China's Anti-Access ASBM Strategy [Defense News]

AssassinsMace · Jun 12, 2017

It's the National Interest. No other article has spun it as an alarming threat. It's like painting Chinese military hardware as offensive first strike weapons while spinning US counterparts as defensive weapons only. Anyone remember that article that claimed American military weapons were designed for minimal casualties while the Chinese counterparts were designed to kill as many people as possible? There's an article I read I might post in another thread that titled The Dark Side of Chinese Innovation. They point to how the rise of Chinese innovations can be used to perpetuate the police state. For example facial recognition advancements is exploding in China to make life easier. What do you think how it's being spun in the West? Like American patriots say every time some law is introduced to expand police powers while lessening individual rights... "If you haven't done anything wrong, you wouldn't be against it." Yes and the US wants to protect the rights of terrorists in China while violating them for terrorists against the West simply because they want China undermined not protecting rights just like how the only dark side to Chinese innovation they're really talking about is China in control and makes all the money from that innovation.

delft · Jun 14, 2017

I can imagine scores of solar powered UAV's being used for civilian purposes each fitted in addition with military sensors adding say ten percent to the total weight. When war was to break out and the military UAV's being used were to be shot down each could be replaced by an already flying UAV being repurposed.

Equation · Jun 14, 2017

delft said:
I can imagine scores of solar powered UAV's being used for civilian purposes each fitted in addition with military sensors adding say ten percent to the total weight. When war was to break out and the military UAV's being used were to be shot down each could be replaced by an already flying UAV being repurposed.

Solar powered UAV basically acts like atmospheric satellite for both civilian and military use.

Lethe · Jun 15, 2017

I question the military utility of solar-powered UAV platforms. It's all well and good to make a platform that can remain airborne for weeks or months, but those platforms require sensors and datalinks if they are to be militarily useful, and those things add weight and consume power.

I suspect that if you need long-term coverage then a satellite is a better solution, and that if you don't then a conventional HALE such as Divine Eagle would be more capable.

plawolf · Jun 15, 2017

Lethe said:
I question the military utility of solar-powered UAV platforms. It's all well and good to make a platform that can remain airborne for weeks or months, but those platforms require sensors and datalinks if they are to be militarily useful, and those things add weight and consume power.

I suspect that if you need long-term coverage then a satellite is a better solution, and that if you don't then a conventional HALE such as Divine Eagle would be more capable.

Active sensors require significant power, but passive sensors may be viable within a reasonable timeframe.

Since modern stealth tech relies heavily on redirecting radar energy rather than absorption, a network of ultra-high endurance UAVs with passive sensors could potentially create an anti-stealth net by making it possible to pick up the redirected radar energy to get a fix on a stealth target.

Such UAVs are also very useful for communications.

While it is true that satellites are far better for communications and sensors, you have to remember that not only does an increasing number of states possess ASAT weapons, there is already an unhealthy amount of space debris in orbit.

As such, it is not hard to imagine the Kessler Syndrome becoming a reality, even in a limited conflict with very selective targeting of opposing satellites.

These high endurance UAVs are a fall back contingency to allow you to retain some or most satellite-like capabilities in the event near space is rendered unusable either deliberately or unintentionally as a result of conflict or accident.

Hendrik_2000 · Nov 8, 2017

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Picking up on the theme of Rainbow UAV Another outstanding article by professor Lyle Goldstein
China’s new long endurance solar-powered UAV will form an important component of its developing maritime intelligence system.
This is interesting
U.S. Navy ships are now operating with AIS transponders in active mode, at least in high traffic areas. These transponders are mandatory for merchant vessels crisscrossing the world’s oceans and are a major aid to preventing navigation accidents, but navies have resisted this trend for the obvious reason of safeguarding stealth and operational security

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November 7, 2017

A spate of very

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for the U.S. Navy in the Western Pacific has brought forth new procedures for American warships operating in the crowded sea lanes of East Asia. In a sharp break with the past, U.S. Navy ships are now operating with AIS transponders in active mode, at least in high traffic areas. These transponders are mandatory for merchant vessels crisscrossing the world’s oceans and are a major aid to preventing navigation accidents, but navies have resisted this trend for the obvious reason of safeguarding stealth and operational security. The now regular release of data on locations of U.S. Navy ships has occasioned some logical concern, but USN leadership has decided that the safety benefits outweigh any added risks.

