ASIAN DEFENCE

Saudi Arabia bought its first drone fleet, according to a dispatch from Tactical Reports. Saudi Crown Prince Salman met with Chinese General Wang Guanzhong to sign a contract for a shipment of Chinese Wing Loong drones, also known as Pterodactyls. The drones that make up the shipment are designed to mimic America's Predator drone, with surveillance capabilities and enough lift to carry two matched air-to-ground missiles. If the report is true, it means Saudi Arabia may have joined an exclusive club, one of the few nations with armed, unmanned aircraft. It's a group that, to date, includes just the US, Britain, Israel, China, and (depending who you ask) Iran — but beyond those countries, the capability is increasingly available to whoever can pay for it. At the Singapore Air Show earlier this year, both Israel and China were showing off their wares to would-be clients, including the Pterodactyl drone named in the report, and you could find similar displays at dozens of o...

The development of light fifth-generation fighter is not one of the top-priority projects of Russian   United Aircraft Corporation  . Although Russia don’t eliminate the possibility of developing a light fifth-generation aircraft, but currently this project is not included in the roadmap of  United Aircraft Corporation  UAC. In the near-term UAC will continue the expansion of MiG-29 fighter’s capabilities and then upgrade it to MiG-35 version. The contracts with Russian and Indian Ministries of Defense for delivery of MiG-29K/KUB aircraft make UAC focus on production of these fighters, the corporation’s president added. Head of UAC also said that a vector of development will be defined after completion of work on MiG-29K/35 Family: the corporation will then choose between development of a UCAV and a light fifth-generation fighter concept.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera has reaffirmed the nation's plan for a 2014 first flight of the Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) fighter: a prototype for a future fighter to replace the Japan Air Self-Defence Force's Mitsubishi F-2. "In February I myself visited at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI's) Komaki Minami plant where the ATD-X is being built," Onodera told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Upper House on 10 April. "There I was briefed that the first flight will take place this year." The ATD-X, also known as Shinshin ('Heart of God'), is being developed by the ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), with the main contractor of the project being MHI. It has been designed to be a stealthy air-superiority fighter with enhanced manoeuvrability. The Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) will use it to research advanced technologies and system integration, after which it pl...

Tupolev have completed the design of Russia's PAK-DA next-generation bomber aircraft, according to the head of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Mikhail Pogosyan. Pogosyan made the remarks during a briefing with the Russian aerospace press, according to individuals familiar with the presentation who briefed IHS Jane's on the details. He is understood to have confirmed that the "on-paper" design of the PAK-DA has now been completed by the Tupolev design bureau. The PAK-DA project will now transition into an intermediate phase between the completion of the aircraft's design and prototype construction, with the beginning of fabrication of some of the component modules for the aircraft.   PAK-DA Bomber Despite speculation about whether the PAK-DA will be of a flying-wing design, Pogosyan declined to discuss details of the aircraft's configuration. UAC, which holds the contract for the PAK-DA programme, has overall responsibility for the design of t...

Personnel is a major problem for the Russian military. Efforts to move from a conscription army to “contract-employed” soldiers (such as the U.S. volunteer force) have not been successful. The military forces that Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use “as a last resort” in eastern Ukraine are in the early stages of a major, seven-year modernization program that is not expected to be completed before 2020. Starved for funds in the 1990s and early 2000s, Moscow’s “troop readiness, training, morale, and discipline suffered, and most arms industries became antiquated,” according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report released Wednesday. Sukhoi Su-35S The number of combat-capable aircraft dropped from 1,600 in 2010 to 1,460 in 2012, according to the Swedish study. The new Russian defense minister, Sergey Shoygu, has said that the air force was concentrated in too few locations and required more bases. He also spoke publicly about increasing the...

Chinese   President   Xi   Jinping   on   Monday   said   modernization   and  regularization   in   the   air force   should   be   accelerated   to   build   a   stronger   military . Xi ,  who   is   also   chairman   of   the   Central   Military   Commission ,  told   troops   to   speed   up  airspace   integration   and   sharpen   their   offensive   and   defensive   capabilities   while   inspecting  the   air   force ' s   command   headquarters . During   the   visit ,  the   president   said   efforts   should   not   slacken   in   the   search   for   the   missing  Malaysian   plane  MH370   while   debriefing   airme...

Tough IMF conditions on Pakistan and others concern ( PAF busy in the further development of JF-17)  likely will delay Islamabad's plan to buy 36 J-10B Vigorous Dragon multirole fighters from China under a $1.4 billion deal signed in 2009, analysts said. Current economic conditions "preclude any possibility of acquiring new weapon systems in the next two to three years, at least," said retired Pakistani Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail, a veteran fighter and test pilot who is now an independent military analyst in Lahore. Under IMF loan terms, the government faces harsh conditions on raising revenue and controlling spending, including on military equipment. A Chinese defense delegation visited Pakistan the last week of September to discuss the status of stalled defense deals. Whether this included the J-10 order is unclear. PLAAF J-10B Multirole Fighter The J-10B Super-10 is an advanced variant of the J-10A , first fielded in late 2003 with China's Air For...

Greek government has given the green light for the Hellenic Navy to sell its four Russian-built Zubr landing ships to China , Hong Kong newspaper reported. At more than five hundred tons, the Zubr is the world's largest hovercraft. The massive ships can carry up to three tanks and at least 300 troops over hundreds of miles of ocean, and can also lay mines. The People's Liberation Army Navy already operates several Zubrs, with the most recent vessel delivered from Ukraine several weeks ago. Chinese units differ from the Russian originals, featuring a stealthy version of the AK-630 cannon , a Type 364 search radar , and the locally-produced OFC-3 optical fire control device. Hellenic Navy staff spokesman Kleftos Priapos confirmed the sale in an interview. Zubr Hovercraft "As the Zubrs were all constructed in either Russia or Ukraine, the sale of these hovercraft does not violate any current NATO rules against arms transfers to China," said Pri...

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After the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acknowledged the existence of Area 51 as a testing site for U-2 spy planes , a secret Chinese missile range in the Badan Jilin Desert in Inner Mongolia has become the world's next great site of unexplained mystery technology development and testing , according to Chinese Internet. Photo of this secret military site were first revealed by the official news agency Xinhua in a report which said the site is never featured on any official maps approved by the government and its purpose had never previously been mentioned in any media report. This secret military facility was established in 2003 for the People's Liberation Army to test its ballistic missiles and fighters, Xinhua said. China's Area 51  Photos published by Xinhua showed the words "those who steal secrets will be caught and executed" outside the entrance of the facility. The history of the base goes back to 1958, when it was originally designed...