Chinese Six-Rotor Drones Pass Flight And Bombing Trials

China has developed a six-rotor drone made from carbon fiber which has successfully passed flying and bombing tests, according to  a state-run defense technology news website.

All three of the drones, with body, rotors and undercarriage all made with carbon fiber composite materials, were designed and manufactured by Kang Ben Company, the fourth research institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The drones passed tests including vertical takeoff/landing, hovering in one place, manual flight mode and following a predetermined route. The drones also passed tests of carrying and launching missiles.

Kang Ben has continued to work on the drone's design to increase its mobility and for it to be able to be assembled and taken apart again rapidly, in order for it it to be easily transportable and more reliable.

J-20 Carried New PL-13 Missile During Recent Trials

Numerous photos emerged online earlier this year showing the J-20 — China's first generation fighter — carrying two types of missiles outside of its weapons bay during a test flight, Now it is reported that one of the missiles may be the PL-13, the nation's fifth generation air-to-air missile.

With similar capabilities to the AIM-9X missile of the United States, the J-20 carrying a PL-13 missile would be able to counter the F-22 stealth fighter in a potential air war against the United States, the paper said. The aerodynamic rudder of the PL-13 looks very similar to the Russian-built R-27, but the design of its strake wing is more like a R-77, another Russian-designed missile.

As the PL-13 can reach hypersonic speeds of Mach 5, it is nearly impossible for aircraft to evade the missile after it is launched. With a combination of the Active Phased Array Radar and the PL-13 air-to-air missile, none of the US-built fighters currently used by the Japan Air Self Defense Force is able to match the J-20 in a potential air war over the disputed Diaoyu (Diaoyutai or Senkaku) islands.

J-20 With PL-13 Missile

Li Li, a Chinese military analyst told the paper that this combination will be more powerful with the support of early warning aircraft. With the data provided by early warning aircraft such as the KJ-200 and KJ-2000, the J-20 will be able to detect the location of targets more than hundreds of kilometers away.

US To Build Military Base On Saipan To Counter PLA Missiles

The island of Saipan — an unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean — will be reconstructed as a military base to prepare for a potential missile attack by the People's Liberation Army over the Second Island Chain, according to John Reed, a US military analyst, in an article written for the website of the Foreign Policy magazine.

The Second Island Chain is a series of island groups stretching from northern Japan to the Bonin and Marianas islands. It is the second defense line of the United States to prevent the expansion of China's maritime power in the Eastern Pacific after the First Island Chain, which extends from Alaska to the Philippines, Reed said. Meanwhile, Guam is currently the most important US military base in the Western Pacific with the Apra Harbor and Andersen Air Force Base.

If a conflict were occur, China would likely attack the naval base at Guam with its newly developed DF-21D anti-shipping missiles, Reed said. He added that other islands within the area such as Saipan and Tinian should be used as support bases to the US Air Force and Navy under the Pentagon's Air-Sea Battle concept. He said that if the main base at Guam is destroyed, the US can still disperse its force into those small, bare bones bases in the Pacific.

China's Emergency Response Satellite

 China's Kuaizhou-1 satellite launch was reported by the US website NASA Space Flight just two hours after it was launched on Sept. 25 because of its potential to be operated by the People's Liberation Army as a weapon.

Rui Barbosa, an editor of the space news website, said the Kuaizhou-1, also known as KZ-1, was designed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation based in Beijing and was launched at 04:37 UTC on Wednesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia, with no advance announcement to the media. Barbosa said the satellite was built at Harbin Institute of Technology.

Chinese sources said the satellite is intended to supply information to aid response in the even of a natural disaster, but Barbosa said there may be more to it than that.

 China's Kuaizhou-1 Satellite

A Chinese analyst told the People's Daily's Global Times newspaper that the "quick response satellite system" is a concept introduced by the United States under which a small tactical satellite is launched immediately a regional conflict begins.

These satellites are intended for temporary military operations and are small, perhaps the size of a dishwasher, and relatively inexpensive. As no official photos or video footage of the KZ-1 satellite have been released, it is possible the KZ-1 may be used by PLA as a test platform for such "quick response" satellites, Barbosa said.

J-31 Stealth Fighter Designed For Export Says PLA Admiral

The J-31, China's second prototype fifth-generation stealth fighter, designed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, will be produced for the export market instead of for China's air force and navy, according to Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong of the PLA Navy in a People's Daily report.

While the Washington-based Strategy Page said the J-31 has the potential to become a future carrier-based stealth fighter for the PLA Navy, Zhang said it is unlikely the plane will serve aboard Chinese aircraft carriers. Unlike the J-20 designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, the J-31 was never a development program intended for the Chinese military, Zhang said.

