China Deploys Communications UAV In Naval Exercise

China may have used an unmanned air vehicle called the Silver Eagle in a recent naval exercise over the South China Sea.

According to a website sponsored by the People's Liberation Army, tp.chinmil.com.cn, the twin-tailed design performed a simulated combat mission following its launch from the bed of a truck.

The Silver Eagle is all but identical to the ASN Technology ASN-209, a model of which was displayed at the 2010 Air Show China in Zhuhai. The only difference appears to be four upright appendages on the Silver Eagle, two on the aircraft's fuselage and one on either wing.

During a 3h flight, a ground operator controlled the Silver Eagle with a mouse and keyboard, the website said. When the UAV reached the combat zone, it maintained a cruising speed of 72kt (134km/h) and an altitude of 9,840ft (3,000m).

During its mission it disrupted communications, while also acting as a node for a Chinese military communications network, relaying "large numbers of information packets" among Chinese forces. When an 'enemy' aircraft approached, the ground control station initiated a "counter-surveillance deployment plan", and by reducing its altitude and initiating radio silence the Silver Eagle evaded detection.

Following the mission, the aircraft returned to its launching position and landed by deploying a parachute.

According to an ASN catalogue, the ASN-209 can operate in day and night conditions, performing reconnaissance, battlefield surveillance, target location and battle-damage assessment. It provides information in real time, has 10h endurance, and a combat radius of 200km (108nm). The catalogue makes no mention of a maritime role for the aircraft.

The use of the Silver Eagle in a naval exercise highlights one of the potential roles of UAVs in the 'access denial' strategy China would employ in a naval conflict in home waters.

Dozens of UAV models were on display at the Zhuhai show. These included a scale model of an aircraft called the WJ-600, apparently a high-altitude, long-endurance system. In a mural at the show, the turbofan-powered WJ-600 relayed information about a US aircraft carrier battle group to Chinese shore-based missile batteries and deployed an anti-ship missile.

In late June a Japanese patrol aircraft spotted a small UAV apparently operating from a Chinese warship.

Read More AT
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/07/12/359324/china-deploys-communications-uav-in-naval-exercise.html

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog