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: Chinese National Convicted of Export Violations

MQ-9 Reaper

F-35 and F-22 Stealth Fighter Engines Targeted

Wendell Minnick

TAIPEI — A US federal jury in Florida has convicted Wenxia "Wency" Man of attempting to export defense items to China without a license.

Man, a Chinese national and naturalized US citizen, was arrested in September. She was found guilty June 9 of conspiring to evade “US export laws by agreeing to illegally acquire and send to China fighter jet engines, a highly sophisticated military drone,” said a US Department of Justice news release.

According to the news release, between 2011 and 2013, Man conspired with Xinsheng Zhang, now a “fugitive” living in China, to illegally acquire and export a variety of defense items, including Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines for the F-22 Raptor fighter; General Electric F110-GE-132 engines for the F-16 fighter jet; and the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper/Predator UAV.

Man referred to Zhang as a “technology spy” who worked on behalf of the Chinese military and had a special interest in “stealth technology.”

Read the full story at DefenseNews

USA: Vice Chairman Discusses Defense Deterrence Strategy

By Amaani Lyle

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2016 — The U.S. military aims to counter threats presented by potential adversaries Russia and China through its Third Offset Strategy, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said March 10 in his remarks at the annual McAleese & Associates and Credit Suisse 2017 Defense Programs conference here.

“Given the asymmetric approaches of China and Russia, what do we change that allows us to apply technology, operational concepts and organizational structures to defeat their advantage in offensive, long-range precision strike systems?” Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva said.

The Third Offset, he said, “is about figuring out what we do differently that unhinges their advantages with the goal of maintaining conventional deterrence.”

Following two previous strategies, the Third Offset exploits the vulnerabilities of potential foes and capitalizes on the United States’ existing adaptable assets such as tanks, fighter aircraft, and ships, Selva said.

Editorial: Watch Out, F-35 - Korea May Have an Ace Up Its Sleeve

A model of one of several designs for the KFX

By Robert Farley

Will the European defense industry profit from the United States’ refusal to share sensitive technology with Seoul?

Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter refused South Korea’s request to reconsider the transfer of four technologies associated with stealth aircraft.

The tech transfer was part of a larger deal intended to deliver 40 F-35 Joinst Strike Fighters to South Korea, along with 25 technologies associated with the program. These technologies would have jump-started the RoK’s own stealth fighter program. However, the State Department (advised by the Department of Defense, hence the direct request to SecDef Ash Carter) quashed the transfer of four of the twenty-five technologies.

This decision is part of a long-standing system of export controls, initially designed to preserve the West’s technological advantages over the Soviet bloc. While Soviet industry was capable of many things, it struggled to keep pace with Western technological innovation, especially in the tech sector. Export controls were expected to prevent the Soviet Union from injecting new technologies into its defense-industrial base. Now, military export controls protect U.S. technological advantages from Russia and China.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: China developing new attack helicopter with stealth power

Chinese WZ-19 Attack Helicopter

China has begun to develop a fourth-generation attack helicopter which will have stealth capabilities and expects to deliver it to the People's Liberation Army by around 2020, according to a report by the English-language China Daily.

Aviation Industry Corp of China, an aircraft manufacturer and supplier to the PLA, has been given the responsibility of researching and developing the helicopter, Cankaoxiaoxi.com website reported Sunday, citing Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster.

The company disclosed the information in a media brochure distributed to domestic journalists taking part in the Third China Helicopter Expo, which opened on Wednesday in Tianjin, according to the China Daily report published Friday.

The company gave no further details but according to the report, it was the first time that China has confirmed it is developing a new-generation combat helicopter.

Read the full story at Want China Times

News Story: Taiwan's Largest Missile Ship Goes Into Service

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan's largest-ever missile ship went into service Tuesday after a ceremony presided over by President Ma Ying-jeou as the island strives to modernize its military in response to a perceived threat from China.

Ma praised the corvette's "stealth and speed" at the ceremony involving hundreds of naval officers and said it "reflects the determination by the military to defend national security".

Armed with 16 missiles, the ship will strengthen Taiwan's defense capabilities. China still considers the island part of its territory waiting to be reunited — by force if necessary.

The 500-tonne corvette, named 'Tuo Chiang' ('Tuo River'), will be deployed following the ceremony at the southern Tsoying naval base.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: China's Anti-Stealth Radar Comes to Fruition

By WENDELL MINNICK

TAIPEI — The one great testament to China’s anti-access/area denial efforts were weapon and sensor systems on display at the recent China Airshow in Zhuhai.

One of the most noticeable was the road-mobile JY-26 “Skywatch-U” 3-D long-range air surveillance radar. China had plenty of road-mobile radars on display, but this one claimed a unique capability — “stealth target detection.” This towering radar is a clear symbol of China’s continued desire to locate and destroy stealth aircraft like the B-2 bomber and F-22 and F-35 fighters.

