02.11.2015 Noël Ndong - adiac-congo.com

La Grande Muette à Paris, a fait le point sur la situation Barkhane au Mali et Sangaris en Centrafrique, le 29 octobre.

Selon le ministère,  à la fin du mois d’octobre, la situation dans la Bande sahélo-saharienne (BSS) est restée calme. Au Mali, les discussions en faveur de la paix se poursuivent. Sur le plan opérationnel, les Forces armées des pays du G5 Sahel ( Burkina Faso, le Mali, la Mauritanie, le Niger et le Tchad) poursuivent leurs opérations à dominante transfrontalière pour endiguer les capacités d’action des groupes armés terroristes.

La force Barkhane conserve un rythme opérationnel soutenu. La semaine, a été marquée par l’achèvement de la montée en puissance de la composante aéromobile. Disposant désormais de 17 hélicoptères (Tigre, Puma, Caïman, Cougar, Gazelle, Caracal ),  cette composante est déployée au Mali, au Niger et au Tchad, où sont respectivement stationnés 2 sous-groupements aéromobiles (Gao et Madama) et un détachement d'hélicoptères de manœuvre à N’Djamena (Tchad).

Barkhane dispose ainsi d’un outil lui permettant de s’affranchir des contraintes liées à l’immensité désertique et à l’étendue de la zone d’action, souligne le ministère de la Défense. A cet égard, la composante aéromobile occupe un rôle majeur dans la conduite des opérations.

Permettant d’accroître la mobilité et d’inverser le principe d’incertitude, elle confère à la force la capacité de mener, à l’endroit et au moment qu’elle choisit, des actions de feu, de renseignement ou de mouvement, en appui et en complément des troupes déployées au sol. Au total, la composante aéromobile a réalisé 5 000 heures de vol depuis le 1eraoût 2014, date du lancement de Barkhane, explique la Grande Muette.

De façon complémentaire, la composante Air a assuré la permanence des actions aériennes. Depuis le 22 octobre, les équipages ont réalisé 73 sorties dont 27 dédiées aux vols de renseignement/surveillance (ISR) et 12 sorties chasses. Le drone Reaper a battu son nouveau record  d’endurance en effectuant près de 25h06 de temps de vol.

Leur vitesse de déplacement et la qualité des images prises sont devenues un atout indéniable dans la réalisation des missions d'appui renseignement aux opérations de lutte contre le terrorisme menées par Barkhane, souligne-t-on au ministère.

Le précédent record, datant de décembre 2014 était de 24 heures et 30 minutes, a indiqué le lieutenant-colonel Richard qui a participé en tant que pilote à cette mission au profit de la force.  Depuis janvier 2014  dans le cadre des opérations  Serval puis Barkhane,  ces drones opèrent au sein du détachement air de Niamey au Niger pour  renforcer les capacités de surveillance et de renseignement de la force.

Afin de s’affranchir de la contrainte géographique liée à l’immensité du théâtre sahélo-saharien, la France a mis en place à Niamey des drones Reaper et Harfang. Leurs capacités « intelligence, surveillance et reconnaissance » s’inscrivent au cœur de la mission aérienne et viennent en appui et en complément des autres capteurs.

L’opération Barkhane regroupe 3 500 militaires dont la mission, avec les pays du G5 Sahel, consiste à lutter contre les groupes armés terroristes pouvant agir dans la bande sahélo-saharienne.

19/06/2015  - CDEF/DREX/COMDIV/Col Esnault

L'armée de terre française 1978-2015 . Bilan de 37 années d'opérations ininterrompues (format pdf, 4 MB).

26 October 2015 British Embassy Tokyo

First-ever landing of RAF aircraft at JASDF base marks burgeoning UK-Japan defence relations.

11.10.2015 par Philippe Chapleau - Lignes de Défense

La cérémonie de remise du képi blanc conclut le premier mois de formation des jeunes engagés volontaires de la Légion étrangère. Elle marque l’entrée de ceux-ci dans la famille légionnaire. Dans ce cadre, une cérémonie se déroulera le 3 novembre prochain à 17h sur l’esplanade ouest du Mont Saint-Michel.