Like the FC-1/JF-17 Xiaolong or Thunder multirole fighter designed jointly by China and Pakistan, the J-31 will be most likely be a model intended for export to China's allies and strategic partners, which may include countries like North Korea and Iran. Chinese fighters are a much cheaper alternative to US fighters for developing countries, even those which are able to buy military hardware from the United States.

J-31 Stealth Fighter

A model of the J-31 was first displayed at the Zhuhai Air Show in Guangdong province last November, where it was described as a fighter to open China's overseas market. It was called the "Advanced Fighter Concept," according to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The model was displayed again at the opening of the Beijing international Aviation Exposition on Sept. 25, under the new name of "China Concept Fighter." Sources from AVIC told People's Daily however that the "China Concept Fighter" is not the J-31.

J-20 Spotted With New Mysterious Missile

A new mysterious type of missile has been spotted on the second prototype of the J-20 — China's first stealth fighter — with a serial number of 2002, reports the state run People's Daily, citing a video clip released on Chinese military websites.

According to video clip, the missile is white in color and unlike the F-22 Raptor fighter of the United States Air Force, which holds its missile racks inside the internal weapons bays, the J-20 carries this mysterious missile outside of its fuselage.

J-20 's  New Missile 

Experts claim that after the J-20 fighter takes off, the missile will remain outside the fuselage even after the missile bays are closed. Song Xinzhi, a Chinese military analyst, said that two missiles were seen outside the missile bays during the flight. One is a regular medium-range air-to-air missile with wings, the other is a new missile without any wings.

India Is Designing and Developing Its First Realistic ICBM

India is beginning to design, develop a new, longer range nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) local media reported.

A scientist with the Defense Research and Development Organization, India’s military technology agency, told that DRDO is secretly developing a missile with an initial range of 6,000 km (3,728 miles). Currently, India’s longest range ballistic missile is the Agni-V, which has a range of about 5,000 km.

The same source said that the missile that is under development as the Agni-VI, but which will ultimately be called Surya, could eventually be extended to have a range of 10,000 km (6,213 miles).

Earlier this week DRDO chief Avinash Chander had said that India was capable of developing a missile with a range of 10,000 km within two and a half years if necessary. He also suggested that Delhi was not interested in utilizing this capability.

 Agni-VI

“Range is the least problematic area,” Chander said, according to The Times of India. “We have the full capability to go to any range…it's just a question of additional propellant and larger motors. But, as of now, we don't see the need for a higher range.”

The reports comes just days after DRDO successfully tested the Agni-V for the second time. The first test was back in April of last year. The Agni-V allows India to hold many of China’s largest cities under threat from its nuclear arsenal for the first time. As such, it is often called the "China killer" by India’s media. 

Although the Indian media often refers to the Agni-V as an ICBM, its range of 5,000 km is slightly less than the international standard for an ICBM, which is 5,500 km. Thus, Surya (Agni-VI) will technically be India’s first ICBM.

Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group to Produce 1,200 J-10 Fighters

Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group will produce a total of 1,200 J-10 fighters for the PLA Force to counter F-16 fighters over the Taiwan Strait and Western Pacific, according to our sister paper Want Daily.

The Moscow-based Voice of Russia says the J-10A uses the Lyulka-Saturn AL-31FN turbofan engine imported from Russia due to difficulties in the development of China's WS-10 Taihang engine. The newer J-10B variant will be fitted with the Taihang engine.

Geng Ruguang, senior vice president of China Aviation Industry Corporation, said the development of the J-10, Taihang engine and PL-12 air-to-air missile shows China has become the fourth nation in the world to design and produce its own advanced fighter.

Geng said the J-10B's active phased array airborne radar enables the fighter to track six targets and engage four of them simultaneously. Geng also said the J-10's radar system can also lock on to US F-16 and Japanese F-2 fighters without difficulty. Furthermore, the PL-12 air-to-air missile designed for the J-10 boasts similar specs to the US-built AIM-120 air-to-air missile used by the F-16A/B fighters of Taiwan's air force.

J-10A

Taiwan currently has 388 fighters, of which 145 are F-16A/Bs purchased from the United States. The imbalance in the size of the size of the fighter fleets on opposing sides of the Taiwan Strait is a matter of serious concern for Taiwan's security.

Between 2014 and 2015, 36 J-10B fighters will also be supplied to the Pakistan Air Force under the name FC-20.

The Status of China's J-10 Project

As China’s first advance indigenous fighter jet project, the J-10 program is one of the most important program of PLA. The most recent variant of J-10B made its first maiden flight in December of 2008, but CAC has been producing J-10A as recent as first half of this year.

