China

CHINAS MASSIVE DEFENCE BUDGET 2015: IMPLICATIONS FOR

INDIAN SECURITY INDIAN ANALYSIS
Chinas massive Defence Budget 2015 pegged over $144 billion should be worrisome
for Indias defence planners as there is no commensurate or matching Indian strategy to
reduce Indias military differentials with China.
Indias single digit increase in defence budget allocations of around $40 billion
announced in the last Budget or so pale into insignificance in comparison to Chinas
$144 billion defence expenditure primarily targeted to enhance Chinas war-waging
capabilities. Notably, China has maintained a 10% increase over last years defence
budget even though the Chinese economy growth, as per official figures, is not likely to
exceed 7%.
A Chinese expert on military matters has asserted on Chinas Defence Budget 2015 that
The defence budget is no longer tied to economic performance. There is a political
decision across the board in China that defence spending is sacrosanct, untouchable.

Report: Chinese Air Force Closes Gap With U.S

The U.S. Air Forces air power superiority over China is rapidly diminishing in light of
rapid Chinese modernization of fighter jets, cargo planes and stealth aircraft, according
to a recently released Congressional review.
The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommends that
Congress appoint an outside panel of experts to assess the U.S.-Chinese military
balance and make recommendations regarding U.S. military plans and budgets, among
other things.

The Commission compiled its report based upon testimony, various reports and
analytical assessments along with available open-source information. The review states

that the Chines Peoples Liberation Army currently has approximately 2,200 operational
aircraft, nearly 600 of which are considered modern.
In the early 1990s, Beijing began a comprehensive modernization program to upgrade
the PLA Air Force from a short-range, defensively oriented force with limited capabilities
into a modern, multi-role force capable of projecting precision airpower beyond Chinas
borders, conducting air and missile defense and providing early warning, the review
writes.

One commissioner involved with the review told Military.com he wants to see Congress
provide the requisite funding for the U.S. to retain its technological superiority in light of
Chinas rapid progress. This includes providing funding for the Pentagons Pacific
rebalance, he said.

Every year we make forty to fifty recommendations to Congress. Commissioners

highlight what they consider to be the most important ten recommendations. This year
among the top ten recommendations was one to ensure that the budget to meet the
Pacific rebalance is adequate, said Larry Wortzel, a commissioner tasked with helping
to oversee the compilation and publication of the annual review.

India
NEW DELHI Much against the wishes of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Defence
Ministry has decided that only state-owned monopoly Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)
will meet the service's future basic trainer requirements through its HTT-40 trainer,
which is still under development.
However, to meet the Air Force's immediate needs, until the homemade HTT-40 is
inducted, MoD has ordered another 38 Swiss-made Pilatus PC-7 Mark-IIs to top the 75
ordered by the outgoing government in 2012.
The Indian Air Force wanted to buy only the Pilatus and put the HTT-40 project on hold,
said an Air Force official.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the top weapon purchasing body in the MoD,
ordered 38 additional Pilatus trainers at its Feb. 28 meeting at a cost of $250 million by
exercising the additional purchase clause tied to the original order of 75 trainers in
2012. But the service's remaining trainer needs will be met through the HTT-40, the
DAC ruled.

Indian Budget Casts Doubt on Rafale Deal

India may not have the funds to seal the deal with Dassault Aviation to purchase $12
billion Rafale fighter planes, according to an Air Force source.
While India plans to boost hike defense spending by almost 8 percent, defense analysts
and military officers say it falls short of expectations and isnt enough to buy fresh
weaponry.
India will spend US $40.4 billion on defense in the April 1 2015-March 31 2016 financial
year, according to the Feb. 28 proposal to Parliament.
Thats an increase of 7.74 percent over the previous year. The previous years budget
went up 12.4 percent.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave no additional funds in the Capital Account Head of
the budget proposals, which is earmarked to buy fresh weapons. The budget included
the same amount as last year: $15.5 billion.
With the stagnation in capital expenditure, I believe there is very little left in the budget
to cater to new contracts, said Laxman Behera, research fellow at the Institute for
Defence Studies and Analyses think tank in New Delhi.
The contract is to be paid in installments, with 15 percent due at the signing of the deal.
At best, a $2.5 billion deal finalized two years ago to purchase attack and heavy lift
helicopters from Boeing could be inked as the US company has threatened to hike the
price if the deal is delayed, the official added.
The budget allocation may not be sufficient even for contracted projects as they are
carry over from the 2014-15 budget on capital account, said Rahul Bhonsle, retired
Indian Army brigadier general and defense analyst.

