Non-Slavic military & F-22 CRAPtor.

[TsarSamuil]

Futuristic Chinese ‘supersonic’ sub could reach US shores in under two hours.

RT.com
August 26, 2014 02:03

Traveling from Shanghai to San Francisco in under two hours may sound like a fantasy, but China believes it’s figured out how to design an underwater vehicle that can make the idea a reality.

More worryingly, though, is the possibility that the technology will be used to develop even more dangerous weaponry.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the super-fast technology was developed by scientists at the Harbin Institute of Technology, and would allow underwater submarines or torpedoes to exceed the equivalent speed of sound under water – about 3,600 miles per hour.

The idea is based on the old Soviet concept of supercavitation, which involves creating a large air bubble around an object so that it could avoid facing too much friction and travel through water quickly.

Professor Li Fengchen said that when the vessel hits the water, one of its mechanisms continuously sprays a “special liquid membrane” all over the object’s surface. This membrane eventually wears off, but by the time the vessel reaches 46 miles per hour, it’s going fast enough to enter supercavitation state and generate an air bubble capable of helping it cover previously unknown distances.

"Our method is different from any other approach, such as vector propulsion," Li told SCMP. "By combining liquid-membrane technology with supercavitation, we can significantly reduce the launch challenges and make cruising control easier."

In theory, this means a trip across the Pacific Ocean would take only 100 minutes, while a transatlantic voyage could be undertaken in less than an hour.

Despite the claims of progress, Li added that there are still significant hurdles scientists have to overcome, such as creating precise steering controls and an engine strong enough to power the whole operation.

Many details surrounding the technology remain unknown, since the project is still categorized as a military secret. Supercavitation could still be used to create fast-moving torpedoes and other weapons, and the US, Russia, Germany, and Iran are all working on the same issue.

Still, Li said there could be ways to use the breakthrough to benefit more than just militaries. It could pave the way for fast underwater transportation, or help create swimsuits that allow for unprecedented mobility.

"If a swimsuit can create and hold many tiny bubbles in water,” he said, “it can significantly reduce the water drag; swimming in water could be as effortless as flying in the sky.”

[TsarSamuil]

‘First shot’: Iran tests Bavar-373 system aimed to substitute Russian S-300.

RT.com
August 30, 2014 12:22


A picture shows a part of Iran's new medium range anti-aircraft air defence system Mersad (Ambush) (AFP Photo)

Tehran has showcased an indigenous long-range air defense system, the Bavar-373 missile, developed as an alternative to the Russian S-300 after Moscow canceled its contract.

"Bavar-373 has fired a first successful shot," the commander of the Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base, Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli, told Iranian state TV on Friday.

According to Iranian security officials, the new system is better than the Russian S-300, as it is able to track over 100 targets, just like the Russian system but with a higher targeting capability.

"We believe that 'Bavar' and '3rd of Khordad' missile shields are better than some other long-range missile defense systems of the country," ol-Anbia added, Fars news reports.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the development of the missile system, after then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev banned armed sales to the country in light of UN sanctions against Tehran. Following the move, Iran filed a $4 billion lawsuit against Russia in the international arbitration court in Geneva.



The S-300 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system produced by NPO Almaz. It is designed to be used as a defensive weapon against aircraft and cruise missiles.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Air Defense commander boasted that the country's defense systems will track down all of Islamic Republic's enemies if they fly over Iran's airspace.

“We give a warning to the enemy’s aircraft before entering the Islamic Republic’s airspace, and deem any kind of intruding drones or planes of enemy a threat, and shoot it down immediately in case of entry [into Iran],” Colonel Mahmoud Ahmadi, commander of Iran’s southwestern Air Defense zone, Tasnim news reported.

This follow an August 24 incident, when the country's forces shot down a stealth drone thought to be sent from Israel. The invading “Hermes” aircraft was intercepted by a surface-to-air missile.

Iran has also unveiled plans to increase the number of air defense sites from the current 3,600 to 5,000, according to Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli.

[TsarSamuil]

China’s Xi Jinping demands Army should be ready ‘to win regional war’

RT.com
September 23, 2014 09:58

Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly reshuffling the country’s top brass and calling on Beijing’s army chiefs to improve troops’ combat readiness so that they are able to “win a regional war.”

"The headquarters of all PLA (People's Liberation Army) forces should improve their combat readiness and sharpen their ability to win a regional war in the age of information technology," Xi said at a meeting with the country’s military elite, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

In an attempt to speed up the army’s reform, Xi is promoting two People's Liberation Army (PLA) generals close to him, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

The move might help him achieve greater loyalty within the military forces, something he has also demanded from army chiefs.

"The headquarters of PLA forces must have absolute loyalty and firm faith in the Communist Party of China, guarantee a smooth chain of command and make sure all decisions from the central leadership are fully implemented," Xi said.

