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.

PLA’s new DF-5B Liquid-Fuel ICBM Can Hit Any Target On Earth

China is believed to be developing a new DF-5B liquid-fuel missile that will be able to strike any target on the planet, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily.

The People’s Liberation Army’s current or in-development arsenal of long-range strategic intercontinental missiles (ICBMs) are led by the DF-31A, the DF-41 and the JL-2, all of which feature solid-fuel rockets.

The DF-31A, with a range of 10,000 kilometers, can reach the west coast of the United States. The DF-41 has a longer operational range of 12,000-15,000 kilometers and can carry three or more warheads, though the missile is still in the testing phase. The JL-2, which has an estimated operation of up to 8,000 km, can only be fired from a submarine at sea.

US and Japanese media report that China may have recently tested two ICMBs, the DF-41 and and the DF-5A. Military commentator Gao Feng believes that the firing of the DF-41 was part of regular testing, though the DF-5A test was likely part of basic research to develop a new liquid-fuel missile based on the DF-5 or the DF-5A.

DF-5B liquid-fuel ICBM

According to Gao, though the DF-31A and the DF-41 are either in service already or nearing that stage, China should still have an interest in liquid-fuel missiles because of their significantly longer distances and higher load capacities. These advantages may be why Russia has recently announced that it is developing a new liquid-fuel missile based on its SS-18 ICBM.

China's KJ-500 AEW&C Platform Enters Service With PLAAF

Chinese military issue websites indicate the Kongjing 500 (KJ-500) airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft has started to enter service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

While images of the KJ-500 in the PLAAF paint scheme first appeared in late 2014, the first image of one with an official serial number (30471), confirming its service entry, did not appear until 18 March.

First seen in early 2013, the KJ-500 is based on the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation (SAC) Y-9 four-turboprop transport combined with a fixed phased-array radar developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology (NRIET, or 14th Institute).

Chinese internet sources suggest that while the KJ-500 is smaller in size, electronic advances enable its radar to be as capable as NRIET's fixed array for the KJ-2000 AEW&C system that is fitted to an Ilyushin Il-76 platform. In January 2013 Chinese television reported this radar could track 60 to 100 targets simultaneously out to 470 km.

KJ-500

The KJ-500 radar's three arrays are apparently the same size and contained in a saucer-shaped dome with an apparent satellite communications antenna in the middle. Other imagery indicates SAC considered but rejected a teardrop-shaped dome that would have allowed for larger side-looking arrays. The KJ-500 also features two passive electronic intelligence arrays.

China Finally Accepts it has an Army of Hackers

Well, something very unexpected has happened today. The fact that China is having an army of hackers isn’t surprising; instead, acceptance of this fact by China is shocking. United States, India and many other countries have been suspecting this communist nation for a long time for carrying out cyber attacks. But, the every instance and complaint made was denied by China in the past.

Now, China has decided to unveil the curtain covering this mystery. The latest edition of The Science of Military Strategy, which is a respected analysis of Chinese military actions and thinking, has written about China’s cyber-warfare army.

A Chinese military strategy expert at the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, Joe McReynolds told the Daily Beast that China has accepted the fact that it uses hackers and cyber-warfare units. He called this release as a “once in a generation” document. For the first time, China has said, “Yes, we do in fact have network attack forces, and we have teams on both the military and civilian government sides.”

Back in the year 2013, Mandiant, an American security agency, published a sixty-page report with information about the Chinese hacking group Unit 61398. This mischievous group was suspected of doing damages to American companies and government via its headquarters located in Shanghai.

China's Hacking Army

In 2014, U.S. filed criminal charges against five Chinese military officials: Gu Chunhui, Wang Dong, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Sun Kailiang. They were accused of hacking and are the FBI’s most wanted Chinese hackers.

PLAN Expands Its Type 093 Midget Submarine Line

Beijing has revealed a version of the Type 093 midget submarine, known as the 093T, suggesting that more vessels in this class may be produced, reports news website Cankao Xiaoxi.

The 093B midget submarine reportedly has a vertical launch system that can launch 16 missiles, including the supersonic anti-ship YJ-18 and the DH-10 cruise missile.

Such a submarine can carry up to nine special ops members and is ideal for covert transportation and surprise attack. It can also launch laser-guided missiles or sneak combat divers into military ports to perform recon or destroy high-value targets such as aircraft carriers or nuclear submarines.

        Type 093 midget submarine

The United States was developing a midget version of its Ohio-class submarines but reportedly stopped development after a fire in 2008. The submarines used a dry-deck shelter system which allows the midget submarine to dock completely inside of its larger cousin. The 093T submarine adapts a wet-deck shelter system, which means only two thirds of the submarine are secured to the mother submarine and the rest is exposed to water.

Is J-31 is Stealthier than F-35?

The Chinese J-31 has a thin straight wing root. "Thin" means a small surface area for reflecting radar waves. "Straight" conforms with facet design to minimize reflection direction.

The American F-35 has a thick wing root. Thick means more surface area for radar reflection. Also, the F-35 wing root is roundish. Round is terrible for stealth. It means multiple directions for radar reflections. [Note: "Continuous curvature" is like a duck bill and not related to round.]

