News on China's scientific and technological development.

Originally Posted by Hendrik_2000

some forumer here look down on Chinese military electronic capacity and always use the word copy or not as advanced as the Russian , Surprise surprise Here the observation of real expert in the defense electronic . the former student has bested their teacher

International Assessment and Strategy Center > Research > Report from the 2010 Chinese Defense Electronics Exhibition (CIDEX): Growing Industry – Advancing Technology

In the 1990s, when the Russian defence was in danger of drying up and closing its doors due to an almost complete collapse in any funding from their own government, it was China that saved the day. China bought billions in military hardware from Russia, but it also sent its engineers, designers and technicians to study inside of Russian industry to learn how the weapons it was purchasing had been developed in the first place.

This transfer of technological know-how, plus some enormous investments by the Chinese military into its state-owned industries (what more than one Russian has referred to as “uncontrolled and rampant modernisation”) has produced a defence electronics industry that far outstrips the size and capacity of that which existed in Russia when Chinese industry first began their cooperation with Moscow in the early 1990s.

Today the former students (the Chinese) have become the masters. Chinese industry now has the ability to produce components that the Russian electronics industry (after almost two decades of no investment by their government) is no longer capable of either designing or manufacturing. The initial failure rates on the production of transmit/receive (T/R) modules for the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars being designed for the Mikoyan MiG-35 and the Sukhoi T-50/PAK-FA 5th-generation fighter, for example, were so high that it would have bankrupted any western firm involved in a similar programme.

Not surprisingly, this year’s CIDEX show saw groups of Russian specialists going through the halls and looking for components that they could source out of China to be utilised in Russian-designed weapon systems. Russian specialists will point out that they are now at a huge disadvantage to the Chinese in two very significant respects.

One is that the commitment by the central government in resources to the defence electronics sector is both sustained and serious. “They can take a field where there is nothing but flat land and wild grass,” said one Russian company representative, “and the next thing you know there is a full-blown factory or design centre there turning out a world-class product.”




Chinese firms are now producing components that far surpass that of the Russian firms they learned their skills from in the early 1990s.


The other advantage to China is the unfortunate reality of actuarial tables. Younger scientists and engineers who are needed in Russia to form the next-generation of weapons designers are leaving the nation in droves. A few years ago the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) estimated that 70,000 scientists and specialists from Russian defence institutes and military-industrial complex enterprises had left the country.

A documentary on the subject produced by Moscow’s NTV stated “the nuclear physicists, experts in electronic equipment, virologists and biotechnologists did not leave Russia empty-handed. They took secrets with them and presented their former foes with the weapons they had themselves developed.”

The documentary went on to claim “according to CIA data, in the first half of the 1990s thousands of Soviet specialists in the field of nuclear and missile technology left for the Middle East. They worked there in violation of the treaty on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the MTCR. From the Arzamas-16 centre several people went to work in Iraq. Russian scientists worked in Iran and Libya. Forty nuclear scientists immigrated to Israel. Thousands of Russian specialists in the field of nuclear and missile technologies developed programmes to improve armaments in China. Our scientists are willing to work anywhere they are paid.”

The consequence is that whereas the age of the average defence industrial scientist or engineer in China is about 30 and around 40 in the US – it is 50 years or more in Russia. China’s industry is growing and advancing, while Russia’s will effectively be dying off before too long

You may find interest in my recent post on the PLAN submarines II thread or you can follow this link >>>China to conquer world arms market with poor quality rip-offs - English pravda.ru Enjoy !

How long can the EU and US play this 1989 embargo card? It is hypocrisy considering the human rights violations of say Saudi Arabia and Israel.The interesting article on the International Assessment and Strategy Center > Research > Report from the 2010 Chinese Defense Electronics Exhibition (CIDEX): Growing Industry – Advancing Technology report is the last one.I think this could open the floodgates (albeit on similar technical grounds)to other companies if no action is taken against Sensonor.I would rather see a concerted effort by all to remove it as opposed to it being removed de-facto though.

A Little Help From The EU

One of the few foreign firms that was exhibiting at CIDEX for the first time was the Norwegian electronics manufacturer, Sensonor. The company is offering its products on both the Chinese and Russian military markets. It is one of the leading European firs to offer products based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, and the company representatives said that this was their first show in China.

Sensonor’s MEMS gyroscope components offer the possibility for radically improving the accuracy of Chinese missile systems and precision-guided munitions. The central component is the STIM202 Butterfly gyro, which is a 55-gram miniature module that replaces previous-generation fibre-optic, ring laser and mechanical gyros.

