News Story: China’s J-20 stealth fighter jet is in service

By: Mike Yeo

MELBOURNE, Australia — China has officially commissioned the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter into service, the country’s defense ministry has announced.

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of National Defense, also said in a media conference on Thursday that flight tests are being conducted as scheduled. The type is currently in low rate production for China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force, or PLAAF, with at least six examples known to be undergoing operational testing since late 2016 with the service’s 176th Air Brigade at Dingxin Airbase in China’s Gansu Province.

The J-20 is classified by the PLAAF as a fourth-generation — broadly equivalent to fifth-generation in the West — medium- and long-range fighter jet with stealthy characteristics, although these are mainly confined to the frontal aspect of the design.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: China's J-20 fighter jet put into service - spokesman

BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's latest J-20 stealth fighter has been officially commissioned into military service, according to Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday.

The flight tests are being conducted as scheduled, Wu said at a press conference.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: China Tests New Terahertz Radiation Radar That Could Detect Stealth Jets

An F-35A Lightning Stealth Fighter

The China North Industries Group Corporation has tested a radar in recent weeks that generates terahertz radiation in order to better track the presence of stealth aircraft, the South China Morning Post reports.

The device has the potential to be a “game changer” for the People’s Liberation Army, scientists told the Hong-Kong based news outlet, since the radar might be able to spot the US’ F-22 Raptors and beleaguered F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

Terahertz radiation can theoretically see through the “composite materials” that help hide stealthy jets, SCMP reports. The F-22 fleet’s new $40 million paint job might be for naught after all. 

News Story: New Chinese Fighters Tap Russian, U.S. Technology

Chengdu J-20 (File Photo)

by Reuben F. Johnson

When the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) acquired its first tranche of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27SK fighters in the early 1990s, long-time observers of China’s industrial base asked two questions. The first was how long would it be before Chinese state-controlled aerospace industry was able to reverse-engineer and build unlicensed copies of the Su-27—as they had done with Russia’s Mikoyan MiG-21 decades before.

This was accomplished in slightly more than 10 years, which produced a number of “indigenous” fighter designs produced at Shenyang that are analogues of the Russian design they were copied from. The Chinese J-11B is a near copy of the Su-27, the J-15 a knockoff of the carrier-capable Su-33 and the J-16 is a duplication of the Su-30MKK models sold to the PLAAF.

The second question was how many years after that would it be before Chinese industry started to produce some next-generation, original designs by building on what they had learned from the Russians. This next phase—the emergence of “clean-sheet” fighter designs—is well underway now, and is seen in the form of the two newest Chinese fighter designs. These are the Shenyang FC/J-31 and the Chengdu J-20

Shenyang FC-31/J-31 (File Photo)

The two aircraft appear externally to be stealthy designs, both are twin-engine aircraft and they are both departures from the type of developments that these two aircraft enterprises have been known for in the past.

Russian aerospace researchers and aerodynamicists have told AIN a clear “hierarchy” exists between manufacturers Shenyang and Chengdu—both subsidiaries of the CATIC group (Hall 2a Stand D252). “More recently, much of the more advanced work that has been done with fighter aircraft development has been carried out at Chengdu,” said a senior Russian aerospace scientist, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The two enterprises collaborate back and forth in different areas, but sometimes there is more of a flow of innovation in one direction than there is in the other.”

The reputation that Chengdu has for being the more innovative of the two was enhanced by the fact that its J-20 fighter emerged as a new program and made its first flight well in advance of the FC-31. Additionally, the J-20 was unofficially categorized as a program of record for the PLAAF, whereas the FC-31 was initially presented as a “for export” program in the mold of the JF-17 that was developed at Chengdu for sale and license-production in Pakistan.

Read the full story at AINonline

News Story: Pentagon - China Is 'Closing the Gap' in Air Power with U.S.

Chengdu J-20 "Stealth" Fighter

by Bill Carey

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is “closing the gap rapidly” with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities, states the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on China’s military, released on June 6. “This development is gradually eroding the significant technical advantage held by the United States,” the report adds.

