Non-Slavic military & F-22 CRAPtor.

[TsarSamuil]

China launches first domestic amphibious assault ship in major naval breakthrough.

RT.com
25 Sep, 2019 10:30

China’s navy is one step closer to greatly boosting its capabilities with the launch of a Type 075 ship, China’s first modern amphibious assault vessel, a 40,000-ton behemoth carrying dozens of helicopters and military vehicles.

The launch ceremony on Wednesday took place at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, with local and Beijing officials as well as the vessel’s designers and workers present. The launch has expected for weeks after photos of a mostly-completed ship began circulating on Chinese social media.

The Type 075, which has been in development since at least 2011, is estimated to have a displacement of 40,000 tons, a length of 250 meters and a speed of 23 knots. Her size is slightly behind the US Navy’s counterparts, the 41,000 ton Wasp-class and the 45,000 ton America-class, but far ahead of those operated by France, Australia, Spain, Japan, and South Korea.

The new Chinese ship is expected to carry as many as 30 attack and transport helicopters on its deck, which can also be used to launch planes with vertical or short take off and landing capability. Her arsenal also includes amphibious tanks and armored vehicles and air-cushioned landing craft.

The capabilities of Type 075 are significantly improved compared to the Type 071, also known as the Yuzhao-class, which currently serves as the backbone for the Chinese navy’s amphibious assault operations but carry only two helicopters.

The newly-launched ship will require an unspecified period of sea trials and equipment adjustments, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Two Type 075 ships are currently in the making while a somewhat bigger third one was reportedly planned.

[TsarSamuil]

China shows off HYPERSONIC missiles & STEALTH drones during its 70th National Day.

RT
Oct 1, 2019



Beijing has unveiled its nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle and showed off other latest military tech at a grand parade at Tiananmen Square, marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

[TsarSamuil]

Sleeping dragon no more: China about to replace US as strongest naval power and Washington is too late to stop it.

RT.com
21 Dec, 2019 08:46

China might soon shift the world naval balance and unseat the US as the modern master of the seas. The process appears to already be under way, and there is little that Washington can do about stopping it.

Visibly shaken by what it has seen on a photo showing just one of China's military shipyards near Shanghai, the business magazine Forbes recently told its readers an alarming story about the "impressive rate" and "vast scale" of Chinese naval modernization.

The shipyard in question indeed appears to be an impressive sight to behold. There, one can see a total of nine newly constructed destroyers lined along the quay and docked in an inner shipyard basin. By contrast, the entire UK Royal Navy has a total of just six similar-class vessels, Forbes notes.

As if it was not enough, the same shipyard is also building China's newest aircraft carrier – the third in a row. The second one, called the Shandong, was commissioned by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) earlier this week. Designed to carry 36 J-15 fighter jets, it is China's first fully domestically produced carrier.

The one under construction at the Shanghai shipyard is expected to be even bigger and better. In particular, it will have an electromagnetic catapult – just like the US Navy’s newest carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford.

More importantly, this one shipyard is but a sneak peek into China's real capabilities as there are "many yards across China, which are similarly impressive," Forbes warns its readers.

'Good reason' to worry

What might have come as a surprise for Forbes has been occupying the minds of all sorts of analysts for quite some time. The US media and think tanks alike are all united in their concerns about Beijing's growing military power.

In June, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based think tank, argued that China's industrial and technological capabilities might help it "beat the Americans at their own game" and get an edge in the new arms race.

"The Soviets were never able to match, much less overcome, America's technological superiority. The same may not be true for China," warns the CNAS paper, adding that Beijing "strives to achieve technological parity, and eventually technological dominance."

Similarly, a whole range of media outlets from The Diplomat to the National Interest spared no efforts telling their readers that China's military modernization poses "a challenge" to the US and gives Washington "good reasons" to worry. Harvard Policy Review made a step further and wondered whether Beijing's strategy could put it on a "path to hegemony," eventually admitting that it mostly depends on "how far China is willing to go."