The call for loyalty and combat readiness comes as China’s border confrontation with India escalates. Chinese troops have several times crossed the so called Line of Actual Control (LAC) – a demarcation line between Indian and Chinese territory – in the Ladakh region over the last week. The standoff has prompted questions about whether the Chinese army at the border was following instructions from Beijing or acting on its own.

On Monday, the press office for China's Defense Ministry dismissed the confrontation as a by-product of a longstanding misunderstanding over where the border between the two countries should lie.

"The China-India boundary dispute is an issue left over from history,” the military’s statement said. “The boundary between the two countries has not been demarcated until now and there are differing perceptions with regards to the line of actual control (LAC)."

[TsarSamuil]

Shoot them down, Assad!

rt.com/usa/189984-pentagon-f22-combat-first-syria/

Pentagon: F-22s used in combat for first time in Syria.

RT.com
September 23, 2014 15:16

This week’s strike against Islamic State militants in Syria by the United States marked the first time that the Pentagon has deployed its F-22 Raptor jets into combat, the Defense Department acknowledged on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the director of ops for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged during a Department of Defense briefing on Tuesday morning that the strikes launched by the US hours earlier were the first ever to involve F-22s — a fifth-generation aircraft that’s capable of dropping precisions bombs on targets from 15 miles away.

“What we were looking at were the effects we wanted to see on the target areas and what platforms in the region would be best suited to do that,” Mayville told reporters at the Pentagon. “We had a large menu of targets to strike from and we chose from there. Really it’s less the platform then the effects we seek.”

The fighter jets have previously been deployed to Asia and the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal acknowledged on Tuesday, but have until now not been relegated with combat duties. The Pentagon had invested roughly $77.4 billion on the fleet of Raptors as of 2012 but, as RT has reported in the past, a series of complications has repeatedly plagued the F-22 program.

Roughly an hour before Mayville’s remarks, US President Barack Obama said during a brief address from the White House in Washington, DC that American forces began strikes in Syria against the Islamic State — also known as ISIS, or ISIL — with the aid of five Arab nations: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar. “The proponent of the force” used against IS, Mayville said, was delivered by America’s military, both by air and by sea.

“America is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with these nations on behalf of our common security,” Obama said early Thursday. “The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not America's fight alone.”

Additionally, the president acknowledged, the US “also took strikes to disrupt plotting against the United States and our allies by seasoned Al-Qaeda operatives in Syria who are known as the Khorasan group.” Later, Mayville said the strike against this group was necessary to thwart an “imminent” attack.

"For some time now, we've been tracking plots to conduct attacks in the United States or Europe," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told Reuters. "We believe that attack plotting was imminent and that they had plans to conduct attacks external to Syria," Rhodes told reporters on Tuesday while traveling with the president to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

[TsarSamuil]

Washington think tank hires ‘Call of Duty’ creator to advise Pentagon on future threats to US.

RT.com
September 28, 2014 11:46

You would think war-themed video games copy real life, and not the other way around. Not this time. A Washington think tank has hired the maker of the acclaimed “Call of Duty” game to envision the kind of future wars the US could be fighting.

The key reason for this, according to the Atlantic Council think tank, is that, with all its money and capabilities, America really isn’t thinking creatively about the various threats it could face in the 21st century.

Dave Anthony, the creator of the billion-dollar Call of Duty franchise, will be joining other authors, screenwriters and entertainment figures in an initiative called 'The Art of Future War Project,' set to launch next week, according to AFP.

The idea came rather suddenly, when former Pentagon official Steven Grundman walked in on his son playing 'Call of Duty: Black Ops II,' which depicts a 2025 cold war between China and the United States. In it, the two superpowers are vying for rare earth elements in secret missions.

"He was struck how realistic our portrayal in 'Call of Duty: Black Ops II' was of a future conflict," Anthony told the news agency.

“It occurred to me that the perspective of artists on this question is compelling and insightful, and it’s also different,” Grundman was cited as saying by the Washington Post. “One feature that struck me was the combination of both familiar technologies and novel ones.”

“I didn’t want to satisfy myself with an approach everyone was doing,” he added. “It’s a crowded field of ideas,” Grundman said, explaining his belief why military think tanks alone aren’t up to the task.

According to Anthony, the game itself was the result of brainstorming by a number of creative professionals of all sorts, including Batman screenwriter David Goyer, as well as Oliver North, the former marine who later became a TV personality at the height of the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, when US officials secretly sold weapons to the Islamic state, despite there being an arms embargo.

"You get everybody in a room like that, and all the different perspectives come together," Goyer said. "That combination was fascinating. What I would like to bring to Washington is that kind of thinking."

Anthony himself also believes that the real-world Pentagon could benefit from fantasy-based thinking for the simple reason that the US isn’t preparing even for the scenarios it knows it might face, often on the pretext that there isn’t adequate funding, or that certain bridges can be crossed when reached.