Une section, composée de soixante engagés volontaires venant du monde entier, coiffera le képi blanc pour la première fois et promettra de servir avec Honneur et Fidélité.

A cette cérémonie sera présent le général de corps d’armée de Saint Chamas, officier général de la zone de Défense et de sécurité Ouest et commandant la zone terre Nord-Ouest, et ancien commandant de la Légion étrangère. 

Le lieutenant-colonel Geoffroy Desgrees du Lou, chef du bureau instruction et entrainement, représentera le lieutenant-colonel Nicolas Dufour, chef de corps du 4e Régiment étranger.

26 oct. 2015 Vincent Lamigeon - Supersonique

Un brûlot, doublé d’un cri d’alarme. Vincent Desportes, général de division de l’armée de terre et indéfectible libre-penseur de la chose militaire, publie ce jeudi 29 octobre un livre au titre éloquent : La dernière bataille de France (éd. Gallimard). Tout part d’un constat : jamais l’armée française n’a été mobilisée sur autant de fronts, y compris sur le territoire national avec l’opération Sentinelle ; pourtant,  les moyens qui lui sont alloués sont en constante diminution depuis 25 ans : 3% du PIB en 1982, 1,7% en 2011, 1,44% en 2015. « Réveillons-nous, écrit Vincent Desportes. Ce n’est pas parce que l’Europe est en paix depuis 70 ans que cela durera ».

Face à la multiplication des menaces (en Afrique, au Moyen-Orient, mais aussi sur le territoire national), la France et l’Europe continuent de désarmer, déplore l’auteur. Qui qualifie même les lois de programmation militaire successives (LPM) de « lois de déprogrammation militaire » : « De 1982 à 2014, le PIB a crû annuellement de 1,8% en moyenne, contre 0,15% pour le budget de défense, écrit le général Desportes. Il s’agit donc bien d’un redéploiement de la dépense publique au détriment de l’effort de défense. »

Vincent Desportes frappe tout aussi fort sur le « mépris » des politiques vis-à-vis des armées, symbolisé par la suppression de 63 000 postes entre 2009 et 2019 malgré la légère inflexion de l’actualisation de la LPM, que l’auteur salue comme un premier pas. « Aucune autre administration n’a connu depuis vingt-cinq ans une telle diminution de crédits, aucune n’a subi autant de réformes au détriment de l’efficacité : tout cela sans manifester bruyamment, sans bloquer le pays, et en poursuivant au mieux les missions de défense. »

La France ne doit pas compter sur le soutien américain pour pallier ses lacunes militaires, estime Vincent Desportes, pour qui « le soldat Ryan ne viendra plus ». Les Etats-Unis, au « leadership de plus en plus vacillant », se détournent de l’Atlantique pour se réorienter vers le Pacifique.  L’OTAN ? Elle n’est « pas inutile », mais « elle donne aux Européens un faux sentiment de sécurité, une bonne excuse pour renoncer à leurs propres moyens de défense ». La défense européenne ? Elle est aujourd’hui « dans le coma », plombée par l’hétérogénéité  politique, économique, géostratégique des Etats. « La démarche des petits pas ne fonctionne pas », estime Vincent Desportes, pour qui « l’addition des faiblesses n’a jamais créé la force ».

La conclusion du général Desportes est terrible : « La France doit le savoir : elle n’est plus défendue ». La France doit donc réinvestir dans sa défense, et d’urgence, estime l’auteur, qui fait sien l’adage bismarckien, pour qui « la diplomatie sans les armes, c’est la musique sans les instruments ». Pas de soft power sans hard power. Pas de place au conseil de sécurité pour la France, qui « ne va pas de soi aujourd’hui », sans puissance militaire affirmée.

Que faire ? Remonter à un niveau de dépenses militaires de 3% en 2025, écrit Vincent Desportes. En finir avec l’illusion du « technologisme », qui aboutit à des armements ultrasophistiqués, ruineux et à l’efficacité contestable face aux menaces asymétriques actuelles. Et revenir sur la sanctuarisation de la dissuasion nucléaire (3,5 milliards d’euros par an environ), qui a des « angles morts » et «[réduit] dangereusement nos capacités conventionnelles ».

