Arms sales record in Russia in 2012

Exports of military equipment from Russia, second arms supplier in the world after the United States reached a record level of $ 15.2 billion (11.4 billion euros) in 2012, announced Monday, January 21 a senior official quoted by Russian news agencies.

This figure must be further refined at the end of January or beginning of February, more than 12% of the government's goals, said Alexander Fomin, the director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. It is, moreover, an increase of 15% compared to the year 2011, during which Moscow had delivered $ 13.2 billion for weapons.

AMONG ITS BIGGEST CLIENTS OF INDIA AND CHINA

Russia has more than doubled its sales abroad compared to the early 2000s. The country has among its largest customers in India and China. He continues to sell equipment to Syria, but says it is mainly air defense weapons and not itself. Mr. Fomin said that Afghanistan, Ghana, Tanzania and Oman were among the new customers of Russian industry in 2012.

What Happens When China Goes “Gray”?

Developed economies are beginning to struggle with aging populations and more retirees. China may soon join them.

As China's major trading partners try to control rising public pension and health care costs, they may not realize they also have an important stake in China's ongoing struggle to fashion a safety net for its own rapidly aging population. Many observers assume China has no pensions or healthcare insurance for the 185 million people over the age of 60 (13.7% of population), the highest official retirement age for most workers. They may well believe this explains why Chinese families save so much–more than 30% of household income–and therefore spend less on consumer goods, including imports from trading partners.

But this line of reasoning is faulty because China already has large and rapidly growing public pension and health insurance programs in the cities, and is in the process of extending them to rural areas. It's time that China's trading partners, especially the United States, understand what this means for China's economic future and, by extension, their own.

For all the criticism of outgoing President Hu Jintao for presiding over a “do-nothing” administration, he did manage to oversee a substantial increase spending on China's public support systems.As a result, pensions have now become the most expensive function of the Chinese government—which already spends a lot on infrastructure, housing and defense. In 2011, pension expenditures rose to 1.28 trillion renminbi (RMB, U.S.$205 billion), up from only 489 billion RMB in 2006. These and civil service pensions cover only about half of those over age 60, but at current rates of growth universal coverage—and vastly higher expenditures—are not far off. The number of urban workers (including migrants from rural areas who in theory are in the cities temporarily) contributing to the public pension system now exceeds 290 million, while rural pensions are also growing rapidly. With so many new people paying in, the government's future pension obligations are rising quickly. A recent report issued by the Bank of China and Deutsche Bank estimated that China’s pension system will have a U.S.$2.9 trillion gap between assets and liabilities by the end of 2013. By 2033 the gap is expected to reach U.S.$10.9 trillion, or 38.7% of GDP.

Chinese newspaper warns of military fray with Japan

The Chinese government-run Global Times has warned of a potential clash between the military arms of Japan and China as the tension increases between the two countries in their territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands. This came a day after Chinese jets entered into Japan’s air defense identification zone on the sea, north of the islands, prompting Japanese F-15 fighter jets to take off from their Naha base in Okinawa Prefecture and check the area.

The paper’s editorial said that the military clash is highly probable and that the citizens need to prepare for the worst. It proceeds to state that the Chinese people are waiting on their government to take concrete actions “against Japan’s provocations”, pertaining to Japan’s dispatch of jets over an area near the Senkaku Islands, which China refers to as Diaoyu.

Chinese administration official Liu Caigui was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency to have said that China will continue to be firm in its opposition of infringement committed by its neighboring countries as to

Advanced Ejection Seats In Chinese Warplanes

According to reports, People's Liberation Army Air Force warplanes are now equipped with a third-generation ejector seat design.

The advanced, indigenous technology boasts hi-tech sensors, along with a microprocessor, both designed to provide maximise controllability during the ejection process, taking into account the aircraft's heading and speed at the time.

These features also work to manage the escape parachute's deployment, raising the chance of those who eject surviving the process, if it's carried out at low altitude.

