Chinese Y-12F Twin Panda Aircraft Continues Flight Tails

The Harbin Aircraft's Y12F is continues test flights. The fuselage of the Y-12F is constructed from the aluminum-alloy while composite materials has been used for the landing-gear and nose cone of the aircraft.

Global Times reports the launch of Type 052D destroyer in Shanghai.

China has launched the lead ship of its second-generation Aegis destroyer among a new wave of shipbuilding, while the hull number of the country's first aircraft carrier was also revealed, Chinese online news portals reported.

    According to major online military news sites such as Netease, the newest destroyer was launched in a shipyard in Shanghai at the end of August. As the most sophisticated combat ships, Aegis destroyers are commonly referred to as air-defense destroyers equipped with phased array radars and modern ship-to-air missiles, which enable the ships to provide regional air defense shields for the entire fleet.

    Meanwhile, photos released by the news portals showed that China's first aircraft carrier, a carrier hull bought from Ukraine and overhauled by the Chinese navy, was painted with the hull number "16."

    The carrier may be named after Liaoning Province, as the giant ship was overhauled in Liaoning's Dalian shipyard, the Shandong-based Qilu Evening News reported on Tuesday, adding that the hull number suggested the carrier is one step closer to being commissioned.

    The new type destroyer is the highlight in the second wave of massive shipbuilding after 2000. After an interval of about seven years, a total of six follow-up ships of the first-generation Aegis destroyers have been launched in very short intervals since the end of 2010, with at least one already being commissioned this year, according to Modern Ships and other military magazines on the Chinese mainland.

    "The mass production of the Aegis destroyers shows that after seven years of sea trials and evaluations of domestic radar and missile systems, the first -generation Aegis destroyers have matured," Lan Yun, editor of Modern Ships, a Beijing-based military magazine, told the Global Times.

    The first wave of shipbuilding after 2000 saw the complement of four modern destroyers, among which were the lead and second ships of the first-generation Aegis destroyers dubbed as type 052C, with hull numbers 170 and 171, which were commissioned in 2005.

    "Judging from the photos released, the lead ship of the second generation Aegis, presumably type 052D, seems to have a bigger main gun and 64 missile vertical launch tubes that are compatible with several types of missiles," Lan said, noting that the new type of destroyer is more fit to escort the carrier battle group.

    "We'll see more ships of the 052D class coming," he said.

    Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo told China Central Television in a recent interview on Sunday that the Chinese navy's equipment will witness major improvements in the near future.

Chinese Missile tests targeted at no specific country

China's Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed on Thursday that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had conducted missile tests within national territory and clarified that they were not targeted at any one country.

"We conducted some normal weapons tests within the territory recently," spokesman Geng Yansheng told a regular press conference arranged by the ministry.

"These tests have no specific targets and were not targeted at any specific countries," Geng said, reiterating that the weaponry buildup is to answer the need to safeguard national security.

Domestic and foreign media reports said that the PLA's Second Artillery Force had successfully test-launched several missiles, including DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile.

Others claimed the PLA's tests of JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles had all failed, and that China's development of ballistic missiles was at a comparatively slow pace.

The spokesman neither revealed what kinds of missiles the PLA had tested, nor confirmed the truth of the reports.

According to the reports, China's latest ballistic missiles launched from its mainland have a range allowing them to hit any point of the United States and could penetrate its missile defense system.

"China will always pursue a national defense policy which is defensive in nature and a military strategy of active defense," Geng said.

PLA Air Force organizes long-range maneuver drill

The Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) organized 14 vehicle and vessel troop units to conduct a long-range maneuver drill and assessment, codenamed “Iron Flow 12″, in multiple areas in late July of 2012. According to the briefing, this long-range maneuver drill will last for 22 days and span across 28 provinces (cities and prefectures).

It is learned that all the operations during the “Iron Flow 12″ followed the requirements of “actual-combat organization and training, full-process evaluation and review-style summary”.

The participating troops carried out full-strength, full-process and full-element drills on such subjects as combat readiness transition, organizing and commanding, long-range maneuver,

transportation service, field camping and so on, with colleges and academies as well as training institutions organized to observe and study in the entire process and participate in the assessment and evaluation.

Asian Defence News

Chinese aircraft carrier will have a provincial name

china's first aircraft carrier will be commissioned by the end of the year and is very likely to be named after one of China's provinces, a military expert said yesterday.

All the necessary facilities have been installed on the carrier through the nine sea trials since last August, Li Jie, a researcher of the China Navy Military Academy, said in an interview carried on the People's Daily website.

China has three major naval forces - the East China Sea, North China Sea and South China Sea fleets. Many speculated the aircraft carrier will join the South China Sea fleet to stabilize the situation in tension there, but Li said the vessel could be commissioned in different fleets.

However, the aircraft carrier will be mainly used for training and experiments, he said.

The carrier completed its ninth sea trial last month, the longest yet, and returned to the Port of Dalian in northeastern Liaoning Province.

The sea trials have been running smoothly so far and attained anticipated objectives, Lin Bai, a colonel of the General Armament Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, has said.