L’auteur, qui s’était déjà largement exprimé sur le sujet, critique ainsi la composante aéroportée de la dissuasion (par avion d’armes, depuis une base ou le porte-avions) et le principe de « permanence à la mer » (au moins un sous-marin lanceur d’engin en position de tirer ses missiles balistiques). D’où des questions qui fâchent : « Etre capable de raser Pékin est-il d’un intérêt stratégique pour nous ? […] Quelle menace dissuaderions-nous avec 300 têtes [nucléaires] que nous ne dissuaderions pas avec 150 ? »

Comme les précédentes prises de positions du général Desportes, le livre risque d’en agacer plus d’un  à l’hôtel de Brienne et à Balard, tant l’attaque est rude à l’endroit des politiques, mais aussi des chefs militaires jugés trop timorés. Mais l’ouvrage a l’immense mérite de dresser un état des lieux largement partagé dans les armées, sans que celles-ci puissent vraiment en faire état.

La dernière bataille de France, Vincent Desportes (éd. Gallimard), 21 euros, à paraître le 29 octobre

22.10.2015  European Security and Defence College (ESDC)
 

The European Security and Defence College (ESDC), with its network institutions and Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC), has developed a programme of pre-deployment training for CSDP missions. The standardised curriculum has been approved by all EU Member States in the ESDC Steering Committee.

The pre-deployment training (PDT) is designed to harmonise the management culture of CSDP missions and to ensure that deployed personnel have the knowledge and skills necessary to be maximally operational.

The PDT includes, for example, modules on the operational principles of CSDP missions, mission management, CSDP guidelines on mentoring and advising, reporting, the CSDP Code of Conduct, gender mainstreaming, security sector reform (SSR) and coordination of different EU instruments in the field. Each participant will receive a mission-specific briefing from the relevant CPCC desk. The course includes eLearning, amounting to about 16 hours of study. This includes eHEST, completion of which is a pre-requisite for the course.

The course is open to civilian and police personnel from EU Member States and from CSDP missions. The course is also open to third countries which second personnel to CSDP missions. It is aimed primarily at personnel already selected for a CSDP mission.

Applications (standard CSDP mission application forms) are to be sent to
secretariat-esdc@eeas.europa.eu by seconding authorities or CSDP missions.

The training is organised on monthly basis. This arrangement makes it possible to deploy personnel to missions directly after the course.

Scheduled pre-deployment training courses:

1-4/12/2015

26-29/1/2016

23-26/2/2016

26-29/4/2016

24-27/5/2016

28/6-1/7/2016

27-30/9/2016

25-28/10/2016

29/11-2/12/2016

Further information is available from secretariat-esdc@eeas.europa.eu and in Schoolmaster.

October 26, 2015: Strategy Page

The Philippines and its closest neighbors are slowly losing control of their offshore waters to increasingly aggressive Chinese claims. The Philippines faces losing control of 80 percent of its waters in the West Philippine Sea while Malaysia loses 80 percent of its coastal waters off Sabah and Sarawak. Vietnam loses half its coastal waters while Brunei loses 90 percent. Even Indonesia loses 30 percent of its coastal waters facing the South China Sea. These losses include several known offshore oil and natural gas fields and a number of areas that have not been explored yet plus lucrative fishing grounds and control over vital shipping routes. China is going all this by ignoring the 1994 Law of the Sea treaty (as well as at least two other similar treaties. The widely adopted (including by China) 1994 agreement recognizes the waters 22 kilometers from land “national territory” and under the jurisdiction of the nation controlling the nearest land. That means ships cannot enter these "territorial waters" without permission. More importantly the waters 360 kilometers from land are considered the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the nation controlling the nearest land. The EEZ owner can control who fishes there and extracts natural resources (mostly oil and gas) from the ocean floor. But the EEZ owner cannot prohibit free passage or the laying of pipelines and communications cables. While this agreement eliminated or reduced many of the existing or potential disputes it did not completely deal with all of them. Thus some nations keep violating the agreements, usually because they feel their claims supersede the international agreements. China is the most frequent offender. For example China claims that American electronic monitoring ships are conducting illegal espionage while in the Chinese EEZ. But the 1994 treaty says nothing about such matters. China is simply doing what China has been doing for centuries, trying to impose its will on neighbors, or anyone venturing into what China considers areas that should be under its control. China is not alone, but because China is pushing the limits of how the 1994 law can be interpreted (or misinterpreted) other nations with similar opportunities to lay claim to crucial chunks of the seascape are ready to emulate China if some of the more aggressive Chinese ploys actually work. This is one reason why China faces strong opposition from nations worldwide.

