Russia Plan to Induct 55 PAK-FAs by 2020

The Russian Air Force (VVS) will have received 55 Sukhoi PAK-FA (T-50) fighter aircraft by 2020, according to Vladislav Goncharenko, the deputy director of the United Aircraft Corporation's (UAC's) combat aircraft department.

The first PAK-FA deliveries are scheduled for 2016.

 

 

Sukhoi PAK-FA (T-50) fighter aircraft

 

Pakistan Air Force has an edge over Indian Air Force: Indian Parliamentary panel

NEW DELHI- The strength of Indian Air Force combat fleet is down to 25 squadrons, the Parliamentary panel observed.

"With regard to the existing squadron strength, we are down to 25 squadrons today while Pakistan Air Force has 26 squadrons of operational combat fleet," the committee pointed out.

The standing committee on defence in its report observed that the national security was being compromised.

Pakistan Air Force

According to the committee, one of the reasons for the plight of their combatant strength in the skies is the considerable delay in procurement of various platforms.

The 33-member panel said, "Our capability in contrast to our neighbors is eroding quickly."

The committee members were concerned to know about the strategy being pursued to fill the huge gaps in sanctioned and existing trainer aircrafts.

Russian ‘ABM killer’ Intercontinental Missile to enter service in 2016

Russia’s newest RS-26 missile system, dubbed the ‘anti-missile defense killer’, will join the ranks of the country’s defenses in less than two years, Russia’s Strategic Missile Force commander said.

“We are continuing the test program for RS-26 and plan to finish it next year, with the missile to be put on combat duty in 2016,” Lt. Gen.Sergey Karakayev said.

Currently, there is hardly any information available about the new missile system because it was developed in secrecy.

Reportedly, the RS-26 is a solid-fuel missile with an advanced splitting warhead, which is launched from a mobile platform.

It was designed at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, apparently under the codenames Rubezh (Frontier), or Avangard (Vanguard).

Previously, the Russian deputy prime minister in charge of defense,Dmitry Rogozin, referred to the RS-26 as “the ABM killer.”

“Neither modern nor prospective American missile defenses will be able to prevent this missile from being able to hit the bull’s eye,” Rogozin explained.


According to RIA Novosti, the new missile has been test-fired previously on at least four occasions, with three tests registered as successful.

However, there was no official information on any new RS-26 tests carried out after 2013.

Karakayev also said development of the new silo-based heavy ballistic Sarmat missiles will be completed by 2020.

“This heavy rocket will be deployed in Uzhur [in the Krasnoyarsk Region] and Dombarovsky [in the Orenburg Region],” the Strategic Missile Force commander said.

Sarmat is said to weigh around 100 tons and has an operational range of some 5,500 kilometers.

It’s seen as a replacement for the Russian military’s current SS-18 Satan intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Russia’s New Military Doctrine Lists NATO As Key Threat

Russia has approved an updated version of the country’s military doctrine which considers NATO military buildup as a major foreign threat against its national security.
The new doctrine, which was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, also lists the American Prompt Global Strike (PGS) concept among the top security threats to the country, Russia Today reported.
The PGS is an effort by the US military to develop a system which would allow the Pentagon to deliver precision strikes with conventional weapons at any target in the world in one hour.
The core of the new military doctrine remains unchanged as the Russian army is still a defensive tool, which Moscow has vowed to use only as a last resort.
The principles of the use of nuclear weapons have not changed since their primary goal is to deter potential attacks on Russia. However, the country would use them to protect itself in the face of the military assaults that could threaten its existence.
The new sections of the doctrine outline the threats that Russia sees in NATO’s expansion and the fact that the Western military alliance is taking upon itself “global functions realized with violation of international law.”

