The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is the main supplier of military planes and helicopters to the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). They produce the J-20 stealth fighter, FC-1, and FC-8 fighters, the 5th-generation FC-31 stealth fighter, and aerial reconnaissance and attack drones. In 2007, Chinese hackers stole secrets about the U.S. F-35 that were incorporated by AVIC into the Chinese FC-31. Because we left them where they could steal them.
Given how U.S.-China relations are deteriorating in Asia, the U.S. military in the Pacific region could someday fight these Chinese aircraft -- or at least play dangerous games of brinkmanship. In March 2016, a Chinese military helicopter in the South China Sea lifted off from a PLA Navy frigate and charged a U.S. Navy cruiser. It was likely a Z-9 helicopter, capable of carrying torpedoes that could target the U.S.N. cruiser. The Z-9 is produced by AVIC.
AVIC is seeking to build its general aviation capabilities to directly compete with U.S. commercial and military aviation, including for U.S. and international contracts. In 2011, for example, AVIC attempted to use a tiny and unprofitable California company, U.S. Aerospace, to compete for the next iteration of Marine One helicopters used by the U.S. President. AVIC also sells components for U.S. civilian planes, and seeks to sell aviation parts to the U.S. for use in U.S. military aviation. AVIC sees these as first steps towards competing for U.S. military contracts such as air force trainer jets.
In order to build its general aviation capabilities, AVIC launched a global campaign to obtain technology through purchase of small and medium-sized aviation companies. AVIC is close to buying AIM Altitude, based in Dorset, U.K. AIM Altitude specializes in aerospace and military composites that will be useful for AVIC's continued development of military aerospace technologies, including stealth and drone technologies.
AVIC also produces civilian aircraft, but the "civilian" aviation technology they seek will almost always be useful for their military aircraft development. According to CEO Patrick Jenevein of Tang Energy, which has partnered with AVIC in the past, "What China is doing with AVIC is making sure they have access to technologies that they wouldn't have otherwise."
AIM Altitude is AVIC's first purchase of a U.K. aerospace company, but not its first purchase in the West. In the last twenty years, AVIC has purchased half a dozen economically distressed U.S. and international aerospace companies. Some of these technologies are export-controlled, and U.S. law strictly forbids their transfer to foreign entities. The law applies even when those foreign entities own or control the U.S. entities in possession of the export-controlled technologies.
However, there are easy technical means for foreign owners that want to access export-controlled technologies in U.S. companies they control. According to my sources, it could be a relatively simple insider cyber-attack, or embedded Chinese employees photographing technical processes when other workers leave the site. The CEO of the purchased U.S. company typically wants to please his or her foreign owner, and is disincentivized to implement due care that ensures the foreign owner cannot access the export-controlled technology. According to one source, "As an American company, there are certain technologies that we can't send to China. But if AVIC owns the servers, they can access them." Sounds something like treason to me.
"Our arms exports and technology control policies need a root-and-branch review, said Dr. Patrick Cronin in an email. Dr. Cronin is Senior Advisor at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C. "We are preventing good-enough technology from being easily exported to allies and partners, but we are at risk of losing control over leading-edge technologies."
That Gates of Vienna article two days ago mentioning 1,000 (or was it 10,000?) EU bureaucratic hacks make more than Brit PM David Cameron? I hope the Brits tell them to sod off and every one of those hacks loses their jobs.
[Reuters] British Prime Minister David Cameron and his eurosceptic opponents made final pitches for wavering voters on Wednesday on the eve of a defining referendum on European Union membership with the outcome still too close to call.
The vote, which echoes the rise of populism elsewhere in Europe and the United States, will shape the continent's future. A victory for "out" could unleash turmoil on financial markets and foreign exchange bureaux reported a surge in demand for foreign currency from Britons wary sterling may fall.
"Quitting Europe is a risk to your family's future because a vote to leave on Thursday means there is no going back on Friday," Cameron said.
Some voters appeared to be heeding his message as three of four polls released on Wednesday showing a move toward staying in the EU. Two still showed a lead for "Leave", while the other two showed a lead for "Remain".
Most pollsters said the result was too close to predict, and would depend on turnout on the day and any late swing among the substantial number of undecided voters.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
Ukrainian and Russian backed forces in western Donetsk continued to exchange artillery fire, according to Russian language news accounts.
According to several reports posted on tsensor.net.ua, on Monday rebel mortar fire struck Ukrainian forces in several key areas including at Avdievka and Troitskoye. Small arms fire and automatic grenade launcher fire was recorded at Marinka and Krasnogorovka.
The report which quoted a source with the Ukrainian ministry of defense Antiterrorist Operation said rebels struck Ukrainian positions 15 times.
