China :: Defence :: Space

China Defense Blog This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power. Thursday, October 27, 2011 YouYi-IV Sino-Pakistan Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LIC) Exercise Pak-China joint military exercise to be held in mid November RAWALPINDIi, Oct 27 (APP): Pakistan, Chi! na Joint Military Exercise YOUYI-IV is scheduled to be held in mid November in Pakistan.The joint exercise, spread over a period of two weeks, is aimed at mutual exchange of experience and information through a comprehensive training programme in real time.Exercise will encompass techniques and procedures involved in Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LIC) environment. This joint interaction in form of military exercise aims at sharing and enhancing expertise of both the armies in countering terrorism, says a press release issued by ISPR here on Thursday. Exercise YOUYI which literally t...

Washington (AFP) Oct 24, 2011 - The US Air Force has had to ground dozens of F-22 fighter jets for the second time this year after concerns a pilot suffered a lack of oxygen in the cockpit, officers said Monday. Commanders at a base in Virginia and in Alaska ordered a "pause" in flights for the world's most expensive and advanced fighter aircraft as a safety precaution, an Air Force spokesman said. The decision came after an incident last week in which a pilot at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia suffered "hypoxia-like" symptoms in mid-flight, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Johnson told AFP. The announcement came only a month after the Air Force grounded the entire Raptor fleet from May through mid-September -- an extraordinary step -- to allow engineers to check for possible problems with the plane's oxygen supply. Analysts say the precise source of the problem remains a mystery despite elaborate tests and safety measures. The fleet was cleared to return to...

Amberley, Australia (SPX) Oct 24, 2011 -Four new Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Super Hornet fleet at RAAF Base Amberley, completing delivery of all 24 RAAF Super Hornets ahead of contract schedule. The arrival at the base was marked by the four new Super Hornets joining 16 other RAAF F/A-18Fs for a dramatic 20-aircraft flyover. "The Super Hornet provides a major advancement in capability for the RAAF and the entire Australian Defence Force," said RAAF Group Capt. Steve Roberton, Officer Commanding 82 Wing. "The F/A-18F employs the world's most advanced combat radar, ensuring our forces have a clear advantage in both technology and capability, whether conducting air, ground or maritime operations. "The Super Hornet's ability to collect and seamlessly distribute information to our other platforms is proving to be invaluable as a true force multiplier," Roberton added. "Boeing made a commitment to the Royal ...

Sterling Heights, Mich. (UPI) Oct 26, 2011 -Germany's KUKA Systems' U.S. subsidiary has earned supplier-of-the-year honors from Northrop Grumman for launching an F-35 Integrated Assembly Line. The IAL is a highly automated manufacturing system to produce the center fuselage of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, which is destined for the U.S. military and several foreign air forces. In naming the global systems integrator its 2010-11 Tooling Supplier of the Year, Northrop Grumman said KUKA Systems Corp. North America had demonstrated outstanding performance against four benchmarks: cost, schedule, quality and customer satisfaction. "KUKA always hits the ground running and offers a unique skill-set and approach with regards to designing, layout, fabricating, validation, project management and the interfacing of a system of tools," says the official citation from Northrop Grumman. "KUKA is more than a supplier but rather a partner who has provided innovati...

Washington (AFP) Oct 25, 2011 - The US Air Force has allowed dozens of F-22 fighter jets back in the air after commanders briefly grounded the planes at two bases amid safety concerns, officials said Tuesday. After a pilot suffered a lack of oxygen in the cockpit last week, senior officers at bases in Virginia and in Alaska ordered a "pause" in flights for the sophisticated F-22 Raptors, the world's most expensive combat aircraft. At Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, the temporary ban was lifted on Monday and the commander at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia ended the grounding on Tuesday. "The 1st Fighter Wing has resumed flying operations at Langley AFB" at 8:00 am (1200 GMT), said Miles Brown, spokesman for the Virginia air force base. Air Force engineers will continue to collect data from the F-22 flights to ensure safety, he added. It was the second time this year that F-22 fighter jets were grounded. The Air Force stood down the entire Raptor...

Orlando, FL (SPX) Oct 24, 2011 -Lockheed Martin was selected by the U.S. Army's Research Development And Engineering Command, Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (RDECOM CERDEC) Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) to demonstrate an advanced slew-to-cue sensor system designed to provide greater situational awareness during route clearance and surveillance missions. The Multi-sensor Graphical User Interface (MS GUI), demonstrated recently at the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., is an affordable, backwards compatible upgrade kit for fielded Gyrocam systems currently deployed with the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. MS GUI allows the operator to use a touch screen display capability to slew between reference cameras, such as the Driver's Vision Enhancer, and the Gyrocam Vehicle Optics Sensor System (VOSS), to simultaneously search for potential threats while interrogating identified hazards on ...

Washington (AFP) Oct 24, 2011 - The US Air Force has had to ground dozens of F-22 fighter jets for the second time this year after concerns a pilot suffered a lack of oxygen in the cockpit, officers said Monday. Commanders at a base in Virginia and in Alaska ordered a "pause" in flights for the world's most expensive and advanced fighter aircraft as a safety precaution, an Air Force spokesman said. The decision came after an incident last week in which a pilot at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia suffered "hypoxia-like" symptoms in mid-flight, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Johnson told AFP. The announcement came only a month after the Air Force grounded the entire Raptor fleet from May through mid-September -- an extraordinary step -- to allow engineers to check for possible problems with the plane's oxygen supply. Analysts say the precise source of the problem remains a mystery despite elaborate tests and safety measures. The fleet was cleared to return to...