Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Finally a purposely design and build riverine for the Mekong River patrol.





After 8 rounds of joint patrols with the Laotian security forces (and being shot at), the PAP finally brings their  purposely design and build riverine into the fray.   That being said, they still have a long way to go before they are in the same class as the US Navy Riverine Command's Sweden built Dockstavarvet. SAFE Boats

 

Monday, January 16, 2012


Being shot at -- the rite of passage for any power.

RPT-Chinese ship fired on in Mekong, patrols respond

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/15/china-mekong-idUSL3E8CF0CS20120115
Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:37am EST

(Corrects spelling of Xishuangbanna in second paragraph)

Jan 15 (Reuters) - A Chinese cargo ship carrying logs on the Mekong river was fired on by unidentified attackers, spurring a response by Chinese and Laotian police, the Ministry of Public Security said on Sunday.

The Shengtai-11 was returning to Xishuangbanna, in the Chinese border province of Yunnan, from Thailand when it was fired on from the Lao side of the river, the ministry said. No-one was injured.

China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand conducted a joint armed patrol on the Mekong in December, after an October incident in which 13 Chinese sailors were killed. Their cargo ships were attacked in the Golden Triangle, which is notorious for drug smuggling.

Another joint patrol was underway on Saturday, the China Daily said on its website.

China's growing wealth and international status has allowed it to extend its law enforcement beyond its own borders in recent years. Its navy now escorts Chinese ships past the troubled Horn of Africa while Chinese police have arrested and repatriated citizens accused of ethnic separatism and other crimes who have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

The Mekong originates in the Himalayas and runs through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The six countries are committed to developing the river together, although China's plans to build dams along the river or its tributaries have alarmed its downstream neighbours.

(Reporting By Lucy Hornby; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

















Monday, January 28, 2013

Don't Believe everything you read on the Internet

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian arms export agency Rosoboronexport has not received and has not considered any proposals from China on buying Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, Rosoboronexport spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko told Interfax-AVN on Thursday.

"No negotiations on this issue have been held or are being held," Davidenko said in commenting on media reports referring to Chinese websites claiming that China may buy 26 Tu-22M3 planes from Russia for $1.5 billion.

Rosoboronexport has no information on this score, Davidenko said.

Chinese websites may publish almost anything, but this information "most often is not worth any attention," he added.

Vasily Kashin, an expert from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), said earlier that reports suggesting that Russia could sell a shipment of Tu-22M3s looked doubtful to him.

"At the present time, the sale of new Tu-22M3 bombers to China, of which media have reported, is hardly physically possible. The manufacturing of these planes was stopped in 1993 and has not been resumed. Nor are the NK-25 engines with which this plane was equipped being manufactured. The resumption of the production of these planes after a 20-year pause would require gigantic investments and years of hard work if it is technically possible at all," Kashin said.

"Rumors suggesting that Russia is selling a shipment of Tu-22M3 bombers to China have regularly appeared on the Internet in China and in Western media outlets over the past ten years. As far as I know, China was earlier interested in these planes, but negotiations did not reach any result," Kashin said.

"Russia could technically ship only old-made Tu-22M3s to the Chinese," he said.

"But even in this case, this would involve a lot of work on their maintenance and re-equipment to make them compatible with Chinese weapons, communications, control systems and so on. And even so China would get an old plane with old engines at a very significant price," he said.

"The project looks even more doubtful considering that China is currently pursuing a program of building modernized H-6K bombers, for which it has been making large-scale purchases of D-30KP2 engines from Russia," he said.

Thanks Dylan for the FYI.

Background information of mid-course interception missile

Background information of mid-course interception missile


Xinhua/Globaltimes.cn | January 28, 2013 18:35

The mid-course interception missile is actually comprised of a large booster rocket and interception warhead. The booster is like a carrier rocket, which sends the warhead into the atmosphere while the warhead of the mid-course interceptor is the equivalent of a “small missile”.

This “small missile” is equipped with dynamic, tracking and target recognition systems.  The dynamic system drives the warhead and locks its target; the guidance system compiles its targets data, especially infrared signature. These systems track and identify the target, ultimately guiding the warhead to intercept the oncoming projectile.

The most technologically-advanced component of the missile defense system is the interception warhead. In order to reduce its size the structure was designed to be as small as possible. Since accuracy is of the utmost importance, the guidance system is highly sensitive to movement and finely tuned to maintain a lock on its target.

