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ADECS 2019: Southeast Asia has a dearth of maritime patrol aircraft
29th January 2019 - 11:45 GMT | by
Gordon Arthur in Singapore
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There is a degree of polarity when it comes to naval assets in Southeast Asia, with some countries having a disproportionately large number of surface assets to patrol a relatively small area – Singapore is a case in point – while other countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines have far too few assets to monitor huge maritime areas.
One solution for this ‘persistent resource capability shortfall’, according to Collin Koh, a research fellow of the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, and who presented at the ADECS 2019 conference, is utilisation of maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).
Some countries try to fill the void of maritime domain awareness with elements such as remote-sensing satellites or unmanned assets. The problem with the former, however, can be a lack of real-time data and the inability to grasp the full picture if the resolution of your satellite is insufficient.
By fusing data, such as from a satellite, with a manned aircraft, then a more complete and versatile picture can be achieved.
Koh divided MPAs into three categories: short-, medium- and long-range aircraft. The
TC-90 operated by the Philippine Navy is an example of the former, although such aircraft often do not have any additional sensors other than a crewman possessing a pair of binoculars.
The medium-range is typically filled by converted transport aircraft such as the
C295, and this is the most common type of asset in the Southeast Asian region. Another solution is to bolt on specialist surveillance packages to aircraft, with the Philippines doing this with the
SABIR kit added to a C-130T Hercules.
However, East Asia and Australasia are more likely to field long-range MPAs such as the
P-8A Poseidon. Such platforms are at the ‘luxury end of the market’, and they usually have the ability to carry weapons, allowing them to prosecute targets at sea.
Koh provided figures that indicated a slight trend towards Asian militaries with interests in the South China Sea moving from shorter-range MPAs to medium- or long-range platforms. For example, Indonesia went from five to nine medium/long-range aircraft between 2009 and 2018, while Taiwan moved from zero to 12, China from eight to ten, and the Philippines from one to two in the same period.
This raised another point for Koh, that most countries in Southeast Asia cannot track the growing challenge of submarines in the South China Sea or other waters. To do so, you need a robust aerial surveillance capability, and many navies or air forces just cannot do this.
Indeed, only Taiwan and China have a full anti-submarine warfare capacity on their maritime patrol aircraft. Other vested nations in the South China Sea are still confined to basic maritime surveillance with their platforms.
China offers a good example of how it transitioned from MPAs like the unarmed Y-8X to the dedicated Y-8Q that has a full set of weapons carried inside an internal weapons bay.
However, Koh insists that Southeast Asia remains firmly stuck in the 1980-90s mindset. Even in the recently inaugurated
Trilateral Maritime Patrols between Indonesia, Malaysia and Indonesia, all sides are simply using non-specialised aircraft without special sensors.
Such a platform being used at night-time or in poor weather means that surveillance is almost hopeless, as criminals tend not to conduct their activities in broad daylight.
Political commitment to the issue of maritime patrol is another issue. Malaysia is a case in point, with the government humming and hawing over the need for new MPAs. This programme is yet to proceed.
MPAs require financial commitment, as well as long-term investment to ensure the skills of crews and the capabilities of platforms.