ASIAN DEFENCE

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.

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...

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 ...

 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...

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 develo...

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 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 t...

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-1 0B 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, ...

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 archit...

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...

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 t hat 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 ...

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 o...

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, o...

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

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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-2...

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 pa...