More imagesKartik wrote:FC-31 prototype is again up in the air.
https://twitter.com/lealunno/status/126 ... 07298?s=20
https://twitter.com/dafengcao/status/12 ... 27264?s=20
More imagesKartik wrote:FC-31 prototype is again up in the air.
It's like the generic Gen 5 manned fighter. The AMCA, KFX and TFX all look like it. It is the only one flying so they get props.chetonzz wrote:More imagesKartik wrote:FC-31 prototype is again up in the air.
https://twitter.com/lealunno/status/126 ... 07298?s=20
https://twitter.com/dafengcao/status/12 ... 27264?s=20
Last verified number was 8, I believe. Seems like a lot of effort has been made to change the engine to an indigenous type lately, so not sure if they're continuing production right now.brar_w wrote:What's the pace of their J-20 program? How many LRIP aircraft have they operationalized till date?
Code S/N
21* 78271
22 78272
23 78273
24 78274
25 78275
26 78276
27 78277
28 78278
20$ 78230
21 78231
22 78232
23 78233
01% 62001
02 62002
05 62005
07 62007
08 62008
09 62009
* J-20 in service with PLAAF Dingxin Flight Test & Training Base.
$ J-20 in service with PLAAF Cangzhou Flight Training Base.
% J-20 in service with the 9th Brigade, formerly the 3rd Division
Last Updated 1/25/20
Sounds about right from the verified SN list. Unlikely every serial was photographed and verified. Operational units would include those at the training bases.brar_w wrote:8 is the number of J-20 prototypes from what I remember. The last I remember seeing was something like 20 LRIP aircraft with operational units.
To add, where are their helis based out of ? Hotan seems to have a whole bunch of fighters but I can't seem to find a similar arrangement of helis on the ground.Hari Nair wrote:Does any member have inputs on the type(s) of Chinese helicopters seen during the ongoing events in Ladakh? Are their 'Copyhawks' being deployed?
There have been multiple reports of helis sighted in the Sumdo area. The closest airfield is the Ngari airport. Haven't spotted any on the aprons there on google maps or other online maps and imagery.chola wrote:I haven't seen any photos of helos in Tibet related to the recent "engagements." The Z-20 is supposed to be their high altitude helo but all we know is that it had trained there from reports. Who knows, but the chini helos noted in Indian reports could be actual Blackhawks that the chinis had husband for 4 decades for use in Tibet.
Hotan is in much lower altitude in Xinjiang not Tibet. They have very low availability of air assets in Tibet. The geography doesn't allow it.
Jeffery
@JeffHwang_EntH
Replying to
@RupprechtDeino
OK, Q30 declares that that thing is a extra external pod for refueling probe…
(CNN)Chinese and Malaysian vessels were locked in a high-stakes standoff for more than one month earlier this year, near the island of Borneo in the South China Sea.
The Malaysian-authorized drill ship, the West Capella, was looking for resources in waters also claimed by Beijing, when a Chinese survey vessel, accompanied by coast guard ships, sailed into the area and began conducting scans, according to satellite images analyzed by the Asia Maritime Transparency Institute (AMTI).
Malaysia deployed naval vessels to the area, which were later backed by US warships that had been on joint exercises in the South China Sea.
Beijing claimed it was conducting "normal activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction," but for years Chinese vessels have been accused of hounding countries who try to explore for resources in waters that China claims as its own.
Now, experts say the Chinese ships are adopting increasingly forceful tactics, which risks sparking new conflicts with major regional powers such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Greg Polling, director of the AMTI, said the countries are more important than ever as Chinese ships expand their reach in the region, mostly due to the advanced construction of Beijing's artificial islands in the South China Sea.
"(The islands) provide forward basing for Chinese ships, effectively turning Malaysia and Indonesia into front line states," Polling said. "On any given day, there about dozen coast guard ships buzzing around the Spratly Islands, and about a hundred fishing boats, ready to go."
An Indonesian air force pilot prepares for taking off in an F-16 at an air base in Pekanbaru, Riau on January 7, to deploy near the Natuna Islands.
An Indonesian air force pilot prepares for taking off in an F-16 at an air base in Pekanbaru, Riau on January 7, to deploy near the Natuna Islands.
Nine-dash line
The South China Sea is one of the most hotly contested regions in the world, with competing claims from China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan and Indonesia.
Beijing's territorial claims, known as the nine-dash line -- owing to the markings printed on Chinese maps of the region -- are by far the largest and encompass almost the entirety of the sea, from Hainan Island down to the top of Indonesia. China's claims have no basis under international law and were found to be invalid in a 2016 international court ruling.
Despite this, from about 2015 the Chinese government began to bolster its territorial ambitions by building artificial islands on reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, and then militarizing them with aircraft strips, harbors and radar facilities.
"These (islands) are bristling with radar and surveillance capabilities, they see everything that goes on in the South China Sea," Polling said. "In the past, China didn't know where you were drilling. Now they certainly do."