China's PLAAF Review In Year 2014

This was a particularly eventful year for PLAAF when one looks at the progress of the various new projects. The most noticeable of which is J-20, but this most will look at various other projects too.
Coming into this year, the J-20 project seemed to be a little behind schedule compared to PAK-FA. There were a lot of questions about when the 3rd flying prototypes will come out. Earlier on, we saw the appearance of a heavily modified prototype No. 2011 which first flew in March. As previously discussed, this prototype really transitioned the project from the concept/demonstration phase to pre-production engineering phase. The next prototype No. 2012 appeared in July and had its maiden flight near the end of the month. Most recently, prototype No. 2013 and 2015 appeared in quick succession in the past month and had their first flights. These 2 prototypes have their pitot tubes removed. Speculations have been that No. 2016 and 2017 will also appear soon to join the flight testing phase. With the quick succession of these prototypes, it appears that J-20 may have moved into LRIP. I have in the past compared these prototypes to F-22's EMD phase, which had 9 flying prototypes. Bu in that case, the 9th EMD first flew 5 years after the first EMD. So it seems like J-20 is using a more aggressive flight testing program. We know that there is already a radar testbed testing out J-20's radar and possibly other avionics. So next year, we should see more of the initial prototypes coming out and getting transferred to CFTE for flight test programs. At some point, I think we should see J-20 prototypes starting to using domestic engine options. We should also see J-20s starting to be delivered to FTTC for developing tactics and testing out flight envelopes. But a lot of that stuff really cannot be tested fully until WS-15 becomes available. Despite all of the fast progress by CAC the past year, it's unclear what they will do with the engine problem. The earlier J-20s will probably use an underpowered engine.
The other project that received a lot of attention this year is FC-31, because of its appearance at Zhuhai air show. From what we've seen, it is still in the conceptual demonstrator phase waiting to get picked by PLA. J-20's first 2 prototypes were probably further along than No. 31001, so this project is several years behind J-20. PLAAF have the option of going with hi-lo option of J-20 and FC-31 or J-20 and some heavily modified variant of J-10. The next generation of naval aviation can either go with a naval variant of FC-31 or something completely different. At this point, it does look like FC-31 will be picked up by PLAAF and the official version will feature much changes compared to No. 31001. They will probably have to use some under powered interim option from Russia in the beginning while the domestic option is even further behind than WS-15.
J-10 program was in the background this year, but it may have been the most active PLAAF program. J-10A production and delivery continued into this year. J-10B production finally started at end of last year after a very long flight testing period, but the production level this year has been quite high. Most recently, the 48th J-10B came out. We've seen one brigade of J-10B joining service with FTTC aggressor squad. A second regiment/brigade will also be formed from this year's production. After this first batch of J-10B production, things are a little muddled. We saw a J-10B in primers with factory number 201 that came out at end of last year with some minor changes from the first batch of J-10Bs. Chinese bbs have speculated that this is the first of J-10C variant. The big speculation is that J-10C will be using AESA radar (as opposed to PESA on J-10B) and improved avionics compared to J-10B. I'm not sure that really deserves a new variant, but it seems like this particular aircraft has went through more flight testing than a usual production aircraft. So the second batch will definitely be different from the first batch. This second batch should be the first PLAAF aircraft to be equipped with AESA radar.

US Considered Bombing Chinese Nuclear Site Declassified Docs Showed

Recently declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive reveal that the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations were considering military action to prevent or delay China from building nuclear weapons — even if that meant working with Moscow to stage an accidental bombing.

The pertinent document is the June 21, 1963 entry in the journal of Glenn Seaborg, who was chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971. Seaborg describes a White House meeting on the nuclear test ban negotiations with the Soviet Union. The discussion then turned to China — which had refused to support a test ban treaty — when President Kennedy asked how the U.S. might handle the issue in the Moscow talks. William C. Foster, the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, confidently observed, "if we could get together with the USSR, the Chinese could be handled even if it required an accidental drop on their facilities."