J-31 thin wing root

All three F-35 versions share a common airframe. The STOVL version (or F-35B) requires a lift-fan and leads to an unstealthy thick wing root and angled bay doors.

A fundamental problem with the F-35 design is the specification to accommodate a vertical-takeoff lift-fan for the F-35B STOVL version. Since all three versions of the F-35 must have the same basic airframe, we see the same unstealthy characteristics on all F-35 versions.

F-35 Unstealthy

Due to the F-35 airframe that can support a lift-fan (whether it is actually present on the A and C versions is not relevant), all F-35s have a thick wing root. The thick wing root is not stealthy. The J-31 has a much thinner wing root and it is stealthier.

Also, the middle of the F-35 bottom fuselage is reserved for the lift-fan exhaust. This means the F-35 bay doors have to be skewed. This is bad aerodynamics (due to increased air resistance) and lead to much heavier hydraulics on the doors to push/keep it open at high speed. The increased weight leads to degraded F-35 acceleration and maneuverability performance.

F-35 Versions

Finally, due to the lack of room, the F-35 weapon bays bulge outward. There is a lack of space, because the center fuselage is reserved for the lift-fan and exhaust duct. The bulging F-35 weapon bays are not stealthy. It degrades the imperative of facet-shaping stealth.

In conclusion, the Chinese J-31 stealth fighter design is superior to the American F-35. The F-35 is less stealthy, because its specification requires a fuselage to accommodate a lift-fan.

PLA Budget Necessary To Upgrade Obsolete Hardware: Russian expert

China's government decided during this year's annual meetings of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to increase the country's military budget by 10.1% under the justification of needing to purchase more advanced weapon systems to replace old hardware left over from the Mao Zedong era, writes Vassily Kashin of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow's Sputnik News.

In the 1980s and '90s, the Chinese government focused most of its resources on economic reforms rather than defense under Deng Xiaoping's open door policy following the economic disaster of the Cultural Revolution. It was a similar situation to what Russia would later face after the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, Kashin said. The People's Liberation Army received very limited funding to buy new arms to replace its hardware from the 1950s and '60s.

During the 1980s, hardware like the Type 88 tank, Type 89 armored personnel carrier, Type 89 120mm tank destroyer and Type 83 152mm self-propelled howitzer were produced but only in very small numbers. They were certainly not enough to replace the obsolete military hardware designed when Chairman Mao was still around (Mao died in 1976).

US Needs New Stealth Fighters To Combat China's J-31

China recently demonstrated its second fifth-generation stealth fighter, the J-31, for the 10th Zhuhai Airshow held in Guangdong from Nov. 11-16. Dave Majumdar, an American defense expert, thus suggests in Washington's National Interest that the US must put the F-35 into service or develop new fighters to face this challenge.

China has come to realize that fourth-generation fighters such as the J-10, J-11, Su-27 and Su-30 will be obsolete when facing American fifth-generation stealth fighters like the F-22 and F-35, an official from the Pentagon said. "The price of admission for a fifth-gen war is a fifth-gen airplane and they get that," the official was quoted as saying. Many US aviators believe that the J-31 was built based on stolen F-22 and F-35 technologies and will eventually be as powerful as the two American fighters.

 

J-31

"I think they'll eventually be on par with our fifth-gen jets because industrial espionage is alive and well," an F-35 test pilot told the US Naval Institute. A senior official from the US Air Force said that an F-22 has a 30-to-one kill ratio versus a Su-30 or J-11 outside of a surface-to-air missile environment. When the J-20 and J-31 enter service with the PLA, even a three-to-one kill ratio advantage becomes costly.

Facing this new challenge, the official suggested those who question the need for the F-35 to rethink their logic. "They may be complex, expensive and still immature, but they are a quantum leap over every other fighter in our arsenal," said he. Believing that China will eventually make the J-20 and J-31 into perfect stealth fighters, the official suggested the United States to learn from China's commitment to upgrading its military technology.

China's People's Liberation Army Live-Fire drill In Northeast China

  The Chinese People's Liberation Army started a live-fire drill in northeast China, the largest in scale of the year. The military exercise code-named "Joint Action-2014E" is the last event of its kind in this year.

PLA Live-fire Drill

PLA Live-fire Drill

J-10B To Start Its Combat Service With PLAAF

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

China Tests Fired Its New DF-31B ICBM

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 website. As well, it is considered a greater strategic threat because tracking and targeting it in a conflict is very difficult. It can be hidden in garages or caves to avoid detection by satellites and other sensors, said the report.

The Second Artillery Corps, China's strategic missile force, is estimated to have 40 DF-31s and DF-31As. The DF-41 is expected to carry multiple nuclear warheads.

China's Carriers May Carry Modified J-20 Stealth Fighter

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 estimated 80,000 tons. Furthermore, they may use a steam catapult or electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

The current J-20 prototype lacks the design specs necessary to take off from a carrier. The length of the first domestically built aircraft carrier may be be longer than the Liaoning by an estimated 20 meters but a new version of the J-20 will have to be designed in any case to be more like the more compact J-15. China's new carrier wing may come equipped with 25 J-15Bs and 25 J-20s.