So the project will attempt to “set up” the government to think of those sorts of danger. The Council admitted also that national security decision-makers could do with some “new voices” to give them a push, where imagining the mix of existing and future threats may be concerned.

"Writers, directors and producers and other artists bring to bear observations derived from wholly different experiences in the creative world," it said in a statement.

"They can ask different kinds of questions that will challenge assumptions and status quo ways of tackling some of today's toughest national security problems."

Anthony is set to appear in Washington on Tuesday with the kind of presentation common to the entertainment sphere – stylish videos. One of them will be presenting a Las Vegas rendition of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, when a series of coordinated bombings and shootings carried out by Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, allegedly with secret help from Pakistani intelligence elements.

Anthony went further, saying that he sees parallels between government work and running a multi-billion dollar entertainment venture, in the way that both are high-pressure environments with many players and idiosyncrasies in decision-making, all of which require overcoming.

He believes that US military thinking is somewhat stale, and that it streamlines when it comes to making brave and risky decisions, and that’s one other thing he hopes to combat.

"The way I like to think about it is the next attack has already happened, someone has already thought of it. How do you look at all the ideas that are out there?"

"The problem is the next attack is very unlikely to be the same as the previous attack," Anthony said, adding that even today’s Islamic State campaign by the Obama administration is ill-equipped to predict how the Islamist terrorists will strike back.

"I think this is going to be the next 9/11," he said.

[TsarSamuil]

China Successfully Develops Laser System Able to Shoot Down Drones in Seconds: Reports.

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - China has successfully developed a laser defense system that can shoot down small-scale low flying drones within a two kilometer radius in five seconds, Xinhua news reported.

The laser system with its precision, speed and low noise can shoot down drones at an altitude of 500 meters and a speed of 50 meters per second (180 kilometers per hour or 112 miles per hour), the news agency reported on Sunday evening citing a statement published by the China Academy of Engineering Physics.

The academy’s statement added that the laser system would be installed in vehicles, aimed at providing heightened security at major events. These include international conferences, sporting events and political meetings. Based on the testing carried out, the laser system indicated 100 percent success.

"Intercepting such drones is usually the work of snipers and helicopters, but their success rate is not as high and mistakes with accuracy can result in unwanted damage," Yi Jinsong, of the team leading the project was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Jinsong added that small-scale unmanned drones were a likely choice for terrorists because they were cheap and easy to use.

Meanwhile, the academy is working on similar laser systems with greater power and range, the news agency reported.

[TsarSamuil]

Pentagon raises specter of Chinese superiority to boost funding.

RT.com
November 08, 2014 02:15

The Pentagon’s weapons buyer said the US’s military advantage is evaporating due to under-funding while China’s budget grows by 12 percent annually. Pentagon officials say without investment China could have greater influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Pentagon has been beating its drum for increased government spending on research and development for several years so the US can maintain its military advantage over China in the Asia-Pacific region. The agency is not concerned about going to war with China, but it said a stronger military will give the country more influence in the region.

Pentagon officials are also concerned China could sell their technology to other countries that the US might have to confront in armed conflict in the future, which could pose a problem in regional hotspots such as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea.

“When I talk to people on the Hill and I mention that I'm concerned about technological superiority … I get a reaction that is a sort of surprise, first of all, and disbelief … I think we have gotten so accustomed to our technological superiority militarily that it's just a given, and it's one of the things I kind of fight against when I try to have these conversations,” Frank Kendal, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense, said speaking in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday, according to the Weekly Standard.

Kendall returned to the Pentagon four and a half years ago, and he said it wasn’t long before he saw the US had a problem.

“I look at weapons systems that others are developing and try to make some determination as to what impact they're going to have on our abilities on the battlefields of the future -- or the present, in some cases,” the undersecretary said. “The problem was the modernization rate of other powers, in particular of China. China has been investing for a long time in a number of systems which are essentially focused on keeping the United States out of the part of the world that's closest to China.”

Also of concern to Pentagon officials is that the United States tends to rely on a small number of very expensive, capable assets. That makes the military vulnerable once an enemy learns how to attack those assets.

Allegations of China’s cyber espionage have heightened concerns about its ability to keep up with US technology and design systems to counteract it.

“They're designed to present us with a very difficult problem if we want to operate in the vicinity of China,” Kendall added. “And it's structured in a way that they can, perhaps, control escalation, so they can force us to back down. I'm worried about whether we're keeping up or not."

Kendal’s concerns were first expressed by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaking before a NATO summit in August, when he said he wanted to promote greater innovation to preserve America’s technological age.

US defense officials have watched as Moscow and Beijing have tested a string of sophisticated weapons, from radar-evading aircraft and anti-ship missiles that fly many times the speed of sound, to integrated air defenses, reported Reuters.

The Defense Department's spending of around $500 billion is still more than the next six or seven countries combined, but research and development spending has fallen more than 20 percent since President Barack Obama took office. China and Russia have rapidly increased their spending.