A separate tsensor.net.ua report said that three Ukrainian national guardsmen were evacuated from the combat zone on Wednesday, but the report failed to note where the soldiers were wounded.
The Donetsk ministry of defense on its website claimed that Ukrainian forces continued to hit rebel positions all along the line of contact on Tuesday. One report said that over a 24 hour period rebel troops were fired on by Ukrainian forces a total of 440 times, to include grenade launcher and small arms fire.
According to the report Ukrainian mortar and artillery fire hit rebel positions at Yasinovataya, Petrovsky district of Donetsk, Spartak and at the airport.
In southern Donetsk, Ukrainian fire hit rebel positions at Sahanka and Kominternovo.
A report which appeared on the website of blogger Chervonets Andryuha from a rebel militiaman identified as "Magician" said on June 16th Ukrainian artillery fire started up at dusk, about 2030 hrs and continued until dawn at 0400 hrs. He said that rebels generally respond with counterbattery fire only.
Magician said that last Thursday, Friday and Saturday Ukrainian forces fired on rebel forces more than 1,000 times.
Man gets 9 years prison for directing artillery in 2015
According to a news account which appeared in korrespondent.net, an unidentified man was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the rocket artillery strike on Mariupol on January 24th, 2015.
Ukrainian and western media claimed at the time that the artillery came from rebel forces in the area, but rebel leaders said that artillery hit was a short fired from Ukrainian rocket artillery units stationed west and northwest of the city.
Much of the video which purported to prove it was rebel artillery was inconclusive. This writer saw the videos and concluded it was Ukrainian artillery firing shorts.
Rebel sources at the time said that Ukrainian artillery has intended to cover the movement of forces through the city and was simply fired short.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. Click here for a list of stories in the The 2014 War in Ukraina category.
North Korea has test-fired two mid-range ballistic missiles from its eastern coast, says South Korea.
The first launch was considered to have failed, travelling about 150km (90 miles) before landing in the sea. But the second, launched hours later, flew about 400km and reached an altitude of 1,000km, the most effective test to date.
A confirmed successful test would mark a step forward for North Korea after four failed launches in recent months.
Both launches are believed to have been intermediate-range Musudan missiles.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Seoul and the US were "carrying out an in-depth analysis" of the second missile, and did not say whether it was considered a success.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"Guam-reaching" IRBMS.
China-ordered, NOKOR-fired.
A reminder to the US that, in China's view, it has nothing important in CENTPAC + WESTPAC west of Hawaii + Alaska, i.e. that China + LRBMS of PLA 2nd Arty can't nuke, thus the US should get out = pull-out of East Asia-WESTPAC + hand the region over to China.
#2
China wants the US to get out of East Asia-WESTPAC while it still can, before the Black Banners of Islam = Global Jihad fly over Washington + other major US Cities???
Polish prosecutors said on Tuesday they would reopen the coffins of all victims of a 2010 presidential jet crash to examine the remains, a move likely to deepen political divisions surrounding the investigation.
The crash near Smolensk, in western Russia, killed 96 people including Poland’s president, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, as well as the central bank chief, top army brass and several lawmakers. An inquiry by the previous centrist government returned a verdict of pilot error, but the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, led by Kaczyński’s twin brother Jarosław, says the crash may have been caused by an explosion on board.
Jarosław Kaczyński has also repeatedly accused the then prime minister, Donald Tusk, now head of the European Council, of being indirectly responsible for the crash through negligence.
The prosecutors’ decision to exhume all uncremated victims’ remains comes months after the government merged the posts of prosecutor-general and justice minister, giving itself more direct control over the investigation.It also follows the ruling conservatives’ decision to relaunch a government investigation into the case. At a ceremony marking the relaunch, the defence minister, Antoni Macierewicz, said the plane “disintegrated” metres above the ground.
The move is likely to strain relations with Russia already fragile over the Ukraine crisis. Although PiS has never accused Russia of orchestrating the president’s death, it has said the Kremlin benefited from the crash.
PiS officials have also accused Moscow of prolonging its investigation, and withholding evidence, such as the black boxes and the plane’s wreckage. Russia says these cannot be returned until its criminal investigation is concluded.
The Polish state prosecution said it informed the victims’ families that exhumations were necessary, as comprehensive postmortem examinations were key to reconstructing the chain of events and establishing the cause of the crash, “despite the several years which have passed”. Six of the previously exhumed nine bodies had been wrongly identified, the prosecution said in a statement. It added that reopening the coffins, which had been sealed in Russia, was necessary to confirm all identities.