Last year, China announced a 7 percent increase in military spending, to $144.3 billion, sustaining its position as the second largest military spender after the U.S. (The Pentagon requested $582 billion for the current fiscal year.) Between 2007 and 2016, China’s military budget grew an average of 8.5 percent per year on an inflation-adjusted basis, according to the report.

China’s aircraft industry still relies on foreign-sourced components for high-performance aircraft engines, but its expertise in building both commercial and military aircraft has improved with work on the C919 commercial airliner and Xian Y-20 military transport, the Pentagon said.

Shenyang J-31/FC-31 Gryfalcon "Stealth" Fighter

The PLAAF fields Asia’s largest air force, with more than 2,700 total manned aircraft, including 2,100 combat aircraft. Of the latter, China operates approximately 600 fourth-generation fighters, including Russian-built Su-27/Su-30, Chinese/Russian J-11A and indigenous Chengdu J-10 and Shenyang J-11B fighters.

China is developing the fifth-generation Chengdu J-20 and carrier-capable Shenyang FC-31 Gryfalcon fighters, which could enter service as early as next year, the Pentagon states.

Read the full story at AINonline

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (14-Mar-2017)

China's J-20 Stealth Fighter

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

For an (alarming) maritime security synopsis, check out this Navy Times article which examines today’s five most dangerous at-sea deployments. In reverse order, they are: South China Sea, Black Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Japan and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Rankings are based on real-time threats faced by sailors and the conflict escalation potential of the area.

Israeli sailors are protecting drilling rigs in international waters. Sa’ar 6-class defensive vessels are on order from Germany for the purpose, but they’re not expected to arrive for another 2.5 years. Until then, 11 missile corvettes are tasked with protecting the economic asset from possible missile attacks in a mission of vital strategic importance. The Israeli Navy acknowledges the mixed mode of operations: ‘a military force is protecting a private asset’ in a display of ‘army-society-economics relations.’

On the home front, HMAS Hobart—RAN’s first air warfare destroyer—successfully completed its final five weeks of sea acceptance trials. The ship will be in the hands of the ADF this June.

News Report: Chinese Stealth J-20 Jet Enters Service With PLA

Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter

China has put its new Chengdu J20 stealth fighter jet in service, in efforts to develop a marine corps and a “first class” Navy, while simultaneously narrowing the military gap with US. Beijing’s military is undergoing major upgrades, complete with advanced submarines and anti-satellite missiles, all under the supervision of President Xi Jinping.

Chinese planespotters first saw the J20 in 2010, and the public got its first glimpse of the craft at the Zhuhai airshow in November 2016. The military channel on China’s state television confirmed that the plane had entered service on Thursday. 

What remains to be seen is whether the J20 can evade radar with the same aptitude as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 strike jet, or Lockheed’s air-to-air combat jet F-22 Raptor. The development of the new Chinese aircraft began in the late 1990s and had its first flight in 2011.

In November 2016, aviation journalist Andreas Rupprecht wrote in the Aviationist, "The J-20 is a giant leap for the PLAAF both capability-wise and technology-wise. Did anyone of us expect a Chinese stealth fighter to be operational before 2020 when asked in, let’s say, 2010?"

News Report: Taiwan Begins Massive Drills Simulating Chinese Attack

In what may be a response to a recent show of force by the transit of the Chinese aircraft carrier through the Strait of Taiwan, Taipei initiated defense preparation exercises over the weekend while vowing to "enhance training 365 days a year."

Taipei simulated a scenario in which China’s sole aircraft carrier, the Lioaning, crossed the dividing line of the Taiwan Strait in a simulated attack on the island, home to some 23 million people. China does not acknowledge Taiwan as a sovereign nation, claiming instead that the island country belongs under the principle of "One China" and, as such, is merely a Chinese province. Beijing has indicated that upholding this principle is non-negotiable, and would resort to force should Taipei be acknowledged as independent.