Chinese Ejection Seats

Equipped with what local news sources called such ‘polymorphic development features', the PLAAF's Chinese ejection seats are, systems-wise, on a par with those used by many of its Western counterparts. Now, fourth-generation seats are being worked on, designed to give warfighters much more control over the ejection process.

While earlier developments took place with mixed results, ejection seats are fundamentally a WW2 technology. The first in-service aircraft to feature ejection seats was Heinkel's 219 nightfighter but, more than any other firm, Britain's Martin-Baker perfected and popularised the concept. To date, Martin-Baker has supplied upwards of 90 of the world's air forces with its ejection seats and among the aircraft types in which they're fitted is the brand-new F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

China May be Preparing for Third Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Test In January

China may be planning to conduct an anti-satellite (ASAT) test sometime this month, The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) claims in a recent post published by USC China Project Director Gregory Kulacki.

“The first media report on these rumors appeared in October. China’s Ministry of Defense challenged the information in that report, but in November contacts in China told us an announcement about an upcoming ASAT test was circulated within the Chinese government.” Kulacki said, “We were unable to find a public statement confirming plans for a test in the Chinese media or on publicly accessible Chinese government websites. Then, just before Christmas, a high-ranking U.S. defense official told us that the Obama administration was very concerned about an imminent Chinese ASAT test.”

If China does conduct another test, it is not clear what technology it would use or what it would target. There are different types of technologies that can be used to interfere with satellites, so a test would not necessarily destroy a satellite and create debris. Some reports suggest the test target may be a satellite orbiting at much higher altitude than in the 2007 test, possibly as high as the region where U.S., Russian and some Chinese navigational satellites orbit, approximately 12,000 miles (20,000 km) above the Earth. However, Kulacki notes that China may be wary of creating debris in a region where it could damage its own satellites.

One hint that China is planning a test is the fact that it used its interceptor technology to destroy targets in space twice before—in 2007 and 2010—on January 11. The 2007 test destroyed a defunct Chinese satellite at an altitude of about 530 miles (850 kilometers (km)). China used the same technology for a missile defense test in 2010.

China’s space program is still in the formative stages of its development. Both the United States and the former Soviet Union conducted equally high profile ASAT testing during comparable stages in the development of their space programs, and both eventually decided to stop destructive ASAT testing. Hopefully, China will eventually come to a similar conclusion. Beginning a meaningful bilateral dialog on space security between the United States and China could hasten the day.

Chinese Enthusiasm for Area 52

Recent Chinese TV coverage of Chinese Air Force training revealed that the code word for the main Chinese training base is “Area 52”. This is an interesting shout-out to the U.S. Air Force Tonopah Test Range (also known as Area 52) in Nevada. This has long been the site for testing new aircraft, and providing advanced training for fighter pilots. Nearby is Area 51, an even more secretive base used for experimental aircraft and, according to local lore, UFO activity.

What this shows is how much China understands that the only way to achieve victory in the air is to adopt Western pilot training methods. China is doing this in a big way. China is already getting rid of its thousands of old Cold War era warplanes. These were copies of Russian designs and Chinese air force experts noted that no one ever won a war with these aircraft. Since the 1990s China has been acquiring Western-style designs (MiG-29, Su-27/30) from Russia and developing similar aircraft. But these aircraft are only effective if operated by highly trained and experienced pilots. So China has provided the large quantities of fuel and spare parts needed to keep their several hundred modern fighters in the air a lot. This, however, was not enough. The pilots who started out on the old Cold War style aircraft did not become much better when moved to modern fighters, even after a lot of time in the air. Something was missing, and that turned out to be technical education and specialized training in the intricacies of modern air combat. That meant greater use of realistic flight simulators (so very dangerous maneuvers could be practiced). So the Chinese are taking care of all this, including establishing a “pilot university” that provides a four year academic and flight training program. All this closely follows methods and techniques pioneered by the United States.