"China and Russia have been trying to close the technology gap by pursuing and funding long-term, comprehensive military modernization programs," Hagel said, as quoted by Reuters. "They are also developing anti-ship, anti-air, counter-space, cyber, electronic warfare and special operations capabilities that appear designed to counter traditional U.S. military advantages.”

Kendal’s speech also comes a few days before President Obama leaves for a weeklong trip to Asia to pursue a free trade agreement –the Trans Pacific Partnership – with a dozen regional countries that does not include China. He will first visit China, then Burma, and then Australia for a G-20 meeting. It is expected the president will discuss with China the two countries’ dueling cyber warfare efforts, as well as Chinese military provocations toward neighboring Asian countries.

[TsarSamuil]

Hope this fucks up NSA plans!

Quantum leap forward: China to launch world’s longest, ‘hack-proof’ network by 2016.

RT.com
November 09, 2014 17:10

China is completing the project of the planet’s longest, 2,000-kilometer quantum communication network from Beijing to Shanghai. The network is considered “unhackable” and is set to start operating in 2016.

The “unhackability” is due to the most secure encryption technology ever, the South China Morning Post reported.

By 2030, the network is expected to stretch all over the globe, Xinhua news agency said.

For now, the service is to be used by the Chinese government, the military and key business institutions such as banks.

The plans were disclosed by Professor Pan Jianwei, a quantum physicist with the University of Science and Technology of China and a lead scientist behind the project.

"China's quantum information science and technology is developing very fast and China leads in some areas in this field. Any city in China, as long they want to, can start to build the quantum communication network now," he said, Xinhua reported.

Chen Yuxiang, chief engineer for the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai network, indicated that the infrastructure would be ready between the end of the year and next summer. The network also needs to be built and activated.

The budget for the Beijing-Shanghai project is estimated at 100 million yuan ($16 million) for every 10,000 users.

Theoretically, the quantum network can’t be hacked: should anyone try to intercept the encryption key, the physical status of the quantum data, or qubits, would change, and alert those who sent the information.

Europe, Japan and Canada are also planning to start their own quantum networks. The US has also been looking for funds to sponsor a 10,000-kilometer network between major cities.

Experts are sure, though, that China is ahead of everyone in the quantum network project.

"The Chinese are really pushing the boundaries. They are moving at an incredible rate. No one else around the world has plans that are this ambitious," Raymond Laflamme, the head of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo in Canada, told The Telegraph.

"China is putting itself in the position of having secure private information that other countries will not be able to tap," he added.

[TsarSamuil]

rt.com/news/204043-iran-drone-copy-spy/

Iran test-flies 1st US drone replica.

RT.com
November 10, 2014 15:26

An Iranian copy of a US reconnaissance drone captured in 2011 has carried out its first flight, and the Revolutionary Guards have declared the test a success.

"We promised that a model of RQ-170 would fly in the second half of the year, and this has happened. A film of the flight will be released soon," Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh told the IRNA state news agency.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed content at the event, describing the day as “sweet and unforgettable” in a video published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

RQ-170 Sentinel was seized three years ago after it entered Iranian airspace from neighboring Afghanistan. Tehran says that it managed to reverse-engineer the drone and now can launch its own UAV production.

In August, Iran revealed a copy of the captured drone – despite US claims that it was protected in such a way that no valuable data could be taken from the drone, and also new-generation short-range anti-vessel missiles.

A cutting-edge missile defense system like Israel’s Iron Dome was also planned in the same month.

Tehran says it has seized several US drones in recent years, and an Israeli one in August – a US Boeing ScanEagle among them, AP reported. ScanEagle is allegedly being copied by Iran as well.

The taking of drones follows Iran’s accusing the US of spying on the country’s nuclear program. Tehran insists its nuclear program is fully civilian, without military uses.

-------------

Must be Chinese, Russians working together with Iranians to build up Iran to become a power in the middle east to get the yanks out. Engineers probably visit each other regularly, doubt they sit all at home as the news says. Not saying Iranians aren't clever, but they make strides very quickly which is a bit suspicious and how did they get the drone in the first place?

Vid,
rt.com/news/204939-iranian-version-us-drone/

Video emerges of Iranian version of US stealth drone.

RT.com
November 12, 2014 18:51

Iranian TV has shown a video of its new drone in action. The aircraft is said to be a ‘reverse-engineered’ homemade variant of a US spy drone, which it shot down in 2011.

The US drone, an RQ-170 Sentinel, was seized three years ago when it was downed after entering Iranian airspace from Afghanistan while on a CIA mission.

The video shows a black mono-winged aircraft flying over mountains and arid terrain, before landing at an unknown airbase.

The head of the aerospace division of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said Iran plans to build two or three more prototypes before March 20 and will gear up to mass produce them next year. The General also said the Iranian version was more advanced than the US original.

