Tuesday, June 07, 2016

RIP Corporal Cheng Junhui


Corporal Cheng Junhui dies in demining mission along China-Vietnam boarder
Source: China Military OnlineEditor: Zhang Tao
2016-06-07 18:080

File photo of Corporal Cheng Junhui










File photo shows Corporal Cheng Junhui (left) is ready for a demining operation.






BEIJING, June 7 (ChinaMil) – Corporal Cheng Junhui with the Unit 3 under the Demining Command of the PLA Yunnan Military Command (MC) died in the third large scale demining operation along the China-Vietnam boarder on June 4, 2016.

Cheng was recognized as martyr and was awarded second-class merit citation by the Yunnan MC.

Officers and soldiers with Unit 3 were conducting missions in a minefield with a slope of over 60 degrees on the afternoon of June 4. While, Cheng Junhui took the initiative to search the most dangerous section.

When Cheng was removing the fuse of a mine, the mountain suddenly collapsed and he rolled down to a valley 30 meters deep. Cheng was rescued and rushed to hospital immediately.




Unfortunately, Cheng died of his injuries at 22:00 at the age of 22.

Cheng Junhui is from Chongqing of China. He joined the PLA 14th Group Army in December 2012 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in August 2014. He started to act as deputy squad leader in the end of 2014.

Cheng became a demining soldier of the PLA Yunnan MC after the deployment of demining tasks in Yunnan section of the China-Vietnam boarder in June, 2015.

The third large scale demining mission along the China-Vietnam border officially started in November 2015. Cheng Junhui and over 400 Chinese soldiers have risked their lives performing demining tasks in Chinese territory. Cheng was always fighting in the most dangerous places during those missions.

Up to now, the Chinese officers and soldiers have cleared a mined area of 14 square kilometers and demined nearly 30,000 of all types of explosives.





Saturday, June 04, 2016

Non-headline news of the day: Mine clearance mission along China-Vietnam border

Since 1990, both China and Vietnam have been conducting mine-clearing campaigns along their joint border.  This is to address the legacy of the 1979 boarder war and the skirmishes that followed. An estimated 2 million landmines were laid during the war.


According to China daily:


Around 6,000 people, aged between eight and 84, have been injured or disabled in Wenshan prefecture, 600 meters away from the frontier at the nearest, since 1979 after stepping on the landmines, which also killed a number of wild animals and livestock, Yunnan.cn reported in 2011.

In Funing county of Wenshan prefecture, one or two people are still hurt every year by landmines, despite many mine clearance projects and warnings and fences set up around mine fields and its Tianpeng village, 600 meters from the China-Vietnam border, was once infamous in China for having "87 villagers with only 78 legs"




 
Note the mine-protection shoes he is wearing. 









Type 052D destroyer, DDG 174 Hefei, a look inside.

The PLAN, and to a greater extent the PLA in general, is cheap (I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again) therefore the Spartan-look of their most advanced DDG is not unexpected.  That said, the crew comfort level is still a far cry from those good ole Luda days.

 H/PJ-38 130mm dual purpose gun, the most powerful artillery currently in service with the PLAN



The Cold-Launch VLS system and the H/PJ-12 CIWS
Note the Active Phased Array radar mounted on the superstructure


1x3 torpedo tubes on either side off the hull
 One of the four 18-tube decoy rocket launchers














Monday, June 06, 2016

The CCTV footage on the Mali car bomb attack.




















A Chinese UN peacekeeper was killed and four others injured in a Wednesday morning attack in northern Mali claimed by ­al-Qaeda’s North African branch.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1961583/chinese-un-peacekeeper-killed-mali-attack-al-qaeda

Analysts said more casualties among Chinese troops may be unavoidable as Beijing’s contribution to peacekeeping grows.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the incident was a terrorist attack aimed at UN peacekeepers, and demanded an investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“It is a grave and intolerable crime. China strongly condemns it,” Hua said.
Chinese troops did not ‘fail’ hostages in Mali hotel siege, military experts say

US-based monitoring group SITE said al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) reported that its al-Mourabitoun battalion engaged in a clash with “Crusader occupation forces”, referring to the UN mission in Mali. AQIM said its fighters were “thrashing” the enemy.

Chinese soldiers are part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission that has been stationed in northern Mali for three years since separatists joined jihadists to seize the region from the government in Bamako. The peacekeepers were hit by rockets or mortars fired at their site in Gao. Four people were killed and more than a dozen wounded.
The only way to avoid casualties is not to send peacekeepers, but thatwould be a bigger loss
Shanghai-based military ­expert Ni Lexiong

In all, 3,000 Chinese peacekeepers are serving in 10 regions, including 2,400 in Africa. Most are engineers, transport experts, police and medical staff. The forces sent to Mali in 2014 were China’s first overseas combat troops. President Xi Jinping promised in September to ­provide 8,000 personnel for UN peacekeeping operations.

With more Chinese peacekeepers to be deployed to conflict zones, observers expect more ­casualties.

Shanghai-based military ­expert Ni Lexiong said despite the risk China needed to be involved in UN peacekeeping missions as a “responsible power”, to facilitate its economic expansion, and to improve the military’s capacity. “The only way to avoid casualties is not to send peacekeepers, but that would be a bigger loss,” Ni said.
Gunman killed in attack on Mali hotel hosting EU military training mission

Defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said the military was “shocked by the terrorist attack” but China would continue to ­support United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Sunday, June 05, 2016

ALIT CH-4 UCAV remote kill via satellite link, testing distance is over 1000km.

