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Kazakhastan Akan Membeli Predator Xp Drone dari USA & Type 056 Corvette Dari China
Kazakhstan To Test Drive Predator Drones; Making $1.2 Billion In Weapons Deals
The Predator XP (photo: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)
Kazakhstan is looking seriously at acquiring large American surveillance drones, signing a memorandum of understanding with General Atomics, manufacturer of the Predator line of UAVs. And that's just one of an extensive slate of deals that the country is working out with defense companies around the world.
The deal with General Atomics was signed at the close of Kazakhstan's biennial defense expo, KADEX. The announcement from the state defense manufacturing firm, Kazakhstan Engineering, provides no details about the content of the agreement, and the company didn't respond to request for clarification. And officials at General Atomics said they had no comment on the memorandum.
But The Bug Pit talked to a General Atomics rep at KADEX before the announcement, who said that the company was in negotiations over the Predator XP surveillance drone, and that Kazakhstan was interested in a short-term lease of the drone to test out in Kazakhstan before it decided whether or not to buy.
The Predator XP is a version of the famous (or notorious) American drone made especially for export, and incapable of carrying weapons. Kazakhstan, being a large, sparsely populated country, can use long-range surveillance equipment. (But Kazakhstan isn't only interested in surveillance: The Bug Pit was told by one industry source that the former minister of defense of Kazakhstan was very interested in armed drones, which from an American company's perspective is a much more difficult prospect with respect to State Department export regulations. And the source suggested that the new defense minister, Serik Akhmetov, may be less insistent on that point, allowing a deal for surveillance-only drones to go through.) To date, the United Arab Emirates has been the only customer for the Predator XP.
Kazakhstan also has ambitious plans for an "aviation service center," currently under construction at the military airport in Astana (just next to the Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering plant where Airbus helicopters are being manufactured). Kazakhstan defense officials suggested that they hoped to manufacture or assemble whatever drones they buy at the facility; it's unlikely, however, that they would be interested in buying enough Predators to make it worth General Atomics's while to set up manufacturing in Kazakhstan. Officials from Kazakhstan Aviation Industries, the branch of Kazakhstan Engineering in charge of the aviation center, said they also envisaged production of Airbus's CASA NC-212i medium transport aircraft starting in 2015, and that the new center could assemble 5-6 of the aircraft per year. But Airbus officials said a final deal had not yet been reached. You'll notice a theme: Kazakhstan officials were eager to promote their deals with Western partners to the point of suggesting they were finalized when they weren't.
Anyway, these were just a handful of the contracts that were being hammered out at KADEX. Kazakhstan defense officials said that $1.2 billion in deals would be signed over the course of the show, and that they would include "Russian, European, and Turkish partners." The full slate of agreements hasn't yet been announced, but deals seemed to be underway with South African Paramount (for armored vehicles), Thales (for air defense radars, on which more soon) among other companies. And the same announcement that mentioned the deal with General Atomics said that a memorandum of understanding also had been reached with Poly Technologies, which was offering a ship for the Caspian Sea navy. Heady days for Kazakhstan's military.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68414
China Making Bid To Build Kazakhstan Warship
A model of the Chinese Type 056 corvette on offer at the KADEX defense expo in Astana, Kazakhstan. (photo: The Bug Pit)
One of the main storylines in Kazakhstan's first defense expo, in 2010, was the upcoming deal to buy its first large naval ships. One of the main storylines in the current iteration of the expo, KADEX, is the upcoming deal to buy its first large naval ships.
Four years ago, Kazakhstan naval officials said they were poised to buy three corvettes and were in negotiations with South Korean company STX to build them. That plan apparently fell through, and the competition opened again, with candidates from Russia, Turkey, China, the Netherlands, Germany now in the running (as well as STX). And Kazakhstan's Ministry of Defense has told the competing companies that they intend to make a decision very soon.
Kazakhstan is far from the only country to see a long delay in a big military procurement project. And Kazakhstan military officials still say the navy is one of their top priorities. The MoD is also conducting a competition among foreign shipbuilders to build a new shipyard near the Caspian port city of Aktau, which would build both civilian and military ships. That, too, is supposed to be finalized this year, MoD officials said. "Shipbuilding is indispensable for the protection of the national interests of the country," said Ermek Kozhamberliyev, a senior navy official, speaking at KADEX. In addition to the new procurements, the navy will be looking at strengthening its naval infantry and in creating a unified command structure for all of the units charged with Caspian security, he said.
As it did in 2012, the big Russian military magazine National Defense put out a special issue for KADEX, and as in 2012, the cover story this year was on Caspian naval developments. It describes Kazakhstan's navy as having "sufficient quantity, but one can't speak of its qualitative improvement." It adds, though, that "this is largely explained by the fact that if some threat on the sea emerges Astana can always count on the help of one of its closest allies: Russia."
The most intriguing naval event at the show was a presentation by the Chinese company, Poly Technologies about its Type 056 corvette. The ship has a helicopter pad in the rear and could be equipped with Chinese C-705 anti-ship missiles.
Although the presentation was public, the commander of Kazakhstan's navy, Captain Zhandarbek Zhanzakov sat in the front row and asked all the questions. (Representatives from the other competitors, naturally, made up much of the rest of the audience.) He asked how many of the ships China had in service (50), the range of the missiles (about 35 km) and how long they last (about ten years, after which they may have to be replaced). At the end, he thanked the company representatives and said "I'll talk more with you and your embassy when all these people aren't here." Stay tuned...
