsen - Business Spectator - 09/02/2010 - Last chance for Australia's defence
Borzou Daragahi - Los Angeles Times - 08/02/2010 - Iran says it will build 10 nuclear plants, beef up military; The nation announces its plans despite international pressure and domestic dissent.
Ben Sandilands - Plane Talking (Crikey.com) - 06/02/2010 - How long has the PAK-FA or T-50 been flying? (video)

January 2010

News Report - rt.com - 31/01/2010 - Russian fifth-generation fighter: high hopes (video)
News Report - rt.com - 29/01/2010 - Russian fifth-generation fighter jet takes to the air (video)
News Release - Sukhoi JSC - 29/01/2010 - The Sukhoi Company PAK-FA Enters Flight Test
Eric L Palmer Blog - 29/01/2010 - Update–Russian stealth fighter–PAK FA flies
Ben Sandilands - Plane Talking (Crikey.com) - 21/01/2010 - Some notes concerning Australia’s exposure to the risk that the Joint Strike Fighter is a failed project
Dr Martin Andrew - APA NOTAM #55 - 14/01/2010 - China’s Anti-Ballistic Missile Test: Much Ado About Nothing
James Kraska - Orbis / FPRI - Winter 2010, Volume 54, Number 1 - How the United States Lost the Naval War of 2015





Hot Topics

Assessing the Sukhoi PAK-FA
Assessing Russian Fighter Technology
Surviving the Modern Integrated Air Defence System / Assessing the F-22 Raptor
Assessing Joint Strike Fighter Defence Penetration Capabilities / Stealth Modelling
Russian High Technology Weapons: Transforming the Strategic Balance in Asia
The Global Impact of Anti-Access Weapons
High Technology Air Defense Weapons vs Planned US Force Structure
Why 187 F-22s Are Not Sufficient
The Failed Fighter Recapitalisation Plan
The Proliferation of Counter-Stealth Systems
ADA Defender - Are the F-111s Really Stuffed?



APA Media Releases / Statements


Media Release 05/02/2007
The Gap in Australia's Fighter Capability Will Not Be Solved By Buying Super Hornets
Media Release 08/02/2007 US Air Force Joint Strike Fighter Production Reduced by More Than 50 Percent
Media Release 14/02/2007 Is the Gordon England Letter on F-22 Export to Australia Fair Dinkum?
Media Release 22/02/2007 Australia Must Formally Request an F-22 Export Assessment
Media Release 21/03/2007 Minister for Defence Media Release on the GAO JSF Report
Media Release 03/04/2007 Facts or Fantasies?
Media Release 05/11/2007 Analysing “The ADF Air Combat Capability- On the Record”
Media Release 07/01/2009 The Joint Strike Fighter Cannot  Survive Against New Russian Radars
Media Release 30/01/2009 NCW101: An Introduction to Network Centric Warfare Book Release



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Leading Hot Topic Warning [Click for more ...]


The centrepiece of the Canberra bureaucracy's arguments against the F-22 is a claim that the aircraft is not an effective bomber, despite the F-22 being the planned replacement for the F-117A Nighthawk bomber since 1999, and the primary element of the planned US Global Strike Task Force. The F-22 now carries the GBU-32 JDAM and is being fitted to carry the latest GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (above). Like most other claims made by the Canberra bureaucracy to justify the Joint Strike Fighter, Super Hornet and early F-111 retirement, the claim that the F-22 is not viable as a bomber is simply fiction (US Air Force image).



F-22A Raptors of the 1st FW deployed to Kadena, Okinawa (Japan), in February, 2007. There is a strong  US national interest case that Pacrim allies such as Australia should be operating the F-22A rather than less capable or older fighter types (US Air Force image).


