Slitherine

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E-2D Advanced Hawkeye with New Aerial Refueling Capability Completes First Flight

Northrop Grumman has successfully completed the first flight of an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye equipped with aerial refueling (AR).
Under a 2013 engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) contract award, Northrop Grumman designed, developed, manufactured, and tested several sub-system upgrades necessary to accommodate an aerial refueling capability.The aerial refueling program will modify three aircraft for testing planned through 2018. Production cut-in and retrofit plans are scheduled to begin in 2018.

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ORIGINAL: AlGrant


UAE's Containerised 120mm 'Nemo' Mortar
http://www.janes.com/article/66267/patria-develops-containerised-mortar-system


Norwegian Air Force test IRIS-T short-range AAM software upgrade to provide (proof of concept) Air-Ground capability
http://www.janes.com/article/66304/diehl-develops-air-to-surface-capability-for-iris-t-aam


Defence Budgets ... Who's spending what
http://news.ihsmarkit.com/press-release/2016s-15-trillion-global-defence-spend-kick-decade-growth-ihs-markit-says?hootPostID=e0decba7983d8a56158d104297eccd09

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First production conforming Scorpion jet completes successful first flight

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Chinese ship spotter pictures from December 18th show the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) first Type 901 large replenishment oiler starting its sea trials. The 240 meters long vessel displacing 48,000 tons was launched December 15th 2015 by the GSI shipyard (member of CSSC).

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Polish media portalmorski.pl released a video showing the launch of France's future Polar Logistic Support Vessel (Navire Logistique Polaire or PLV). The launch took place on December 22nd in Gdynia, Poland.

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U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) today announced that their Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act – legislation designed to help American allies counter foreign government propaganda from Russia, China, and other nations – has been signed into law as part of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report. The bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Senators Portman and Murphy in March, will improve the ability of the United States to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation from our enemies by establishing an interagency center housed at the State Department to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts throughout the U.S. government. To support these efforts, the bill also creates a grant program for NGOs, think tanks, civil society and other experts outside government who are engaged in counter-propaganda related work. This will better leverage existing expertise and empower our allies overseas to defend themselves from foreign manipulation. It will also help foster a free and vibrant press and civil society overseas, which is critical to ensuring our allies have access to truthful information and inoculating people against foreign propaganda campaigns.

“Our enemies are using foreign propaganda and disinformation against us and our allies, and so far the U.S. government has been asleep at the wheel,” Portman said. “But today, the United States has taken a critical step towards confronting the extensive, and destabilizing, foreign propaganda and disinformation operations being waged against us by our enemies overseas. With this bill now law, we are finally signaling that enough is enough; the United States will no longer sit on the sidelines. We are going to confront this threat head-on. I am confident that, with the help of this bipartisan bill, the disinformation and propaganda used against us, our allies, and our interests will fail.”

“The use of propaganda to undermine democracy has hit a new low. But now we are finally in a position to confront this threat head on and get out the truth. By building up independent, objective journalism in places like eastern Europe, we can start to fight back by exposing these fake narratives and empowering local communities to protect themselves,” said Murphy. “I’m proud that our bill was signed into law, and I look forward to working with Senator Portman to make sure these tools and new resources are effectively used to get out the truth.”

NOTE: The bipartisan Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act is organized around two main priorities to help achieve the goal of combatting the constantly evolving threat of foreign disinformation from our enemies:

- The first priority is developing a whole-of-government strategy for countering THE foreign propaganda and disinformation being wages against us and our allies by our enemies. The bill would increase the authority, resources, and mandate of the Global Engagement Center to include state actors like Russia and China as well as non-state actors. The Center will be led by the State Department, but with the active senior level participation of the Department of Defense, USAID, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the Intelligence Community, and other relevant agencies. The Center will develop, integrate, and synchronize whole-of-government initiatives to expose and counter foreign disinformation operations by our enemies and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support U.S. allies and interests.

- Second, the legislation seeks to leverage expertise from outside government to create more adaptive and responsive U.S. strategy options. The legislation establishes a fund to help train local journalists and provide grants and contracts to NGOs, civil society organizations, think tanks, private sector companies, media organizations, and other experts outside the U.S. government with experience in identifying and analyzing the latest trends in foreign government disinformation techniques. This fund will complement and support the Center’s role by integrating capabilities and expertise available outside the U.S. government into the strategy-making process. It will also empower a decentralized network of private sector experts and integrate their expertise into the strategy-making process.

-More in zerohedge-

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ORIGINAL: orca

Report states one of the missile types is CSA-6b which is a combined close-in missile system with a range of 10 miles and also contains anti-aircraft guns. This isn't in the DB nor something I'm familiar with. Is it an actual weapon system in use?

