AS Kurangi Jumlah Pangkalan F-35

WASHINGTON DC-(IDB) : Khawatir dengan perkiraan biaya operasional dan perawatan yang bisa mencapai 1 triliun dollar AS (Rp 9,07 kuadriliun), Angkatan Bersenjata Amerika Serikat memutuskan mengurangi jumlah pangkalan yang akan menjadi basis operasi pesawat tempur masa depan F-35 Lightning II.

Majalah penerbangan Aviation Week, Jumat (2/3/2012), menyebutkan, dua calon operator utama F-35 di AS, yakni Angkatan Udara dan Angkatan Laut AS, mulai meninjau kembali rencana pengoperasian jet tempur generasi kelima tersebut untuk memangkas biaya operasi dan perawatan (O&S cost).

Kepala Staf AU AS Jenderal Norton Schwartz mengatakan, pihaknya semula berencana menempatkan F-35 di lebih dari 40 pangkalan. "Dengan perkembangan terbaru ini, kami mengurangi jumlah pangkalan menjadi sekitar 30 pangkalan saja," ujar Scwartz.

Pengurangan basis operasi F-35 ini sejalan dengan rencana AU menutup beberapa pangkalan dalam rangka pengurangan kelebihan infrastruktur yang mereka operasikan hingga 20 persen. AU AS berencana mengoperasikan varian F-35A untuk menggantikan armada pesawat F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Ini adalah perkembangan terbaru dari program Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), yang sebelumnya sudah diwarnai sederet kabar tak mengenakkan, mulai dari pembengkakan biaya pengembangan program, berbagai masalah teknis yang ditemukan saat uji terbang, dan kemungkinan penundaan produksi, pengurangan jumlah pesanan, sampai pembatalan pesanan.

Departemen Pertahanan AS telah memutuskan menangguhkan pemesanan 179 unit F-35 dalam lima tahun ke depan sebagai bagian dari langkah penghematan anggaran pertahanan AS. AS sedianya akan membeli sekitar 2.400 unit F-35 untuk menggantikan seluruh armada F-16, F/A-18, dan AV-8B Harrier II, yang selama ini menjadi andalan AU, AL, dan Korps Marinir AS.

Kabar tersebut memicu kekhawatiran negara-negara calon pembeli F-35 bahwa harga satuan pesawat itu akan naik lagi. Jepang sudah menyatakan akan membatalkan rencana pembeliannya apabila harga dinaikkan dan jadwal pengiriman tertunda.

Sementara Italia, salah satu dari delapan negara di luar AS yang menjadi mitra utama program JSF, sudah memutuskan memotong rencana pembelian 131 unit F-35 sebesar 30 persen. Negara-negara lain dikhawatirkan akan mengikuti langkah Italia.

Meski demikian, dalam pertemuan yang difasilitasi Menteri Muda Pertahanan Nasional Kanada Julian Fantino di Kedutaan Besar Kanada di Washington DC, AS, Kamis hingga Jumat (2/3/2012), perwakilan sembilan negara mitra JSF, yakni AS, Kanada, Inggris, Australia, Turki, Denmark, Norwegia, Italia, dan Belanda, menyatakan tetap mendukung penuh program F-35 tersebut. 

Sumber : Kompas

Pindad Raup Penjualan Senjata Rp1,5 Triliun Di Tahun 2011

BANDUNG-(IDB) : PT Pindad (Persero) pelan-pelan menjadi salah satu Badan Usaha Milik Negara (BUMN) yang setiap tahun menghasilkan keuntungan cukup besar.  Setiap tahun, angka penjualan yang ditargetkan BUMN yang memproduksi alat utama sistem persenjataan (alustsista)  ini selalu tercapai.

 

Direktur Utama PT Pindad, Adik Avianto Soedarsono kepada bisnis-jabar.com menuturkan jika tahun 2011 lalu perusahaannya kembali meraih keuntungan. “Total penjualan tahun lalu kami mencapai Rp1,5 triliun,” katanya.

Angka penjualan produk terbesar masih dari Tentara Nasional Indonesia. “Itu sampai Rp1,3 triliun,” katanya.  Dalam empat tahun terakhir, penjualan alutsista Pindad terus meningkat.

Dalam catatan Adik, trend positif ini terjadi sejak tahun 2008, di mana penjualan alutsista Pindad meraih Rp590 miliar. Jumlah itu meningkat menjadi Rp900 miliar pada tahun 2009, dan Rp1 triliun tahun 2010.

Tahun ini Pindad menargetkan penjualan mencapai angka Rp2 triliun. “Saya harapkan totalnya jadi Rp2 triliun,” katanya. TNI tetap akan menjadi penyumbang penjualan terbesar. “Dari TNI diharapkan menjadi 1,5 triliun,” tutur Adik.

Dari pengadaan amunisi untuk TNI saja, tahun lalu Pindad berhasil menjual hingga Rp700 miliar.

Sumber : BisnisJabar

PT. DI Butuh Waktu 14 Bulan Untuk Merakit Satu Pesawat

BANDUNG-(IDB) : Direktur PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) Budi Santoso berpandangan, tenggat waktu yang diingikan pemerintah untuk menuntaskan pemesanan 40 unit pesawat, yakni pada 2014, tergolong singkat.

Alasannya, ujar Budi, untuk memproduksi satu unit Bell 412 EP atau CN 295 perlu waktu 14 bulan. Budi melanjutkan, selain jangka waktunya yang relatif sedikit, realisasi produksi pesawat-pesawat pemesanan itu juga butuh dana yang tidak sedikit.

"Saya kira, proses pengerjaannya butuh waktu minimal tiga tahun. Dananya pun besar. Tapi, kami berupaya keras menyelesaikan dan memenuhi pemesanan tersebut," ujarnya di sela serah terima tiga unit helikopter Bell 412 EP dari PTDI kepada Kementerian Pertahanan di PT DI, Jumat (2/3/2012). 

Ke-40 unit pesawat pesanan Kementerian Pertahanan terdiri dari 30 unit helikopter jenis Bell 412 EP, serta 10 unit CN 295.

Sumber : TribunNews

PT. DI Sambut Baik RUU Industri Keamanan Dan Pertahanan

BANDUNG-(IDB) : PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) menyambut baik adanya RUU Industri Keamanan dan Pertahanan. Jika nantinya RUU itu disahkan, diyakini akan membuat PT DI lebih baik.

"Dengan RUU itu, kita akan punya perencanaan yang matang. Industri kita akan punya planning ke depan, kesiapannya akan jauh lebih baik," kata Dirut PT DI Budi Santoso di Rotary Wing Hall PT DI, Jumat (2/3/2012).

Budi mengatakan, pihaknya siap membantu TNI dalam upaya mendukung kinerjanya bagi negara. "Kami siap mendukung TNI, khususnya yang berkaitan dengan PT DI yaitu di bidang pembuatan pesawat," ujarnya.

Menteri Pertahanan Purnomo Yusgiantoro menyebut RUU yang kini masih dalam tahap pembahasan itu nantinya akan jadi landasan hukum bagi industri pertahanan dan keamanan.

"Kalau bicara mengenai RUU Industri Keamanan dan Pertahanan, kita jelas bicara mengenai landasan hukum agar nantinya industri pertahanan dalam negeri bisa berkembang," kata Purnomo.

Sementara itu, Ketua Komisi I DPR RI TB Hasanudin menyebut RUU itu akan segera disahkan Juli mendatang.

"Nanti akan semakian dasar hukumnya dimana BUMNIP melakukan upaya-upaya dalam rangka mendukung juga kemandirian TNI, khususnya dalam pengadaan alutsista," tutur Hasanudin.

Sumber : Detik

Smaller Air Force Will Concentrate On Key Capabilities

DT-(IDB) : As the Air Force gets smaller in the years to come, it will have to emphasize the areas that will be the most relevant to defense, the Air Force chief of staff said here today.

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz told the Defense Writers Group that as budgets drop, the Air Force must concentrate on four basic areas: control of air and space, global mobility, global surveillance and reconnaissance, and global strike.

“Those areas clearly remain relevant to the strategy that focuses on the Asia-Pacific and the [Persian] Gulf region,” he said.

Because the service will be smaller, Air Force officials must encourage more versatility in the force structure that remains, entailing both surge requirements and overseas rotations. “That’s part of the rationale for the adjustments in the force mix that we proposed in the [fiscal 2013] budget,” the general said.

Operations and maintenance funding will become a key aspect of this smaller force, Schwartz said, and will become more important to maintain quality. It’s not enough for officials to say the Air Force is good, he added.

“We really have to be good,” he said.

Schwartz, who testified yesterday in a congressional budget hearing, reiterated the service’s need for a new bomber.

“Do you think that the Chinese have established one of the world’s best air defense environments in their eastern provinces just to invest their national treasure?” he asked. “Or, for that matter, that the Iranians have established integrated air defenses around certain locations in their country? I would say they are not doing this for the fun of it. They are doing it because they have a sense of vulnerability.

“What is it that conveys that sense of vulnerability to others?” he continued. “One of those is long-range strike, and that is an asset that the United States of America should not concede. And that’s why the long-range bomber is relevant and will continue to be relevant.”

The Air Force is cutting some air mobility assets, but Schwartz said the service still can handle its mobility requirements. The Army and Marine Corps are cutting personnel, he noted, and that will carry a corresponding decline in mobility requirements. The most recent study showed the Air Force has had to transport 32.7 million ton-miles per day, Schwartz said.

“The analysis that we have done indicates the requirement given the new strategy formulation and force size that flows from that is about 29.4 million ton-miles per day,” he added.

Even with the cuts, the general said, the Air Force will have 275 large transport aircraft and 318 small-lift aircraft, representing about 30.5 million ton-miles of capability. “We are comfortable that we have a level of capability that is suited to the force structure the new strategy envisions,” he said.

Schwartz said he wants the active Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve mix to be balanced “for the long haul.” Ideally, he said, he wants a deployment rotation of one year deployed to two years at home station for active duty airmen and a 1-to-4 or greater ratio for reserve-component personnel. “This is a question of trying to design the force for the long term in a way that active duty, Guard and Reserve can see themselves in these jobs for the long term,” he said.