“The Iranian version's weight has remarkably become less, it consumes less fuel, its speed has been increased and the duration that it can fly has improved a lot because of its enhanced body. The Americans had used metal in building the body but we did not use metal at all. It helps to reduce its detectability by radars," he said on state TV.

The US claimed that the technology in the drone was protected in such a way as to make it impossible to copy, but Tehran said back in August that it had managed to reverse engineer the aircraft. It was reported on Monday that the Iranian drone had made its first flight.

At the time, the then US defense secretary, Leon Panetta, told reporters it was unclear what technological value the drone could still have, depending on its condition.

“I don’t know the condition of those parts – I don’t know exactly what state they’re in – so it’s a little difficult to tell what they are going to be able to derive from what they have been able to get,” he said, days after the original incident.

Iranian made drone "Epic" (AFP Photo / ISNA News)Iranian made drone "Epic" (AFP Photo / ISNA News)

This is not the first drone to be captured from the US by the Iranians. The less advanced Boeing Scan Eagle is also being copied. It was shot down after flying over Iran from the Persian Gulf.

ABC news reported that neither the CIA, the Air Force, nor the drone’s manufacturers, Lockheed Martin, had responded to requests to comment on the video.

[TsarSamuil]

China’s 5G fighter to fly Russian jet engines.

RT.com
November 10, 2014 14:00

An exportable Chinese fifth-generation fighter jet will be equipped with gas-turbine jet engines developed and assembled by Russian companies, confirmed the head of Russian delegation at the Airshow China exhibition.

The mid-sized advanced J-31 fighter jet developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation got off the ground for the first time on October 31, 2012, and has been in the process of modification ever since.

“The J-31 with the Russian RD-93 engine is considered to be an export program, capable of rivaling the American F-35 fifth-generation aircraft on the regional markets,” Rosoboronexport’s Air Force Equipment Export Department Head Sergey Kornev said in an interview to RIA Novosti.

The Russian RD-93 turbofan jet engine is a modification of the RD-33 engines, developed in 1968-1985 by the Klimov Design Bureau specifically for MiG-29 fighter jet family.

Initially, the RD-93 was developed by Klimov specifically for the FC-1 Xiaolong (also known as JF-17 Thunder), a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China to become the Pakistan Air Force’s primary fighter jet.

Kornev said that the J-31 competing with the F-35 “is an ambitious program, yet very real, particularly taking into consideration the high cost of F-35 and certain problems with its development,” in comments to RIA Novosti at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai.

China’s science and aviation industries demonstrate high potential, since the country has two fifth-generation fighter jets, the J-31 and J-20, in development, Kornev said.

The Chengdu J-20 is stealth, twin-engine fifth-generation fighter aircraft prototype being developed by Chengdu Aerospace Corp. for the Chinese Air Force. It performed its maiden flight in 2011 and could be introduced into service starting from 2017, if it gets the quality of engine a true fifth-generation fighter jet deserves.

In March 2012, RT reported that J-20 was performing test flights with two Russian AL-31F jet engines it borrowed from the Russian Su-27 fighter jet that entered Chinese service in the mid-1980s.

The J-20 needs an engine with characteristics similar to AL-41F1C engines Russian newest Su-35 multifunctional fighter jets are equipped with. This engine enables a fighter to achieve supersonic speed without an afterburner, a feature attributed to 5G jets. The AL-41F1C is actually a de-rated version of the AL-41F1 (117C) engine used on the T-50 PAK-FA, Russian 5G fighter jet currently undergoing tests.

The Su-35 fighter has arrived at Airshow China and will perform demonstration stunts in an attempt to impress the Chinese Air Force top brass, as Beijing has been considering buying the Su-35 fighters for several years now.

Chinese engineers are busy developing jet engines of home design, such as WS-10, WS-13 and WS-15, but so far have not succeeded to reach reliability and durability similar to Russian engines.

“The aircraft engines design and construction technology is very complex, lengthy and costly process,” Kornev told RIA Novosti, noting that two years ago Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) reported it had made real progress in creating new heat-resistant alloys, the key technology in developing afterburning turbofan jet engines.

For the moment there are five 5G fighter jets put on a wing worldwide, namely American F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, Russian T-50 (PAK FA) and Chinese J-20 and J-31, with only the US F-22 being deployed for active service.

China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition to be conducted in China’s Zhuhai on November 11-16.


Computer-generated imagery (CGI) of the J-31/ F-60 fifth generation fighter jet in action with beyond visual range (BVR) air to air missiles and fifth generation short range infrared homing air-to-air missiles. (Image from chinesemilitaryreview.blogspot.com ) Computer-generated imagery (CGI) of the J-31/ F-60 fifth generation fighter jet in action with beyond visual range (BVR) air to air missiles and fifth generation short range infrared homing air-to-air missiles. (Image from chinesemilitaryreview.blogspot.com )

[TsarSamuil]

China: Check out the FC-31 stealth fighter jet in flight.