That is likely a wise decision. However, the question of what potential adversaries know about U.S. military force dispositions in the Western Pacific is highly significant and actually has considerable bearing on the Asia-Pacific military balance. Indeed, one of the key variables in evaluating the so-called “anti-access” military strategy of certain major strategic competitors concerns whether the hypothetical opponent has sufficient intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to put long-range weapons onto American military targets, especially when these are ships out at sea. The Chinese PLA has accumulated very substantial firepower in recent years, including

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like YJ-18, and a wide array of launch platforms, such as H-6K bombers and Yuan-class submarines. Then, there is the much discussed anti-ship ballistic missile, which was unveiled in the 2015 official Chinese military parade. Even with such a store of weaponry, however, more than a few Western strategists have voiced doubts regarding China’s ability to actually find and target American ships during a conflict.

For that reason, a high priority for strategists looking at the Asia-Pacific military balance now focuses on China’s developing ISR capabilities, especially the ability to locate targets at sea beyond the “first island chain.” We recently highlighted the advent of the world’s

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into China’s maritime surveillance arsenal. Yet, a plausible case can be made that the most potent of China’s future ISR assets will be unmanned systems.

Recommended:
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One system has occasioned much discussion both in China and among Western strategists as of late: the Rainbow(彩虹) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A recent article in the Chinese naval magazine Modern Ships (现代舰船 ) explored the issue of whether this new UAV could target U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups and this issue of Dragon Eye will summarize that piece, which notably keys off
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that was earlier circulated by the National Interest during the summer of 2017.

Hinting at the remarkable qualities of this UAV, the subhead of this Chinese article notes that the Rainbow UAV could fly continuously for months and “even for years” (甚至数年). Giving full credit to the original innovators in the United States, this article notes that NASA flew its first solar-powered UAVs during the early 1980s. A number of Chinese aerospace laboratories apparently took up the project in the 1990s and the Eleventh Design Bureau of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation apparently created the Rainbow UAV. Powered by eight propeller engines, this UAV has a giant wingspan in excess of forty-five meters, equivalent to a 737. Somewhat like the spy plane legends of the Cold War, such as the U-2, the Rainbow UAV will generally operate at extremely high altitudes. Indeed, the many advantages of this platform become immediately evident in appraising an unmanned aircraft designed to “fly even higher and even further” (非得更高更远).

In fairness, a rather substantial part of the Chinese article discusses the many possible civilian application for this aviation technology, whether economic or scientific. It is noted that the high-flying, extreme long-endurance UAV can offer most of the services of a satellite, but the “communications capabilities are more robust, the launch apparatus is much simpler and the . . . operating costs are significantly lower, as well.” Some of the civil sector missions that the Rainbow UAV could well take up, include such varied roles as pipeline security, forestry management, agricultural land use inspection and forecasting, as well as earthquake relief and other kinds of disaster response or search-and-rescue surveillance operations. Moreover, the craft seems ideally suited for atmospheric and climate change research. It could also be used for weather sampling.

Hendrik_2000 · Nov 8, 2017

(cont)
Not surprisingly, the authors of this analysis also see many maritime applications for the RainbowUAV as well. Fisheries management is an obvious and important domain that could see employment of this platform. But the article also sees the Rainbow UAV as having potential contributions to make in the fight against smuggling, piracy and even in a notional counterterrorism mission. The analysis suggests the Rainbow UAV could help to “assist the customs and the coast guard agencies to undertake real time surveillance of both the near seas and also the economic exclusive zone (EEZ)” (协助海关或海警部门进行近海或专属经济区的实时监视). With respect to “protecting maritime rights,” the analysis points out some advantages over manned systems and it is also mentioned that the Rainbow UAV can play a useful role as a communications relay link to remote reef bases.

The article notes that the discussion topic regarding “whether the Rainbow UAV can actually play a role in the anti-carrier system” has been a “hot topic” of discussion in China (‘彩虹’太阳能无人机在反航母体系中到底能否发挥作用 . . . 引起了. . . 热烈讨论). It is noted that Beijing now fields a wide array of surveillance assets from radars to sonar arrays, but it is also suggested that each of these elements has certain weaknesses. To build the first-rate maritime surveillance system that China is said to require, the Rainbow UAV is described as an “excellent choice.” (非常好的一个选择). Stressing both the time urgency and also the low cost, the authors argue that the Rainbow UAV can rather quickly—and quite cheaply—become a critical component of the developing system.