Thanks hmmwv for the information below:

Two tests were conducted, one with the current version of the aircraft, the second with upgraded electroptical payload. The new EO ball is now fully upgraded, visual light camera upgraded to 1080p from analog and a 20km target recognition range, FLIR now has continuous zoom and 18km target range, new servo control and target tracking system, added integrated inertial guidance, auto focusing and image enhancing systems. CH4 is quoted to have a take off weight of 1300kg, payload 345kg, ceiling 4000m, and a 35 hours endurance.
2016年06月02日 10:05:24 | 责任编辑: 王瑶 | 来源:人民网

http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2016-06/02/c_129035410.htm   

 弹发射后脱离无人机瞬间。
5月中旬,中国航天科技集团十一院彩虹无人机试验团队在北京及西部某试验基地,先后联合完成了两个架次的“彩虹-4”无 人机卫通靶试试验,试验圆满成功。试验意味着“彩虹-4”无人机系统实现了从多年前超视距传输侦察信息向对地打击控制的跨越,有效提升了“彩虹-4”察打 一体无人机武器系统的作战效能,能在千里之外遥控侦察与实施导弹攻击,同时高清光电载荷使得目标定位和打击精度大幅提高。
  据悉,两次试验均由西部某试验基地视距站控制无人机起降,由位于北京的卫通指挥控制站进行任务主控,靶区在西部试验基地附近,距离卫通指挥控制站直线距离超过1000公里,试验全程卫星信号稳定,通信正常,图像传输清晰流畅,AR-1导弹精确命中目标。
   此次试验中,首架次“彩虹-4”无人机系统搭载现有光电侦察载荷和AR-1导弹,首次进行卫通靶试试验。试验中视距地面站控制无人机的起飞和降落,卫通 地面站则在1000公里外通过卫星中继数据链控制无人机进行武器靶试试验,真正实现了“彩虹-4”无人机系统超视距测控与信息传输。
  “彩虹 -4”无人机测控与信息传输系统采用C/UHF双波段视距数据链进行无人机遥控、遥测、跟踪定位和侦察信息的实时传输。受无线电视距的限制,视距数据链最 大通信距离为250公里。此次试验中,彩虹-4采用卫星中继数据链实现无人机系统超视距测控和信息传输,只要在卫星天线的波束覆盖范围内,通信不受距离和 地理条件的限制,可以满足无人机在任务飞行时大范围机动、远距离数据传输的要求,与视距数据链相比,优势明显。
  试验过程中,卫通机载天线自动跟踪卫星,在无人机飞行过程中,特别是在无人机大角速率盘旋过程中,一直保持对卫星的稳定跟踪,遥测信号和侦察图像稳定流畅,保证了靶试试验的顺利进行,表明“彩虹-4”无人机卫通中继数据链系统的性能稳定可靠。
   第二架次试验“彩虹-4”搭载新一代光电侦察载荷和AR-1导弹,测试高清光电侦察载荷性能及与现有武器系统的兼容配合情况。试验表明,新一代高清光电 载荷在各个方面都具有较大的性能提升:一、可见光图像由模拟视频升级为1080P高清数字影像,图像质量得到显著提升,典型目标探测距离提升至20公里; 二、红外探测器升级并配备新一代光学系统,由原先三视场切换方式升级为连续变焦方式,操作控制更加便捷,图像质量明显提升,典型目标探测距离提升至18公 里;三、采用新一代伺服控制技术和目标跟踪技术,系统跟踪能力增强,系统整体稳定精度明显改善,进一步确保了武器系统的打击精度;四、内部集成了高精度惯 导系统,提升目标定位精度;五、采用自动对焦、光学变倍、图像增强等技术,进一步提升图像质量和系统操作便捷性。
  光电侦察载荷是察打一体无人 机系统的核心组成部分,具备战场侦察、目标动态监测、激光测距、激光指示等功能。受国内技术条件限制、国外技术封锁和设备禁运的影响,“彩虹-4”现有光 电侦察载荷虽然经过实战检验具备良好的作战效能,但与国际同类产品相比,性能指标仍具有一定的差距,越来越多的用户对光电侦察载荷的性能提出了更高的要 求。
  针对市场需求的变化,该院督促相关配套单位研制出新一代高清光电载荷。
  新一代高清光电载荷将是彩虹系列无人机未来装备的主要光电产品。本次试验充分表明新一代高清光电载荷的各项功能和性能指标不逊于国际同类高端产品,与现有武器系统的兼容配合比国际同类产品具有更强的市场竞争力。
   超视距卫通控制能力还有利于“彩虹-4”无人机系统在民用领域的进一步拓展。当前,越来越多的民用领域对无人机应用表示青睐,但由于视距控制距离不足、 通视要求限制等原因,诸多行业对无人机应用仍处于观望态度。超视距卫通控制将突破种种限制,进一步提升无人机在民用行业应用的可行性。
  “卫通 高清载荷”今后将成为“彩虹”无人机品牌的又一利器,对“彩虹”系列无人机进一步开拓市场将产生深远的影响。
   据悉,“彩虹-4”无人机系统由中国航天科技集团十一院研制,采用轮式起降、自主控制,用途多样化、任务载荷能力强,续航性能好,起飞重量1300公 斤,载荷能力345公斤,实用升限4000米,续航时间35小时,可执行情报侦察监视任务,也可挂载轻型制导武器,实现对地面固定目标和低速移动目标的精 确打击。同时,可搭载不同载荷,实现应急通信、航空物探、海洋维权、科学研究等民用领域。彩虹-4无人机是中国目前公开的无人机重挂载能力最强、飞行性能 最优的无人机,其整体性能指标高于美国“捕食者A”无人机系统,在同类型无人机中处于领先地位,代表了中国无人机技术发展的最高水平。(闫嘉琪)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2016-06/02/c_129035410.htm