The Chinese Air Force now has a training unit that will accurately (as possible) portray enemy (especially American and Indian) aircraft and combat tactics. Thus there are three Blue-Army Aggressor Squadrons (Blue is the bad guys in Chinese training, Red is the good guys) for this. One is equipped with Su-30s, to represent American F-15s or Indian or Vietnamese Su-30s. Another has the J-10A, which is similar to the F-16. The third squadron has J-7s (Chinese copies of the MiG-21), which represent low end threats, like the many MiG-21s India still uses.

Using your own aircraft for "aggressor (or dissimilar) training" began in 1969, when the U.S. Navy established the original "Top Gun" fighter pilot school. This was done in response to the poor performance of its pilots against North Vietnamese pilots flying Russian fighters. What made the Top Gun operation different was that the training emphasized how the enemy aircraft and pilots operated. This was called "dissimilar training". In the past, American pilots practiced against American pilots, with everyone flying American

Indonesia-China hold defense consultation meeting

Indonesia and China have again staged a consultation meeting to improve the two countries` relations and cooperation in the field of security and defense.

The Indonesia-China Defense Consultation Forum at the People`s Liberation Army (PLA) Headquarters was the fifth since 2007.

Indonesia`s delegation was led by deputy minister of defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin while the Chinese delegation was led by PLA`s deputy chief of general staff Lieutenant General Qi Jian`guo.

The meeting discussed development of the defense cooperation agreement made by the two countries in the framework of strategic partnership in April 2005.

Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said that the meeting was initially scheduled on November 2012 but it was then postponed due to a process of leadership change in that country in the month.

Meanwhile "we also had an important agenda in that month namely a leadership meeting which had only ended yesterday," he added.

After the Defense Consultation Forum was agreed Indonesia and China had conducted various cooperation activities such as a joint exercise between the Indonesian army and the PLA special force, exchange of officers of the two countries` military education institutions including the University of Defense.

Cybersecurity Smartphones For Spies China Are Tu-22 Bomber Knock-Offs Next? Year in Review What We Learned About Cyber in 2012 Meet China's new-old killer drones

When you think of drones that will likely be used in a conflict between two advanced militaries, you usually imagine brand new, unmanned stealth jets. But China appears to be taking a different approach. It's converting its ancient Shenyang J-6 fighters -- copies of the Soviet Union's 1950s-vintage MiG-19, the world's first operational supersonic fighter -- into unmanned jets. (Yes, China is also develping brand new drones.)
Converting old fighters into remote controlled jets is nothing new. The U.S. has used retired fighters as unmanned target practice drones for decades. However, China plans to use the old fighters as ground attack jets. We've been hearing about the unmanned J-6 project for a long time now. What's caught people's attention is that China has apparently massed dozens of the jets at airbases in Fujilan province, close to, you guessed it, Taiwan.
While the fighters may not be the most advanced drones in the world and no knows how accurate their weapons would be, they would pose one more challenge to Taiwanese air defense in the event of war with the mainland. Imagine waves of the unmanned jets tying up air defenses while more advanced jets and missiles attack.  As this article from 2010 points out, the J-6 drones could be used in conjunction with the Israeli-made Harpy UAVs that are specifically designed to defeat ground-based radars to "punch holes" in the island's air defenses.

Chinese paper advises PLA Navy to build overseas military bases

“International Herald Leader”, a Chinese state-run newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, publishes a commentary to advise PLA Navy to build oversea naval bases to protect its energy line in Indian Ocean area.

The article says, as China’s first “Liaoning” aircraft carrier’s service in PLA Navy, along with the successful landing of the J-15 carrier-based fighter, the Chinese navy has become the focus of world attention after 2012. In future, the construction of PLA Navy aircraft carrier battle group will lead the system transformation, warship building, training and naval combat doctrine research. In Hu’s report at 18th Party Congress, he urges to build strong national defense and powerful armed forces that are commensurate with China’s international standing and meet the needs of its security and development interests. In this context, Chinese first aircraft carrier battle group will quickly enter operational stage with the delivery of new guided-missile destroyer, amphibious warship and nuclear submarine.

