ASIAN DEFENCE

A Chinese company has developed the country's first homegrown servers , built entirely out of domestic technologies including a processor from local chip maker Loongson Technology . China's Dawning Information Industry, also known as Sugon , has developed a series of four servers using the Loongson 3B processor , the country's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday. "Servers are crucial applications in a country's politics, economy, and information security . We must fully master all these technologies," Dawning's vice president Sha Chaoqun was quoted as saying. The servers, including their operating systems, have all been developed from Chinese technology. The Loongson 3B processor inside them has eight cores made with a total of 1.1 billion transistors built using a 28-nanometer production process. The Xinhua report quoted Li Guojie, a top computing researcher in the country, as saying the new servers would ensure that the security around ...

China will soon start building its second locally designed aircraft carrier in Shanghai, according to a Canadian report. Chinese Internet , said Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard was preparing to start work on the carrier. When completed, the carrier and another under construction in Dalian will give the PLA Navy two fully functioning, battle-ready aircraft carriers. The recently completed Liaoning, the refitted former Soviet carrier Varyag , is classed as a training platform, not a full combat vessel, by the navy, since it went into service in September 2012. Counter to many expectations, the new carrier about to be built at the Jiangnan Shipyard will use conventional, not nuclear power. Military experts said China would not attempt a nuclear-powered carrier until a ra...

India has grounded its entire Sukhoi-30MKI fleet after a recent crash because it doesn’t want to put its pilots in harm’s way. The fighters have not flown for a week after a Su-30 MKI of the Indian Air Force crashed near Pune, raising questions about the safety record of the fighter. With the IAF operating close to 200 twin-engine Su-30MKI s, the grounded planes represent almost a third of the country’s fighter fleet. India is due to get 72 more of these planes, each worth over Rs. 200 crore. The IAF is down to 34 combat squadrons, as against an authorised strength of 44. Each squadron has up to 18 fighter planes. An IAF official said safety checks with “special focus on ejection seats” were being conducted and flight operations would resume only after each plane was cleared. A highly-placed source said the pilots of the plane that crashed on October 14 near Pune had reported “automatic seat ejection.” One of the two pilots was involved in a previous Su-30MKI cra...

A new Russian submarine design called the Amur 1650 is going to be sold to China, with Vladimir Putin hoping that Russia’s economic recession may be averted partially by making deals with the Chinese In a related report  the Russian military successfully tested a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched from the Russian nuclear submarine the Vladimir Monomakh. The U.S. Navy believes that the newest of China’s nuclear submarines the Jin SSBN “would mark China’s first credible at-sea-second-strike nuclear capability.” There’s also talk of a Chinese supersonic submarine that could cross the pacific in less than 100 minutes. Vladimir Putin has publicly stated that Russia’s nuclear weapons and the Russian submarine fleet will be given an overhaul in the next five to 10 years. Russian Submarine Amur 1650 The Ukraine crisis has resulted in the Russian economy going from predictions of growth down to the possibility of a recession. Global invest...

The Turkish General Staff has announced that the first five attack and tactical reconnaissance helicopters have been added to its arsenal during a presentation of the choppers to the press.    ATAK T129 choppers The first five choppers were presented to the public at the Land Forces Aviation Command located in Güvercinlik Military Airport in Ankara. Speaking to the press on Friday, Lt. Col. Aydın Lafçı said five ATAK T129 choppers were delivered to the General Staff after test flights were conducted by the Land Forces Command over the past four-and-a-half months. “Five choppers have been added to the arsenal of the General Staff. In the coming weeks, another four choppers will be added,” Lafçı said. After a brief introduction of the specifications of the ATAK T129 , there were demonstration flights, which received the thumbs up from spectators. The choppers, which will be stationed in Ankara, will take to the field to engage in fights against ter...

India and Russia may finally settle on a number of delayed defense deals including the Fifth Generational Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) program during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India this December.Putin met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the BRICS summit in July where both leaders reportedly agreed that the $30 billion program to build 200 jets should move forward.In 2010, a preliminary design agreement was signed between India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau to jointly produce the FGFA for use by both countries. However, a final agreement is still pending because the Indian Air Force hasn’t approved the design and workload between both companies is still under debate. Sukhoi and India plan to sign another contract in the framework of the joint project for the construction of a fifth generation multipurpose combat jet, Alexander Klementyev, a Sukhoi deputy director general said. “We hope the contrac...

China will begin to equip the PLA Air Force with J-10B , the upgraded version of J-10 and J-10A fighters designed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation , Moscow's Russian News Agency reported on Oct. 16.The J-10B fighter is equipped with active electronically scanned array radar ( AESA ), which its prodecessors do not. It also has new generation avionics, a diverterless supersonic inlet and an infra-red search and track sensor. On the new model, the vertical stabiliser and wings of the fighter are also modified. 10 J-10B fighters with serial numbers 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 110, 120, 122, 201 have already been revealed on the internet. China J-10B Fighter Jet China J-10B Fighter Jet

The French Rafale Fighter aircraft that India is planning to buy, in what is being billed as the largest defence purchase by the country - "will be swatted like mosquitos in an August night," says Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin. Mr Kadadin also claimed that Sukhoi-27 -  aircraft manufactured in Russia that are supplied to China's People's Liberation Army (Air Force ) - are far more capable and advanced than the Rafale fighters . Incidentally, Russian-made MiG- 35 , as well as US-made F-16s & F- 18 , Swedish-made SAAB Gripin and French-made Rafale were the key competitors for the defence contract. After a long and detailed evaluation, the IAF had selected the French-made Rafale Fighter jets to replace its ageing and depleting fleet. The deal is likely to cost India a whopping $23 billion. Going on to question India's strategic forays with the Unites States and the erstwhile 'Western Bloc', the Russian Ambassador s...

