The best time to take out the North Korean ICBMs are before launch during the 3-4 minutes of the boost phase when they are first launched. Taking out the ICBMs when they are about to hit their target is a far harder problem. The ICBMs can deploy decoys and they can alter course. Hitting the …
Patrick Tucker at Defense One reports that tests started October 2014 show that F35 could spot and track ICBMs to help Navy missiles shoot them down. In October 2014, Northrop and MDA launched FTX-20, an experiment to see, among other things, whether the DAS could track an enemy ICBM. They took data from the sensors, …
The head of Russia’s defense council Viktor Bondarev confirmed the Zircon cruise missile is now available in Russia’s arsenal while speaking on Tuesday. The weapon – which Russia boasts is capable of Mach 8 – was last tested back in June. In April 2017, it was revealed that the Zircon had reached a speed of …
The weight of China’s J15 fighter is one of the key reasons China will use an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on China’s third carrier. Construction of the third carrier is expected to start next year and will use electromagnetic launch rather than steam-powered catapults. The carrier is expected to have 80,000 ton displacement which …
China may be considering sharing its J-20 fifth generation stealth fighter jet technologies with allies such as Pakistan. Sino-Indian ties following a stiff face-off since June on the Doklam Plateau, a border area claimed by both Beijing and New Delhi. Beijing may invest for a stake in Russia’s Su-57 program. The Russian stealth fighter program …
A powerful 70 gigawatt laser propulsion system that could accelerate an 100 kilogram object over 122 seconds to 2% of light speed (6000 kilometers per second) would also be able to fire kinetic projectiles at nuclear weapon power. The goal of the Breakthrough Starshot program (which has $100 million in funding) is to send wafer …
China is building the world’s fastest wind tunnel to simulate hypersonic flight at speeds of up to 12 kilometers per second (mach 40, 43200 kph, 26843 mph). A hypersonic vehicle flying at this speed from China could reach the west coast of the United States in less than 14 minutes. Zhao Wei, a senior scientist …
The U.S. military budget is $824.6 billion. That’s the budget for Fiscal Year 2018 which covers the period October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. 1. $574.5 billion base budget for the Department of Defense. 2. $64.6 billion Overseas Contingency Operations for DoD to fight the Islamic State group 3. $78.9 billion Department of Veterans …
China Central Television (CCTV) aired a special talked about the JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel. This is the largest testing setup of its kind in the world and can produce air speeds up to Mach 9 thanks to its pulse detonation engine. There is also a test shape that looks like the DF-ZF hypersonic vehicle. There …
Seven out of 11 U.S. nuclear aircraft carriers are underway simultaneously for the first time in several years, USNI News has learned. Three are on operational deployments in the Western Pacific with full air wings and carrier strike groups — USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). Four more are …
A technological breakthrough in naval propulsion will enable China’s second home-grown aircraft carrier to use the world’s most advanced jet launch system without having to resort to nuclear power, overcoming a huge hurdle in the vessel’s development. The development of the integrated propulsion system (IPS) would allow the vessel to be more efficient, allowing more …