It is observed by the Chinese authors that tracking ships at sea is substantially easier that finding much smaller targets that can be camouflaged or buried on land. Stating the obvious, the article notes that aircraft carriers are a large and also loud target, giving off all kinds of emissions that can be also detected by passive means. “As a target, (the aircraft carrier’s) special characteristics are extremely obvious.” (作为目标物来说, 各种特征都是非常明显的的) In such a role of detecting adversary aircraft carrier groups, the RainbowUAV is said to have an “enormous deterrence value and can then secure victory against the enemy.” (对敌人造成巨大威慑效果 , 进而赢得胜利). And yet the piece is also not naïve about the challenges either, admitting that the current prototype does not yet actually have the requisite capabilities for such missions. Moreover, it states that complications, such as weather or a target cloaking its locations by operating without sensors and communications, could present the challenge of finding a “needle in the big ocean” (大海捞针). Thus, the task of locating the enemy’s carrier group is surmised to be “actually not so easy” (并不是那么容易). Indeed, new Chinese UAVs will work together in this mission with a comprehensive surveillance system that includes new satellites, long-range patrol aircraft of various types, a variety of undersea sensors, as well as Skywave radars that can see out to sea for thousands of miles. This list, moreover, does not include the likely employment of the world’s largest coast guard, fishing and also merchant fleets that may also be useful for tracking adversary ships.

A recent issue of Aerospace Knowledge (航空知识) ran with a large and dramatic fold out spread of an interesting moment in aviation and geopolitical history. The foldout shows a painting of PLA soldiers crawling over the wreckage of an American U-2 surveillance aircraft that had crashed in China during the early 1960s. That wreckage is familiar to any who have visited the military museum in Beijing. It has been asserted that one of the major strategic results of that particular ambitious U.S. surveillance program was to encourage the Chinese to create a first-rate air force and air defense system as national priorities. It seems likely that another result could well be that Beijing will vigorously pursue a global surveillance posture akin to the American posture it has studied closely for so many decades.

Lyle J. Goldstein is professor of strategy in the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions in his columns are entirely his own and do not reflect the official assessments of the U.S. Navy or any other agency of the U.S. government.

Image: Military vehicles carrying Pterodactyl I unmanned aerial vehicles drive past the Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing, China, September 3, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Hendrik_2000 · Nov 11, 2017

China now harden their Beidou 3 Satellite from jamming and make it more accurate too in the millimeter. From Skywatcher blog

China's future satellite navigation will be millimeter-accurate

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The Beidou 3 will guide military munitions and drones.

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November 7, 2017

BEIDOU LAUNCH
The Beidou satellite is usually launched by LM-3 space launch vehicles.
by78

China's military is updating its satellite navigation system, launching tech that'll offer super accurate guidance for munitions and drones.

On Sept. 29, China launched two Beidou 3 satellites from a Long March 3C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. Another two Beidou 3 satellites will launch before the end of 2017, part of a network of 20 Beidou 3 and 10 older Beidou 2 satellites set to go up by 2020.

Civilian GPS receivers generally achieve higher accuracy by combining signals of several satellites, and indeed the completed Beidou Navigation Satellite System is expected to provide global coverage, with millimeter-level accuracy.

BEIDOU 3

Beidou 3 satellites will offer superior accuracy compared to current Chinese navigation satellites.

China Academy of Sciences

Plus, thanks to a new, more accurate atomic clock, the Beidou 3 satellites will also be able to send more precisely timed radio pulses. Atomic clocks, which are set to the oscillations of atoms from stable isotopes, are highly accurate. The American NIST-F2 atomic clock, for example, is designed to lose only a second every 300 million years.

BEIDOU 2/COMPASS

The Beidou 2/Compass navigation satellites will have 35 satellites once completed, with 5 in geosynchronous orbit, and 30 in middle earth orbit.

China Academy of Space Technology, via Escobar on Sinodefence Forum

The system will also likely have new, jam-proof chips. Allystar Technology has unveiled a computer chip for use in Beidou receivers, providing instant accuracy without the aid of augmentation by ground control stations. This computer chip's ability to enhance satellite navigation signals could enable military Beidou users to withstand enemy attempts to jam satellite navigation.

The Beidou 3 satellite navigation service is expected to be available only to Chinese military and national security users for the foreseeable future. The updates could be particularly useful for Chinese unmanned systems (like small quadcopter drones) as well as long-range cruise missiles.

Peter Warren Singer is a strategist and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He has been named by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential people in defense issues. He was also dubbed an official "Mad Scientist" for the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Jeffrey is a national security professional in the greater D.C. area.

Equation · Nov 16, 2017

And the China HGV "beats goes on".

China prepares for 2020 tests of 27,000mph hypersonic aircraft that could hit the US with nuclear warheads in just 14 MINUTES

The craft will be capable of hypersonic flight speeds of up to 27,000mph

They will be tested in China's newest wind tunnel, set for completion by 2020

Hypersonic vehicles could deliver missiles, including nuclear weapons

They will be capable of hitting targets around the world within minutes of launch

By
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PUBLISHED: 04:41 EST, 16 November 2017 | UPDATED: 06:47 EST, 16 November 2017

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is developing aircraft capable of reaching US shores with nuclear warheads in just 14 minutes, reports suggest.