Employing a fast-burning conflagrant booster rocket is necessary in order to deliver the warhead into the atmosphere as rapidly as possible. However, maintaining accuracy at such high speeds is very demanding. If the margin of error goes beyond the comfortable range of the guidance system, the missile may fail to reach its target. 

 Besides, the mid-course anti-missile system does not only have missiles but also a powerful early warning and monitoring network, which can be used in actual combat.

A ballistic missile reaches mid-course very quickly after being launched. If the system wants to intercept the missile mid-way, it has to identify its target, track and compute its trajectory as fast as possible. After launch, the anti-ballistic missile then is quickly launched and fired on course to release the interception warhead.

Building a perfect mid-course anti-missile interception system is a very complicated project and requires a powerful early warning and monitoring system. The key component of this early warning and monitoring system is a missile early-warning satellite.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

China carried out a GMD Test again

No, GMD is not Guomindang in this context but rather for Ground-Based Midcourse Defense, ie, defense against ballistic missiles such as ICBM. A video of the test is here (here)and in youtube.

China carries out land-based mid-course missile interception test
Xinhua | January 27, 2013 23:38
By Agencies   

 www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/758501/China-carries-out-land-based-mid-course-missile-interception-test.aspx

China again carried out a land-based mid-course missile interception test within its territory Sunday.

Xinhua learned the news from the Information Bureau of China's Defense Ministry.

"The test has reached the preset goal," an official with the bureau said.

"The test is defensive in nature and targets no other country," he said.

*ttp://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/758501/China-carries-out-land-based-mid-course-missile-interception-test.aspx

Saturday, January 26, 2013

A high resolution photo of Y-20

China's first heavy transporter Y-20 takes off
(CRI Online)  09:11, January 27, 2013 

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90786/8109275.html

China began test flights Saturday for the prototype of its first indigenously-developed heavy transport aircraft, Y-20, a craft similar in size to the Russian IL-76 and somewhat smaller than the U.S. C-17.

The plane took off at around 2:00pm from an airport in Yanliang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to CCTV News.

The Y-20 program is part of an effort to develop an indigenous long-range jet-powered heavy transport aircraft, a top priority in China's "Medium- and Long-Term National Science and Technology Development Program (2006-20)" (MLP).

Y-20 is developed by Xian Aircraft Industry, a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country's leading military aircraft maker.

Earlier reports said it's able to accommodate most large PLA combat and support vehicles, including the Type 99 series tanks, with a capacity to carry up to 66 tons of goods.

 Y20, prototype 001





Friday, January 25, 2013

Y-20 "angry bird" heavy transport flies

today in Xian.








I am rather surprised how it is perceived by the media.  This new heavy transport was a headline CCTV news in China back in 2009.  In fact, the project is two years behind schedule

My blog entry back in 2009

http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2009/11/long-waited-chinese-heavy-military.html


Thursday, November 05, 2009

The long waited Chinese heavy military transport will be revealed by the end of 2009.

According to the AVIC (China Aviation Industry Group) press release as covered by the CCTV; China’s 200 ton class heavy military transport prototype will make its first physical appearance for the first time by end of this year. The R&D and manufacture work of this new transport will be centered at Xian. Here is the CCTV Report

The new heavy transport prototype will be powered by four Russian D-30KP-2/WS-18 turbofans and they will be replaced when the improved WS-10 turbofan becames available.




http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-11-05/140016559915s.shtml

200吨级最大军用大飞机年底亮相
-
200吨级最大军用大飞机年底亮相

研发、生产制造过程全部由我国独立完成 民用大飞机也在生产中

本报讯 (记者张颖川) 中国的大飞机有了最新进展,中国空军军用200吨级大飞机实体年底将在西飞亮相。这将是中国最大的军用大飞机。

今天上午,在中国航空工业集团成立一周年的媒体日上,记者了解到上述信息。

11月6日是中国航空工业集团成立一周年纪念日。今天上午9时许,记者在媒体日上了解到,中国的大飞机生产有最新进展,军用、民用大飞机均在生产中。

中航集团飞机公司胡晓峰总经理向记者透露,中国空军军用200吨级大飞机具体实物飞机将在年底亮相,这款飞机从研发、生产制造过程全部由中航工业西飞公司独立完成。而由中航承担中国民用航空大飞机80吨级的C919飞机零部件也在加紧生产中,将如期交付中国商飞集团。

记者同时获悉,由中航工业自发研制的L15“猎鹰”高级教练机将首次走出国门,参加11月份举办的迪拜航展。L15猎鹰高级教练机将在航展上进行飞行表演,与国外教练机进行竞争,主打国际教练机市场。

目前,已经有不少国家的空军派出飞行员来我国进行试飞体验,中航预计将会赢得不少订单。










Thursday, January 24, 2013

Exporting Type54 FFG.