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辽宁舰西太之行刚开始，就斗智斗勇，下午五点钟，编队发现一艘不明潜艇企图混入队列中，护卫航出动直升机，一路投声纳，追到了离宫古岛十公里。自卫队Fl5紧急起飞，直升机返回。

Apparently the movement of this Z9 came from the discovery of an unidentified submarine. The Z9 chased the sub with Sonar pings all the way to the Japanese territorial water line.

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US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that "the US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability," hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to strengthen Russia's nuclear power.

According to statistics, the US has 7,100 nuclear warheads and Russia has 7,300. Although Russia's conventional military capabilities have fallen behind that of NATO, its nuclear arsenal has ensured its military superpower status and enabled Moscow to confront Washington in Ukraine and Syria.

Putin said Russia needs to bolster nuclear forces that could "reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense system." The US is unlikely to ignore this message.

Some Chinese feel that China should not be part of the "nuclear arms race" between the US and Russia. However, as the focus of the global strategic competition gradually shifts toward the US and China, it would be difficult for Beijing to stay away.

A common misinterpretation is that nuclear weapons will not be used and therefore are a waste of resources. Yet, we believe that Russia is using its nuclear weapons everyday as a strategic deterrence to the US.

China doesn't have to join in the "nuclear arms race" but we do need to redefine our nuclear arsenal "sufficiency." The US already views China as its top competitor and it would be na?ve to believe it could survive in the intermediate zone of global power competition.

China's nuclear weapons must be "sufficient" to deter the US when it flexes its military muscle, as well as to convince the US that the PLA will strike back without hesitation in face of military provocation. The US and its allies need to believe that whichever of their Asian-Pacific military bases are used for launching attacks on China, it will meet destructive retaliation.

For Chinese, the biggest US threat comes from its military. Such a threat can gradually corrode China's social confidence.

We hope for a sound development of future Sino-US relations, and that both countries can resolve their disputes with a cooperative attitude. However, some signals coming from the Trump team have warned us that the possibility of a crisis cannot be ruled out. The better we prepare for that day, the more likely it is for us to avoid such a confrontation.

With both the US and Russia believing that their nuclear arsenals are "not enough," it's imperative for China to speed up the development of its nuclear weapons including Dongfeng-41 missiles. We must not hesitate or be concerned about the reactions from the West. China is at the center of global geopolitics, and there is no room for hesitation on nuclear deterrence.

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Last night the United States Navy tracked and intercepted the most capable and maneuverable ballistic missile deployed in the Pacific today, a target missile, representing the Dong- Feng 21 Chinese “carrier killer.” On this intercept the SM-6 was employed in a salvo firing, launching one missile following another, for increased Probability of Kill (PK).

The Chinese DF-21D is a road mobile, medium-range, anti-ship, nuclear-capable ballistic missile with maneuverable capabilities in space and in reentry that is currently deployed by the Chinese and designed to sink U.S. Aircraft Carriers. Since 2010, when the DF-21 – with a range of 1,000 to 1,700 miles and employing maneuverable re-entry vehicles – was declared to have reached initial operating capability by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) as a high hypersonic land-based anti-ship missile capable of targeting a moving aircraft carrier strike group, the United States has worked and invested to develop a ship-based interceptor to defeat this missile. Last night the MDA’s and the United States Navy’s investments in technology and engineering from the current capability to defeat the DF-21 came to fruition with the already deployed SM-6 interceptors and is a historic event for the defense of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike groups.

The new medium target missile was flown for the first time on May 17, 2016 launching out of the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii. On that flight test, designated Flight Test Other-21 (FTX-21), USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully demonstrated the ability of an Aegis Baseline 9.C1 (BMD 5.0 Capability Upgrade) configured ship to detect and track a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target within the Earth’s atmosphere.

China reportedly has 7 anti-ship missile brigades, each with the capabilities of launching 24-32 anti-ship ballistic missiles simultaneously. Chinese video releases have shown DF-21 missiles launched in salvos of six missiles at a time. Each launcher can reload to launch a second volley within hours.

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But the initial version of the SM-6 did not have a capability against ballistic missiles. The SM-6 is to be given a terminal-phase anti-ballistic missile capability in two phases. The first (Sea-Based Terminal – SBT Increment 1) is designated the ‘Dual I’ upgrade that adds a more powerful processor that runs more sophisticated targeting software to hit a warhead descending from the upper atmosphere at extreme speed. The second phase planned for 2018-2019 will include classified capabilities to be included in the ‘Dual II’ configuration.