Most recently, news came out of Chinese bbs that the first batch of production J-10Bs have started to make test flights. This news was not surprising since we had already seen pictures of J-10B production units inside CAC factory a couple of months ago. At the current rate, this first batch of J-10B should be delivered to the first regiment by the end of the year. Even though a lot of us were hoping that J-10B would be able to go into service by the end of 2011, it has taken 5 years for this to happen.

J-10B

 When it goes into service, J-10B should be equipped with a new generation of integrated electronics systems consisting of PLAAF’s first fighter jet AESA radar, IRST, EW suite and new software architecture. J-10B is likely to serve as a testbed for various new technologies for J-20. In terms of engine, it will still be some version of AL-31FN for the first batch. AL-31FN has been improving with each batch, so it’s unknown if these new engines will bring additional thrust needed to carry the likely greater payload. There is also a speculated J-10C variant that is rumoured to make first flight later this year. It will be interesting to see how this variant will be different from J-10B.

China and Germany Eye To deepen Air Force Ties

China's Air Force Gen. Ma Xiaotian, member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and commander of the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAAF), met yesterday with Lieut.Gen. Karl Müllner, the visiting inspector-general of the German Air Force, at the Headquarters of the PLAAF in Beijing.

Ma Xiaotian said that China-Germany relations have been developing steadily and healthily on the basis of mutual respect and pragmatic cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 41 years ago, as evidenced by close cooperation in all fields and at all levels, and constantly enhanced mutual trust and understanding.

Based on the good Sino-German ties, the relations between the Chinese and German militaries have also been well developed, as evidenced by constant high-level reciprocal visits, smooth operation of exchange and dialogue mechanisms, and fruitful cooperation in professional fields, Ma added.

Ma Xiaotian is satisfied with the good momentum of development of the relations between the two air forces, as evidenced by fruitful pragmatic cooperation and exchanges in all fields. He said that the PLAAF attaches importance to developing relations with the German Air Force and hopes that the two sides will further strengthen high-level contacts and carry out extensive and in-depth exchanges and cooperation in many fields such as pilot training, logistics support and flight safety, etc.

Russia Confirms Sale OF Advanced S-300 Anti-Aircraft Missile System To Iran

Russia has agreed to supply Iran with advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and build an additional nuclear reactor at the Bushehr nuclear site. The Russian Kommersant daily reported on Wednesday, amid increased international pressure against the two countries' mutual ally Syria.

A "source close to the Kremlin" told the Kommersant that the agreements would be discussed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Tehran on Friday. Putin is set to meet with high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rohani.
During a debate Wednesday in the Russian parliament of a draft resolution on Syria, Alexei Pushkov, the Kremlin-connected chief of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, told lawmakers that Russia could expand arms sales to Iran and revise the terms of U.S.* military transit to Afghanistan if Washington launches a strike on Syria.

Pushkov said such action now would be premature as Russia and the U.S. are working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but he warned that if the "party of war" prevails in Washington, Russia should consider those moves.

"If the U.S. takes the path of exacerbating the situation and forgoing diplomacy for the sake of a military scenario, such measures would seem absolutely justified to me," Pushkov said.

He also said that Moscow hopes that the U.S. will back Russia's proposal for Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control for their subsequent dismantling.

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter : Indian Perspective

Chinese media reports Quoting Chinese military commentator Lei Ze mentioned how emergence of the Chinese fifth generation J-31 fighter jet will make it difficult for the US to export its F-35 fighters , he also said that Currently, the only fifth generation fighter available for sale is the F-35 by the US. The J-31 will offer an alternative for non-traditional allies of the US.”

Indian Defence analysts Vinayak shetty thinks otherwise and says that it is unlikely that J-31 will affect export sale of F-35, “Many countries are firmly behind F-35 Project, even when Prices have surged upwards recently but it is unlikely any of the current customers will even consider buying Chinese J-31 even if aircraft hits production now” . While J-31 is still in testing phase and good 7 to 8 years before enters production, while F-35 is all set to enter fully fledged Mass production soon.

J-31 Stealth Fighter

While analysts say the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) might be one of the earliest customers of the fighter aircraft, but Vinayak shetty believes it will not be easy for PAF to procure these fighters, PAF are already struggling to buy hand full of J-10 fighters for last few years, even with Soft Loan offer provided by Chinese. PAF on other hand in past were always reluctant to operate twin engine fighter aircraft of medium capability size due to higher operating cost involved.