As the National Security Archive notes:
The reference to an "accidental drop on their facilities" was excised when the diary entry was published in the Foreign Relations of the United States but it was declassified through a request to the Department of Energy for a new review of the document…. just how the United States or even the Soviet Union could have staged such an event in the interior of China, where Chinese nuclear facilities were located, is an interesting problem…..In any event, Foster's statement is one more bit of evidence that senior officials were interested in the possibility of taking action against the Chinese nuclear program, even to the point of arranging an "accidental" bombing with Moscow.

Russia Signs Contract To Deliver S-400 Missile Systems To China

Russia “has signed a contract” to deliver the S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to China, Vedomosti daily reported on Wednesday, citing its sources. The contract between Russia’s Rosoboronexport and China’s Defense Ministry on the delivery of at least six divisions of the S-400 systems for more than $3 billion was concluded at the beginning of autumn, according to the sources. Russia’s defense concern Almaz-Antey has not commented on the report. The talks between the two states on the issue have been continuing for several years.

How China Will Track and Shoot Down US’s Newest Stealth Jets

A gang of advanced missiles and a bleeding-edge radar unveiled at a Chinese air show could mean big trouble for the Pentagon’s best fighters.

A useful lesson to bear in mind at last month’s Zhuhai air show—China’s only domestic air and defense trade show, held once every other year.It was the Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter, which resembles a twin-engine version of America’s newest stealth jet, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But the real tricks lay in Beijing’s growing family of advanced missiles and radars. 

The J-31 prototype was hidden except when it was flying, and not much detail was available. But the display was notable for the eruptions of smoke from the engines, most likely Russian RD-93s.

That is important, because until China builds its own fighter engines it cannot build stealth fighters without approval from Vladimir Putin’s desk. That includes the Chengdu J-10B, China’s most modern, in-production fighter, or its bootleg versions of Russia’s Sukhoi Flanker fighter family.

China says it’s working on indigenous fighter and trainer engines, but the samples on show were exactly the same as those seen two years ago.
What was new and important on the Chinese military’s outdoor display line at Zhuhai was a mix of mature and new technology. And by “mature” I mean the 1950s-design Xian H-6M bomber, with something suspiciously like a World War II Norden bombsight visible through the windows of the bombardier station. But the bomber was surrounded by guided weapons, some seen for the first time in public. The same went for the somewhat more modern JH-7 light bomber.

Zhuhai was full of new missile hardware, from the 3 1/2-ton CX-1 ramjet-powered anti-ship and land-attack missile down to the QW-19 manportable air-defense system. (China’s military believes in these small air-defense missiles, both in their classic standalone form and integrated into small mobile systems.)Not many of those missiles were individually surprising. The CX-1 is different in small details from the Russian-Indian BrahMos but very similar in specifications. Two-stage short-range surface-to-air missiles borrow the concept invented for Russia’s KBM Tunguska and Pantsyr systems, and so on.
What is impressive, however, is how many of the new Chinese missiles there are, and how they fit together.

One visible trend is the re-use of components to meet different mission needs. Since the CM-400AKG air-to-surface missile appeared at 2012’s edition of the Zhuhai show, it has gathered a lot of attention as a high-supersonic anti-ship weapon. This year, the exhibit strongly suggested that it shares its solid rocket motor and warhead with the surface-to-surface SY400 ballistic missile, and a passive radar seeker with the new B611MR semi-ballistic anti-radiation missile. The B611MR, in turn, has a common motor and controls to the 175-mile-range M20 GPS/inertially guided missile—China’s equivalent to Russia’s Iskander—and both are intended to use the same mobile launcher and command-and-control system as the CX-1. Lots of interchangeable parts: That is how China can roll out so many missile types so quickly. 

PLA's YJ-18 Anti-Ship Missile Useful Against US Navy Aircraft Carrier

Footage of what appeared to be China's YJ-18 anti-ship missile, rumored to be in development, was shown recently in a news report on state broadcaster China Central Television.If reports about the missile are accurate, it will be China's first combination subsonic and supersonic anti-ship missile.
　　
According to an unnamed source cited by a military affairs column on Chinese news web portal Sina, the YJ-18 will be the basis for a series of models that will be adapted for launch from warships, submarines and from the coast and will likely replace current anti-ship missiles, given its versatility.

