USA versus China overseas spending

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer and Marine Corps Commandant General Robert Neller referenced ongoing Chinese expansion in their testimonies Wednesday at the House Appropriations Committee in Washington, D.C. China’s is increasing its military power and build new economic ties around the world. China’s recent leasing of a $1.3 billion port in Sri Lanka for the …

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Cheap and capable drones and missiles means foreign interventions will no longer all be low-risk

The US and its allies may never actually face China in a shooting war, but sophisticated Chinese drones, missiles and weapons systems are proliferating. The perception that you will enter a low-risk environment when intervening overseas, now needs to be questioned. China has a growing role as a source of sophisticated weaponry. Western air forces …

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China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter will be put on combat patrols over South China Sea

China’s J-20 stealth fighter has officially entered combat service. The fighter jet officially entered military service in September, and was put through its combat paces over nine days of drills with less-advanced J-16 and J-10C fighters last month. The announcement came two days after Beijing announced its Su-35 fighter jets had taken part in a …

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Google Satellite Pictures capture what is either a hypersonic vehicle prototype or an unusual drone

An object that looks like it could be a hypersonic vehicle prototype has appeared in satellite photos. It could also just be an unusual drone. Some commenters think it might only be a racing boat. Based on the other parked cars it looks like the object could be about 25-30 feet long and 15- feet …

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Lockheed may have completed a prototype hypersonic SR72

Jack O’Banion, Vice President of Strategy and Customer Requirements, Advanced Development Programs for Lockheed Martin, at a presentation said that the SR72 could not have been made without digital transformation. This seems to indicate that a hypersonic vehicle has been built. The SR72 is a mach 6+ hypersonic precision bomber that can also act as …

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First ever test of a hypersonic equipped missile that is intended for operational deployment

China carried out the first flight-tests of a new kind of ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) in November. The DF-17 is the first hypersonic glide vehicle-equipped missile intended for operational deployment ever tested. During the November 1 test flight, which took place from the Jiuquan Space Launcher Center in Inner Mongolia, the …

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USA vs China vs Russia in Weapons Procurement

Russia has a ten year arms procurement plan from 2018 to 2027 which will have almost flat spending at $34 billion. The USA is spending about $155 billion ($90 billion on weapons procurement and $65 billion on weapons research and development. The US will likely grow military procurement spending moderately over the next ten years. …

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Hypersonic spaceplane company building test facility with DARPA funding

Reaction Engines has begun construction of a new high-temperature airflow test facility where it plans to validate the performance of its precooler heat exchanger technology, an enabler of its revolutionary SABRETM engine. Located at the Front Range Airport near Watkins, Colorado, the test facility will be capable of exposing the precooler test article (HTX) to …

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Advisors urge military mobilization in Northeast China because of high risks of Korean War

Wang Hongguang, former deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region, warned that war could break out on the Korean peninsula at any time from now on until March when South Korea and the United States held annual military drills. “It is a highly dangerous period,” Wang said. “Northeast China should mobilize defenses for war.” Beijing, …

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Analysis of the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter

As an advanced multirole stealth fighter, the J-20 stealth fighter can fulfill both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat roles for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the aviation branch of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (referred to as either Naval Aviation or the PLAN-AF). According to PLAAF Senior Colonel Shen Jinke, the J-20 will …

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What the US would need to beat China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Salafist-jihadi

RAND evaluates the capabilities of current and programmed U.S. forces to meet the demands of conflicts that could arise involving any of five potential adversaries: China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Salafist-jihadi groups worldwide. The report finds that U.S. forces today are larger than necessary to fight a single major war, are failing to keep …

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