Thus while the United States recently announced that it will send warships and military aircraft through areas of the South China Sea that China openly claims as “sovereign Chinese territory” that does not seem to be stopping the Chinese from harassing Filipino ships and fishing boats in disputed (but legally Filipino according to the treaty) waters. This time the United States has said it will move within 22 kilometers of newly established Chinese bases in the South China Sea. China insists that these islands (some of them artificial and recently built) are “sovereign Chinese territory” but the rest of the world disagrees and China will, at the very least, be embarrassed by this American show of force. China will back off when the United States (or even Japan or Taiwan) move through disputed waters with warships but will continue to go after unarmed “intruders”. The Philippines and its neighbors need an ally who is willing and able to stick around and get China to back off. So far, such an ally has not appeared.

The Moslem separatist group MILF is working on implementing its recently signed peace deal for the largely Moslem areas in the south. There is a problem down there in that a sizable minority of southern Moslems (ten percent or more) want to hold out, and keep fighting, to establish a separate Moslem state in the south. MILF leaders know this is impossible because a majority of the people in the south are opposed. That includes a majority of the Moslems and the nearly all the non-Moslems in the south. Moslems are only eight percent of all Filipinos, and an even smaller proportion of the economic activity. MILF wanted control of more of the economy, which meant control of "ancestral Moslem areas" in the south that are now populated by Christians. The Christian majority refused to allow domination by Moslems in a larger and more autonomous Moslem south. MILF settled for a smaller autonomous area that had a Moslem majority. This issue is still a big deal for many Moslems and could still turn into an armed rebellion against MILF and the collapse of the plan for an autonomous Moslem area in the south.  So far MILF has kept things under control. In part this is because of the thousands of soldiers and marines in Basilan taking care of the only large group of Islamic terrorists (Abu Sayyaf) in the country. These guys have not expanded much mainly because they are basically bandits with a veneer of Islamic radicalism. Abu Sayyaf is mostly about the money but they will cooperate with real Islamic terrorists as it suits them.

October 25, 2015: In the south (Basilan) a clash between an army patrol and about 40 Abu Sayyaf gunmen left three Islamic terrorists dead and four soldiers wounded.

October 21, 2015: In the south (Basilan and Sulu) two clashes with Abu Sayyaf gunmen left a soldier dead and a civilian wounded. Both clashes involved the Islamic terrorists attacking soldiers working on development projects.

October 20, 2015: In the south (Tawi-Tawi province) Abu Sayyaf released a mining company manager they kidnapped in 2014. It is a believed that a ransom of over $20,000 was paid.

October 19, 2015: In the south (Agusan del Sur) NPA gunmen murdered another mayor, along with his adult son. This killing is part of an NPA campaign to go after former NPA members who go on to become local leaders and organize defense (against the NPA) militias. The NPA is losing a lot of popular support and seeking to regain it any way it can.

October 16, 2015: In the south (Batangas province) NPA gunmen ambushed two off-duty soldiers and killed them. This was believed to be in retaliation for NPA losses on the 14th.

October 14, 2015: In the south (Batangas province) NPA gunmen clashed with troops and five rebels were killed. Two nearby civilians were wounded. Troops recovered four rifles.

October 10, 2015: China declared operational newly built lighthouses on two reefs in the South China Sea. According to China these lighthouses (not really needed in the GPS age) strengthen their claims on the surrounding waters.

October 5, 2015: In the south (Sulu) marines found and disabled an Aby Sayyaf bomb near one of their checkpoints.