With No 5th generation fighter aircraft Project coming out of Europe many of these countries will be F-35 operators, and Russian Pak-Fa will capture export orders from traditional Sukhoi 30 / Mig operators in Asia. Traditional Chinese fighter aircraft market (Africa / Asian) countries will struggle to operate 5th generation fighter aircraft, so it will be very difficult for Chinese to push sales in their traditional market and difficult to break into American traditional partners, unless sale is bogged down by Us Export restrictions.

China's 052D Destroyer Equipped With New Vertical Launching System

China's PLAN 052D destroyer is equipped with new vertical launching system. Compared with 052C destroyer, the new system is able to contain large-scale weapons, including “DH-10” cruise missile and “HQ-9” long-range air-defense missile. The number of missile launch devices also increases from 48 to 64, giving 052D stronger firepower than 052C.

As for the vertical launch function of 052D new-type missile destroyer, military expert Yin Zhuo said that the vertical launching technique has been used in many countries actually, such as the U.S. and Russia. Our vertical launching function has also been used on 052C and 054A vessels. The launching launch has the advantage of rapid response. For example, a vertically launched air defense missile can be instantly redirected to attack a sea-skimming missile. Second, the vessel body doesn’t need to change in the process of vertical launching. The anti-ship missile in the past used fixed launchers, so they needed to set rotation angle, or the vessel needed to maneuver to aim at target. By comparison, vertical launch does not need this process so it will enhance our abilities of rapid response.

According to Yin Zhuo, the differences between 052D and the most advanced missile destroyer in the world include: first, there are still gaps in the information level. Compared with the most advanced destroyers in the world, our functions in information level is relatively inferior. For example, there are differences in the response time, bandwidth of transmission, immunity from interference and anti-destruction ability.

China and Pakistan To Hold Joint Air Force Exercise Shaheen-2

China and Pakistan will hold joint defence aviation exercises in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (northwest China) during the period of 2nd to 22nd of September this year, said spokesman of the Chinese Defense Ministry Yang Yujun on Thursday.

According Mr Yang, the exercise codenamed “Shaheen-2” will be held in the Hotan county. The previous exercises were held in 2011.

According to Mr Yang, the joint military exercises are aimed at enhancing trust between the countries and developing further cooperation with a view to maintain peace and stability in the region.

PLAAF Su-30MKK

New Polish Tank Concept Design

New Polish Tank Concept Design

New Polish Tank Concept Design

New Polish Tank Concept Design

PNS Aslat Frigate Inducted In Pakistan Navy

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has participated in induction ceremony of ‘PNS Aslat’, a multi-mission conventionally-powered frigate, in Karachi on Tuesday.

Continuing to enhance its fighting capabilities and maintain the minimum deterrence, the Pakistan Navy added the frigate being built in collaboration with China and two latest fast attack craft within a year reported.

PM Sharif participated in induction ceremony of ‘PNS Aslat’, the F-22P, a multi-mission conventionally-powered frigate, is being built at Pakistan Shipyard.

The frigate was built under the deal with China, the PNS Aslat (the name of sword), is added in Pakistan Navy today during presence of Nawaz Sharif.

Addressing to the prestigious ceremony, PM Nawaz Sharif said that ‘PNS Aslat’ frigate’s completion on time is a milestone and thankful for China for its cooperation.

Sharif said that Pakistan and China are proven friend while several other projects are in progress with China’s cooperation.

PNS Aslat F-22P Frigate

The Reality Behind the Mystery of Indian Air Force MiG-21 'Flying Coffins'

A post-mortem of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) MiG series of fighter jets has come up with shocking revelations pointing to perennial engine oil leaks besides other serious technical glitches that have lent the aircraft notorious distinction of ‘flying coffin’ or ‘widow-maker’ owing to frequent crashes and loss of human lives.

Every MiG crash in the country invited emotional outbursts from public and stinging rebuke from defence analysts, but the incidents were invariably written off claiming them to be human error.

Documents accessed by The Sunday Standard reveal that MiG engines that propelled these roaring fighter jets, once considered backbone of the IAF, are of poor quality. Nearly 40 per cent of these engines and accessories produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Koraput, have been returned by the IAF for some or the other defects. HAL is a Navratna company, owned by the government.

 IAF MiG-21 Flying Coffins

The problem ranges from oil leak, metallic particle in oil filters and hot air leak from rear casing to trouble in compressor and even in turbine of MiG-27 aero engines. The defects are scary for the government, which has lost almost half of its MiG fleet to the crashes in the last 40 years, leaving 171 pilots and 39 civilians dead. Although Defence Minister A K Antony had told Parliament last year that both human error and technical defects were responsible for MiG crashes, he conveniently forgot to inform people about horrific condition of government’s state-of-the-art manufacturing unit.