Owen Guns Bulletin Edition 86 November 2013

NEW FIREARM SHOWROOM. CALL IN SOON AND VIEW OUR DISPLAY OF  450 (plus) FIREARMS

Big thing are happening at Owen Guns, shortly we will be opening our new larger firearm showroom. Over twice the size of our current Gun Room. Displaying an extra 300 firearms, Owen Guns at Gympie will have our own Gun Shows permanently so please call in to see us. PHONE 07 54825070 for the best price and availability of Sako, Tikka, Mossberg, Stoeger, Thompson-Centre, S &W, Colt, Sabatti, Browning, Remington, Marlin, Zastava, CZ, or any other brand you can think of.
Yet Again its that time of the year. Already. The Staff of Owen Guns would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our Customers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2014. It is unbelievable, writing 2014 for the first time but its on the way. Please Travel Safe and Happy Hunting.

Remington Model 7600 Pump Action .308 w 22 inch barrel. $1350.  Any Inquiries on any products phone 07 54824099 or 07 54825070 or email owenguns@spiderweb.com.au

Thoughts for the Week.   

King Alfred We Need You.

In Edition 8  Jan-Feb 1993 page 27 of the Lock Stock & Barrel magazine they published an article of mine, “Dane-Geld”. It related to a poem of Rudyard Kipling’s relative to England’s Anglo Saxons paying the Danes not to invade, and Australia’s parallel situation paying Indonesia to stay away with an increase of $105 million to $646 million for 2013-14. With the renewed venom directed at Australia, flag burning by para military forces over a phone hacking affair, that is such a regular event these days it affects all popular movie, singing stars and Royalty. Morally wrong, but almost expected by all high profile people in the 21^{st   Century.}

Organised Protest about Australia by Indo Para Military.

So what is the real crux of this situation? Australia has maybe 20 million people, who are these days not as they once were a cohesive population. Who once had at the end of WW Two, when the population was only 7 million, nearly a million men under arms. Australia had at that time huge mineral and food resources and a manufacturing industry with the capability of producing world class fighter planes, navel ships, firearms and ammunition to defend it.  These days, sending a battalion of 900 men to foreign shore, is beyond our strength. We would have to give them Air and Navel support and without the Americans that would be impossible.

Indonesia might be just crazy enough to do us a favour and attack Pearl Harbour, declaring war on the United States as well. That’s what the Japanese did and that was the only reason the Yanks came to fight in our area in 1942. Indonesia is hardly going to follow Japans mistake, they like the Japanese will wait until all our allies are in desperate plights before they attack Australia.
As the U.S.A. is an ally of Indonesia Australia could be left like Britain in the Falklands, on is own, or same as England when it faced the Danes.

We Need A King Alfred.

In the Eighth Century AD, just before King Alfred the Great burnt his cakes, Britain was continually threatened by the Danes. A series of weak kings had hit on the idea of every spring, as the Danish long boats approached the British coast, they would take a large amount of gold pieces out to them and buy them off for the raiding season. This money was called Dane-geld. Of course the Danes didn’t mind this trouble-free plunder and went raiding in France ,Ireland and Belgium, where they were not as well-organised; stopping over in Sweden to buy new swords and axes, as their iron work has been famous for a long time.

This deal was very satisfactory for the British bureaucrats and the Danes, but the British working class had to produce this money as a tax of 10% of their wealth, and more than likely all of this Dane-geld didn’t end up with the Danes. Some of it you could be sure stuck on jammy fingers of the public servants. They also had to put up with Danes landing and lording it over them, spending money on British girls, raping the ladies and doing worse to men and horses. So then Alfred came along and showed a lot of “bottle”. He told the Danes the aid for third rate nations wasn’t coming any more, and with the common people’s aid he gave the Danes a whipping so good that they didn’t want to come back for any more.

I must apologise for the rickety history lesson but history has a nasty way of repeating itself, not always in the same place in the world, but in our case we pay Dane-geld to Indonesia to stay away from Australian shores. If we skip out on paying the $646 million dollars cold hard cash every year and stopped toadying to them at every opportunity they would have to come and get it themselves. The only real problem is that unlike the Danes they would not return home after the raiding season, they would be here to stay. They would enjoy the benefits of our natural wealth unless we beat them.

Surely everyone is at a loss to understand how for the past few years we’ve been the apologetic supplicant in our relationship with our neighbour, and then we endure the double ignominy of paying for the privilege.

In June-July Indonesia bought 3 new British built Ragam Class navy corvettes for $190 million.

^{http://defense-studies.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/three-nakhoda-ragam-class-are-set-to.html}

Since April 2011 Indonesia has also ordered;

8 AH 64D Apache battlefield assault helicopters for $1.4 billion.

42 batteries of a Brazilian made artillery rocket system for $402 million.

36 batteries of French made 155 millimetre self-propelled artillery for $170 million.

100 German made Leopard heavy main battle tanks for $280 million.

1 Dutch made Sigma Class stealth frigate for approx $250 million. 7 more planned.

2 Turkish made Milgem Class stealth frigates for approx $500 million. More planned

3 Korean made Type 209 submarines for $1.1 billion. More planned.

24 F-16 fighter-bombers for $750 million.

6 Russian made SU-30 fighter-bombers for $470 million.

37 Russian made BMP-3 amphibious tanks for $114 million.

24 locally built 40 metre long KCR-40 Class fast missile boats for approx $240 million.

1 factory to manufacture various Chinese designed guided missiles.