Following a victorious election, Donald Trump took a call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. This event shook diplomatic circles who pointed out that Trump may not have known that he broke with decades of diplomatic practice in which Washington has not formally addressed Taiwanese leaders. 

News Story: China Receives First Advanced Su-35 Flankers From Russia

An Su-35 Flanker-E of the Russian Air Force

By: Mike Yeo

MELBOURNE, Australia — China has taken delivery of the Sukhoi Su-35 “Flanker-E” fighter jet from Russia, according to Chinese state media. 

The Chinese military confirmed that it took delivery of four Su-35s in late December, the English-language China Daily newspaper reported without providing further details.  

However, an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft belonging to Russian charter company Volga-Dnepr was noted on the live flight-tracking website Flightradar24. The aircraft was flying from Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where the Su-35 is built by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO), to Cangzhou-Cangxian Airbase in China’s Hebei Province before carrying on to Suixi Airbase in Guangdong Province on December 25. 

Cangzhou-Cangxian is the home of the Flight Test and Training Centre (FTTC), the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) unit responsible for developing flying procedures, combat tactics and training programs for new aircraft types. Suixi is the nearest PLAAF base to the disputed islands of the South China Sea. 

It is not known if the Il-76 was accompanying the Su-35s, or operated as a separate flight carrying support equipment and spares for the newly-delivered fighters. China has also not released any official photos of its Su-35s, although grainy images purporting to be the PLAAF Su-35s have been published on Chinese social media.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Report: China Prepares Secretive H-20 Strategic Stealth Bomber

China’s secretive H-20 bomber is well on its way to becoming a fully developed next-generation strategic stealth aircraft, but not in the near future.

A Chinese admiral said that China and the rest of the world must be patient while waiting for the H-20 to be launched. 

China has not yet produced an operational, large-tonnage bomber aircraft capable of hitting long-range targets. Nevertheless, a host of technologies that Beijing expects the "legendary" aircraft to carry, including cruise missiles and nuclear arms, "are all in place," Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo of the People’s Liberation Army said, ripening the conditions for the country’s development of a stealth bomber. 

News Story: Russia to deliver Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to China

Sukhoi Su-35 Fighter Aircraft

by Elizabeth Shim

The first four planes in a batch of Russian Sukhoi-35 fighters may be delivered to China by the end of 2016, according to multiple reports.

Russia's TASS news agency and China's Global Times reported the fighter jets are to arrive in China in December.

TASS' source said the "first four Sukhoi-35 are to fly over to China by Dec. 25," but Sergey Chemezov, the head of Russia's Rostec Corp., said no Sukhoi-35 planes would be delivered to China in 2016.

Rostec is a Russian state holding company that promotes the development of defense sector technology.

According to the Global Times, however, the four planes are scheduled for delivery by the end of the year, which is taking place on an accelerated timeline.

The Chinese newspaper's source said it was the Russian side that decided to "speed up" delivery.

The fighter jets are strategically positioned to match the United States' F-35 and F-15 aircraft in capability, according to South Korean news service News 1.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Report: China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter to Challenge F-22 Raptor Supremacy

China's J-20 Fighter

The state-of-the-art J-20 fifth-generation jet fighter is a key part of the Chinese air force. According to Chinese military expert, Li Li, the J-20 could possibly break the US monopoly on fourth-generation fighters.

During an interview with CCTV, the military expert said that the Chinese jet fighter may exert an even bigger influence than the American F-22 Raptor.

Li Li further said that although the American F-22 Raptor is the first fourth-generation fighter commissioned in an air force, its performance is not satisfactory. She said that the J-20 and Russia’s T-50 will possibly manage to break the Western monopoly and that the J-20 could have a more significant influence than its Western counterparts. 

Chinese officials maintain that the J-20 will be exclusive to the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. 

News Story: China ‘Likely’ To Seek More Foreign Bases; Troubling Debt Cited By US-China Commission

China's J-20 Stealth Fighter

By COLIN CLARK

WASHINGTON: If you want to grow uneasy about the world, read the US-China Commission’s annual report to Congress.

