Page 18 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2022

18 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
JUNE 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
REGIONAL OUTLOOK
MIKE YEO | MELBOURNE
COLOMBIA SELECTS SOUTH KOREA’S FA/TA-50 GOLDEN EAGLE It has been reported that Colombia has se- lected the South Korean Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA/TA-50 Golden Eagle trainer/light attack aircraft for its air force.
According to Defense News in the US, the South American company plans to acquire at least 20 advanced jet trainers with air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities under a project estimated to be worth US$600 million.
Citing sources in Colombia, the report said that the South Korean jet was the preferred option over the Italian Leonardo M-346, although the government has of- ficially denied that it had already selected the Golden Eagle.
Colombia is buying new aircraft to re- place its Cessna A-37B Dragonfly twin-en- gine, light-attack jets, which were retired in June 2021. The type is used in the coun- terinsurgency role and as a tactical trainer, while its fleet of Israeli-built IAI Kfir com- bat aircraft will be retired in 2023.
INDONESIA SCORPENE
AND FRIGATE
French companies have continued to ex- pand their presence in the Indo-Pacific re- gion by pursuing regional opportunities at defence industry cooperation, despite the loss of the Australian Attack-class subma- rine contract.
Naval Group has forwarded a proposal to the Indonesian government to build two Scorpene submarines wholly in Indonesia should it win the contract for two new conventionally-powered submarines for the Indonesian navy.
The diesel-electric submarines will also be fitted with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP).
This comes on the heels of two agree- ments with Indonesia in the naval domain, where the company signed two Memoran- dums of Understanding (MoU) with the country’s state owned PT PAL shipyard in February covering workshare agreement in
building the submarines and the other one supporting the Research and Development (R&D) of submarine technologies including lithium-ion batteries.
Meanwhile, another Indonesian com- pany, PT Len Industri, has signed a stra- tegic partnership agreement with Thales for further collaboration on a wide array of defence-related topics including radars, military satellites, electronic warfare, UAVs and combat management systems.
The agreement includes looking into a possible co-development of a naval Com- bat Management System (CMS) that is based on the TACTICOS CMS currently deployed on Indonesia’s KRI Usman-Ha- run frigates
TAIWAN ASKED TO CANCEL HOWITZER PURCHASE
The United States has asked Taiwan to cancel its intended acquisition of self-pro- pelled artillery and request for anti-subma- rine helicopters, according to news reports from the self-ruling island’s local media.
ABOVE: Colombia has selected the FA/TA-50 Golden Eagle trainer/light attack aircraft
LEFT: A M109A6 Paladin self- propelled howitzer
According to United Daily News, Tai- wan has been asked to cancel its acquisi- tion of 40 M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, ostensibly due to the strain on the US defence industrial base following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, Taiwan’s ministry of defence has said that it had instead asked to defer the delivery of the howitzers to 2026 in- stead. The first of 40 units of the M109A6s along with other support vehicles that Taiwan requested to buy under a possible US$1.07 billion sale approved in late 2021 had been due to be delivered in 2023.
UDN also reported that the US State Department has refused to approve a re- quest from Taiwan for the Lockheed-Mar- tin MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine/ multirole helicopters.
Taiwan has long identified a need to add the MH-60R to its inventory, but a combi- nation of budget issues and US reluctance to sell the helicopters has meant that it did not seriously pursue a program to acquire the type until recently ■
COMMONS WIKIMEDIA NIGEL PITTAWAY