China Launches New Class of Destroyer - Type 055

China launched the first of new class destroyer,, the Type 055. The 10,000-tonne warship was launched at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. The new destroyer is similar in size to the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke class AEGIS destroyer and is billed as a major upgrade of Chinese sea power.

Infographic from SCMP

CNA

SCMP

Myanmar Air Force JF-17/FC-1

LAND 400 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle Testing

LAND 400 Phase 2 contenders BAE Systems Australia and Rheinmetall have presented their vehicles, Patria AMV35 and Boxer CRV respectively, for testing.  The Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) were tested in an exercise at the Puckapunyal Army Base in Victoria.

LAND 400 Phase 2 is a $4-5 billion project to purchase 225 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles to replace the Australian Army's current fleet of Light Armoured Vehicles.

The two LAND 400 contenders  posing with an Australian M-1 Abram MBT and LAV.

manufacturer monthly

First F-35A Lightning II Stealth Fighter Assembled in Japan Unveiled

Japan ordered 42 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighers with 38 to be assembled by Mitsubishi Heavy in Japan.  The first four Lockheed Martin built aircraft were handed over to Japan in 2016.  They are currently based in the US for training. On 5 June, Mitsubishi Heavy unveiled the first F-35A to be assembled in Japan. This aircraft  will undergo flight-testing in Japan before being transferred to the US for further testing and pilot training. The first F-35A squadron is expected to be based in Misawa Air Base in northern Japan.

Nikkei

Vietnam Coast Guard Receives Hamilton-class Cutter

The Vietnam Coast Guard (Cnh Sát Bin Vit Nam: CSBV) has taken delivery of a ex-United States Coast Guard Hamilton-class cutter that previously saw action in the Vietnam War.   The USCG Morgenthau was in service with the United States Coast Guard for 48 years before being transferred to Vietnam on 25 May 2017. USCG Morgenthau was last deployed to Vietnam from 6 Dec 1970 - 31 July 1971.

At 115m long and displacing 3250 tonnes, the new CSB8020 is the Vietnamese Coast Guard's largest ever vessel to-date.

USNI

USCG

China Plans East China and South China Sea Underwater Surveillance Networks

China has a program to build underwater surveillance networks in the East China Sea and South China Sea.  The networks cost approximately two billion yuan with a planned construction period of five years. The networks include a number of unspecified sensors installed on the ocean floor that are connected via optical cables to a monitoring station in Shanghai. This will allow China to around-the-clock, real-time, high-definition, multiple interface, and three-dimensional underwater surveillance.

China is already able to conduct regular surveillance of the airspace and sea surface using advanced radars, unmanned aerial vehicles and Gaofen 3 satellites.

CNN

CCTV

IAF Su-30MKI Fatal Crash

Indian Air Force announced that two of its fighter pilots died in the crash of a Su-30MKI on 23 May 2017. Squadron Leader D Pankaj and Flight Lieutenant S Achudev sustained fatal injuries when the aircraft crashed approximately 60 km from Tezpur Airbase.

newindianexpress.com

World's Largest Aircraft

Stratolaunch Systems has unveiled the Stratolaunch, the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan. The wing is 385 ft long. The fuselage is 238 feet long and tail and stands 50 feet tall from the ground to the top of the vertical tail. It has 28 wheels and a staggering maximum takeoff weight of 1,300,000 lbs enabled by six Boeing 747 engines. It is designed to launch spacecraft and satellites into orbit.  Orbital ATK has already signed up as a customer, hoping to use the gigantic aircraft to launch Orbital's Pegasus rockets into orbit.




The aircraft was rolled out from a custom-designed, 103,257 sq-ft hangar in the Mojave desert. Stratolaunch is planned to perform its first launch demonstration in 2019. Stratolaunch Systems was started by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.

Stratolaunch