Meanwhile, the RAND Corporation – a premier US military think tank -- showed in its research that China's rapid military development program has already allowed it to drastically close the gap in power and technology, and even to put the US at a disadvantage in certain scenarios.

The think tanks and the media apparently believe it is high time Washington started worrying about losing its military superiority to the Chinese dragon, which seems to be just spreading its wings. But when it comes to naval power, it might already be too late.

'Unprecedented program Americans cannot even dream of'

Beijing has made its naval forces the cornerstone of its military modernization, analysts tell RT. China is actively pursuing the role of a global military power able to project its force to any corner of the earth, and the US may not have the sheer industrial capacity to compete.

"It is easier for China to increase its fleet numbers as it is the world's biggest shipbuilder. They have immense shipyard capacities, which the US lacks, as its commercial shipbuilding has been thrown into disarray over the past decades," says Vasily Kashin, Far East researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Political scientist and military expert Aleksandr Khramchikhin, deputy head of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, described the Chinese navy development program as "totally unprecedented."

One cannot even count all the ships being built there. The modern Chinese program is unrivaled throughout the world and the Americans cannot even dream of such pace.

Khramchikhin believes that Beijing might be able to rival Washington in terms of the sheer fleet size in a decade or so. He particularly noted that China has been able to build frigates, corvettes and even destroyers by the dozen over the past decades.

"Ten years ago, the US had 15 aircraft carriers and China had none. In ten years, they might become even… They have more shipbuilders than the rest of the world together."

Closing the technological gap

One advantage the US would seem certain to hold on to is technological superiority. It could try to curb China's emerging naval might by limiting Beijing's access to modern technologies. That strategy is unlikely to work, the analysts believe, as China already has some cutting-edge technologies it could easily develop further. Besides, it can also approach its strategic partner, Russia.

"They make great technological advances," Kashin says. He points that the Chinese were the second nation in the world to equip their ships with integrated universal weapons systems rivaling America's Aegis – an advanced command and control system using powerful computers and radars to track and guide the vessels’ weapons.

Khramchikhin believes that Chinese naval technologies are already in many ways comparable to those of the US. "When it comes to surface ships, the Chinese already have some of the most advanced technologies."

It is true that some military technologies are difficult to master and take decades to develop. It is particularly relevant in the case of submarines, a field where China is still trailing the US. Here, however, close cooperation between Beijing and Moscow might tip the scales, the analysts believe.

Most recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin told an end-of-the-year press conference in Moscow that Russia will continue to work with China as a "strategic partner" in the field of defense technologies, even though he denied any plans on entering a formal military alliance with Beijing.

"Some joint development projects, sophisticated equipment components… these can all come from Russia," Kashin believes.

Washington might slow Beijing down a bit at some point, but the way things look now, the US doesn't seem to have any credible means to prevent China from becoming the world's next naval superpower in a decade or two.

[TsarSamuil]

Beijing Places ‘Heavy Orders’ as J-20B Stealth Fighter Enters Mass Production.

Sputnik
MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 19:11 GMT 13.07.2020

The world’s third operational fifth-generation aircraft, the Chengdu J-20 “Weilong,” has entered mass production, according to insider reports. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has reportedly placed a large order, now that many of the jet’s early problems have been sorted out.

According to PLA insider reports, a new version of the J-20, the J-20B, is ready to be fielded by the Chinese military.

“Mass production of the J-20B started on Wednesday. It has finally become a complete stealth fighter jet, with its agility meeting the original criteria,” a military source close to the project told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Sunday.
“The launch of the J-20B means this aircraft now is a formal fifth-generation fighter jet,” said SCMP’s source, which noted Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (CAC) had received “heavy orders” from the People’s Liberation Army.

Just a handful of J-20As have been made - 50 by the end of 2019 according to SCMP, which noted in January the PLA would likely need between 100 and 200 to fill its needs. It’s estimated CAC can make four J-20s per month.

The source noted the new version of the stealthy jet is equipped with thrust vector control, a high-tech function on some newer jet fighters that allows them to change the angle their jet engines are pointing. This function makes an aircraft supermaneuverable.
Some other jets with the ability include the US’ F-22 Raptor, Russia’s Su-30-series fighters and Su-57 and China’s J-10C.