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68404
The Predator XP (photo: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)
Kazakhstan is looking seriously at acquiring large American surveillance drones, signing a memorandum of understanding with General Atomics, manufacturer of the Predator line of UAVs. And that's just one of an extensive slate of deals that the country is working out with defense companies around the world.
The deal with General Atomics was signed at the close of Kazakhstan's biennial defense expo, KADEX. The announcement from the state defense manufacturing firm, Kazakhstan Engineering, provides no details about the content of the agreement, and the company didn't respond to request for clarification. And officials at General Atomics said they had no comment on the memorandum.
But The Bug Pit talked to a General Atomics rep at KADEX before the announcement, who said that the company was in negotiations over the Predator XP surveillance drone, and that Kazakhstan was interested in a short-term lease of the drone to test out in Kazakhstan before it decided whether or not to buy.
The Predator XP is a version of the famous (or notorious) American drone made especially for export, and incapable of carrying weapons. Kazakhstan, being a large, sparsely populated country, can use long-range surveillance equipment. (But Kazakhstan isn't only interested in surveillance: The Bug Pit was told by one industry source that the former minister of defense of Kazakhstan was very interested in armed drones, which from an American company's perspective is a much more difficult prospect with respect to State Department export regulations. And the source suggested that the new defense minister, Serik Akhmetov, may be less insistent on that point, allowing a deal for surveillance-only drones to go through.) To date, the United Arab Emirates has been the only customer for the Predator XP.
Kazakhstan also has ambitious plans for an "aviation service center," currently under construction at the military airport in Astana (just next to the Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering plant where Airbus helicopters are being manufactured). Kazakhstan defense officials suggested that they hoped to manufacture or assemble whatever drones they buy at the facility; it's unlikely, however, that they would be interested in buying enough Predators to make it worth General Atomics's while to set up manufacturing in Kazakhstan. Officials from Kazakhstan Aviation Industries, the branch of Kazakhstan Engineering in charge of the aviation center, said they also envisaged production of Airbus's CASA NC-212i medium transport aircraft starting in 2015, and that the new center could assemble 5-6 of the aircraft per year. But Airbus officials said a final deal had not yet been reached. You'll notice a theme: Kazakhstan officials were eager to promote their deals with Western partners to the point of suggesting they were finalized when they weren't.
Anyway, these were just a handful of the contracts that were being hammered out at KADEX. Kazakhstan defense officials said that $1.2 billion in deals would be signed over the course of the show, and that they would include "Russian, European, and Turkish partners." The full slate of agreements hasn't yet been announced, but deals seemed to be underway with South African Paramount (for armored vehicles), Thales (for air defense radars, on which more soon) among other companies. And the same announcement that mentioned the deal with General Atomics said that a memorandum of understanding also had been reached with Poly Technologies, which was offering a ship for the Caspian Sea navy. Heady days for Kazakhstan's military.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68414
China Making Bid To Build Kazakhstan Warship
A model of the Chinese Type 056 corvette on offer at the KADEX defense expo in Astana, Kazakhstan. (photo: The Bug Pit)
One of the main storylines in Kazakhstan's first defense expo, in 2010, was the upcoming deal to buy its first large naval ships. One of the main storylines in the current iteration of the expo, KADEX, is the upcoming deal to buy its first large naval ships.
Four years ago, Kazakhstan naval officials said they were poised to buy three corvettes and were in negotiations with South Korean company STX to build them. That plan apparently fell through, and the competition opened again, with candidates from Russia, Turkey, China, the Netherlands, Germany now in the running (as well as STX). And Kazakhstan's Ministry of Defense has told the competing companies that they intend to make a decision very soon.
Kazakhstan is far from the only country to see a long delay in a big military procurement project. And Kazakhstan military officials still say the navy is one of their top priorities. The MoD is also conducting a competition among foreign shipbuilders to build a new shipyard near the Caspian port city of Aktau, which would build both civilian and military ships. That, too, is supposed to be finalized this year, MoD officials said. "Shipbuilding is indispensable for the protection of the national interests of the country," said Ermek Kozhamberliyev, a senior navy official, speaking at KADEX. In addition to the new procurements, the navy will be looking at strengthening its naval infantry and in creating a unified command structure for all of the units charged with Caspian security, he said.
As it did in 2012, the big Russian military magazine National Defense put out a special issue for KADEX, and as in 2012, the cover story this year was on Caspian naval developments. It describes Kazakhstan's navy as having "sufficient quantity, but one can't speak of its qualitative improvement." It adds, though, that "this is largely explained by the fact that if some threat on the sea emerges Astana can always count on the help of one of its closest allies: Russia."
The most intriguing naval event at the show was a presentation by the Chinese company, Poly Technologies about its Type 056 corvette. The ship has a helicopter pad in the rear and could be equipped with Chinese C-705 anti-ship missiles.
Although the presentation was public, the commander of Kazakhstan's navy, Captain Zhandarbek Zhanzakov sat in the front row and asked all the questions. (Representatives from the other competitors, naturally, made up much of the rest of the audience.) He asked how many of the ships China had in service (50), the range of the missiles (about 35 km) and how long they last (about ten years, after which they may have to be replaced). At the end, he thanked the company representatives and said "I'll talk more with you and your embassy when all these people aren't here." Stay tuned...
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68404
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