Essential Reading

  1. F-22 Raptor News Archive @ Air-Attack.com
  2. United States Government Accountability Office - March 2007 - GAO-07-360 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER Progress Made and Challenges Remain
  3. United States Government Accountability Office - March 2007 - GAO-07-360 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER - Highlights
  4. Defense Industry Daily - Australian Air Power Controversy: F-35 and Super Hornets Under Fire (continuously updated)
  5. Robert  Kress and Rear Adm. Paul Gillcrist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) -  Flight Journal - Russian fighters for the USAF/USN? The ultimate irony …
  6. Robert  Kress and Rear Adm. Paul Gillcrist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) -  Flight Journal - Battle of the SuperFighters - F-14D Tomcat vs. F/A18 E/F Super Hornet [Editor's Note: The Su-30/35 Flankers are comparable to the F-14D in size, weight and performance, making this a useful comparison for analytical purposes. The Soviets were strongly influenced by the F-14 when they designed the T-10 Flanker.]
  7. William S Cohen - Air Force Magazine - January 2000 - Cohen on Air Power [SecDef public statement describing planning for the replacement of the F-117A with the F-22A]
  8. Dr Rebecca Grant - IRIS Independent Research - The Radar Game: Understanding Stealth and Aircraft Survivability [Highly Recommended - Refer Page 27]
  9. Matthew H. Molloy Lt Col, USAF, SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIRPOWER STUDIES, U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: CRAFTING AN F-22 EXPORT POLICY
  10. President Clinton promises F-22 to Israel (2001)
  11. David A Fulghum and Michael J Fabey - Aviation Week & Space Technology - F-22 Road Show (Compendium)
  12. Don Middleton - ADA Defender - Summer 2006/2007 - Are the F-111s Really Stuffed?
  13. ANAO Audit Report No.27 2006–07 Management of Air Combat Fleet In-Service Support
  14. US Air Force White Paper on Long Range Bombers
  15. Dr Rebecca Grant -AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION SPECIAL REPORT - Feb 2007 - RETURN OF THE BOMBER -  THE FUTURE OF LONG-RANGE STRIKE
  16. Monitoring the Procurement of the Joint Strike Fighter (Netherlands Court of Audit)
  17. Lieutenant Colonel Neil James - REFORM OF THE DEFENCE MANAGEMENT PARADIGM: A FRESH VIEW - WORKING PAPER NO. 59, Australian Defence Studies Centre, May 2000.



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Public Debate and Discussion Pages

Ares - A Defense Technology Blog
ELP Defens(c)e Blog
Plane Talking - Crikey Blogs

Leading Hot Topic Warning [Click for more ...]



The F-111 is Australia's 'equivalent' to the US B-52 bomber, providing heavy punch for a variety of strike roles. Despite the size disparity, the F-111 typically carries around half the 500 lb bomb payload of the B-52H, albeit to a lesser distance. The US Air Force is likely to still be flying 1961 built B-52H aircraft in 2037, but Canberra bureaucrats intend to retire the F-111 in 2010, despite its youth relative to the B-52H. In 2003 the bureaucracy argued that the cost of running the F-111 would blow out in coming years. When this was proven to be wrong they argued it was non-viable due to the absence of networking and modern digital weapons. When this argument was proven wrong by RAAF/Boeing engineers who integrated JDAM and JTIDS networking using an internal shoestring budget, the bureaucrats are now arguing unknown structural risks, despite the success of the second wing fatigue life extension testing by DSTO, the Cold Proof Load Testing capability in Australia, extensive wing refurbishment, the ongoing "safety by inspection program", the available wing refurbishment capability at Amberley and the very low cost of new build replacement wings as a fallback option. All of these capabilities exist today; are assuring the airworthiness of the F-111 fleet; and, come at a tiny fraction of the cost of the six billion dollar Super Hornet gap filler. Not a single argument for F-111 retirement is anything but non-sequitur speculation by the bureaucracy. Australia's F-111 fleet accounts for 40-60% of Australia's punch and its loss produces a self induced but very real capability gap of unprecedented proportions (US DoD image).
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