RuptlyTV
Nov 11, 2014



SOT, Li Yuhai, vice general manager of AVIC (Cantonese): "The main feature of a 4th generation fighter is the cloaking. Its design, the single seat, the double tilt vertical fins, the S-shape air inlet, and the embedded magazine are all for the cloaking."

SOT, Li Yuhai, vice general manager of AVIC (Cantonese): "If you ask me to compare it with the other countries' 4th generation jets, I could spend a long time making detailed comparisons. But in short, I think they are comparable."


The Airshow China 2014 kicked off in Zhuhai on Tuesday with a fantastic display of the FC-31 4th Generation Multipurpose Medium Fighter jet.

Known in China as the J-31, the exhibition is the first time the stealth twin-engine jet has been referred to as the FC-31. Chinese fighter jets are given a "J" for fighter and an "FC" for export, suggesting that this model will soon be available to the international market. The main feature of the FC-31 is its cloaking. The single-seat design, double tilt vertical fins, S-shape air inlet and the embedded magazine are all dedicated to maintain the fighter's stealth in the field, Li Yuhai the vice general manager of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said.

This is the 10th Airshow China, also known as the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. It runs from November 11-16.

[TsarSamuil]

Iran Successfully Tests New Long-Range Radar System: Reports.

Iran reportedly tested a new domestically produced long-range radar system which had been unveiled Tuesday.
MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – Iran has successfully tested a new domestically produced long-range radar system, known as The Sepehr (Sky), the Fars news agency reports.

"The Sepehr radar system covers a range of over 2,500 kilometers [or about 1550 miles] and can detect stealth targets and micro UAVs at low, medium and high altitudes while it can also very easily identify and detect ballistic, semi-ballistic and cruise missiles," Lieutenant Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier Gen. Shahrokh Shahram said Tuesday, as quoted by the Fars news agency.

According to Gen. Shahram, "the information gathered by the radar during its last assessment test today was for the first time fed into the country's integrated radar and air defense network". The Sepehr radar system was unveiled Tuesday.

In August 2013, Iran announced that it had finalized construction of space radars to detect satellite and space objects' trajectories, adding that the country is now using new passive phased array radars to detect stealth targets and cruise missiles, according to the Fars news agency.

Iran has been ramping up its defense industry since 1992, having manufactured its own tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines, unmanned aerial vehicles, and fighter planes.

[TsarSamuil]

China’s hypersonic strike vehicle ‘in 3d test flight’

RT.com
December 04, 2014 21:17

China has reportedly conducted a third flight test for its new ultra-high speed strike vehicle – capable of travelling at up to eight times the speed of sound, in what experts suspect is part of the development of its strategic nuclear program.

The test flight, monitored by US intelligence services this week, was the third in a series of tests of the Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle—a high-accuracy, high speed projectile, reports the Washington Free Beacon. The first two were conducted earlier this year.

A Pentagon representative confirmed the test to the WFB, but declined to provide further comment.

“We are aware of reports regarding this test and we routinely monitor foreign defense activities,” Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jeff Pool said. “However, we don’t comment on our intelligence or assessments of foreign weapon systems.”

Lora Saalman, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said China’s third test of the Wu-14 in a year suggests an ongoing trend of militarization.

“Not only does this third test of the WU-14 in one year indicate that this is a priority program for China, it also suggests that U.S. historical concerns over a Chinese quantitative ‘sprint to parity’ in nuclear weapons are misdirected,” she was quoted as saying in the Beacon.

Though some form of hyper-sonic weapons has existed for decades, the new missiles being developed by the US, China and others belong to a class of their own because of the “boost-glide” technology which enables them to travel very quickly and at a flat angle. Boost-glide weapons follow a hard-to-trace trajectory which makes them difficult to target using current missile-defense systems.

The weapons "are launched by big rockets just like a ballistic missile is," explained Carnegie nuclear expert James Acton. "But then rather than arcing higher than the atmosphere, they are put on a trajectory to re-enter the atmosphere as quickly as possible. Then they just glide to the target," he was featured as saying in Business Insider this fall.

Experts say hypersonic capabilities are indicative of a large scale military build-up. Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon strategic forces specialist, was quoted as saying in the Washington Free Beacon that China’s latest hypersonic vehicle test poses “a serious threat.”

The US and China have been engaged in what some have dubbed a hypersonic arms race. This summer, the US tested its own hypersonic missile after China ran its second test of the Wu-14. Though both countries had successfully tested hypersonic weapons in the past, both August tests failed.

Russia, not one to stay out of the game for long, has also announced plans to build its first hypersonic missile before 2020. India, too, is involved in the development of the ultra-high speed arms.


Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2.(AFP Photo / DARPA)

[TsarSamuil]

Newest U.S. Stealth Fighter ‘10 Years Behind’ Older Jets.

thedailybeast.com
12.26.14

America’s $400 billion, top-of-the-line aircraft can’t see the battlefield all that well. Which means it’s actually worse than its predecessors at fighting today’s wars.

