ASIAN DEFENCE

China may have recently conducted a successful test of the fastest hypersonic aircraft in the world, reports Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao. According to a report released Friday on the official website of state-owned aerospace and defense giant Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), one of its test flight centers has completed an initial test flight on an unspecified high-altitude, super-fast aircraft with a "unique flying style." Though the report was deleted shortly after, military analysts believe it is likely that China is developing a new hypersonic aircraft that can travel at five times the speed of sound. US SR-71 Blackbird strategic Reconnaissance Aircraft The Shanghai-based Guancha Syndicate said that while the AVIC report did not divulge the model of the plane or what missions it can carry out, it is clear from reading between the lines that the aircraft is a hypersonic demonstrator that can travel at record speeds. This means an aircraft that ...

China is ready to launch its first domestically built aircraft carrier, known as the Type 001A, on Dec. 26 to mark the 122th birthday of Mao Zedong, according to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao on Sept. 24. President Xi Jinping reportedly visited the Dalian Shipyard to inspect the progress of work on the carrier in August. The shipyard had previously overseen the retrofitting of the Varyag, China's first aircraft carrier purchased as a hulk from Ukraine and finally commissioned in 2012 as the Liaoning. Noting that it took only two years and eight months for the US to complete the USS John C Stennis, its seventh Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, Ming Pao predicted that China will be able to complete the construction of the Type 001A in a similar time. The John C Stennis was commissioned in 1995. Type 001A aircraft carrier  Moreover, unlike the John C Stennis, the Type 001A is only a conventionally powered carrier rather than a nuclear-powered carrier and is much smaller than...

China has unveiled an updated version of the J-31 "Gyrfalcon" fighter jet, which is expected to be marketed internationally within the next five years, reports the Beijing-based Sina Military Network. An updated model of the J-31 — a single-seat, twin-engine, fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation — was recently on display at the 16th China Aviation Expo in Beijing from Sept. 16-19. With a redesigned tail, the J-31's aerodynamic and stealth capabilities are said to have already surpassed most traditional fighter jets and will soon have an upgraded avionics system. Its current Russian-made RD-93 engine is also expected to be upgraded with a new version of the Chinese-made WS-13 engine in the future. J-31 The J-31 reportedly reaches a max speed of Mach 1.8 and a combat radius of 2,000 kilometers, essentially satisfying the requirements of a carrier-based jet. In addition, the aircraft is said to have been desi...

NeoKylin A first look at the Chinese operating system the government wants to replace Windows Microsoft Windows is the dominant operating system in China, but the government is trying to encourage homegrown replacements. The most popular one is called NeoKylin. We gave it a whirl to see how the hottest China-made OS looks and feels. NeoKylin is developed by China Standard Software, based in Shanghai. Behold the login screen. NeoKylin has long been part of the Chinese government’s hopes that a successful domestic OS would emerge. This has been driven by Microsoft dropping support for Windows XP—still  widely used  in China—and the government’s push to  limit dependence  on foreign technology, primarily for security reasons. Now NeoKylin is starting to be considered a legitimate option even for users outside the government. Workers in the entire city of Siping switched to it. Over 40% of commercial PCs sold by Dell in China are running NeoKylin, the company says. ...

                Su-34 Fullback The Su-34 is a state-of-the-art Russian fighter bomber, developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the mid-1980s. The two-seat Su-34 is primarily designed to destroy a variety of ground and naval targets. It is capable of performing solo and group missions in daytime and at night, under favorable and adverse weather conditions and in a hostile environment.

Type-022 Houbei stealth catamaran According to Chinese media reports, under naval modernization program, Pakistan is going to build six Type-022 Houbei stealth catamaran missile boats at Pakistan’s state-owned shipbuilder Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW).

Nadi Postoglu a project director at BMC the producer of the Kirpi MRAP has said that Pakistan wants the Kirpi MRAP. He said that the Kirpi has now become a world brand, Tunisia has increased its orders of the kirpi, Turkmenistan has just ordered some, Ukraine also wants some. Postoglu says that the U.S also produces MRAP's but that they are expensive unlike the kirpi. Turkish MRAP Kirpi So far 60 mine attacks were staged against the Kirpi in combat and no soldiers were killed in any of these attacks. The Turkish Army operates 620 Kirpi vehicles.

Bigger and better weaponry on display at grand military parade are China's 'trump card' in naval warfare, offering clear evidence that nation can easily defend itself. China has obtained a full strategic strike capability thanks to the rapid development of its strategic missile force, military experts said after the People's Liberation Army made public some of its most powerful missiles in Thursday's parade. "Compared with last parade in 2009, the missiles displayed in this year's parade were more advanced and powerful. Such missiles represent the long-range strike capability and are must-have weapons for world powers," Senior Colonel Shao Yongling, a military strategy professor at the PLA Second Artillery Corps Command College, told China Daily in an exclusive interview. A total of 112 missiles from the PLA second artillery corps, the country's de facto strategic missile force, appeared in the parade on Thursday on Tian'anmen Square tha...

A privately-owned Chinese sensor company has unveiled a suite of air-to-air and air-to-ground sensors in development for the latest Chinese and Russian fighters. Wang Yanyong, technical director for Beijing A-Star Science and Technology, confirms that two systems – the EOTS-89 electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) and the EORD-31 infrared search and track (IRST) – are in development for China’s J-20 and J-31 fighters. Marketing brochures on A-Star’s booth suggest that the J-20 could use the passive sensors to detect and aim missiles against the Northrop Grumman B-2 bomber and Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter, even while its radar is being being jammed by a Boeing EA-18G Growler. It lists detection ranges for the B-2 at 150km and for the F-22 at up to 110km. Both systems have completed ground testing in a laboratory, and are now ready to enter flight testing, he says. Chinese combat aircraft manufacturer AVIC is considering integrating the sensors on a testbed aircraft, then could ...

PAF Re-Equip Squadron No 2 Minhas with JF-17

Dassault Chief virtually has indicated that HAL may not be the prime contractor should India agrees to buy additional Rafale fighter jet. Dassault Chief termed Rafale fighter jet as a true force multiplier and also said that a Pair of heavily armed “Omni role” Rafale has same combat potential as Six Mirage-2000s. Trappier said that recent spate of export orders will need ramping up of Rafale production rates soon, but he was also cautious and said that there are certain challenges to ramp up Supply Chain which involves close to 500 entities. Dassault Chief With Rafale Speaking on F3R upgrade program Trappier said that Integration of MBDA’s Meteor BVR missile and SAGEM Hammer AASM will take place in near future for which French government already has cleared a $1 Billion upgrade program to latest F3R standard. Sources have informed us that French negotiation team still believes that India will eventually continue with its full requirements for 126 Rafales to meet the origin...