October 31, 2015: Strategy Page

In late 2015 Russia announced another upgrade for their 30 year old  Tor-M (SA-15) air defense missile system. This one enables the launcher vehicle to fire its guided missiles while on the move. The latest version of Tor is the Tor-M2U. The Tor-M missiles can hit aircraft up to 12 kilometers away and cruise missiles at a distance of five kilometers. The missile launcher vehicle has a crew of thee (commander, driver and missile systems operator). 176 kg (378 pound) missiles are three meters (ten feet) long, 235mm (9.25 inches) in diameter and carry a 15 kg (33 pound). Each battery has search radar and command center vehicles, and controls four launcher vehicles (each carrying eight missiles, and another radar.)

The original tracking radar on the missile vehicle could track one target at a time but the latest (Tor-M2) can track four at a time. Missiles can be launched from the vehicle at three second intervals.

The original missile carrier/launcher vehicle was armored (against small arms and shell fragments), tracked and weighed 34 tons. Since then a cheaper towed (on a wheeled trailer) version has appeared followed by a version on a 6x6 truck that proved more maneuverable, comfortable and cheaper than the armored version.

Russia is the original user but Tor-M has also been exported to Greece, Venezuela, China, Iran and Egypt

31.10.2015 45eNord.ca (AFP)

La Russie a lancé le 30 septembre une campagne de frappes aériennes pour soutenir l’offensive au sol des forces du régime du président syrien Bachar al-Assad dans différentes provinces. Quel est le bilan un mois plus tard ?

La Russie a mené des raids dans 10 des 14 provinces de Syrie, dont celles qui sont des fiefs du groupe djihadiste État islamique (EI) comme Raqa et Deir Ezzor.

Mais la majorité des bombardements ont ciblé les provinces de Hama (centre), Idleb (nord-ouest), Alep (nord), Homs (centre) et Lattaquié (ouest) où les forces gouvernementales combattent les rebelles.

Selon un décompte AFP établi à partir des communiqués du ministère russe de la Défense et des déclarations du chef de l’opération militaire en Syrie, le général Andreï Kartapolov, l’armée russe a bombardé 969 cibles « terroristes » lors de 1.008 raids aériens.

Cette semaine, pour la première fois, selon l’Observatoire syrien des droits de l’homme (OSDH), les avions russes ont bombardé la province méridionale de Deraa, élargissant leur champ d’action.

Les seules provinces épargnées par les raids russes sont Tartous (ouest) et Soueida (sud) tenues par le régime, Hassaké (nord-est) dont le contrôle est partagé entre les forces kurdes et le régime, et Qouneitra, sur le plateau du Golan (sud), à la lisière de la ligne de cessez-le-feu avec Israël.

La Russie possède depuis 1971 une base navale logistique à Tartous mais elle agit principalement à partir de l’aéroport militaire mis à sa disposition par le régime dans la province de Lattaquié. Ces deux bases sont protégées par des centaines de parachutistes et commandos de marine, qui n’interviennent pas sur le théâtre des opérations.

Les communiqués du ministère de la Défense russe font référence à des raids menés par des avions de combats Su-24, Su-25, Su-30 et Su-34. Le ministère a indiqué que ses hélicoptères sont présents dans le pays mais ils ne sont pas mentionnés dans les raids.

Le 7 octobre, le ministère a indiqué que des bâtiments de guerre croisant en mer Caspienne avaient lancé 26 missiles de croisière contre 11 cibles en Syrie.

R: La Russie affirme que ses opérations visent l’EI et les autres « terroristes » mais les Occidentaux lui reprochent de frapper principalement les rebelles modérés et islamistes plutôt que l’EI.

Plusieurs provinces visées comme Hama, Lattaquié et Idleb comptent une présence relativement faible de l’EI.

Les organisations modérées, soutenues par les États-Unis, ont accusé Moscou de les viser directement. Le groupe Souqour al-Jabal a ainsi affirmé début octobre que les avions russes avaient ciblé son dépôt d’armes dans la province d’Alep.

R: L’intervention russe a redonné le moral aux forces du régime qui reculaient face aux rebelles. Elles ont lancé leur première offensive terrestre le 7 octobre dans le nord de la province centrale de Hama. Leur but: reprendre le contrôle de l’autoroute internationale reliant Homs à Alep, la capitale économique du pays. Mais les résultats sont mitigés: après avoir repris plusieurs localités aux rebelles, elles n’ont réussi à en conserver que trois.