1,000 R-Han 122mm rockets, for its locally developed artillery rocket System.

180 Javelin anti-tank missiles for $60 million.

The 2012 increase represented 30 percent of the country’s national budget. The Indonesian Air Force and Navy are expected to be the greatest beneficiaries of the increased war budget.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the growth in the defence budget is intended to “strengthen the military posture, so that the mission to safeguard the sovereignty and integrity of the Indonesian territory can succeed.”

Arms developed domestically and purchased abroad will contain the latest technology. The modernization strategy comes with a high price tag: $2.5 billion for 10 light frigates developed by the state ship manufacturer PAL; $2 billion for four submarines; and $6 billion for the addition of Sukhoi and F16 jet fighters.

This will add another 17 squadrons for the Indonesian Air Force: 64 Sukhoi fighter jets; 32 F16 fighter jets; 36 Hawk 100/200 fighter planes; 12 F5E fighter jets; 16 Super Tucano fighter planes; 16 Yak 130 fighter planes; 36 UAVs; and 64 Hercules transport planes. 

Three fleets will be added to the Indonesian Navy consisting of the Western fleet headquartered in Tanjung Pinang, Natun and Belawan. The Central fleet will be head-quartered in Surabaya, Makassar and Tarakan. The Eastern fleet will be headquartered in Ambon, Merauke and Kupang. Moreover, the number of active Marines will be increased to 60,000, stationed in various bases. The Marines will be supported with 350 BMP 4F tanks; 17 amphibian tanks; 320 armored amphibious vehicles; 800 QW3 missiles; 40 RM Grads; and 75 Howitzers. Additional inventory includes 32 frigates; 56 corvettes; 82 missile-armed rapid deployment ships; 87 rapid deployment patrol ships; six submarines; and 48 logistic and transport ships.

Army Gets Tanks and Missiles

Indonesia has 540 of the Pindar Battle tank and the ability to make more, we have 18 US Abram tanks. What happens when they breakdown?

The Army, as the land component for Indonesia’s armed forces, has an estimated force of 180,000, an Armoured Brigade, a strategic reserve of a million men. The increased budget brings an inventory of the following, three divisions of strategic commandos; 150 battalions of strike forces; 200 main battle tanks to be deployed in Kalimantan and West Nusa Tenggara; 540 armoured vehicles made by Pindad for the mechanical infantry battalions; 320 cannon-armoured vehicles; 890 cannons and howitzer artillery; 720 NDL missiles; 20 MI35 fighter choppers; 26 MI17 transport choppers; 1,300 anti-tank missiles; 60 new anti-aircraft missiles; and 700 Pindad-Lapan type strategic missiles. This is in addition to the German Frosch class tank landing ships, Kondor II class coastal minesweepers and Parchim class corvettes. Thirty nine ships in total were added a few year ago to their Navy’s (with the help of our Australian cash) one hundred and eight they had already in commission the grand total before this re-armament plan was 147. This does not include the thousands of inter-island vehicle ferries that are part of Indonesia’s navel reserve and are ocean going and quite capable of carrying tanks [Indonesia is a group of thousands of islands and ocean ferries are the main means of trade and communication between them].

What was Australia response at the time of the announcements of the Indonesian build up?

Ahead of a summit in Darwin between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today, Australian Defence Minister Mr Smith said the government was giving Indonesia four C130 Hercules transport planes, a move he said reflected a stronger military relationship.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith revealed that planning was under way for an Australia -US-Indonesia military exercise early next year in the new training area in the Northern Territory set aside for US Marines.

Mr Smith, in an interview with The Australian Financial Review, said, “China would be invited to send military observers to the exercise and it was possible Chinese troops could join similar, future exercises.

The moves are part of plans to deepen the relationship and acknowledge Indonesia will become increasingly important to Australia’s strategic and military planning as its regional and global influence rises.”

What do the Indonesian public think about this massive increase in armaments spending

I had a look at the comments by Indonesians on the websites of the announcements this one reflected the feelings of the majority.

Comment

Tommy Septalindo Radicta on 09/12/2012 at 01:57AM

“It is about time that Indonesian defence rise up to show the world with solid evidence that Indonesia has the capability to “conquer” the world. Go strong Indonesian National Army (TNI). I am sure that Indonesia is able and will be a super power of the world.”

I am sure that Rudyard Kipling had it right in his poem

 Dane-Geld by

Rudyard Kipling

A.D. 980-1016

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation

  To call upon a neighbour and to say: —

“We invaded you last night–we are quite prepared to fight,

  Unless you pay us cash to go away.”

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,

  And the people who ask it explain

That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld

  And then  you’ll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,

  To puff and look important and to say: —

“Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.

  We will therefore pay you cash to go away.”

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;

  But we’ve  proved it again and  again,

That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld

  You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,

  For fear they should succumb and go astray;

So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,

  You will find it better policy to say: —

“We never pay any-one Dane-geld,

  No matter how trifling the cost;

For the end of that game is oppression and shame,

  And the nation that pays it is lost!”

We shooters are the largest army in Australia and we have to become the noisiest. As shooters we know the mainstream media will never give out the real story.  As it never explains to the public the plight of shooters waiting for licence and PTA applications,  so to it will never let the cat out of the bag on our defenceless situation. Again it is up to us to regularly annoy all our elected representatives and write letters to the local newspapers and distribute the correct information on the internet and facebook. Shooter’s have to be activists, we have been treated as second class citizens for far too long.

Ron Owen

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