The People's Liberation Army Navy currently employs several different models of anti-ship missile, which requires a great deal of logistics and maintenance planning.
The six series of anti-ship missiles the PLA Navy uses include the HY series developed from the Soviet-era P-15, the YJ-8/YJ-83 series developed from the YJ-8, the YJ-62 series developed from the YJ-6 and the most recent YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile. Imports include the 3M80E/BE and the 3M-54E series. Each of these missile series requires its own launcher and guidance system, which places logistical pressure on the navy, making the simplification of anti-ship models a major priority.

YJ-18 anti-ship missile

According to overseas media outlets, the YJ-18 is likely similar to the imported 3M-54 Klub series, which itself is part of a series of missiles including the 3M-54E subsonic anti-ship missile, the 3M-54E1 subsonic anti-ship missile, the 3M-14E inertial guided land attack cruise missile and the 91RE1/RE2 anti-submarine missile. The anti-ship and land attack missile variants in the series are said to be the same in their basic structure and their rocket boosters and turbojet propulsion systems are also said to be identical; the difference is that the warhead of the 3M-54E incorporates a fixed rocket propulsion system, which at its terminal stage velocity approaches Mach 3, increasing its defense penetration capabilities. The anti-ship variants of the 3M-54 are over eight meters long however, and weigh over 2,000kg, so they can only be carried on destroyers or larger vessels. The 3M-14E land attack variant is similar in structure to ordinary anti-ship missiles; it is a low altitude sea skimming missile and is reduced to 6.2m in length, weighing just 1,500kg, meaning it can be launched from small and medium-sized naval vessels, such as corvettes. The 3M-14E1 is a remodel of the 3M-54E1 control system, using a highly explosive warhead, to raise the surface impacted by the missile. As they are all part of the same series, they share the same basic structure, and they all have a diameter of 0.533m, which simplifies logistics and maintenance. 

China Moves Ahead To Develop Sixth-Generation Strike Stealth Fighter

China is moving ahead to develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter after it finishes the fifth-generation J-20 and J-31, Igor Korotchenko, head of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade, has told Voice of Russia.

The United States is the first nation to forge plans for the design of a sixth-generation fighter. Several artist renditions have already been revealed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. In an official statement, the US Navy claimed that a sixth-generation fighter — called FAXX — will replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growler by 2030. A source from the US military said that the Department of Defense has already prepared a budget for the development of FAXX in 2015.

Russia has recently gotten on board with its own next generation fighter program, said Andrei Grigoryev, the head of the Foundation for Advanced Military Research. The real "secondnd place," however, has to go to China in the race, said Korotchenko. A research team was established in northeastern China's Shenyang much earlier than Russia for the country's 6th-gen program. 

Xian JH-7B Fighter Bomber Has New Homegrown Engine

China has installed an indigenous engine in its Xian JH-7B fighter bomber. The plane has been designed to be difficult to detect, reports Huanqiu.

A Xian JH-7B that has carried out test flights has been powered by the LM6 turbofan engine designed specifically for the aircraft which boasts more powerful thrust than the country's latest WS-10A engine. The LM6's air intake has been designed to be less visible and its exterior is coated with materials that can absorb electromagnetic waves. The engine is undergoing fine-tuning in preparation for mass production and the fighter bomber will be installed with new avionics and may use an active phased array radar. 

Xian JH-7B fighter bomber

The development of the plane began as early as 1974 after a battle against Vietnam in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The incident prompted Beijing to decide to develop a supersonic all-weather aircraft that could be used by both the navy and air force. Development was slow, however, since a suitable engine for the aircraft could not be found and other countries were unwilling to sell advanced engines to the country.
The Xian JH-7 was China's first aircraft capable of mid-air refueling. Its advanced JH-7A variant has seen service with three navy battalions and three air force battalions.