US Charges Chinese Military PLA Officials With Cyber-Spying

A US grand jury has indicted five Chinese individuals with cyber espionage charges for allegedly targeting six American companies and stealing trade secrets, publicly accusing China of cyber spying for the first time.

The hackers targeted US companies in the nuclear power, metals and solar products industries to steal information useful to competitors in China.

The companies targeted include Alcoa Inc, United States Steel Corp, Allegheny Technologies Inc, Westinghouse Electric Co and US subsidiaries of SolarWorld AG , US officials said.

The hackers also targeted United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW), officials said.

The hackers targeted US companies in the nuclear power, metals and solar products industries to steal information useful to competitors in China, the department said. 

More details were expected at a news conference later with Attorney General Eric Holder and other U.S. officials.

The move "indicates that DOJ has 'smoking keyboards' and (is) willing to bring the evidence to a court of law and be more transparent," said Frank Cilluffo, head of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University.

American officials have long been concerned about hacking from abroad, especially China. Secret US State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks traced major systems breaches to China, Reuters reported in 2011. One 2009 cable pinpointed attacks to a specific unit of China's People's Liberation Army.

Such charges, however, are symbolic but the move would prevent the individuals indicted from traveling to the United States or other countries that have an extradition agreement with the United States.

Several cyber security experts said Monday's action showed the United States was serious about tackling the hacking concerns.

China's Area 51 and New Technology?

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 as two shooting ranges, one for ballistic missiles and the other for aircraft. After the integration of the sites in 2003, China's first indigenous fourth-generation fighter completed its last air-to-air missile tests over the Badan Jilin Desert on Dec. 25 of that year.

J-31/F-60 or Project 310?

As we've seen the J-20 project proceed to the pre-production prototype stage, Project 310 (Shenyang AC's 5th gen design) is continuing its flight testing. Although, I and many other have called it J-31, it really hasn't become an official PLAAF project yet, so it has no J designation Many have called it the J-21 project, because they expect it to receive that designation once it becomes official.

J-31/F-60 Stealth Fighter

There have been a lot of discussions online about where this project is at and how is it funded, so I will give me take here. At this stage, project 310 only has one flying prototype in No. 31001. Some would compare it to No. 2001 of J-20 project, but I consider more as a proof of concept aircraft similar to X-35. For example, I think the pre-production prototypes should not longer see the gap between the engine nozzle and nacelle. From what I observed online, it seems to at least have received some funding from PLAAF to arrive at this stage, although SAC does has enough resource/funding to get here by itself. I think we are unlikely to see a second flying prototype until it becomes an official PLAAF project, since No. 31001 and a possible static prototype can give all the data PLAAF would need to make its decision. Based on all I have read, it seems to be foregone conclusion that will happen. Once it does get designation and full funding from PLAAF, SAC is likely to make numerous changes on the next flying prototype and also start conducting radar and weapon testing.

Just looking from front, Project 310 has the contours that one would expect out a stealth aircraft. One does not need to look far before seeing comparison to F-35 and reading articles about "stolen technology" from F-35. Whether this jet will turn out to really be a stealth aircraft depends on all the little details that the designers have to look through to minimize returns from all around. Until we get to a later prototype, it's really hard to say how well Project 310 will do in that area.

I am generally not too concerned about the electronics on the new Chinese aircraft, because I think they have really made huge progress here. I think they can achieve comparable target identification and situation awareness as F-22/35, since it will come into service at a later point when newer technology will become available. I think the biggest concern for this aircraft is its engine. This is a problem with all new PLAAF aircraft. Clearly, RD-93 will not be powering Project 310 in production. The 9.5t class "Medium Thrust" engine models have been around for several Zhuhai airshows. I would imagine that engine will be used on Project 310 and other projects like UAVs. Even though it has great important, it will not be as high priority as the WS-15 project. Since it began at a later point and has lower priority than WS-15, it definitely won't be ready before WS-15. If we estimate that serial production of WS-15 will be under way by 2020, this medium thrust engine won't be ready for serial production until 2025. PLAAF would have to either wait until then or find an interim selection. A large part of its test flight program may need to be done with a different engine.

China's Military Rapid Modernization A Shock To US

China's efforts to modernize its military force following its economic development has attracted attention from US.

One of the fruits of these efforts is the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter jet, which made its maiden flight on Jan. 11, 2011, surprising the visiting US secretary of defense Robert Gates, who previously predicted that China would not be able to conduct a test flight of a new-generation fighter plane until 2020.

J-15 Fighter Takes off from the Liaoning Aircraft Carrier

The maiden flight of the J-20 was followed by the debuts of the Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter jet, China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, new attack choppers and new ground-to-ground medium-range missiles, according to the Guangzhou-based South Reviews magazine.

The intensive rollout of cutting-edge military equipment has been made possible by the country's economic development and expanding military outlay, at double-digit growth rate annually over the past 20 years, the magazine reported.