Death to the Enemies of Islam and Pakistan. Proud to be a Muslim.Pakistan is a Phenomenon ,An Incomplete Revolution,We have to Complete it.General Hamid Gul.
The air defence systems on display at Airshow China in November showed a strong emphasis on deployable, multi-functional weapons with the export market firmly in mind.
Several new design approaches were in evidence as China's range of mobile and man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) continues to expand.
Alongside the existing QW-18 shoulder-launched missile, details were given of an improved QW-18A with new electric servo control actuators for improved guidance and flight characteristics plus a laser proximity fuze not found on the earlier QW-18. Data from manufacturer China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) indicated that the QW-18A may have an imaging infra-red seeker, which it describes as "temperature-comparing discrimination".
A new CASIC MANPADS weapon, the QW-19, was also shown. It had all the enhanced performance features attributed to the QW-18A, including a new grip design (SK-19) with a revised battery and cooling system. It is possible that the data for the QW-18A was released in error and actually refers to the missile designated QW-19.
A new variant of the QW-18 was fitted to the brand new FL-19 vehicle-mounted terminal air defence weapon system. The FL-19 has six single-shot missile tubes with an integral electro-optical (EO) target detection and tracking unit, all mounted on the rear section of an armoured light truck.
IMPORTANT:IF ANYONE WANT TO BECOME A AUTHOR ON ASIAN DEFENCE NEWS HE/SHE IS WELCOMED SEND YOUR GMAIL ADDRESS AT yasir007.in@gmail.com. THANKS FOR READING THIS.WE WILL SEND YOU INVITATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
India’s Aeronautical Development Agency which is currently fasttracking its work on development of Tejas MK-II aircraft ,will alsoofficially start its work on development of countries Next Generation5th Gen fighter aircraft from mid of 2011 onwards .
Aeronautical Development Agency which is currently developing TejasMK-2, which will be powered by American GE F414 higher thrust (98kn)will have its first flight by 2014 and will hit production by 2016 ,Aeronautical Development Agency has already studied official Air StaffRequirement (ASR) submitted by Indian Air force earlier this year andalso has been working unofficially on the design of AMCA and othertechnology for a while now .
Official of ADA have told idrw.org that ADA plans to have firstflight of AMCA by 2018-19 time frame ,since most of the designcharacters of the aircraft have been already done, but the design isstill kept for improvement , which means design has not been frozen yetby ADA .
ADA had earlier has shown a wind tunnel model of AMCA in last yearsAero India 2009 , a final or a close AMCA design models may be reveledin next year Aero India 2011 air show claims defence expert Rakeshsharma .
AMCA was earlier called the Medium Combat Aircraft, and basic designsof first sketches where available in late 90′s , MCA or even AMCA isstill not officially sanctioned Project by government of India ,it wasmostly in house Research and Development by ADA .
Official funding will mark the official development of the aircraft itself , AMCA is projected to have Max take off weight not exceeding 25tones very similar to Mig-29 , with” Full Stealth” characters asrequested by Indian Air Force , which will be supported by locallybuilt active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar which will belikely spin off of AESA radar which is under development for Tejas MK-2.
It is likely that the Kaveri Mk-2 engine presently being developed byFrench Company Snecma and DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishmentwill be used for the AMCA.but ADA will also have GE’s F-414 has back upin case Kaveri Mk-2 does not hit production by 2016 . Kaveri Mk-2 islikely to also power Tejas MK-1 when Ge F-404 engines which currentlypowers them will come up for engine change .
India test-fired an upgraded version of the Agni-II nuclear-capableintermediate range ballistic missile off the Orissa coast. The test wasdeclared a failure.
The latest version of the "Agni" series missile is described as a two-stage, solid propellant rail and road mobile missile.
Scientistsat the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said "themodified version of Agni-II will have better accuracy and range."
Whilethe present Agni-II missile has a strike range of 2000 km and Agni-IIIcan target a distance up to 3500 km, the strategic new missile, Agni-IIplus or premier would bridge the gap between Agni-II and Agni-III, adefence source said.
Asecond prototype of the Sukhoi T-50 (PAK-FA) fifth-generation fighteraircraft will make its first flight by the end of this year, accordingto Russian defence industry spokespersons.
As with the first prototype, this aircraft will be flown initially fromthe Dzemgi aerodrome adjacent to the Komsomolsk-na-Amure AviationProduction Association. After initial-acceptance test flights, it willbe transferred to the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky.