The crash happened near the place where Stalinist secret police forces shot some of the 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals they executed in 1940. For decades, Moscow blamed Nazi Germany for the mass executions. The massacre is an enduring symbol for Poland of its suffering at Soviet hands, and president Lech Kaczyński had been flying in to commemorate it.
[DAWN] GUJRAT: Another young girl and her alleged lover fell victims to honour killing at Keeranwala village near Mungowal in the precincts of Kunjah police on Tuesday.
According to police, Waqar Naeem, 24, of Baltian village of Daska tehsil, Sialkot district, had an affair with Moamina Zaman of Keeranwala village.
As Naeem was on a secret visit to the girl’s house, her father, Zaman, saw the couple in a room. The enraged man, along with his two sons, bumped off the lovers.
Police on being informed of the incident took Zaman into custody, whereas his sons Faisal and Rizwan expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.
Paperwork was started but nothing else was done under Section 302/34 of Pakistain Penal Code against the three nominated suspects on the report of Dildar Naeem, brother of the victim.
The bodies were shifted to the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital for an appointment with Dr. Quincy.
None of the girl’s relatives was present at the hospital. The complainant has stated that his brother was kidnapped by the suspects who later killed him along with the girl. Police have started investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2016 00:00 ||
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CHENNAI: India took a big leap in space technology on Wednesday when Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) used its workhorse PSLV-C34 to inject 20 satellites including 17 foreign satellites into orbit in a single mission and set a new record on Wednesday.
This should twist a few turbans. And cause some anxiety in Beijing...
The 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) took off on its 36th flight at 9.26am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with 20 satellites including its primary payload Cartosat-2 series, which provides remote sensing services, and earth observation and imaging satellites from US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. It was also 14th flight of PSLV in 'XL'configuration with the use of solid strap-on motors.
Cartosat-2 was placed in orbit at 9.44am. With Cartosat-2 weighing 727.5kg, PSLV lifted off a total of 1,288kg in to space and began placing the satellites into orbit about 17minutes later. In the final stages of the mission, ISRO also demonstrated the vehicle's capability to place satellites in different orbits. In the demonstration, the vehicle reignited twice after its fourth and final stage and moved further a few kilometres into another orbit.
ISRO scientists said the demonstration is for their next mission when they are planning to inject satellites in different orbits using a single rocket.
ISRO set a world record for the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission when it placed 10 satellites in a PSLV on April 28, 2008. Nasa in 2013 placed 29 satellites in a single mission and Russia in 2014 launched 33 satellites in one launch.
In December 2015, when PSLV-C29 injected six Singapore satellites in to orbit, ISRO conducted a major experiment where the fourth stage was reignited and switched off after the satellites were placed in orbit.
ISRO scientists said, the vehicle had been pre-programmed for today's launch to perform tiny manoeuvring to place the 20 satellites into polar sun-synchronous orbits with different inclinations and velocities. It ensured that the satellites were placed with enough distance to prevent collision.
ISRO began launching foreign satellites on board PSLV in May 1999. Since then, it has gained popularity, as it launched foreign satellites successfully using PSLV by charging only 60% of the fee charged by foreign space agencies. It has so far launched 57 foreign satellites.
If you can launch multiple satellites, you can launch MIRVs...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2016 00:00 ||
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[Daily Caller] What comes next in the House Republicans’ campaign to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen remains unclear following Wednesday’s "misconduct" proceedings, which House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte refused to describe as an "impeachment" hearing. "What comes next" ? Absolutely nothing.
Members of the committee and legal experts sparred over whether Koskinen’s alleged misconduct of defying congressional subpoenas and providing false testimony to Congress on the IRS targeting scandal rises to the level of gross negligence that meets the "high crimes and misdemeanors" impeachment standard in the U.S. Constitution.
The scandal occurred because hundreds of Tea Party, conservative and evangelical non-profit applicants were targeted and harassed by IRS officials during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns
Democrats listening to Wednesday’s testimony seized the "misconduct" title of the session, noting that it, like the May proceeding of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the same topic, was also not described officially with the word "impeachment."
#1
Well, the GOPe may be corrupt, ineffectual liars who can only get energetized when fighting the base -- but at least they're not crude like that awful Trump.
#2
When Koskinen came in and flipped off Congress, no reasonable person could describe his behavior as 'misconduct' or 'gross negligence'. Show some balls, vote to impeach and bring it to the House floor for a vote, as soon as the Baby Dems get through with their little temper tantrum.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is the main supplier of military planes and helicopters to the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). They produce the J-20 stealth fighter, FC-1, and FC-8 fighters, the 5th-generation FC-31 stealth fighter, and aerial reconnaissance and attack drones. In 2007, Chinese hackers stole secrets about the U.S. F-35 that were incorporated by AVIC into the Chinese FC-31.