When the Pentagon’s nearly $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter finally enters service next year after nearly two decades in development, it won’t be able to support troops on the ground the way older planes can today. Its sensors won’t be able to see the battlefield as well; and what video the F-35 does capture, it won’t be able to transmit to infantrymen in real time.

Versions of the new single-engine stealth fighter are set to replace almost every type of fighter in the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps inventory—including aircraft specifically designed to support ground troops like the A-10 Warthog. That will leave troops in a lurch when the F-35 eventually becomes the only game in town.

“The F-35 will, in my opinion, be 10 years behind legacy fighters when it achieves [initial operational capability],” said one Air Force official affiliated with the F-35 program. “When the F-35 achieves [initial operational capability], it will not have the weapons or sensor capability, with respect to the CAS [close air support] mission set, that legacy multi-role fighters had by the mid-2000s.”

The problem stems from the fact that the technology found on one of the stealth fighter’s primary air-to-ground sensors—its nose-mounted Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS)—is more than a decade old and hopelessly obsolete. The EOTS, which is similar in concept to a large high-resolution infrared and television camera, is used to visually identify and monitor ground targets. The system can also mark targets for laser-guided bombs.

“EOTS is a big step backwards. The technology is 10-plus years old, hasn’t been able to take advantage of all the pod upgrades in the meantime, and there were some performance tradeoffs to accommodate space and stealth,” said another Air Force official familiar with the F-35 program. “I think it’s one area where the guys are going to be disappointed in the avionics.”

Ironically, older jets currently in service with the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps can carry the latest generation of sensor pods, which are far more advanced than the EOTS sensor carried by the F-35. The latest generation pods—the Lockheed Martin Sniper ATP-SE and Northrop Grumman LITENING-SE—display far clearer high-definition video imagery in both in the infrared and optical spectrum—and from greater distances. Further, both pods have the ability to beam those full-motion video feeds to ground troops, which provides those forces with vital intelligence information.

Both pods also incorporate the ability to mark targets with an infrared laser beam—which the EOTS lacks—that helps pilots and ground controllers coordinate their attacks. Some pilots consider the infrared marker to be crucial to the close air-support mission to support ground troops. The F-35 EOTS, which is an integral component of the new stealth fighter, was envisioned as a replacement for targeting pods altogether to preserve the JSF’s stealth frame. (Targeting pods can bulge out a bit, and leak out unwanted signals.) But along with the stealth came performance compromises that also hinder the ability to upgrade the system—the specifications of which were set more that 15 years ago—far before anyone imagined a jet would be providing video imagery to ground forces.

When the Pentagon had initially drawn up the Joint Strike Fighter program’s specifications during the later half of the 1990s, the EOTS would have been bleeding-edge technology. However, in the 14 years that have passed since the Pentagon awarded Lockheed the contract to develop the F-35, technology has evolved—and the services have gained experience from over a decade of war.

“It was an awesome system when the F-35 specs were drawn-up in the late ’90s—LANTIRN [targeting pod] was the most advanced pod at that time,” said the first Air Force official affiliated with the F-35 program. “But we’re now a couple of generations beyond that spec with the targeting pods. EOTS is about a [1990s-era Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-28(V)] LITENING II-equivalent targeting pod.”

That means that the EOTS camera does not have the range or high-resolution capability that would be found on the current targeting pods carried by American fighters flying over Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. It also means that future F-35 pilots won’t be able to see their quarry in the same kind of detail that they can on current U.S. jets.

The Air Force is currently using the advanced LITENING-SE on many of its fighters like the F-16, which is about two generations newer than the old 1990s-vintage LITENING II-pod. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is delivering the new Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod-Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE) to the Air Force—which is, ironically, an advanced version of the original Sniper XR pod that the F-35’s EOTS sensor was based on.

More damningly, the F-35 won’t be able to send even its already lower-quality live video down to those soldiers on the ground because its specifications were set before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started. Back then, no one ever imagined needing to beam live video to ground troops from a fighter jet. Nor are there any current plans to add that capability to the F-35.

“At no point is F-35 fragged to have VDL [ video down-link ] unless it carries a targeting pod and the F-35 EOTS does not have and will not get an IR [infrared] marker,” the first F-35 official said. “It won’t fit in the space available.”

The lack of an infrared pointer is a huge problem, according to multiple Air Force pilots with experience flying combat missions in support of ground forces. In aircraft like the A-10, F-15E or F/A-18 Hornet, when ground troops pass target coordinates—or if the pilot spots enemy forces shooting—that pilot can turn on the infrared pointer to highlight the target. If the ground controller—known as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller—sees the “sparkle” from the infrared pointer, he can confirm that the pilot is illuminating the correct target.

