ASIAN DEFENCE

Recently, Jane’s Defence Weekly has exposed a true photo of China’s homegrown aircraft carrier that it claims to have obtained from Google. US experts have checked the photo and found that the carrier is installed with an electromagnetic catapult, a technology that the US has just gained mastery and only uses it on one of its carriers, the Ford. There have been reports that the PLA plans to spend $20 billion to get two aircraft carrier combat groups. If so, the PLA will be the most powerful in East Asia and perhaps, the entire Asia. In addition, China is building lots of other warships. China is building a few 35,000-ton amphibious attack warships, each of which can carry 4 Zubr LCACs and 20 helicopters. China has obtained one Zubr LCAC from Ukraine. It is expected the such amphibious warships will be commissioned in 2015.

A modified version of the People's Liberation Army's Chengdu J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter has been spotted preparing for what will presumably be its maiden flight. The report said images of a modified prototype of the J-20, manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, emerged on Feb. 20 showing the aircraft taxiing. Analysis of the photographs suggests that the jet has been modified to improve engine performance, combat capability and stealth, including a sloped "caret" design, vertical stabilizers, larger scalloping on the weapons bay cover and a new brace on the canopy. A new electronic targeting system located below the nose of the plane and its distributed infrared sensor system suggests an intention to model the J-20's optical and infrared targeting and warning system on America's Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Other aspects of the J-20 remain unclear at this stage. Some reports indicate that the jet will be powered by a 15-to...

China has begun developing the world's most accurate cruise missiles with the ability to hit targets in Japan as well as US military bases, according to a recent report published by the Washington-based Project 2049 Institute. In the article titled China's Evolving Reconnaissance-Strike Capabilities, author Ian Easton claims that after many years of efforts, China has acquired a considerable amount of cruise missile systems, including the PLA Second Artillery Force's ground-launched Changjian-10 or Long Sword (CJ-10) land attack cruise missiles (LACMs), the PLA Navy's ground- and ship-launched Yingji-62 "Eagle Strike" anti-ship cruise missile, and the PLA Air Force's Yingji-63 and CJ-20 LACMs. Changjian-10 Land-Attack Cruise Missile With up to 500 missiles deployed on 40-55 road-mobile, tri-canister launchers in the Second Artillery Force, China's strategic CJ-10 LACM may be of particular concern to US and Japanese defense planners, the rep...

China's first mass production J-16 fighter  conducted its first test flight recently. J-16 Conducts Test Flight   The difference between the mass production J-16 and the prototype aircraft with the serial number aircraft is that the former does not have an airspeed tube. Meanwhile, it is possible that units of PLA Air Force or Navy Air Force may already be equipped with the some of the advanced fighters, designed based on the Chinese J-11, for operational tests. After the Zhuhai Air Show in southern China's Guangdong province in 2012, a number of Western military analysts said that China has devoted massive resources to developing the precision attack capability of its air force. Unlike the J-11, which was mainly designed for aerial combat, the J-16 can now carry munitions and missiles for ground attack missions, Wen Wei Po said. The fighter is also capable of carrying more ground attack munitions than any other type of fighter in China.

Russia will soon start developing a prototype of an advanced lightweight fighter jet to supplement fifth-generation T-50 aircraft, a top government official said Wednesday. The new aircraft is expected to be cheaper to produce and easier to maintain, but should also possess combat capabilities and performance characteristics comparable with those of heavy-class aircraft. “The development of a light-class fighter has been included in the current arms procurement program. It will be created,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, addressing the lower house of parliament. Rogozin, who oversees the defense and space industries, said light-class fighters were in greater demand abroad, compared to more advanced heavy-class aircraft, such as Su-30 or the planned T-50 fighter jets. Russia is currently developing the heavy-class T-50 multirole fighter aircraft, also known as PAK-FA, which will be the core of the country’s future fighter fleet. The T-50 is expected to enter serv...

 A new advanced fighter jet prototype has been delivered to the Russian Air Force for testing, the manufacturer said Friday. The first T-50 “stealth” fighter had been delivered to a military airfield in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region for test flights, the Sukhoi company said in a statement. The chief air force commander, Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, said in December that combat squadrons could expect deliveries of the production version, known by its Russian acronym PAK-FA for future tactical fighter aircraft, in 2016 at the latest. PAK_FA T-50 ProtoType The PAK-FA is slated to replace the country’s aging fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets. The Sukhoi T-50 is a fifth-generation fighter jet and features a stealth profile with internal weapons bays for air and ground-attack weapons, thrust-vectoring engines for high-acceleration turns and an ability known as supercruise to fly supersonic without the use of a fuel-guzzling afterburner. An export version, called the ...