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ORIGINAL: AlmightyTallest

This was probably referenced earlier, but the details didn't seem to mention the target missile was a DF-21 surrogate the U.S. made to test the ability of the SM-6 to intercept the maneuvering warhead.

http://defense-update.com/20161215_df21d_target.html

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Last night the United States Navy tracked and intercepted the most capable and maneuverable ballistic missile deployed in the Pacific today, a target missile, representing the Dong- Feng 21 Chinese “carrier killer.” On this intercept the SM-6 was employed in a salvo firing, launching one missile following another, for increased Probability of Kill (PK).

The Chinese DF-21D is a road mobile, medium-range, anti-ship, nuclear-capable ballistic missile with maneuverable capabilities in space and in reentry that is currently deployed by the Chinese and designed to sink U.S. Aircraft Carriers. Since 2010, when the DF-21 – with a range of 1,000 to 1,700 miles and employing maneuverable re-entry vehicles – was declared to have reached initial operating capability by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) as a high hypersonic land-based anti-ship missile capable of targeting a moving aircraft carrier strike group, the United States has worked and invested to develop a ship-based interceptor to defeat this missile. Last night the MDA’s and the United States Navy’s investments in technology and engineering from the current capability to defeat the DF-21 came to fruition with the already deployed SM-6 interceptors and is a historic event for the defense of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike groups.

The new medium target missile was flown for the first time on May 17, 2016 launching out of the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii. On that flight test, designated Flight Test Other-21 (FTX-21), USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully demonstrated the ability of an Aegis Baseline 9.C1 (BMD 5.0 Capability Upgrade) configured ship to detect and track a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target within the Earth’s atmosphere.

China reportedly has 7 anti-ship missile brigades, each with the capabilities of launching 24-32 anti-ship ballistic missiles simultaneously. Chinese video releases have shown DF-21 missiles launched in salvos of six missiles at a time. Each launcher can reload to launch a second volley within hours.

Another article on the subject: http://defense-update.com/20161215_sm6_dual_vs_mrbm.html

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But the initial version of the SM-6 did not have a capability against ballistic missiles. The SM-6 is to be given a terminal-phase anti-ballistic missile capability in two phases. The first (Sea-Based Terminal – SBT Increment 1) is designated the ‘Dual I’ upgrade that adds a more powerful processor that runs more sophisticated targeting software to hit a warhead descending from the upper atmosphere at extreme speed. The second phase planned for 2018-2019 will include classified capabilities to be included in the ‘Dual II’ configuration.

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J-16D Flanker

J-16D is an EW Wild Weasel variant of J-16 (J-16D?) in the same class of American EA-18G. The aircraft features a pair of large wingtip ESM/ELINT pods similar to the AN/ALQ-218 tactical jamming receiver onboard EA-18G. It also has multiple antennas mounted on its fuselage including one on the side of engine intake, one behind the cockpit, one underneath the cockpit plus a rectangular dielectric panel behind the radome. A shorter radome on the nose suggests it might be equipped with a new AESA radar with integrated EW modes similar to AN/APG-79. Additional EW pods are expected to be carried under the wings. As a dedicated EW aircraft, J-16D can fly fast and maneuverably enough to escort the fighter/fighter bomber formation and clear the pathway for the air strike with YJ-91 as well as the new generation of ARMs (e.g. LD-10, CM-102). However, its windshield IRST/LR system and the starboard 30mm gun appear to have been removed to create room for extra electronics. As the result J-16D might rely solely on medium-range AAMs (e.g. PL-12/PL-15) for self-defence and would avoid engagement in any WVR dogfight. Some of its technology could be applied towards the J-15S EW aircraft which is also under development at SAC. J-16D flew for the first time on December 18, 2015 at SAC.

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ORIGINAL: Hongjian

2nd prototype of the J-16D Sino-Growler EW fighter takes flight.

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PLA news portal: Su-35 intended to be last type of imported fighter
People Daily Online December 30, 2016

Four Russian Su-35 fighter jets were delivered to China on Dec. 25, ending speculations about the procurement of the aircraft, which had been delayed about two years, according to an article on 81.cn, a news portal of the People’s Liberation Army.

Since the debut of the J-20 fighter at Zhuhai Airshow, procurement of the Su-35 fighter jets has gone quite smoothly. Some say this is the outcome of the close relationship between China and Russia. However, the latter did not change its stance on the exportation of the Su-35 until the J-20 fighter was unveiled. Russia believes that with the commissioning of the J-20, the Su-35 will soon lose its value in the Chinese market. That estimation is the reason for the smooth procurement.

Today, the construction of China's first independently developed aircraft carrier is in full swing, and the first carrier battle group has already begun training.

The article offered an old Chinese proverb: "One can only be independent when he is self-reliant.” The article further expressed hope that the Su-35 fighter jet is the last fighter imported by China.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/1230/c90000-9161327.html