Sukhoi's general director, Mikhail Pogosian, stated that a T-50 willalso be flown in a display at the MAKS International Aviation and SpaceSalon in August 2011.
A source close to the programme told Jane's that "the end-of-the-yeardeadline may not be met, but the aircraft will fly very soon - eitherbefore the end of 2010 or just after the [beginning of the] new year".Russian aircraft programmes - even in Soviet times - have often hadyear-end deadlines for first flights that came down to near photofinishes.
Meanwhile, rumours have emerged from China's Chengdu AerospaceCorporation (CAC) and the adjoining Aircraft Plant 132 that aChinese-developed fifth-generation fighter prototype may also fly bythe end of the year. Reportedly, two airframes - numbered 2001 and 2002- have been assembled at the plant.
According to Russian industry sources, the programme - sometimesreferred to as 'J-20' - is a joint design effort between CAC and theShenyang Aircraft Corporation, with Chengdu taking the lead on thedevelopment.
Agni-II Plus is a modified version of the Agni-II strategic missile andthe test will be conducted from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) onWheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal.
The success of this maiden flight test of a complete nuclear-capablemissile, also known as Agni-II prime or A-2, developed by the DefenceResearch Development Organisation (DRDO), will set a new chapter in theIndia's missile programme.
According to Director General of DRDO V K Saraswat, the new missilewould have a higher range, higher performance with respect to thethrust and weight ratio than Agni-II missile which has a range of 2,000km.
Being an upgraded version of the Agni-II, the new missile, sources said, would be more accurate and powerful.
The new missile would perform more better at various levels in terms ofaccuracy, strength and distance covered in comparison to Agni-IImissile.
The surface-to-surface missile can hit targets in between 2,500 km and3,000 km thereby bridging the gap between the Agni II missile which hasa range of 2,500 kms and the Agni III missile having a range of 3,000km.
The Agni II Plus missile could also carry extra fuel and will have anew motor in its re-entry vehicle for better maneuverability and animproved navigation system.
The navy is coming up with a new base on the east coast, under thecode name Project Varsha, to berth its upcoming fleet of nuclearsubmarines.
India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant, underproject Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), was launched for trials lastyear at the Visakhapatnam-based ship building centre (SBC). Arihant isstill undergoing its criticality certification at the SBC.
The navy has plans to build five more such nuclear-powered submarinesat SBC. The defence ministry also took over the Hindustan ShipyardLimited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam last year from the ministry of shipping,so that it could use HSL’s facilities and infrastructure to build thesubmarines.
The new base, Project Varsha, will have special features to ensuresafety of the submarines and the personnel onboard for maintenance.According to a source, the government would be taking the help of someother countries for the huge project as it required special fitmentsand attachments made of special material.
Located about 200 kilometres around Visakhapatnam at an undisclosedlocation, the base would be on the lines of the Chinese nuclearsubmarine base in Hainan island, the source said. The base will haveaccommodation and other facilities for the officers and men postedonboard.
The base would accommodate other submarines and ships if required, thesource said, as a lot of vessels due for induction in the near futurewere facing space constraint.
Refusing to disclose the cost of the project and whether there would beany special facility for missiles, a source said, “Not sure when itwould be ready. It might take time as it’s a special project and meantmainly for nuclear submarines.”
The poster on Pakdef known as Eagle Hannan is a Pakistani engineer who works in Nanjing, China.He speaks both Urdu and Chinese fluently. He is a serious militaryaviation enthusiast. The city he comes from in China, Nanjing, is alsothe home of two of the J-10 pilots from the PLAAF that participated inthe Zhuhai Air Show, 2010. He stayed at the same hotel as the PAFpilots and had many conversations with them as well as the PLAAFpilots. . Hannan attended all three public holidays and spent all threedays with pilots and senior officers. Hannan has managed to collect alarge amount of information and media and these have been cleared bysenior personnel from the PAF for public release.
What follows is a summary of Eagle Hannan's posts from Pakdef.
Hannan describes the aerobatics display of the JF-17 as brilliant. TheJF-17 flew twice every day of the air show. He notes that the weatherconditions were very bad and hard to take videos in. He said that theJ-10s did not perform particularly well. Hannan comments that in 14minutes of display there was a single performance of 360 and threehalf-hearted loops. He observes that the rest of the displays by theJ-10 were formation flights. He notes that one of the Sherdil pilotscomments about the J-10 pilots in Punjabi that the old men of Chinacannot fly their own planes.