As PAC starts the production of second block of JF-17, it's good to take a look at where the project is right now. I won't go over the history of the project, since that can be found online or any of the many forums. At this point, PAF remains the only operator of JF-17. They have finished the production of the first block of 50 JF-17s out of the 150 they ordered. There have been persistent news coming out of Pakistan that more will be ordered, but I don't think that's finalized. By all account, PAF has been fairly satisfied with the performance of the aircraft and the project as a whole. I don't have the latest number, but PAC is now capable of producing most parts of JF-17 with engine been the lone major subsystem that is outside their expertise. There have been numerous reports of sales to other country, but none of them have concluded.  There were the 12 JF-17s to Zimbabwe and the 24 JF-17s to Azerbaijan, which never came to fruition. There were also the more...

AVIC New Stealth Fighter AVIC New Stealth Fighter AVIC New Stealth Fighter

Ronald O'Rourke, a specialist in naval affairs, has claimed in a report to the US Congress that China's navy has better capability to carry out an anti-access or area-denial strategy than the Soviet Union during the Cold War, while the Pentagon has said the PLA Navy still has two major weaknesses to overcome, reports the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao. O'Rourke said one advantage of the PLA Navy is that it possesses anti-ship ballistic missiles with the capability to strike moving ships at sea, which the Soviet Union did not. The expert gave his view however that China is only able to establish a regional navy with limited global capability as it has not resolved the Taiwan issue. The Pentagon highlighted two weaknesses of the PLA Navy in launching anti-access or area-denial tactics against the US Navy in a potential Taiwan Strait crisis. First, the Pentagon said the PLA is still unable to conduct effective anti-submarine operations despite the fact that it currentl...

Pakistan's Defence forces , specially Pakistan's Navy has been quite vocal of arrival of Russian Nuclear powered submarine to Indian shore. Pakistan Navy chief has already told US Defence Magazine that arrival of Russian Nuclear powered submarine and India’s own Indigenous development ,will have adverse effect on its operational capability in Indian ocean . and also mentioned that Pakistani navy is already working on plans to counter this latest threat put forward by Indian Navy . Indian Defence Experts believe that Pakistan is already working on a counter plans and might just surprise Indian pretty soon in future by producing or acquiring a Nuclear powered submarine . Pakistan always has a quieter way of weapons acquisition and even managed to keep many defence project low key affair . Rakesh Sharma Indian Defence Expert told that “General Musharraf way back in 2006 had mentioned to a Pak daily that technology for development of a Nuclear Submarine existed in Pakistan”, bu...

The Russian Air Force received 12 advanced Su-35S multirole fighters Wednesday to be deployed with an air regiment based in Russia’s Far East. The Defense Ministry ordered 48 of the aircraft in 2009, of which 34 have been delivered so far. The final deliveries of the remaining 14 are due in 2015.  Su-35S Flanker-E All the Su-35S aircraft will be based at the Dzemgi airbase in the Khabarovsk Region, according to the Defense Ministry. The Su-35S Flanker-E is a heavily upgraded derivative of the Su-27 multirole fighter. It has been touted as " 4++ generation using fifth-generation technology ." The aircraft, powered by two 117S turbofans withthrust-vectoring , features high maneuverability and the capability to engage several air targets simultaneously.

ABU DHABI: There is a growing market for submarines in the Middle East, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both having expressed their intention to purchase them, assuming a threat perception in the region. According to Achille Fulfaro, Middle East naval executive for Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and general manager of Etihad Ship Building, these deals could come through “in the near future,” and the two military powers of the have expressed interest in the acquisition of small to medium submarines. The submarine threat was deemed to be high, so a deterrent anti-submarine vessel has already been acquired by the UAE navy. Fulfaro said: “One of the critical issues of the region is the anti-submarine issue and this is the reason why we delivered to the UAE Navy a highly developed anti-submarine warfare vessel last year.” He expected discussion to proceed to the acquisitions of submarines, next. He said: “We assume that countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in the ...

China's Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarine will begin to patrol the Western Pacific this year. Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarine Equipped with JL-2 intercontinental submarine-launched ballistic missiles , the Jin-class is capable of launching a nuclear attack against targets in Alaska and Hawaii, Cole said, citing a report published by the US Office of Naval Intelligence. The advance is unprecedented in China's submarine threat, putting even the west coast of the US in direct danger, said Jesse Karotkin from the Office of Naval Intelligence. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has received a report from the Office of Naval Intelligence outlaying the Jin-class submarine's potential threat to US national security, as confirmed by the Washington Free Beacon. The report said the Type 094 submarine and the JL-2 missile it carries gives China a reliable second-strike capability. The US Navy estimates the range of the JL-2 to...