Dans le Sahl al-Ghab, une plaine située à la jonction des provinces de Lattaquié, Hama et Idleb, le régime s’est emparé de certaines collines mais a échoué à conquérir des positions capables de lui donner un avantage décisif.

Dans le sud d’Alep, les forces gouvernementales ont pris le contrôle de six villages et de collines, selon l’OSDH. L’armée dit avoir pris 50 villages et hameaux, soit environ 120 km2.

Dans le même temps, l’EI s’est emparé de larges portions de l’unique route tenue par le gouvernement reliant Homs à Alep. Aujourd’hui, les 500.000 habitants des quartiers d’Alep tenus par le régime syrien sont coupés du monde.

R: Les frappes menées par la Russie ont fait 595 morts dont deux tiers étaient membres de groupes armés et un tiers des civils, selon l’OSDH. Selon un décompte effectué jusqu’à jeudi, 279 rebelles modérés et islamistes alliés au Front al-Nosra, branche syrienne d’al-Qaïda, ont été tués ainsi que 131 djihadistes du groupe État Islamique (EI). 185 civils dont 46 femmes et 48 enfants ont péri. Moscou dément avoir tué des civils.

En comparaison, les raids menés par la coalition conduite par les États-Unis depuis 13 mois ont fait, selon l’OSDH, 3.649 morts dont 3.276 combattants de l’EI, 147 du Front al-Nosra et d’autres groupes islamistes. 226 civils ont été tués -6% des victimes- dont 65 enfants et 40 femmes.

27 Octobre 2015 Source : Marine nationale

Le 22 octobre 2015, une cérémonie en hommage aux marins de l’aéronautique navale s’est déroulée devant le mémorial des « Marins du ciel » sur la colline de Costebelle à Hyères (83).

Cette cérémonie rassemble chaque année les marins du ciel affectés dans le Sud de la France autour des élus locaux, des familles de disparus, des associations d’anciens marins et des porte-drapeaux pour rendre hommage aux disparus au combat ou en service commandé.

Tout comme son pendant au Ponant, le mémorial du Cap de la Chèvre, le mémorial érigé sur la colline de Costebelle illustre la mémoire des plus de 1 600 marins « morts pour la France » en service.

Après un dépôt de gerbes, le contre-amiral Bruno Thouvenin, commandant la force de l’aéronautique navale (ALAVIA) a pris la parole pour remercier la forte représentation des associations et des familles aux côtés des marins de la base aéronavale de Hyères.

Il a insisté sur le devoir de mémoire qui est « une exigence qui nous (ndlr les marins d’active) permet au quotidien d’être plus forts » car « derrière chaque militaire, chaque marin, il y a un homme ou une femme qui accomplit une mission ». Il a également rendu hommage au travail des associations qu’il a qualifié de « passeurs de notre mémoire et relais des traditions » leur témoignant ainsi toute sa reconnaissance et son affection.

Le contre-amiral Thouvenin a terminé son allocution en demandant aux marins du ciel présents d’être dignes de leurs aînés, dignes de ceux qui les ont précédés et qui se sont sacrifiés.

October 27, 2015: Strategy Page

Japan is having second thoughts about forming a modern a proper Marine Corps. This was shown by recent suggestions to cancel or delay necessary aircraft and amphibious vehicles needed to turn infantry into marines. Without these aircraft and vehicles the new Japanese forces will be no more mobile or capable than the 600 soldiers who are currently responsible for defending thousands of islands (many quite tiny) extending to Taiwan and out into the Pacific. The Japanese navy leadership now believes that new submarines, anti-submarine forces and mine clearance capabilities has a higher priority.

It was different back in 2013 when Japan decided, for the first time ever, to establish a force of marines similar to the U.S. Marine Corps. Officially called the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), this forces was seen as essential to prevent China from seizing small, often uninhabited Japanese islands. American marines will help train the new Japanese force, currently planned as a brigade of some 3,000 troops. American marines have been teaching Japanese infantry how to undertake amphibious operations for some time but these army troops were not considered marines. The new plan is to establish an elite force of Japanese marines to deal with Chinese threats. Japan was going to buy six V-22 tilt-wing aircraft, heavy transport helicopters and helicopter gunships.