Experts say Beijing has created an armada of coast guard and Chinese fishing vessels that can be deployed in the South China Sea to harass other claimant's ships or sail in politically sensitive areas.
Growing aggression
The confrontation over the Malaysian drill ship wasn't the first act of aggression by the Chinese government in the region in 2020.
The year began with a standoff in the Natuna Islands on the far southern end of the South China Sea, territory claimed by China and Indonesia. Vessels from both countries were involved in the standoff, which began when Chinese fishing vessels started to operate inside Indonesia's exclusive economic zone.
Eventually, Indonesia deployed F-16 fighters and naval ships to the islands and President Joko Widodo personally flew to the area, in an unusual show of strength from the country.
In April, a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
The act prompted Vietnam to send a diplomatic note to the United Nations restating its sovereignty over its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang responded by saying China would take "all measures necessary" to safeguard Beijing's interests in the region.
"I want to stress this: attempts by any country to negate in any means China's sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea and to reinforce its own illegal claim are bound to be fruitless," Geng said.
China's push to modernize its military (2017)
China's push to modernize its military (2017) 02:26
Insecurity
Beijing has a long history of harassing other countries' vessels in the South China Sea, mostly from Vietnam and the Philippines and also occasionally from Malaysia and Indonesia.
In the past, Chinese diplomats have helped soothed aggrieved parties, but experts say the fallout from the coronavirus and the rise of so-called "wolf warrior" diplomacy in Beijing have removed any circuit breaker in the relationship between China and its regional rivals.
"What has changed is that they've really taken the glove off of the fist diplomatically. The statements are brash and unhelpful," said Polling.
Experts said Beijing's growing forcefulness in the region is partly driven by the global coronavirus pandemic, which has dealt a heavy blow to China's rapid economic growth and damaged the country's international reputation.
At the meeting of its parliament in May, the Chinese government didn't set a target for annual GDP growth for the first time in years, a sign that it is concerned about falling economic performance.
At the same time, tensions are rising with the United States and Europe over Beijing's role in containing the initial outbreak and whether it gave the world enough time to respond to the pandemic, which has killed more than 380,000 people.
China is embracing a new brand of foreign policy. Here's what wolf warrior diplomacy means
China is embracing a new brand of foreign policy. Here's what wolf warrior diplomacy means
Concerned about appearing like its grip on power is slipping, the ruling Communist Party is doubling down on its rhetoric and on its nationalistic agenda, which includes control of the South China Sea, experts said.
Beijing is keen to foster a narrative that the US is retreating as a global power to solidify its hold on the region, said Ian Storey, senior fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
"It will want to show Southeast Asian claimants that American military power is on the decline and its commitment to the region is waning," Storey said. "(It will want to show that) the economic problems that China is facing will not impact its policy on the South China Sea."
So far, Malaysia and Indonesia have tried to avoid letting South China Sea dominate their relationship with China, but with Beijing marking its territory in the region, the days of quiet diplomacy might not last forever.
"At what level of aggression does it become impossible to ignore? ... At what point do they add their voice to the criticism that you've been getting for years and years from Hanoi and Manila?" AMTI's Polling said.
Free-for-all
Facing an entrenched Chinese presence on their doorstep, now might seem like the time for Southeast Asian nations to band together and face down Beijing's presence in the region.
But Storey said with regional powers preoccupied with coronavirus as well as their own economic and political crises, any hope of unity in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was unlikely.
"No matter how hard China pushes I don't think we're going to see the ASEAN members coalesce and present that strong united front against China," he said.
"I think going forward in the next six months, towards the end of 2020, we can expect China to double down on its assertive behavior in the South China Sea."
Malaysia has long worked to balance the benefits of a close relationship with China with running its own independent foreign policy, AMTI's Polling said, which is why previous clashes with Chinese vessels in Malaysian waters were kept out of the media as much as possible.
Indonesia has in the past opened fire on Chinese fishing vessels that failed to leave its waters, and President Widodo's tough behavior in January showed he will not sit by while Beijing moves into the Natuna Islands.
But experts say China won't be easily deterred.
"Beijing believes it can wear down Indonesian opposition; and eventually Indonesia, much like Malaysia, will realize that it has little choice but to accommodate China's presence," Foreign Policy Research Institute senior fellow Felix Chang wrote in January.
Still, there is risk too for the Chinese government. The United States is already increasing its freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, holding half as many in the first five months of 2020 as it did in the whole of last year.
Washington is also working to directly support Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea. The Malaysian Navy received its first batch of surveillance drones from the US in May.
And, during the West Capella's operations, US Navy warships performed what the US Navy called "presence operations" near the drill ship while it was being monitored by the Chinese vessels.
"The US supports the efforts of our allies and partners in the lawful pursuit of their economic interests," Vice Adm. Bill Merz, commander of the US 7th Fleet, said in a statement at the time.
Speaking in a public lecture in May, James Holmes, a professor at the US Naval War College and former Navy officer, said that as Beijing pushes harder in the South China Sea, the US may look like the better bet for a steady friend.