According to a brochure by the East China Research Institute of Electronic Engineering (ECRIEE), this radar “boasts double stealth target detection virtues thanks to operation in UHF [ultra high frequency] band and owning of large power-aperture product” for both air breathing targets and tactical missiles. The range of the UHF radar is not cited on the brochure, but other details are, including electronic counter-countermeasures and a complex digital active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar capable of tracking 500 targets.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Think Tank: The future of Airpower and the strategic outlook

<< F-4E-32-MC Phantom II (s/n 66-0323) with four AIM-7 Sparrow and four AIM-4D Falcon missiles and an M61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon. (Image: Wiki Commons)

 

By Malcolm Davis

Peter Layton’s recent post promoting UAVs in response to my earlier comment makes some very good points, but it’s important to remain cautious of UAVs until they’ve proven themselves at all levels of military conflict. UAVs have been used very effectively in low air-threat environments like Afghanistan, where the adversaries lack sophisticated integrated air defence systems and sophisticated sensor capabilities. For waging counter-insurgency (COIN) and undertaking counter-terrorism (CT) operations against unconventional opponents in failed states, armed UAVs are a clear solution. But trends in Asia’s strategic environment suggest Australia should plan for a full spectrum of conflict, including high intensity interstate conflict. Any future manned/unmanned mix must contribute to the ability of the ADF to carry out its primary tasks across the entire breadth of this spectrum, rather than constraining it to being able to contribute only on the lower end.

In a higher threat environment—near or inside the airspace of a peer competitor or a well-armed rogue state—some of the positive characteristics of current UAVs generate greater operational risk rather than offering advantage. In undefended airspace like that encountered over Afghanistan, persistence is a real advantage for COIN and CT operations. But in well-defended airspace, a slow target like a Predator UAV is a clay pigeon. Within a highly contested airspace, getting to a target area quickly to avoid air defences, gathering vital information or striking a target such as a mobile missile launcher, and dashing out before an adversary can react makes much more sense. Survivability in these environments depends on speed and stealth.

News Story: Kendall - China Threatens US Military Superiority

Frank Kendall (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

WASHINGTON — China poses an increasing challenge to the US military’s technological edge while budget pressures are hampering Washington’s effort to stay ahead, a senior defense official warned on Tuesday.

Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, told lawmakers that when it comes to “technological superiority, the Department of Defense is being challenged in ways that I have not seen for decades, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Citing China’s major investments in anti-ship missiles, stealth fighter jets, hypersonic vehicles and other hi-tech weaponry, Kendall said the United States could lose its dominant position if it failed to respond to the altered strategic landscape.

“Technological superiority is not assured and we cannot be complacent about our posture,” he told the House Armed Services Committee.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Editorial: The Hard Politics Of Fighter Aircraft - India, Russia, and the PAK FA

By Robert Farley

The Indian Air Force looks away from Russia for its fifth-generation fighter needs.

The announcement in the Business Standard that the Indian Air Force was less than interested in continuing its relationship with Russia over the PAK FA came as a major surprise. Notwithstanding Indian interest in generation 4.5 fighters such as the Rafale, collaboration with the Russians on the PAK FA was intended to deliver India a fifth generation stealth fighter, as well as a variety of technology transfers. The Indian Air Force had a multitude of complaints, ranging from poor technology to bad engines to sloppy construction.

One lesson is that all advance defense programs have trouble, including the Russian ones. The endless series of difficulties with the F-35 are less the exception that the rule (even granting that the F-35′s troubles may be truly exceptional). We know less about these difficulties because the Russian procurement system isn’t nearly as open to scrutiny as the American one. Russian secrecy doesn’t approach that of Soviet times (Sukhoi recently published a set of patent applications associated with the stealth features of the PAK FA), but it’s not surprising that the problems with the PAK FA have emerged as result of collaboration with India. Indeed, this development lends further support to the idea that the real disciplinary force in fighter acquisition and innovation will be the increasingly sophisticated export market. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: Long-range stealth bomber under development in China

The First Aircraft Institute of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China has been designing the first generation long-range stealth bomber for the People's Liberation Army Air Force since 2008, a report from the state-run China Aviation News stated.

Senior Colonel Wu Guohui from the National Defense University in Beijing told the China Aviation News that the stealth bomber has two advantages on ballistic missiles. The first one is that ballistic missiles can only be fired once, while a stealth bomber can be launched multiple times. The second is that ballistic missiles cannot return to base, as the stealth bomber can, if a mission is aborted.

As the United States has decided to invest US$1.2 billion a year to develop a new stealth bomber to replace its Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, Wu said that it is time for China to have its own stealth bomber. Conventional strategic bombers such as the B-2 and the Chinese Xian H-6 are both easy targets for enemy fighters and anti-aircraft missiles to attack. Russia is also designing its new-generation long-range bomber to compete against the United States and China.

Read the full story at Want China Times

AUS: Stealth Technology expert wins Minister’s Science Award

A stealth technology expert, responsible for significantly enhancing the survivability of military vehicles and vessels, has won the 2013 Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science.

Assistant Minister for Defence, Stuart Robert MP, congratulated Dr Andrew Amiet from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) for developing new solutions and techniques that have resulted in better stealth technology for Australia.

Mr Robert said Dr Amiet’s advice aided the survivability of current ADF vehicles and vessels and contributed to through-life cost savings and reductions in maintenance requirements.

“Dr Amiet is responsible for developing and evaluating materials with stealth capabilities for use on submarines, ANZAC ships and Army vehicles to minimise their detection by radar, sonar, infrared and other electronic systems, thus significantly improving their operational capability,” Mr Robert said.