The STIM202 is based on single-crystal silicon technology. It can be configured in 1, 2 or 3 axes capability and offers 24-bit resolution plus an RS422 bit rate like the components made by their Chinese competitors at Kotel. Company engineers claim that “the STIM202 is so small and light that the designers of a missile system can use two of the modules to provide the weapon’s on-board guidance module with back-up redundancy, which was never a possibility with previous-generation guidance components.”


Norway’s Sensonor has the market for selling MEMS based guidance equipment all to itself in China. The US and other EU firms cannot compete here. This technology could profoundly enhance the accuracy of all Chinese-produced PGM.


There are a number of firms worldwide producing components based on this type of technology, but the rest of them are barred from doing business in China due to the Tiananmen Square arms embargo. However Sensonor claim they can do business in China because “there is no ITAR content to our product.”

“We almost have to thank the US government for forbidding American firms from offering this product in China,” said one Sensonor engineer, “because the prohibition has more or less left this market completely open for us without any US or other competition.”

If the Sensonor technology is purchased by Chinese industry in significant numbers, their missiles and other guided weapons will achieve levels of performance and accuracy comparable to their western counterparts, but at a much lower total system cost. Even though Kotel in China are already producing a similar product, the people from Sensonor said that they are not worried about their product being reverse-engineered and illegally copied.

“This is a complex technology and it requires significant amounts of investment in industrial production equipment and years of experience to be able to produce these components on a cost-effective basis. This does not lend the technology to being easy to duplicate.”

Why selling this product into China is not considered a violation of the EU arms embargo on the PRC is unknown. Having no ITAR content may be one issue, but the significant increase it will bring to the accuracy of Chinese weaponry certainly violates the spirit – if not the letter – of the EU embargo.

The fact that this Norwegian firm was one of the only foreign companies offering a new product shows just how technologically sophisticated China’s defence electronics sector has become. There appears to be little that they cannot do on their own, and what few technologies they cannot develop on their own seems to become more and more readily available despite international sanctions that should prevent them from being able to purchase it.

speaking of MEM-INS, around 5 years ago, a brief summary of new tecnology develop in Chinese lab was MEM-INS, this brief statement was posted in the chinese web site.
ironic, Boeing aircraft was fine half million $ by the pentagon, when boeing aircraft sold to China included MEM-ins.
BTW, do spike ,hellfire and javelin ATM contain MEM-ins?

Originally Posted by zoom

Why selling this product into China is not considered a violation of the EU arms embargo on the PRC is unknown.

.........it could be because Norway is not part of the EU?

Don't get me wrong. Norway makes sure not to directly hurt the interests of its EU partners, so I'm guessing they won't sell any technology that was acquired from an EU member. Indigenous technology is a different matter.

From what I've gathered from media reports here in Norway, this country remains one of the most militarily friendly countries in Europe with regards to trade and contacts with China. I still remember when a delegation from Chinese military intelligence visited our unit during the NATO exercise Cold Response '07 and was allowed to take a peek at our artillery and ask some basic questions about how it functioned. The visit was top secret of course.

according to the article the first missile to incorporate MEM-INS was C-701. a small anti ship missile produce around 2004~05.

Originally Posted by zoom

There are a number of firms worldwide producing components based on this type of technology, but the rest of them are barred from doing business in China due to the Tiananmen Square arms embargo. However Sensonor claim they can do business in China because “there is no ITAR content to our product.”

“We almost have to thank the US government for forbidding American firms from offering this product in China,” said one Sensonor engineer, “because the prohibition has more or less left this market completely open for us without any US or other competition.”

Actually what the engineer spoke of is true... it is highly stupid to embargo arms from China, and somewhat closes the doors to a big market.

Plus just by embargoment, it will not kill the country's military and defence industry, only slow it down. But sooner or later a country like CHina would be able to pick up all these technologies.

So why not sell arms to china and earn... after all, is China threat really that much or important?

PS. Everything is a two edged sword. By selling advance technology weaponries to China, might help to vastly improve their military quickly... which on one side, might seemed pretty dangerous. However when you look at it the other way round... it might plays into your advantage... because you would know exactly what capability CHina had.

Also when China could buy high tech weapon readily from the west, the effort put into developing their own weapon might slow down... because buying from other is a cheaper and easier options.

So in a sense, you are also slowing down the entire R&D sector of the military research industry.