Related to the matter of thrust on the J-20 is the development of its engines: Beijing has been attempting to replace the J-20’s underpowered WS-10 and AL-31 engines, the latter of which is built in Russia, with the domestically produced WS-15 high-thrust turbofan engine, but the work remains ongoing.

“The Chinese engine designed for the J-20s still failed to meet requirements, but its development is going quite smoothly, and it may be ready in the next one or two years,” the source told SCMP. “The ultimate goal is to equip the J-20B fighter jets with domestic engines.”
The report makes no mention of a rumored naval version of the J-20 that would complement or replace the staple of the PLA Navy’s aviation wing, the J-15. As Sputnik reported, a naval version of the J-20 would have to be much smaller than the present design in order to comfortably fit on an aircraft carrier.

The other aircraft under consideration is the Shenyang J-31 or FC-31 Gyrfalcon, a newer fifth-generation jet than the J-20, but for which the PLA has struggled to find an adequate use. However, the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment, the research and development branch of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, said earlier this month it plans to begin testing a “new type of aircraft” for naval use in conjunction with Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, the maker of the FC-31.

[TsarSamuil]

Photos: China Begins Final Assembly of Next Two Advanced Aircraft Carriers, Aims for 2021 Delivery.

Sputnik
MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 19:07 GMT 20.07.2020

According to photos and reports emerging from China, the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) third and fourth aircraft carriers are having their massive hulls assembled simultaneously. The warships are anticipated to sport electromagnetic catapults, like the US Navy’s newest carrier, making them more dangerous than ever.

Photos have emerged on Chinese social media showing the assembly of two massive warships at the Jiangnan Shipyard outside Shanghai, where the PLAN’s next two aircraft carriers are being built. Anonymous, independent sources told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) they are indeed the first two Type 002 carriers, the first of which will be completed next year.

“Assembly of the new aircraft carrier has begun and is expected to be completed in the first half of next year, because the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down progress,” one source told SCMP. “Workers are also starting the keel-laying for the new carrier’s sister ship. Both ships have been built by the Jiangnan Shipyard outside Shanghai.”

In the photos, several pieces of the ships, assembled separately, can be seen being slowly fitted together.

Earlier this month, observers noted the arrival of the “mega-modules” carrying the pre-assembled pieces into the new shipyard area at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

​A second source told the SCMP, “Construction for the second Type 002 will be faster than the first one because workers have learned and overcome a lot of problems building the first one.

It’s a challenging job because the Type 002 is our country’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier.”

The sources told the paper that work on the first Type 002 began in 2015 and on the second ship in 2018, although it was paused last year for technical reasons.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington, DC, estimates the ships’ displacement to be roughly 80,000 tons each, with a 40-meter beam at the waterline. That’s nearly twice the displacement of China’s present carriers and comparable to the US Navy’s first supercarriers, but not quite the size of the Nimitz-class and Ford-class carriers Washington uses today and which clock in at 100,000 tons.

Beijing commissioned its first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Shandong, in December 2019. The warship is a close parallel to the Liaoning, China’s first carrier, which it bought as an incomplete hull from Ukraine, begun in the final days of the Soviet Union as the Kuznetsov-class carrier Riga. Russia operates the Liaoning’s sister ship, the Admiral Kuznetsov, as its navy’s flagship.

However, the new Type 002 is believed to be a different design from the Shandong, which was called the Type 001a before its commissioning, but confusingly also referred to as the Type 002 at times. One major advance is that the new ships are anticipated to have electromagnetic aircraft catapults to lift their air wings into the skies, rather than the bow “ski ramp” system used by the Liaoning and Shandong.

Aircraft catapults mean the Type 002’s warplanes can take off with much more fuel and bombs than before - an important upgrade, since the staple aircraft of Chinese naval aviation, the J-15, suffers major limitations due to its size and weight. However, recent statements from the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment, the research and development branch of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, point to the advancement of proposals to make the experimental FC-31 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter into China’s primary carrier-borne aircraft, with tests beginning before the end of the year.