The Russian military has postponed tests of a high-endurance drone until an unspecified future date, a spokesperson for the United Arab Emirates company that makes the vehicle said Monday. “All existing agreements will remain in force, but the Russian side has requested a delay in testing from February until a later date,” Tatyana Kirova of Adcom Systems said. United 40 Block 5 CEO Ali Al Dhaheri said in December that the first test drone would be delivered for evaluation this month, to be followed by a purchase agreement if test flights were successful. The aircraft was debuted internationally at the MAKS air show outside Moscow last summer two months after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the country’s drone projects were inferior to foreign offerings. The Adcom Systems United 40 Block 5 is a long-range medium-altitude reconnaissance vehicle that can loiter above a single area for over four days, according to the company’s website. The drone, po...

China is likely to mobilize electromagnetic pulse weapons against the United States in any potential war over the Taiwan strait, according to a report prepared by F. Michael Maloof, a retired US defense department official. Given the possibility that the United States Navy will deploy its aircraft carrier to the Western Pacific in the event of China entering into a territorial conflict with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines over the East and South China Sea or launching any potential military action against Taiwan, Maloof indicated that the People's Liberation Army is looking to use the electromagnetic pulse weapons as part of a "one-two punch" to knock out the defensive electronics aboard the US vessels. The electromagnetic pulses could be released through the explosion of a nuclear weapon at altitude over the region China wants to target. The damage to the US vessels or allied command center in the region would include a complete loss of electronics, computers, a...

India's military has postponed until the next financial year a plan to buy 126 fighter planes from France's  Dassault Aviation , the indian defence minister said on Thursday.  New Delhi had picked the Rafale fighters for exclusive negotiations in January 2012 and had been expected to finalise the deal, estimated at $15 billion, by the end of March.  But negotiations to buy 18 planes off-the-shelf and build the rest in India have slowed and will stretch into the following fiscal year, defence minister AK Antony told a news conference at a defence sector trade fair.  The military, the world's biggest arms importer for three years running, has already spent 92 percent of its defence capital budget for this year, he said.  "Major procurement can only be possible in the next financial year. There is no money left," Antony said. The country is due to hold elections by May and a new government is expected to be installed the following month.  India is in the mids...

China is expected to export a new radar-evading fighter jet as well as other advanced weapons systems in a move that could potentially see them deployed against the U.S. or its allies, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday. Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's procurement chief, also told a congressional hearing that the technology gap between U.S. and Chinese weapons was set to continue narrowing as the countries' military spending moved in opposite directions. "In general, we would expect the Chinese to have export versions of the equipment that they build," said Mr. Kendall told the House Armed Services Committee. "One of the concerns about China is not just that they are modernizing—we don't anticipate a conflict with China, certainly—but they do export," he said. "And the weapons systems they develop we would face potentially with other people." China is already the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, according to the St...

The J-10C — the upgrade version of China's J-10 fighter, designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group — may be able to catch up with the American F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and surpass most of its European counterparts. China is still unable to fully compete against the United States, Russia and France in developing 4.5-generation fighters, but the advanced fighters are important for the People's Liberation Army Air Force and Navy Air Force to fill the gap before fifth-generation stealth fighters — such as the J-20 and J-31 — are ready for service. Many of China's neighbors have equipped their military forces with 4.5-fighters since 2005 when the Republic of Korea Air Force received its first 60 F-15K Slam Eagle. Singapore began to receive F-15SG Strike Eagles in 2008, while Australia got its F/A-18E/F in 2009. India and Malaysia have also purchased the Russian-built Su-30MKI and Su-30MKM. Since 2012, Russia also deployed Su-30SM and Su-35s to the Chinese border.

China's efforts to modernize its military force following its economic development has attracted attention from US. One of the fruits of these efforts is the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter jet, which made its maiden flight on Jan. 11, 2011, surprising the visiting US secretary of defense Robert Gates, who previously predicted that China would not be able to conduct a test flight of a new-generation fighter plane until 2020. J-15 Fighter Takes off from the Liaoning Aircraft Carrier The maiden flight of the J-20 was followed by the debuts of the Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter jet, China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, new attack choppers and new ground-to-ground medium-range missiles, according to the Guangzhou-based South Reviews magazine. The intensive rollout of cutting-edge military equipment has been made possible by the country's economic development and expanding military outlay, at double-digit growth rate annually over the past 20 years, the magazi...

US “Aviation Technology and Space Weekly” carries an article in its January 17 issue titled “US navy regards China’s hyper-sonic guide vehicle as the part of Chinese weapons with extensive threat”, pointing out according to US navy, the Mach 10 hyper-sonic guide vehicle (HGV) China tested on January 9 reflects China’s foresight on future war. Once China is able to apply that technology, it will has a weapon that can challenge all existing missile-defense systems and widen the range of its ballistic missiles. It takes a few years for such weapons to be usable depending on resolution of the difficult issues of controlling its guidance and making it hit accurately. The report says that the HGV test makes a step forward of China’s research into anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) and probably signals the appearance of China’s second generation of ASBMs . According to US China military expert Richard Fisher, the DF-26 missile mentioned in rumor perhaps has ...