China may have conducted test flight of world's fastest aircraft

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 can travel faster than Mach 5, or 6,125 kilometers per hour.

From the descriptions, it does not appear to be a WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle but rather a new large-sized reconnaissance jet that can that can reach hypersonic speeds on its own, Guancha added.

Hong Kong's Phoenix Television also said that the AVIC report referred to "test pilots," but since the term can also be used to describe drone pilots, it is impossible to confirm at this stage whether the aircraft is manned or unmanned.

China may launch Type 001A carrier on Mao's birthday

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 the supercarriers of the US Navy.

Ming Pao also pointed out that China has a tradition of launching new warships at the end of a year to celebrate Chairman Mao's birthday. In 1970, it was the day that China launched its first nuclear-powered submarine, the Changzhen-I. Three out of China's four Han-class Type 091 submarines were also launched on Dec. 26.

China's Updated J-31 Unveiled, Expected to Hit Global Market in 5 yrs

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 designed for high survivability, low vulnerability to radar detection and low infrared radiation, and possesses excellent electronic countermeasures. The stealth fighter also has powerful target detection and external information gathering functionality, meaning it will have strong air combat capabilities can attack both land and sea targets.

The development of the J-31 has been extremely fast as it is based on mature technology, Sina Military said, noting that there have been allegations that China stole technology from America's F-35 Lightning fighter jet to design the aircraft.

The J-31 is expected to complete test flights within the next five years and be promoted on the international market shortly thereafter. By 2024, China could market the J-31 as a replacement for the current JF-17 Block II multirole combat aircraft it jointly developed with Pakistan.

Can Chinese Operating System (OS) replace Microsoft Windows?

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.

“The NeoKylin OS is available on Dell Latitude commercial laptops, Dell OptiPlex commercial desktops, andDellPrecision workstations,” a spokesperson for Dell in China told Quartz. The Dell China website advertises several models shipping with NeoKylin, like this Latitude:

NeoKylin is offered with Dell Latitude laptops in China.(Dell China)

So what’s it like to use? We downloaded and installed the latest “community version” of NeoKylin 6.0, previously available on China Standard Software’s website.

This community version is not identical to what is shipping with Dell computers, said Cui Wenzhe, a spokesperson for China Standard Software. But “the basic code is the same,” he said, and the differences he mentioned are minor, like improvements to the interface and extra drivers that help the OS interact with Dell’s hardware.

It is an XP replacement, alright. It looks nearly identical to Microsoft’s venerable OS.

Su-34 Fullback: Russia's Hottest Bomber

               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.

Pakistan is Buying Type-022 Houbei Stealth Catamaran Missile Boats

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).

Pakistan Wants Turkish MRAP Kirpi

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.

China's cutting edge Missile capacity

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 that marked the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War. The seven types shown at the grand event were the CJ-10A cruise missile, the DF-15B and DF-16 short-range ballistic missiles, the DF-21D medium-range ballistic missile, the DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile, and the DF-31A and DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Yinji-12 anti-ship missile

In the 2009 parade, marking the 60th anniversary of New China, 108 missiles in five types were displayed, including the DF-11A short-range ballistic missile and the DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missile.

Among the military hardware on display on Thursday, the DF-26 and DF-21D were the stars of the parade, Shao said.

"The DF-26 can be used to destroy ground targets and mobile seaborne targets. The missile has closed the gap in the PLA Second Artillery Corps' strike range, as we previously lacked intermediate-range projection platforms because the DF-21 is for medium-range tasks while the DF-31 is for intercontinental projection," she explained.

Foreign media reported that the DF-26 is an upgraded version of the DF-21, which was the first solid-fuel ballistic missile deployed by the PLA Second Artillery Corps. It is able to hit targets up to 4,000 kilometers from the launch site, according to IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.

Chinese Firm Unveils New Sensors For J-20, J-31

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 decide to test them on the J-20 and J-31, he says. Operational status is at least a year away for both sensors and possibly longer, Yanyong adds.

Pakistan's PAF Re-equip Squadron No 2 Minhas With JF-17

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

Dassault want Rafale Deal With India Very Soon

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 original MMRCA requirements even though India officially has cancelled MMRCA tender.