China, while it continues to enjoy robust economic growth, faces a major strategic challenge. Strategically, the biggest threat facing China right now — and the rest of the world given how integrated China is to the global economy — is the risk posed by China’s enormous corporate debt.

The report says that “China’s rapidly rising debt levels heighten risks to the stability of the country’s financial markets, which can quickly spill over into global markets….China’s rapidly rising corporate debt—which stands at 169 percent of GDP—also raises questions about the sustainability of the country’s economic growth. The International Monetary Fund warned in its annual review of China’s economy that China’s rising corporate debt was a ‘serious and growing problem that must be addressed immediately,’ estimating the potential losses from bad corporate loans to be worth 7 percent of GDP.”

The other really intriguing issue, one that may mark a huge shift in Chinese cultural, political and military terms as Breaking D readers know, is the commission’s conclusion “that China is likely to continue to seek opportunities to secure military facilities abroad, such as the one it has begun constructing in Djibouti, to facilitate a range of operations.” As we reported in May 2015, China was pressing hard to secure a base in the remote and tiny East African state that was long a French colony. China has also expressed interest in a military presence in the precarious islands known as the Maldives.

Read the full story at Breaking Defense

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (8-Nov-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

What happens when you cross a tank with boat? You get a ‘tank boat’ of course! Indonesian defence firms PT Lundin and Pindad—in collaboration with Belgian firm CMI Defence and SAAB—presented a full scale mock-up of this odd combination at last week’s Indo Defence 2016 expo in Jakarta. The companies are currently undertaking a study to test whether the design, first shown in 2014, is feasible. However, this isn’t the first time someone has crossed a tank and a boat. The US Navy fitted some of its patrol boats and old landing craft with large calibre guns during the Vietnam War.

Problems continue to mount for the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier. The USN announced last week that delivery of the USS Gerald R Ford, the lead ship of the USN’s new class of aircraft carriers, will be delayed until 2017. Issues with the ship’s main turbine generators, as well as worries about its new Advanced Arresting Gear, are responsible for the delays. The USN has garnered significant criticism for its handling of the construction of the ship, with the US Government Accountability Office stating in 2015 that the issues stem from an acquisition culture that ‘encourages undue optimism about program risks and costs‘.

News Story: Airshow China Reveals a Wide Range of Aircraft, Weaponry

CH-5 Rainbow-5 Drone during testing (File Photo)

by Reuben F. Johnson

Airshow China in Zhuhai from November 1-6 featured a number of new defense-related developments. Displayed during the 11th biennial event was a full range of Chinese military aircraft, radars, surface-to-air missiles, cruise missiles and other weaponry.

China’s military industry continues to turn out numerous new air-launched and surface-launched weapons programs. Several companies displayed newer and more types of glide-bomb precision-guided munitions, air-to-surface weapons, anti-ship weapons, and new surface-to-air missiles. In almost every category of weaponry it is safe to say that the People’s Republic of China has more programs in development than the rest of the world combined.

Accompanying the spike in new weaponry is a full range of new UAV designs. This runs the gamut from very small drones of the type that can be purchased off-the-shelf in other nations to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation CH-5 Rainbow-5 resembling the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, to a new jet-powered UAV from Chengdu Aerospace called the Cloud Shadow that has been developed specifically for export. Along with these UAVs comes another complete line of new, small UAV-carried weapons, sensor balls and electronic systems.

Read the full story at AINonline

News Report: After J-20 - How China Plans to Become Aviation Superpower

Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter

The state-of-the-art J-20 fifth-generation jet fighter is a key part of the Chinese air force. But Beijing has big plans for its aviation industry, including new commercial jets and a new engine-production company.

The state-owned Aero Engine Corp of China (AECC) was launched in August as part of a multi-billion dollar effort to boost the country’s domestic aviation production, and the company’s grand plans are on full display at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition this week, including mock-ups of new engines like the Jade Dragon, as well as gas turbines.