China believes that a strong naval force can protect its energy line in Indian Ocean area, especially in Strait of Malacca. However, even China has more warships, PLA Navy still can not play a key role in blue water without overseas military bases.

The article mentions that the Chinese navy is not to establish a U.S.-style military bases, but does not exclude the establishment of a number of so-called “Overseas Strategic Support Bases” in accordance with international prevailing rules. China has right to build oversea replenishment, staff rest and berthing-maintenance bases in foreign countries under equality, mutual benefit and friendly consultations.

The article also predicted that in future the Chinese Navy will establish its first batch of support bases in Indian Ocean. The article summarizes that these bases can be divided into three levels: First, ship fuel and material supply bases in peacetime, such as the Port of Djibouti, Aden port of Yemen, and Salalah Port of Oman. The replenishment method is in the light of international business practices; the second is relatively fixed supply bases for warship berthing, fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft and the naval staff ashore rest, such as the ports of Seychelles. China can build those bases by sign a short-term or medium-term agreement with Seychelles; the third is fully-functional center for replenishment, rest and large warship weapons maintenance, such as in Pakistan under medium-and long-term agreements.

With Beidou, China reopens the battle of satellite navigation

China has put into service Beidou satellite navigation system sound. It is less lucrative aspect of this market, its strategic and military convinced Chinese, Russians and Europeans to invest tens of billions to develop their own programs guide satellite ...

The American GPS saw the last hours of his lucrative monopoly. After Russia, China, which is launching its own satellite navigation system. Beidou entered service on Thursday and covers the vast territory of the Middle Kingdom, Asia and South-East part of Oceania.

Launched in 2000, the Chinese program called "Big Dipper" (in Chinese Beidou) has already put into orbit a constellation of 16 satellites, plus four more in the experimental stage. To the Chinese press, the Beidou system is the opportunity to extol the success of the national engineering in space. But China does not stop there. The program includes the launch of a new forty satellites by 2024 to increase its coverage to the whole world. The objective is to capture 70-80% of the market for navigation satellite estimated at $ 500 billion by 2020 ...

Technology that is experiencing

Beidou but must first demonstrate the reliability of the system if it does not want to know the same torments as GLONASS , the system of Russian satellite navigation. Commissioned in 2008, the "Russian GPS" has never proved its reliability. Satellite failures, devices fall into the Pacific Ocean ... The system is not developed, so that the Russian Air Force no longer wants. "The GLONASS system is useless for Russian aircraft" has dared to write Neradko Alexander, head of the Russian Federal Agency of Air Transport, before being forced to deny his statements. He believes that the obligation of all Russian aircraft to be equipped with a compatible navigation system was extremely expensive. Thus required 25,000 euros per plane for a dual GPS / GLONASS. In addition, experts complain about the poor quality of the signal, which could make it dangerous to navigation airliners ... Even the Russian government recognizes that GLONASS known failures, despite its exorbitant cost (10 billion euros in 2020).

The Chinese Y-20 made its first test

December 24, 2012, the Chinese military forums have posted photos of a prototype transport aircraft Y-20.

The unit has conducted taxi tests in a testing center in northwest China in the afternoon of 21 December.The test would have started at 10:23 to start warming up the engines, followed by a slow driving on the test track at 10:40.

The prototype of the Y-20 engines would use Russian-made D-30KU a mass of 2.3 tonnes and a thrust of 103 kN used in the IL-76, which China has a copy.

This new heavy military transport aircraft would be the first manufactured by China must comply with the following parameters: 47 meters long, with a wingspan of 45 meters, 15 meters high, and a takeoff weight of 220 tons. It will fly at an altitude of 8000 m with a cruising speed of Mach 0.7 Mach. Cruising speed at low altitude will be 630 km / h with a ceiling of 13,000 meters.