Previously, some observers speculated that the aircraft carrier might be named after Mao Zedong, founder of the New China, or the capital Beijing, but Li said that was unlikely.

He also said China would have more than three aircraft carriers in the future.

Asian Defence News

Frigate of Chinese naval escort flotilla leaves Romania

Romanian naval fleet Commander Alexandru Marsu (L) bids farewell to "Yantai" frigate Commander Xia Kewei at the Constanta port, about 220km east of Bucharest, capital of Romania, Aug. 4, 2012. Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy soldiers aboard the frigate "Yantai" of the 11th Chinese naval escort flotilla left the port, as it finished the five-day goodwill visit to Romania

 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy soldiers aboard the frigate "Yantai" of the 11th Chinese naval escort flotilla leaves the Constanta port, about 220km east of Bucharest, capital of Romania

Asian Defence News

China's 4th Type 052C (DDG 151)

 China's  4th Type 052C (DDG 151)

Asian Defence News

New Individual Support System for PLA Soldiers Debuts

According to a briefing, the new individual comprehensive support system developed by the Quartermaster and Equipment Research Institute under the General Logistics Department (GLD) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is equipped with such devices as electronic medical tag, miniature water purifier and so on, and suitable for the ground combat forces of such services and arms as the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery Force. It will multiply the individual soldier's field survival competence.

"Features like being complete in functions, light in weight, easy to put on and convenient to take off make it meets the various demands in actual combats," said delightfully Sun Shoulei, a squad leader of the second company of the first battalion of a regiment. This system consists of two parts, the individual combat comprehensive support system and the individual life comprehensive support system, and serves the functions of defense and protection, self-help and mutual aids, eating and drinking, camping and bivouacking, and many others. Its total weight is only 15 kilograms.

"In the past, portable combat equipment such as firearms, ammunition, jugs, satchels, rain gears, gas masks and bullet pouches was usually hung on the body, which was not only heavy but also troublesome to carry," said a troop unit leader.

Now this new individual comprehensive support system gives prominence to humanized concept in design and enhances the practicality, comfort and safety of the equipment, it provides convenience for officers and men in performing combat tasks and long-range march.


"Most importantly, it has increased the equipment carrying load of individual soldiers, and greatly enhanced the individual survival competence, mobility and combat effectiveness in field combat environment," said Yang Liuqing, deputy chief of staff of the headquarter of the Joint Logistics Department under the Beijing Military Area Command (MAC). This system which utilizes standardized interfaces and modular combination methods is compatible with the specialized carrying devices of existing and active weapons and equipment. Like "building blocks", officers and men can equip themselves with corresponding equipment modules in accordance with different combat requirements, and quickly compose the individual system to carry out corresponding combat tasks.

According to the briefing by the leader of the Scientific and Technological Equipment Bureau of the GLD Headquarter, in order to meet the needs of future combat, a batch of modernized logistic support systems such as the box-set equipment of field life support system, the vehicle-borne cabin of field medical and rescue equipment, and the like will be equipped to the field troop units in succession. Asian Defence News

China's Type 90 a Stalking Tiger on World Light Tracked Vehicle Market

In its annual analysis "The Market for Light Tracked Vehicles," the Forecast International Weapons Group reports that it expects the market to produce nearly 9,300 units, worth more than $19.7 billion, through 2021. The international market for light tracked vehicles remains a highly competitive and dynamic environment.

Dean Lockwood, weapons systems analyst at Forecast International, notes that in terms of sheer numbers, China's Type 90 armored personnel carrier (APC) and Type 90 mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV) represent the most significant light tracked vehicle production run of the forecast period. As the People’s Liberation Army standardizes its mechanized forces around the Type 90 APCand MICV, Forecast International expects that combined production of these two vehicles will account for about 41 percent of all new light tracked vehicle production worldwide, worth some 9 percent of the market, through 2021.

Meanwhile, new production of the top high-end vehicle – the Igel/Puma – will account for only 10.9 percent of all production through the forecast period. Yet, Lockwood states, "We estimate this program will own 59.5 percent of the total value of the light tracked vehicle market through 2021." Lockwood adds, “For most nations, the expense associated with the modernization and retrofit of high-end light tracked vehicles pales in comparison with the prospect of new procurement.”


The ongoing U.S. Army investment in the maintenance and upgrade of the existing Bradley fleet through FY17 is now equivalent to only 5 percent of the value of all new-production light tracked vehicles scheduled to roll out worldwide through 2021. “While transparent to this market analysis, maintenance of the existing Bradley Fighting Vehicle fleet in U.S. Army service is still effectively the sixth most valuable light tracked vehicle program on the international market,” Lockwood said.

Although the light tracked vehicles in service today are all products of the Cold War, Lockwood says that they are far from relics destined for the scrap heap. "Since the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) executed its 'Thunder Run' toBaghdadin 2003, the light tracked vehicle has soldiered on as a significant force multiplier on the modern asymmetric battlefield," he said. 

Asian Defence News