However, the US Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford, the only other warship that uses electromagnetic catapults instead of steam catapults, has struggled to make the technology work reliably.

Hong Kong-based military commentator Liang Guoliang told the SCMP the Type 002 is expected to still be oil-fueled; by contrast, the US and French navies have carriers powered by nuclear reactors.

Sputnik has previously reported on the PLAN’s plans to dramatically expand its carrier forces, not just with large fleet carriers like the Type 002, but also with several Type 075 landing helicopter docks (LHDs), a type of helicopter carrier with facilities for dispatching thousands of marines and their equipment for an amphibious assault. China’s Global Times reported the first Type 075 will soon be ready to stretch its sea legs for the first time, and the second finished construction in April; the third is under construction at a different Shanghai shipyard than the Type 002s.

Beijing plans to have six aircraft carriers by 2035, organized into three fleets covering the Yellow Sea, East and South China seas.

[TsarSamuil]

No armor, no cry? UK govt reportedly debates SCRAPPING TANKS in favor of hi-tech weapons.

RT.com
25 Aug, 2020 09:20

A radical plan currently being debated by the government would see the British Army boost its air and cyber warfare capabilities while mothballing its armored fleet, according to a newspaper report.

British defense chiefs have outlined plans to deactivate the Army’s Challenger 2 main battle tanks and Warrior armored fighting vehicles (AFV), as the costs of maintaining them have skyrocketed, the Times newspaper has reported.

Costs aside, the armored fleet – which currently consists of 227 Challengers and 388 Warriors – has reportedly been deemed “obsolete.” Some in the military have argued that 21st-century warfare will rely on cyber capabilities, along with space-related and other cutting-edge warfighting technologies.

“The future is about manned/unmanned autonomous things [personnel remotely controlling or deploying unmanned equipment],” General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of Joint Forces Command, told the Times. Spending money “on a small number of manned platforms” would put the UK “another generation behind.”

According to the report, giving up the heavy armor comes as part of a government integrated foreign policy, defense and security review, which is set to be finished in November. London, however, has already reached out to its NATO allies, telling them of its plans to scrap the tanks.

The UK, one of the few bloc members with a sizeable tank force – is offering a lead role in attack, heavy-lift refueling and reconnaissance aviation, plus unspecified cyber, electronic and unconventional warfare, the paper has learned.

Critics of the controversial plan insist Britain will lose much of its geopolitical power if it gives up the heavy armor. “We simply will not be viewed as a credible leading NATO nation if we cannot field close-combat capabilities. It places us behind countries such as France, Germany, Poland and Hungary,” a high-ranked defense source told the Times.

If the plans are greenlit, the Challengers are most likely to be put into deep preservation, which would allow for bringing them back into operation in case of a crisis. Should the army decide to keep them, only 150 to 170 of them could be upgraded or replaced, according to the paper.

Britain isn’t the only NATO nation to float giving up the tank. A few years ago, the Netherlands has dissolved all of its tank squadrons, opting instead for the lighter infantry fighting vehicles. The Dutch military explained the move by the absence of military threats requiring massive tank deployment.

The tanks aren’t the only matter for debate concerning the armed forces in Britain. Earlier this year, the news that London had quietly agreed to purchase new US nuclear warheads to replace the homegrown Trident sparked quite a stir among MPs.

Lawmakers were outraged by the fact that that the pricey transfer was being carried out with zero consultation and zero scrutiny by Parliament, while the general public accused the Tory government of being Washington’s lapdog.

[TsarSamuil]

US’ successful ICBM intercept test brings us closer to a nuclear war and proves Moscow’s concerns were well grounded.

RT.com
17 Nov, 2020 19:43

The US has long dismissed Russian concerns over the deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system on European soil. This week’s test of the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor against an ICBM has proven Russian concerns correct.

On Tuesday, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced it conducted a test of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System-equipped Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS John Finn, against what was termed a “threat-representative Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) target” using a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA interceptor. The test object was launched from Kwajalein Atoll, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, toward an area of the Pacific Ocean northeast of Hawaii. According to the MDA, the SM-3 Block IIA missile successfully intercepted its target.