Japan is aware that neighboring South Korea created a Marine Corps in the 1950s, mainly because American marines were involved in protecting South Korea during the Korean War (1950-53) and the Koreans were impressed by the American marines. The South Korean marines turned out to be very good and the Japanese will have to hustle to be competitive.

At this point some of you history buffs are wondering about the World War II Japanese marines. Well, there were no Japanese marines in World War II. What was sometimes mistaken for marines was what the Japanese called the SNLF (Special Naval Landing Forces).  As with most maritime powers pre-1945 Japan often found it needed to send troops ashore quickly when all they had available were warships sitting off the coast. The Japanese, like most navies, would simply arm sailors and have them land. If the warships involved were not going to move around or get into heavy combat themselves, a third or more of the crew could be sent ashore as infantry. For a week or so, anyway. As recently as World War I (1914), America did the same thing, most obviously in Mexico where sailors landed at Vera Cruz as infantry and seized the city.  In continuation of this tradition, some sailors still regularly train as riflemen and in 2012 the U.S. Navy established a permanent force of naval infantry for security and coastal operations.

Since the 18th century the U.S. Navy usually had a few Marines on most major ships. These marines were in the habit of going with sailors sent ashore with rifles and contributed some expert advice on infantry operations. Marines (trained soldiers serving on board ships) were an ancient practice as until the introduction of cannon naval battles largely consisted of ships colliding and infantry fighting it out as if on land. When cannon came along there was much less emphasis on infantry combat afloat. Some infantry troops (usually professional marines) remained on ships and these evolved during the past few centuries into soldiers who served as guards on ships, helped man the big guns and, when needed, went ashore to take care of infantry business.  Since Japan got a late start in the Navy business (in fact, it never owned a sailing warship) it didn't develop marines in the traditional sense.

Yet Japan soon ran up against the need to land troops from warships along the China coast, especially in the 1920s and 30s. Using sailors for this worked pretty well because Japanese sailors were given infantry training as well as instruction in seamanship. But by the early 1930s the admirals were getting tired of seeing their crews constantly stripped of sailors to take care of some emergency ashore and decided to do something about it. Thus was born the SNLF. These were sailors trained and equipped to fight ashore. Their weapons were identical to those used by the Army and their uniforms were very similar. One of the differences was the use of an anchor symbol on the steel helmet instead of a star.

The SNLF were organized into large battalions (of 1,000 to 2,000 troops), containing a wide variety of weapons. Each of the four major Japanese naval bases (Kure, Maizuru, Saesbo and Yokosuka) was ordered to organize one or more of these units (called Rikusentai in Japanese).  A dozen SNLF "battalions" were organized before and during the war, including a handful of parachute units.  There were also several other types of specialized Navy ground combat units. To put this in perspective, the U.S. Marines during World War II organized some one hundred battalion sized combat units while only about three dozen (of all types) were created by the Japanese Navy ground forces. Or, put another way, there were about five times as many American Marines as there were Japanese SNLF troops.

After Pearl Harbor, the SNLF spearheaded the Japanese offensive into the south and central Pacific. If was SNLF units that seized American islands such as Wake and the British Gilberts. In cooperation with Army troops, SNLF, including paratroopers, also participated in the attacks on the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and Rabaul (the major naval base just north of the Solomons and Australia.) A big difference here was that the SNLF was not trained or equipped to make landings on heavily defended beaches. That was a U.S. Marine Corps specialty.

When America began its drive across the Central Pacific in late 1943, the first Japanese garrisons they attacked consisted largely of SNLF and other Japanese Navy ground forces. The closer the U.S. Marines got to Japan, the more Japanese Army troops they encountered. Thus the SNLF were largely found as garrisons on small islands in the Pacific. Like the U.S. Marines (USMC), the SNLF's main purpose was seizing forward bases for the navy, and then holding on to them. Beyond that, there were many significant differences between the SNLF and the American Marines. The USMC had a long tradition of highly trained and disciplined assault troops who were always distinct from the sailors they served with. The SNLF were sailors trained and equipped to serve mainly as infantry not ship crews. The SNLF officers were simply naval officers assigned to land combat duty. USMC officers were strictly marine officers. Thus the USMC leadership were far more expert at commanding infantry operations than their SNLF counterparts.