"I think China has actually seriously overplayed its hand by being so bullying and by being so aggressive," Holmes said.
"That starts driving together allies that are worried about Chinese aggression ... The more China pushes the more coalition partners are likely to unite and push back."
Any push back could cost Beijing economically.
China has close trade ties with many of its regional neighbors, such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, and needs them for parts of its international agenda such as its much trumpeted Belt and Road Initiative -- the country's interlinking web of regional trade deals and infrastructure projects.
"I think there's already been a lot of unease in the region about how China has used Covid-19 to push its claims in the South China Sea," said Storey, from ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
"China won't want to completely destroy its relations with Southeast Asia by pushing too hard."
East Pendulum
@HenriKenhmann
Le 2e Type 055 de série, "Lhassa" (??), a quitté le chantier naval Changxing Jiangnan à Shanghai pour rejoindre son unité située dans le nord de la Chine.
Son entrée en service devrait avoir lieu avant la fin d'année.
------------- Translated -----------
The 2nd Type 055 DDH eventually to be named "Lhasa" has left the Changxing Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai to join its unit located in the North of China.
Its service entry is expected to take place before the end of the year.
This area was packed with modules just a month ago:@Rupprecht_A
@RupprechtDeino
This most recent image showing the Type 003 aircraft carrier construction site at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on 11th June ... and indeed, the carrier is gone.
On one of the signs it says "高岭" district, which based on a Google search appears to be in Changsha, Hunan.nam wrote:Anyone can geo locate these Type15?
Thanks. As I thought they are not in the high altitude areas.DavidD wrote:On one of the signs it says "高岭" district, which based on a Google search appears to be in Changsha, Hunan.nam wrote:Anyone can geo locate these Type15?
Russia has accused one of its leading Arctic researchers of treason, alleging that he gave sensitive information to China. This is the latest in a string of cases where high-profile Russian scientists have found themselves in a standoff with the security services over suspected foreign contacts.
.........
Biz reports say their navigation industry had already generated $50B worth of business with earlier editions of Beidou (1 & 2) which were Asia-specific. This edition, 3, is global.
COMAC wins deal to sell 100 ARJ21 and C919 jets to China’s private airline
China Express Airlines, which only operates Western aircraft, will receive the first ARJ21 by the end of the year
BY RICARDO MEIER JUNE 11, 2020
Supported by China’s state-owned airlines, COMAC does not suffer from the same problem as other commercial aircraft manufacturers, which rely on lengthy discussions before concluding a sale.
Their jets have a numerous backlog almost entirely formed by orders from Chinese state-controlled companies. This week, however, COMAC secured an agreement to sell 100 units of the ARJ21 and C919 models to the airline China Express Airlines.
Unlike other companies, the Chongqing-based regional airline is privately owned and operates a fleet of 49 Western planes – 11 Airbus A320 and 38 CRJ900. The order is the largest ever received by COMAC from a private airline, but the two companies have not disclosed the division of units between the C919 and the ARJ21.
Exactly that. It'll be an excuse for them to mass produce more. They ignored Unkil's plea to join arms control talks. The thing with Cheen under Deng and his successors is they never built a huge nuclear arsenal or navy even as their economy exploded because they were adamant that they don't spend themselves into collapse like the USSR. Weapons give no economic return. Under Xi, they've already built a navy as big as the Soviets. The mijjiles and nukes will come next.RKumar wrote:^ So what Chene gonna do, increased deployment of their missiles as they they can't attack the other party? Bloody they are even reacting to defensive capabilities of other nations while they keep adding offensive as well as defensive capabilities. Truly, double standard and duplicate tongue.
They already have a substantial conventional capability in the region, as far as medium and intermediate ranged systems are concerned. In fact, much of their DF-XX is essentially a conventional Pershing II and continuation of the work had that effort stuck around (in a non INF world). I'm convinced that had that arsenal not existed the US would have probably preferred to stay within the INF framework even if it meant treaty disputes that lingered on.RKumar wrote:^ So what Chene gonna do, increased deployment of their missiles as they they can't attack the other party? Bloody they are even reacting to defensive capabilities of other nations while they keep adding offensive as well as defensive capabilities. Truly, double standard and duplicate tongue.
Having a double tongue is not really that big of a deal in geopolitical/strategic terms. It is in China's best interest to build up capability (of which they already have substantial amounts of DF-21/26) while applying maximum economic, political and military pressure to nations in the region to prevent, or at least delay, any deployment of a US IR system on their shores. I think where they've miscalculated is (and they did the same when they applied pressure on South Korea on THAAD which is now permanently deployed there) that their military actions don't align with that threat (they are bullying smaller nations while attempting to influence medium or larger regional powers via softer measures (for now) ). They are also, IMHO, underestimating the future of advanced missile / weapon production given how additive manufacturing of advanced materials and complex shapes is going to level a lot of the direct cost advantage that they may have with very high end weapons production at scale.RKumar wrote: Truly, double standard and duplicate tongue..