Russia
Russia and India to work on 5th-gen upgrade to Su-35 fighter

Russia and India have signed an agreement to jointly develop a fifth-generation

upgrade of the Su-35 Super Flanker multirole fighter, according to a report published
March 8 on Virginia-based military affairs website Defense News.
The fighter will be a fifth-generation fighter like the US Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
and F-35 Lightning II, as opposed to the fourth-generation version of the Su-35 over
which Russia and China are currently negotiating a deal.
The Su-35 Super Flanker will be unable to compete with other "genuine" fifth-generation
fighters and China does not need to get caught up in a game of one-upmanship with
India and Russia, said an expert cited by China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times.
Fifth-Generation Su-35S
Defense News cited a Russian military insider as stating that Moscow and New Delhi
have signed an agreement to design what Russia is calling the fifth-generation version
of the Su-35 in India, which will see an Indian variant of the fighter created called the
Su-35S. Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Russian state-run tech export corporation Rostec,
was cited by the website as saying, "We have been negotiating and have signed the
intention protocol for the Su-35...Now we are working on designing ideas for this
contract and on creating a manufacturing platform for the aircraft of the fifth generation."
Russia and India have already worked together on the development of a fifth-generation
stealth fighter, the PAK FA T-50. The Defense News report suggested that the reason
Russia has suddenly announced the development program for the stealth fighter is
because they are trying to undercut France following the refusal of Paris to provide
Russia with two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships. In 2012, New Delhi decided to
buy 126 Dassault Rafale multirole fighters from the French company but they have been
unable to reach a final agreement due to the technology transfer involved and the price.
A Russian industry source cited in the report said the Su-35S will cost only US$85
million, very competitive when compared with the Rafale, and poses a threat to the deal

between France and India. A report in the New Delhi-based Economic Times previously
stated that India's air force command considers the Russian fighter and the Rafale to be
complementary and that the former does not replace the need for the latter.

N. Korea
North Korea using renewable energy at air base
North Koreas military is using renewable energy sources for at least one of its air bases
and may do so elsewhere in the future, state media reports revealed Monday.
Reports and photographs in the state-run Rodong Sinmun and Korean Central News
Agency Monday showed that the Korean Peoples Army has both a wind turbine and a
solar cell array installed at the Kwail Airfield in South Hwanghae Province, home of KPA
Air and Anti-Force Unit 1016 a.k.a. the 4th Air Regiment.
According to Pyongyangs state media, the power plant was the first part of the unit
inspected by Kim Jong Un during his recent visit. The wind power turbine has been in
place since at least 2011. Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un visited the unit together in
November 2011 and inspected the wind power plant. There was no mention at that time,
however, of the solar cells.
Unit 1016 reportedly built the wind and solar power plant with help from KPA Unit 6556,
the State Academy of Sciences and according to the 2011 report the Kim Chaek
University of Technology.
According to state media, the power plant is a major source of electricity for Unit 1016.
The unit can freely use enough electricity for combat preparations while cooking and
heating with it, the KCNA reported in 2011. The plant freed the unit from the shortage
of electricity and some of the excessive power is supplied even to a bathing resort in the
units stationary area.
North Korea may be using this unit as a test site for renewable energy sources that
could potentially alleviate electricity shortages throughout the country.

Russia and North Korea forge year of friendship pariah alliance

Russia and North Korea have announced they will deepen economic and political ties
under the banner of a year of friendship a development that could further complicate

the wests attempts to deal with an increasingly belligerent Vladimir Putin and Kim Jonguns recalcitrant regime in Pyongyang.
The prospect of closer co-operation between Putins Kremlin and a pariah state with
realistic nuclear ambitions will dismay the US, Britain and other countries hoping to
pressure Pyongyang into ditching its ambitions to become a nuclear power, and to
dissuade Russia from fuelling the war in Ukraine.
North Korean state media said the two countries had agreed to make 2015 a year of
friendship to mark the 70th anniversary of Koreas liberation and the victory in the
great Patriotic War in Russia references to the defeats of Japan and Nazi Germany in
1945.
KCNA said the countries would develop the bilateral relations on to a new higher stage
in various fields, including politics, economy and culture under a mutual agreement.
The Russian foreign ministry said the agreement was designed to elevate ties in the
political, economic, humanitarian and other areas to a new level.