The list of Type54's potential customers keep growing, first Pakistan, then Bangladesh, (Algeria?)  now Thailand.

Bangkok to talk frigate purchase with Beijing

The government has formed a committee to negotiate with a Chinese team on purchase of three frigates to enhance Thai’s naval strength in the resourceful Gulf of Thailand, officials said. Both the sides will work out details of the state-to-state frigate purchase agreement the groundwork of which was laid during the visit of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Thailand in November 2012.

The Thai government has recently approved the purchase of two medium-sized frigates with a budget of 1 billion U.S. dollars after denying allegation about the countrys navy persistent request for submarines. However, Beijing had offered three of its Type 054T frigates at a very lower rate and the number of the frigates on conditions that Bangkok can not be denied. Some source said these special offer include six Z-9EC ASW helicopters.

Officials said the armed forced division had planned to utilize budgetary allocations of the 1 billion U.S. dollar fund, approved by the Yingluck Cabinet for the procurement of the frigates, is to be spent for a 10-year period, beginning from current fiscal year. The three frigates are unlikely be procured at the same time.

Type 054T frigate may be an improved version of the Type 054A frigate, possibly designated F40T, for which discussions have been held between Thailand and China.

Officials said commissioning of the type 054T frigates would help the capability of the Thai maritime force in Anti-submarine warfare in the Gulf of Thailand, the dimension of which had changed a lot in the last one decade amid growing interest of Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam in the area.

Officials also said Malaysia also plans to acquire two more Scorpène class submarines and Vietnam has recently purchased from Russia six Kilo class submarines and Russian submarine have already been delivered, the delivery of all six submarines will be completed before 2016 and most important thing is Cambodia has already started Submarine project.

Thailand and its neighbor Cambodia were on the edge of conflict in the Gulf in the past 10 years over oil and gas exploration by the latter in the disputed areas. Both the countries had engaged in legal battle over the disputed areas in an international court.

Besides, Thailand is still running a legal battle against another neighbor, Malaysia, over maritime boundary and also the most revealing public statement by any military top brass on the nature and consequences of the Thai Deep South conflict since violence resumed in January 2004.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/


Monday, September 13, 2010

Made-in-China warships off to Gulf of Aden


Hunt begins for Somali pirates
Armed task force sets sail on security mission


http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/195695/hunt-begins-for-somali-pirates

Two Thai navy ships with 351 sailors and 20 special warfare troops on board have set sail for the Gulf of Aden to take part in the hunt for pirates off the coast of Somalia.

The mission marks the first time Thailand has sent forces overseas to protect its own interest.

The HTMS Pattani and HTMS Similan left yesterday with two helicopters lashed to the decks from Chuk Samet port at Chon Buri's Sattahip naval base to join a 28-country effort to police the shipping lanes off the Somali coast, which has become a piracy hotbed.

"The key mission of this 98-day operation is to protect Thai cargo ships and fishing vessels in those waters," said Adm Supakorn Buranadilok, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Fleet.

The navy expects up to 60 Thai ships to pass through the Gulf of Aden during the course of the operation.

The navy's SEALs unit will be part of the fleet involved in the mission.

The budget for the mission has been set at 270 million baht.

The ships are expected to take 17 days to reach the Gulf of Aden on a journey covering 4,573 nautical miles.

The ships are expected to return about Dec 12.

Two navy ships with 371 sailors and special warfare marines on board set sail from Thailand to take part in international operations to protect ships from pirates in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia. JETJARAS NA RANONG

Political chaos and civil war in Somalia have allowed piracy to flourish off the country's 3,100km coastline.

Somali pirates were involved in more than half of the 406 reported pirate attacks worldwide last year.

They mounted 217 attacks in 2009, hijacking 47 ships and taking 867 crew members hostage with ransoms believed to total US$50 million (1.6 billion baht).

A number of Thai ships have been hijacked by Somali pirates over the past five years.