The craft will be capable of hypersonic flight speeds of up to 27,000 miles per hour (43,200 kmh) - 35 times the speed of sound.

They will be tested in China's newest military-grade wind tunnel, set to be the world's fastest hypersonic facility when construction is complete 'by 2020', experts claim.

Currently, the world's most powerful wind tunnel is the US LENX-X facility in Buffalo, New York, which operates at speeds of 22,000 miles per hour (36,000 km/h).

The tunnels are being used to develop hypersonic aircraft - those capable reaching five times the speed of sound or more.

The vehicles could be used to deliver missiles, including nuclear weapons, to distant targets around the world within minutes of launch.

Scroll down for video

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China is developing aircraft capable of reaching the US west coast in just 14 minutes, reports suggest. The vehicles will be tested in China's newest military-grade wind tunnel, which will be up and running by 2020. Pictured is the JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel in Beijing

HYPERSONIC CRAFT
The tunnels are being used to develop hypersonic aircraft - those capable of a hitting speeds five times the speed of sound or more.

The vehicles could be used to deliver missiles, including nuclear weapons, to distant targets around the world in just minutes.

Since 2013, China has conducted seven successful test flights of its hypersonic glider DF-ZF.

The vehicle will be capable of speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 10, or five to 10 times the speed of sound.

US officials tested tested HTV-2 in 2011, an unmanned aircraft capable of Mach 20, but the hypersonic flight lasted just a few minutes before the vehicle crashed.

Hypersonic vehicles travel so rapidly and unpredictably they could provide an almost-immediate threat to nations across the globe.

The craft fly at such speeds that the gap between identifying a military threat and launching an attack on it will drop from hours to minutes, even at long distances.

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that it will be up and running by 2020.

He said the tunnel will help meet the pressing demand of China's hypersonic weapons development programme.

Because planes can't fly during laboratory experiments, researchers need a wind tunnel that can generate gusts as fast as the desired speed of the aircraft to simulate a flying environment.

'[The new tunnel] will boost the engineering application of hypersonic technology, mostly in military sectors, by duplicating the environment of extreme hypersonic flights, so problems can be discovered and solved on the ground,' said Dr Wei, a deputy director of the State Key Laboratory of High Temperature Gas Dynamics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

These ground tests will help researchers iron out issues with the craft before test flights begin.

Since 2013, China has conducted seven successful test flights of its hypersonic glider DF-ZF.

The vehicle will be capable of speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 10, or five to 10 times the speed of sound.

US officials tested HTV-2 in 2011, an unmanned aircraft capable of Mach 20, but the hypersonic flight lasted just a few minutes before the vehicle crashed.

'China and the US have started a hypersonic race,' Professor Wu Dafang, a researcher at Beihang University in Beijing who specialises in hypersonic heat shields, told the SCMP.

A number of state-of-the-art wind tunnels in mainland China have helped its military successfully test hypersonic craft in recent years.

One of these facilities, Beijing's JF-12 tunnel, was completed in May 2012 but remains shrouded in mystery.

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Since 2013, China has conducted seven successful test flights of its hypersonic glider DF-ZF (model pictured in a State-TV documentary). The vehicle will be capable of speeds of up to Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound

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To generate a the high-speed air flow needed to test hypersonic craft in the new tunnel, researchers will detonate tubes of explosive gases. The resulting shockwaves will be channeled via a metallic tunnel (pictured in China's JF-12 tunnel) into the test chamber

THE NEW TUNNEL
Because planes can't fly during laboratory experiments, researchers need a wind tunnel that can generate gusts as fast as the desired speed of the aircraft to simulate a flying environment.

These ground tests help researchers iron out issues with the craft before test flights begin.

The new tunnel will include a test chamber for large craft with wingspans of up to three metres (10 ft).

To generate the high-speed air flow needed to test hypersonic craft, the researchers will detonate several tubes containing a mixture of oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen gases to create a series of explosions.

The blasts will generate shock waves that give off one gigawatt of wind power within a split second, according to Dr Wei.

A metallic tunnel will channel these shock waves into a test chamber, where the blast will envelope the prototype vehicle and increase its body temperature to 7,727°C (7,727°F), hotter than the surface of the sun, Dr Wei said.

The craft must be covered by special materials with state-of-the-art cooling systems inside its frame to dissipate the heat.

Without this heat shield the vehicle would warp and could veer off course or disintegrate on a long-distance flight.

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Hendrik_2000 · Nov 22, 2017

This video is just amazing
You can see air plane flying thru the air and track it down

China's Anti-Access ASBM Strategy [Defense News]

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General

delft

Brigadier

Equation

Lieutenant General

Lethe

Captain

plawolf

Lieutenant General

Hendrik_2000

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Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General

Equation

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Hendrik_2000

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