While Beijing has already developed a number of engines for fighter planes, it has not yet produced a homegrown engine for commercial passenger jets. AECC could change that.

"I think in about 10 years we’ll see the first Chinese (commercial) engine," said Steffen Kunth, chief financial officer of MTU Maintenance, an aircraft-engine repair facility. 

News Report: China Unveils New (J-20) Stealth Fighter

A J-20 Stealth Fighter (File Photo)

China debuted its J-20 stealth fighter Tuesday at Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai.

Two J-20s made a brief appearance in the show's opening ceremonies, performing a series of maneuvers and generating enough noise to set off car alarms in a nearby parking lot, Reuters reported.

The warplane is China's second stealth fighter. The J-31 was unveiled to the public at the Zhuhai airshow two years ago.

News Story: Latest Chinese Airpower To Debut at Zhuhai Airshow

KJ-500 AEW&C Aircraft

by Mike Yeo

China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will be showcasing a number of new platforms at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which will be held next week at Zhuhai airbase near Guangdong. They include Chengdu J-10B multirole fighter, the Xi’an H-6K bomber and the Shaanxi KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft. Airshow organizers were also touting a “secret combat aircraft” belonging to the PLAAF for the flying display, which is thought to be the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter, currently in low-rate initial production (LRIP). But it was missing from the updated line-up that they published today.

A pair of LRIP J-20s sporting a new two-tone dark gray splinter camouflage have been observed carrying out maneuvers and formation flying over Chengdu Aircraft Corporation’s facilities, further fueling speculation the type will make its debut at Zhuhai this year.

Meanwhile, the appearance of the J-10B confirms that the type has entered PLAAF service. The aircraft that is in Zhuhai carries tail serials for the PLAAF’s 2nd Air Division, 5th Regiment based at Guilin, Guangxi. Photos of J-10Bs in PLAAF colors have been appearing since late 2014, but with tail serials either blurred or edited out altogether, precluding identification of their unit.

Read the full story at AINonline

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (25-Oct-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

One of the most storied names in British naval history is being revived for the Royal Navy’s new class of ballistic nuclear missile submarines. The Royal Navy announced last week that the first of its new submarines, initially dubbed the Successor-class, will be named HMS Dreadnought and the class will now be known as the Dreadnought-class. The Dreadnought name is one of the most famous in the Royal Navy, having been bestowed upon nine ships dating all the way back to the 16th century. Ships with that name have fought in some of the world’s most famous naval battles, including the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. But without a doubt the best known Dreadnought is the steam turbine powered battleship commissioned in 1906 that changed naval warfare (and the world) forever.

Significant progress is being made on the construction of two of China’s largest ever warships according to open source imagery obtained recently by Popular Science. Two hull sections of China’s enormous Type 055 cruiser—which will likely be around the same size as the newly commissioned USS Zumwalt—appear to have been completed. Meanwhile, China’s first indigenously-built aircraft carrier is even closer to completion, following the installation of its island tower earlier this month.

News Report: Russian Experts Say Chinese Air Power Will Soon Match Russian, US Capabilities

WS10A Taihang engine

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to strengthen the country's aviation industry, particularly the field of advanced engines. Commenting on Xi's remarks, Russian analysts told online newspaper Svobodnaya Pressa that the day when China comes to match the capabilities of Russian and US air power may be just around the corner.

Late last month, China Daily reported that President Xi hailed the establishment of a new company, Aero Engine Corp of China, which is set to research, develop, and manufacture aircraft engines for the Chinese aviation industry. The newspaper said that the decision was "a strategic move that will improve the aviation industry and boost the modernization of the Chinese military." 

The paper emphasized that at present, "aircraft engines remain one of the few fields in which the country still lags largely behind top players, especially the United States." China, the paper added, continues to rely on imported engines for its most advanced aircraft, including the J-10 fighter and the Y-20 transport, as well as the new-generation J-20 stealth fighter, which "used Russian-made engines for its test flight."