The successful test is but the latest in a series intended to prepare the SM-3 Block IIA missile and its associated systems–the Aegis Baseline-9 Weapons System and Command and Control Battle Management Communications (C2BMC) network–for operational duty as America’s frontline missile defense capability.

Previously, the Aegis weapons system had been advertised by the US as being limited against short- and intermediate-range missile threats. This reasoning was cited by both US and NATO officials as a counter to long-standing Russian concerns that the Aegis Ashore missile defense systems installed in Romania and Poland represented a threat to Russian strategic missile capabilities. The shooting down of an ICBM-like target by the Aegis BMD System has shown that Russia’s concerns were, in fact, well grounded.

The Aegis system tested off the coast of Hawaii is identical to those recently made operational in Romania and under construction in Poland, having been specifically designed to use the Aegis Baseline 9 Weapons System, and are interoperable with the US C2BMC European network. As such, there is no reason the European Aegis Ashore sites cannot be used to intercept ICBMs. Indeed, while the Romanian Aegis Ashore is currently equipped with the less-capable SM-3 Block IB interceptor, the Polish Aegis Ashore site will use the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor, providing an ICBM-killing capability for the European continent.

Russia has long held that the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems in Europe represented a major alteration of the strategic balance of power, insofar as it empowered a potential US/NATO nuclear first strike scenario, in which US nuclear-armed missiles would be launched against Russian strategic nuclear forces in an effort to preemptively destroy them. Europe would then avoid the certainty of mutually assured destruction by hiding behind the US missile defense shield, which in theory would be capable of shooting down the handful of Russian missiles that might survive such an attack.

In response to the initial deployment of Aegis Ashore in Europe, Russia forward-deployed short-range nuclear missiles into Kaliningrad as a deterrent.

The SM-3 Block IIA interceptor represents a great threat to Russia. When deployed from aboard Baseline-9 equipped Arleigh Burke-class destroyers integrated into the C2BMC network, the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor becomes the anchor of a potentially global missile defense shield capable of nullifying the ICBM strike potential of all would-be adversaries–including Russia.

The US Navy currently bases four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers at its Naval Base in Rota, Spain, and has plans to increase this number to six in the near future. These destroyers have begun patrolling the Barents Sea, above the Arctic Circle, putting them in a position to shoot down Russian ICBMs trying to reach the US by overflying the Arctic.

The threat posed to Russia by the SM-3 Block IIA is real. Russia has long linked further progress in arms control to the need for the US to agree to limitations on its ballistic missile defense capabilities to prevent the very situation that is unfolding today.

By putting the SM-3 Black IIA interceptor to the test as an anti-ICBM weapon, the US has made the New START treaty irrelevant overnight, testing the willingness of Russia to agree to an extension. Even if Russia does allow the New START treaty to be extended, there is little doubt that it will insist on meaningful and verifiable limits to US ballistic missile defense capabilities, including the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor, before Russia could sign on to a new follow-on strategic arms reduction treaty.

More critically is what the new SM-3 Block IIA does to the current Russian nuclear posture, which is already being re-evaluated in light of the decision by the US to deploy low-yield nuclear warheads onboard US missile-carrying submarines.

The combination of low-yield nuclear weapons on board US submarines lurking off Russia’s coast with US destroyers equipped to shoot down Russian ICBMs is the stuff of any Russian nuclear planner’s worst nightmare. Russia will most likely be compelled to reexamine its alert posture to account for the increased possibility that the US may seek to launch a preemptive decapitation attack using low-yield nuclear weapons.

This means that Russia will be compelled to react quickly to any detection event suggestive of such a strike, reducing the time for leaders to consider the possibility of error before giving the order to launch. In short, while the US may claim that the SM-3 Block IIA is a defensive weapon that creates stability in regional and global security, the exact opposite is the case–the SM-3 Block IIA increases the chance for inadvertent nuclear war between the US and Russia. This is never a good outcome.