Though Air Force officials have made their recommendations, Schwartz said, Congress can block these changes -- especially those pertaining to Air National Guard units.

“If the Congress decides to not proceed with some or all of our recommendations, it is a zero-sum game,” he said. “The thing I lose sleep over is getting some of this back to us saying, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that, and I’m not going to give you the money, either.’”

That formula, he said, is the quickest way to get to a hollow force.

“As convincingly as [Air Force Secretary] Mike Donley and I can, we will do our best to make the case that if it’s not what we’ve proposed, it needs to be something that’s equivalent in terms of capability and cost,” he said.

Source : Defencetlk

India Asks HAL to Realign Its Business Processes, Prepare for Rafale

NEW DELHI-(IDB) : The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today asked the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to realign its business processes for strategic alliances and joint ventures, as also, to step up R&D efforts to remain globally competitive.

Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry, Shri Antony said HAL should partner with design laboratories like DRDO and CSIR for the development of indigenous aircraft, engines and systems. He said, what is more, HAL should adopt best practices followed by the global leaders in the field of project management, quality control systems, vendor deployment and supply chain management.

HAL, the leading Defence Public Sector Undertaking, has a turnover of over Rs.13,000 crores and is set for a quantum jump with the planned acquisition and production of Light Combat Aircraft, Light Utility Helicopter, Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft, Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft, Multirole Transport Aircraft, Basic Trainer Aircraft in its assembly lines in the coming years.

Shri Antony said the opening of defence production to the private sector and the introduction of offset clause in defence procurements should provide the necessary fillip to the entry of several players from the private sector into the aircraft industry.

Keeping in mind the mammoth role that the HAL would assume in the coming years in the aerospace industry and the challenges that it would face, the government has set up an expert group under the chairmanship of Shri BK Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission to suggest measures to strengthen and restructure HAL.

The expert group has already met twice and is expected to submit its report soon. Among other things, the Group will suggest how best the spin offs from HAL order book can be earnest to ensure better involvement of the private industry in the defence sector.

It will also suggest measures to enhance the synergies between HAL, the private defence sector and the civilian industry. The expert Group will assess the future technological and human resource requirements of HAL keeping in view the upcoming and emerging futuristic aeronautical technologies.

Taking part in the discussion the Members of Parliament appreciated the role played by HAL in the defence arena of the country over the years. They, however, pointed out certain shortcomings such as the delay in the induction of the Light Combat Aircraft in the Indian Air Force, delay in the development of Kaveri Engine, delay in phasing out of Mig-21 aircraft and lack of an aggressive strategy to export HAL products.

Replying to queries, Shri Antony said the government has taken a number of measures to acquire the most modern aircraft for the Indian Air Force in the coming years. Some of the aircraft have already been inducted into IAF and others are in pipeline. Shri Antony was optimistic that from 2020 onwards most of the airframes and platforms of the Indian Air Force would have incorporated new technology.

Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of State for Defence Dr MM Pallam Raju said HAL today faces multifarious challenges. He said while the organisation has evolved over the last 70 years by producing some of the finest human resources and products, in future, HAL would increasingly play the role of system integrator.

The Members of Parliament who attended the meeting included Shri Manish Tewari, Shri Naveen Jindal, Shri Suresh Kalmadi, Shri Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, Shri Kalkesh N Singh Deo, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Shri SS Ramasubbu, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Shri Balwant alias Bal Apte, Dr. Mahender Prasad, Shri HK Dua and Shri Ishwar Lal Jain.

Source : Defencetalk

Dukung Operasi Militer, Pemerintah Terus Tambah Armada Helikopter

BANDUNG-(IDB) : Untuk mendukung operasi militer perang dan operasi militer selain perang, pemerintah meningkatkan armada helikopter militer hingga 50 persen. 

"Hingga 2014 kita akan tingkatkan armada helikopter hingga 50 persen dari jumlah yang ada saat ini," kata Menteri Pertahanan Purnomo Yusgiantoro usai menyaksikan penyerahan tiga helikopter Bell-412 dari PT Dirgantara Indonesia ke Kementerian Pertahanan.

Ia mengatakan selama ini TNI memiliki 76 helikopter berbagai jenis baik di TNI Angkatan Darat, TNI Angkatan Laut dan TNI Angkatan Udara. "Ini menjadi pekerjaan rumah bagi kita semua baik pemerintah, Kemhan, TNI sebagai pengguna. Ini semua untuk mendukung kekuatan pokok minimum yang sudah kita tetapkan," kata Menhan.

Saat ini Indonesia memiliki 76 unit helikopter terdiri atas 23 unit TNI Angkatan Darat, 10 unit milik TNI Angkatan Laut sisanya milik TNI Angkatan Udara dengan beragam jenis yakni heli serbu, heli serang dan heli angkut.

Beberapa jenis helikopter yang dipakai militer Indonesia antara lain Puma, Super Puma, Bolcow-105, Bell-412, Mi-17 dan Mi-35.

Sumber : Republika