In comparison, the JF-17s did much better. Hannan describes the Chinesecrowd as going “wild” with the Thunder’s repeated tight turns, withouta single one off-target from the venue.
In his conversations with the PAF, he has found out the following:
1. JF-17s will not have CFTs (Conformal Fuel Tanks).
2. The present batch of JF-17s has certain non-Chinese subsystems.
3. Air to Air missile tests for both WVR and BVR are complete.
4. PAF is impressed with the performance of SD-10s and confirms that the missile is comparable to the AMRAAM-Cs.
5. An improved SD-10s, designated here as SD-10Bs withimproved range, seeker, new motor and better seeker has been tested inChina on the FC-1. These missiles are marginally lighter than the firstgeneration and are in the same standard as the best Western BVR AAMs.
The weight of the SD-10Bs still remains slightly greater than theAMRAAM Cs but this is not an issue anymore because the performance isequal or superior. The missiles displayed in Zhuhai were not the newgeneration SD-10Bs but the earlier model. PAF order for the SD-10Bs will be fulfilled before PLAAF. Previousmodels will be upgraded to the new SD-10B standard. [Author’s note:this may suggest that PAF have provided critical input for the SD-10Bs]
6. PAF will standardize to this SD-10Bs. First 50 will have PL-9Cs as standard WVR missiles.
7. A new radar will possibly be used in the Block II JF-17sand the first block will be upgraded. These are likely to be AESAradars with a swash-plate, similar to the Gripen NG.
8. JF-17 radars are designed to be fully multirole.
9. Various new guided munitions are being tested in China. Theseinclude SDBs (Small Diameter Bombs) ideal for the light fighter class.
10. PAF’s second squadron of JF-17s is almost ready and flight trials are earmarked for early next year.
11. China is confirmed (yet again and without any doubt whatsoever) tobuy the FC-1s. Consequently, production is being expanded in Pakistan’sproduction facilities, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), to meet thedemand. These facilities are located in Kamra.
12. Close cooperation on the J-10B is taking place. The level ofcooperation has been significantly expanded since 2009. The size of thecooperation is described as literally a small city-like facility toaccommodate PAF and Pakistani civilian engineers. Hannan confirmed thatcivilian engineers from PAC are also part of the cooperation in China.
13. The J-10B will have Chinese radar and western subsystems will allow it to be integrated with Erieye and Chinese AWACS.This is not an assumption and Eagle Hannan, who is a telecom engineerhimself, confirms that this is not a technical problem and reconfirmsfrom PAF. There is no problem as long as the protocol messages andhandshake procedures are known. He found out that PAF has a solution interms of the middleware.
14. The middleware will not only be via a C4I but also directcommunication middleware. Some of these are being developed in-houseand some are being imported.
15. Whether JF-17s can data link with Erieye has not been confirmed dueto diplomatic/political reasons. However, Hannan notes that from hisdiscussions, it is implicitly obvious that they definitely can.
16. IFR (In-Flight Refueling) will be installed in later batches. These will be fixed IFRs and not retractable. [Author’snote: radar signature and aerodynamics penalty paid for simplicity ofconstruction, cost and maintenance]. The JF-17s were designed from theground-up to have IFRs installed.
17. Next block of JF-17s will have IRST (Infra-Red Search & Track) similar to those installed on the J-10B.
18. Pakistani ALCM Raad and H2/H4 ASM will be integrated andwas a major reason why Pakistan has chosen to go with Chinese radarsfor Block 2 JF-17s.
19. Advanced composites have been tested for use on the Block2 JF-17s. Present JF-17s also use some composites. J-10B/FC-20 isdesigned from inception from new advanced composites. FC-20s in PAFservice will form the top tier in the PAF (above the F-16 Block 52+).
20. PAF denied any collaboration in Chinese 5th generation fighterprogram as this is a capability they are not familiar with. PAF seniorofficials stated that:
We cannot help develop a capability we don’t know. Like we don’t knowwhat kind of sensor suite is in F-22 other than what we find fromopen-source. Such capability/requirement generation is not Air Forcejob but such technology information is brought in by other means[Hannan notes: espionage or intelligence I think this is what hemeant]. We all know F-22 is stealth but what else it can do is what wedon’t know. JF-17s are developed because we knew what we wanted from a4th generation fighter as we already had an experience with capability,either by existing systems or by our collaboration with other airforces. Even US Air force only comes to know new capabilities when it’spresented to it. Chinese on the other hand, have the means to bringsuch information and develop on such information and PAF does not.We'll see what they bring up.