Further, if a pilot sees something of interest, he or she can use the infrared pointer to draw the attention of the ground controller, who can then confirm if the target is hostile or not. “F-35s will never have this,” the first F-35 official said. “It also helps pilots orientate themselves during weapons delivery passes.”

Officials at JSF-maker Lockheed Martin couldn’t respond to queries by press time, but the F-35 program does not appear to have a plan to rectify the problem.

One Air Force official said that with enough time and more money, the EOTS could be fixed. “Because in five years when the USAF [US Air Force] comes to Lockheed Martin and says we absolutely need an upgraded EOTS with an infrared pointer and [ video down-link ], Lockheed Martin says... OK no sweat, that’ll be $5 million per jet,” the Air Force official said. “Thus lies the problem in the U.S. military industrial complex. They purposefully build products that require mass amounts of money to ‘upgrade’ when in fact, they could have planned ahead and built an easily upgradable ship / aircraft / radio / weapon system.”

One of the JSF officials agreed that the EOTS does not speak well for the Pentagon’s ability to buy new weapons. “EOTS is a poster child for one of the ills of the acquisition process,” the official said. “Because all of the subsystems depend on each other, requirements aren’t allowed to change after the design is ‘finalized.’ It’s not a big deal, unless it takes 20 years to field the jet… then it’s a problem.”

The end result is that when the F-35 finally becomes operational after its myriad technical problems, cost overruns, and massive delays, in some ways it will be less capable than current fighters in the Pentagon’s inventory.

“Will the F-35 even have parity with those jets in the CAS mission set 10 years from now? I don’t know, dude. It doesn’t look good.”

[TsarSamuil]

Computer glitch prevents US’ most advanced F-35 fighter jet from firing until 2019 – report.

RT.com
January 01, 2015 20:50

The Pentagon’s fighter jet F-35 may not be fully operational until 2019 due to a newly discovered computer glitch. The $400 billion ultra-sophisticated jet, the most expensive in US history, was expected to enter service in 2015.

F-35 is the fifth generation combat aircraft which is designed in three variations for US Air Force, Navy and Marines to replace out of date aircraft. It was planned to join the Marines in 2015 and Air Force in 2016.

It is planned to replace the Air Force’s A-10 Warthog ground attack plane and Lockheed F-16 multirole fighter, the Navy instead of Boeing F/A-18 Hornet carrier-based fighter, and the Marines instead of Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump-jet.

However, the most awaited plane’s main weapon will not be able to fire due to a computer glitch. The four-barreled rotary cannon for the Air Force version of the F-35 cannot function until new software is elaborated, despite jet scheduled to join the army this year.

“There will be no gun until [the Joint Strike Fighter’s Block] 3F [software], there is no software to support it now or for the next four-ish years,” an Air Force official affiliated with the F-35 program told the Daily Beast. “Block 3F is slated for release in 2019, but who knows how much that will slip?”

This problem is especially acute as this version of the jet is planned for close air support (CAS) operations. While the F-35 is equipped with other armaments, it might be not enough.

“Lack of forward firing ordnance in a CAS supporting aircraft is a major handicap,” an experienced pilot commented for the Daily Beast. “CAS fights are more fluid than air interdiction, friendlies and targets move... Often times quickly. The ability to mark the target with rockets and attack the same target 10 seconds later is crucial.”

Equipped with a gun, Air Force’s F-35A version barely carries enough ammunition. Despite being able to shoot 3,300 rounds per minute, it will only be carrying 180 to 220 rounds.

The two other versions of F-35 - for the Navy and Marine Corps - have different configurations with external gun pods, however, they will not have a software for them either, the Daily Beast reported.

F-35 production has been facing delays and cost overruns due to numerous software problems and production defects. The jet which has already cost $400 billion dollars to US taxpayers since the program started in 2006. The costs doubled since the start of construction in 2011 making it the most expensive project in military history.

However, the Pentagon denied the aircraft will be delayed, the International Business Times reports as well as neither Lockheed nor the F-35 Joint Program Office responded to inquiries.

Last December, a problem with fuel was discovered. The engine of the aircraft can shut down when the fuel gets too hot to work as a coolant, although this information was disputed by the Pentagon.

Last summer, the F-35 was supposed to be the star attraction at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire, but it did not appear after the entire fleet was grounded after a fire at a Florida airbase in June.

The Pentagon plans to buy 2,433 jets in three variations. Great Britain has also ordered 14 jets. However, the program is getting more and more severe criticism.

“To me, the more disturbing aspect of this delay is that it represents yet another clear indication that the program is in serious trouble,” an Air Force official told the Daily Beast. “F-35 maker “Lockheed Martin is clearly in a situation where they are scrambling to keep their collective noses above the waterline, and they are looking to push non-critical systems to the right in a moment of desperation.”

The F35 is designed and built by American Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company which manufactures the widely spread military aircraft F-16, also known as the Fighting Falcon, successful all-weather multirole plane.