Most importantly the USMC units were specially equipped for amphibious warfare. While their gear included much that was identical to what the army used, where necessary unique weapons or equipment was developed. The SNLF had very little special equipment. In particular, the SNLF never had anything like the array of specialized amphibious equipment available to the USMC. The USMC was primarily an amphibious assault force while the SNLF spent most of its time guarding bases. The USMC also had "base defense units," but these were a handful of battalions compared to nearly a hundred assault units. Because of this specialization the USMC was, by tradition and training, an elite force that was expected to, and usually did, successfully undertake very difficult assignments. The SNLF, on the other hand, were not even considered as capable as their army counterparts. In short, there never were any Japanese Marines. The SNLF were sailors serving ashore as infantry and that's as far as it went. The new Japanese marines will be more like the American marines the SNLF faced during World War II.

27 October, 2015 By Stephen Trimble – FG

Washington DC - Embraer has flown the KC-390 again for the first time in eight months as the company’s Defence and Security business adapts to a devalued Brazilian currency and a slower development schedule for the new tanker-transport.

The flight on 26 October at Embraer’s test centre in Gaviao Pexioto, Brazil, ends an eight-month hiatus caused by a fiscal crisis in Brasilia. As the Real currency has devalued by 50% since the beginning of the year, the government had slowed payments to Embraer on a host of projects, but none bigger than the KC-390. Last July, Embraer announced signing an agreement with the Brazilian air force that extended the KC-390 development schedule by a year, with entry into service beginning in 2018. The agreement also included provisions to reimburse Embraer more than $370 million owed by the air force on the KC-390 so far. Meanwhile, company officials have also restructured the division to remain profitable despite sharply lower revenues as shown on the balance sheet, which is converted to suddenly much more valuable US dollars.

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October 24, 2015: Strategy Page

On September 23rd a scrap yard worker in the United States (Arizona) was killed while trying to cut up an American Mk82 500 pound (227 kg) unguided bomb. Not all of the explosives in the unguided bomb went off but enough did to kill the worker. Normally these bombs carry 127.2 kg (280 pounds) of high explosives. The U.S. Department of Defense is investigating where the bomb came from because such weapons are not sold as surplus but are demilitarized (explosives removed) in Department of Defense facilities. Currently the most likely source of the bomb is the only missing Mk-82s in the area. These are four Mk-82s that still missing after the A-10 carrying them crashed in a remote area of nearby Colorado. That was over 700 kilometers away but it was also in 1997 so there was plenty of time for the banged up bomb to make its way to Arizona. Not only that but the bomb apparently was missing much of its explosives, which might be the result of someone else extracting them or scattered when the unarmed (to explode) bomb hit the ground and broke up.

Contemporary military munitions do show up frequently enough in the United States for most major police forces to have explosives experts trained to recognize and deal with them. In the rest of the world it is a little different. World War II era munitions continue to show up throughout Europe. Although most of the millions of land mines were removed from Europe within a few years of the war ending in 1945, there are still a huge number of unexploded of grenades, shells, rockets and bombs buried all over the place. At least the mine fields were easy to find, although dangerous to clear. But the remaining munitions were left behind, in unrecorded locations, for some pretty simple reasons. First of all, many bombs, artillery and mortar shells (over ten percent, for some manufacturers) do not explode when they are supposed to, but just buried themselves into the ground. These shells are still full of explosives, and often have a fuze that, while defective, is often still capable of going off if disturbed. Other munitions were left in bunkers, or elsewhere on the battlefield, and got buried and lost. Most of these lost munitions eventually get found by farmers, or anyone digging up the ground for construction. London and Berlin, two of the most heavily bombed cities during World War II, still suffer from construction crews unearthing unexploded bombs.

 The problem goes back farther than World War II. Unexploded munitions from the World War I (which ended in 1918), and the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, are still showing up, and some of them are still deadly. Currently, over a thousand World War II munitions are discovered each year in Europe and smaller amounts in East Asia; mainly Japan, China and Korea with lots of 1960s vintage stuff still surfacing in Vietnam.