 Chinese Attack Helicopters  Chinese Attack Helicopters            Chinese Attack Helicopters

The August issue of Russia's National Defense Magazine has advised the country to buy warships from China to compensate for its own weakness in shipbuilding and to strengthen Russia's power in the Asia-Pacific region. China's Type 054A frigate may be an ideal option for Russia, the report said. With debate sparked by the suspension of a French delivery of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Russia, the need to bring in escort ships is all the more pressing. Even if Russia receives the two warships — the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol — and integrates them into the fleet in the following two years, the current deploy of warships is far less from sufficient, said the article. Russia has few active battleships. There is only the Varyag missile cruiser and four Type-1155 destroyers for the country's large anti-submarine warships. These ships, all built during the Soviet era, are old, overused, and still engaged in cruising missions in the ...

China conducted the first launch test of its new DF-31B road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile , capable of targeting the North American continent, at the Wuzhai test facility in the central China, US Media Reported. The United States is monitoring China's military modernization , said Cynthia O Smith, spokeswoman for the Pentagon . She did not give any details regarding the Chinese missile test. Non-government military experts said that the missile tested on Sept. 25 has likely been modified for increased range or improved performance. It may even be a multi-warhead version of the DF-31 .                        DF-31B ICBM While the details of this missile still remains secret, it is known that the DF-31B is a mobile missile variant designed specifically for travel on rugged terrain or other difficult road conditions, according to a Chinese military web...

Hong Kong military commentator Leung Guo-liang says China's airborne early warning and control system is the world's most advanced radar system. Leung, deputy editor of Hong Kong's China-leaning magazine the Mirror, said the radar's role in large-scale air battles has become increasingly important for coordinating aircraft. Wang Xiaomo, one of the developers behind China's airborne early warning and control system , said the country has achieved nine breakthroughs in the development of the system that put it ahead of the United States. China's KJ-2000 early warning and control system is a multi-functional and sophisticated radar that has the longest and widest range in the world, Wang said. The Washington-based Jamestown Foundation was cited as saying China's early warning and control system with its Active Phased Array Radar is one generation ahead of the Boeing E-3C Sentry of the US, the most advanced of its kind in the US, with its rotating ra...

The U.S. Navy's newest amphibious assault ship , the USS America , is being commissioned into service Saturday in San Francisco, Calif. The ship is equipped with a fuel-efficient hybrid electric propulsion system and additional aviation spaces, including an enlarged hangar deck, realigned and expanded aviation maintenance facilities and increased space for aircraft parts, support equipment and aviation fuel. USS America (LHA-6) "The USS America provides a flexible, multi-mission platform with capabilities that span the range of military operations -- from forward deployed crisis response to forcible entry operations, the Navy said. "The ship also provides forward presence and power projection as an integral part of joint, inter-agency and multinational maritime expeditionary forces." The ship was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries . It's 844 feet long, 106 feet in the beam and has a speed of more than 22 knots. It is used to carry...

China is likely to complete the construction of its second and third aircraft carriers with the ability to carry J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighters , although a carrier-friendly model may need to be designed first, reports the PLA-run China National Defense News . China's domestic aircraft carriers will look very similar to the Liaoning , the country's first aircraft carrier bought from Ukraine and refitted. They are most likely to be equipped with a ski-jump ramp, said Admiral Jonathan W Greenert, the US chief of naval operations. The displacement of each vessel will be somewhere between 65,000 and 70,000 tons. J-20 stealth fighter The PLA Navy is planning to form two composite air hangar decks, with 50 fighters for each carrier. However, the design of the Chengdu J-20 is currently too large to be deployed aboard the Liaoning , according to the report. Domestic carrier versions will have to be larger to accommodate them, putting them at an e...

This month, the heads of the world’s navies and coast guards converged on the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, for the International Seapower Symposium (ISS). ISS assembles distinguished international naval leaders to enhance common bonds of friendship and to discuss challenges and opportunities, this time under the theme of “Global Solutions to Common Maritime Challenges.” This was the 21st iteration of ISS, which was first held in 1969. It was the first with Chinese attendance.  After years of invitations that Beijing did not accept, coupled with last year’s cancellation of the event due to sequestration, the head of China’s navy, Adm. Wu Shengli, led a nine-officer delegation. Participants in the plenary and regional breakout sessions no doubt wondered who exactly Wu is, what mandate he has, what sort of navy he leads, where it is heading and how it will be interacting with the U.S. Navy. This article addresses these timely questions. Leading Chin...

The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) - Tejas , which has been in the making since 1983 and is expected to join the force by March, 2015, still suffers from some teething problems. Some of the modifications that IAF has to make on the Tejas include pushing back the cockpit panels by few centimeters to prevent the toes of an ejecting pilot from getting entangled with instruments and aides and adding another 60 centimetres in length to the aircraft body to allow easy access and replacements of critical circuitry. Apart from these critical changes, the IAF and State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) are in the process of shaving off about 550 kilograms from the aircraft, making it lighter and adding more power to it. Senior Defence Ministry officials told NDTV that the LCA Mark-I is still somewhat far from being given any operational duty. The aircraft is expected to replace the Russian-made MiG-21 aircrafts which have already been decommissioned. ...