Construction starts on new nuclear generator in east China's Fujian

"Construction starts on new nuclear generator in east China's Fujian
English.news.cn 2010-10-03 22:08:06

FUZHOU, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ningde Nuclear Power Plant in southeast China's Fujian Province has begun building its fourth generator, the company said Sunday.

It is the last of the four generators in the first phase of construction.

The nuclear power plant will begin operating in 2012; making it the first of its kind in the province.

The nuclear plant is expected to generate 30 billion kWhs of electricity every year; guaranteeing to provide a quarter of the province's annual power consumption, when all four generators are in full operation by 2015.

The nuclear plant will also save 12 million tons of coal every year or the equivalent of about 30 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Ningde nuclear power plant, co-funded and jointly run by Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, Datang International Power Generation Co. Ltd., and Fujian Energy Group Co. Ltd, started the construction of its first generator in 2008.

Another nuclear power plant in the province, Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant, is also expected to commence construction of its fifth and sixth generators before the end of this year. It is expected to start operating in 2013.

Editor: Fang Yang"

Molecular biology:*Eliminate to survive : Article : Nature China

"Molecular biology: Eliminate to survive
Published online: 4 August 2010 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2010.87
Felix Cheung

A protein that induces autophagy may help to suppress tumour growth

Original article citation
Zhao, Y. et al. Cytosolic FoxO1 is essential for the induction of autophagy and tumour suppressor activity. Nature Cell Biol. doi:10.1038/ncb2069 (2010).

© (2010) Nature Cell Biology

Although previous studies have highlighted the possible link between autophagy — the cellular process for eliminating damaged proteins and organelles in the cytosol — and tumour suppression, the exact mechanism that connects them is still unknown. Weiguo Zhu and co-workers at Peking University in Beijing[1] have now identified a protein that induces both autophagy and tumour suppressor activity.

Recent reports have suggested that FoxO proteins are involved in the induction of autophagy. The researchers found that in response to stress, human cancer cell lines increased their cytosolic FoxO1 expression, p62 degradation and LC3-II accumulation (the latter two being the markers of autophagy). Importantly, they found that FoxO1 underwent acetylation to trigger autophagy.

Further investigation revealed that during the process of acetylation, FoxO1 detaches from SIRT2, a histone deacetylase, and binds to Atg7, an E1-like protein involved in autophagosome formation.

Human cancer cells expressing FoxO1 stopped growing in mice (pictured right), but those expressing an empty vector continued to grow (pictured left). The researchers also compared tissue samples from normal patients and patients with colon cancer. They found that the FoxO1 expression and p62 degradation levels were much lower in cancerous tissues.

The results clearly demonstrate a connection between autophagy and tumour suppressor activity. The researchers believe that autophagy could offer a method of suppressing tumour growth, but more work is required to understand how autophagy achieves this.

The authors of this work are from:
Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research, Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Peking University, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Surgery, Secondary Affiliated Hospital, Peking University Health Science Center, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; School of Oncology, Peking University Health Science Center, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Reference

1. Zhao, Y. et al. Cytosolic FoxO1 is essential for the induction of autophagy and tumour suppressor activity. Nature Cell Biol. doi:10.1038/ncb2069 (2010). | Article"

Condensed matter physics:*Mind the gap : Article : Nature China

"Condensed matter physics: Mind the gap
Published online: 4 August 2010 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2010.94
Felix Cheung

The energy gap of a topological insulator widens in films below a certain thickness

Original article citation
He, K., Xue, Q. K. et al. Crossover of the three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3 to the two-dimensional limit. Nature Phys. doi:10.1038/nphys1689 (2010).

© Nature Physics

Topological insulators are special insulators with conductive surfaces. Their electronic band structure exhibits an energy gap — the optical signature of insulators — only in the bulk region, and not on the conductive surfaces. A team of researchers led by Ke He at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Qikun Xue at Tsinghua University, both in Beijing[1], have discovered that the surfaces develop an energy gap when the thickness of the topological insulator is reduced below a certain level.

The researchers used a highly precise technique called molecular beam epitaxy to grow the topological insulator — a bismuth selenide thin film — layer by layer, and then used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the electronic band structure of the topological insulator surfaces. They observed an energy gap (see images) for a thickness below six quintuple layers (a quintuple layer being the smallest thickness achievable through molecular beam epitaxy). The energy gap became smaller as the film thickness was increased.

The results suggest that gapless states exist on both the upper and lower surfaces of thick topological insulator films. These gapless states could be useful for low-power electronics and quantum computing.

The authors of this work are from:
Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; Department of Physics and Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Physics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA; Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

Reference

1. He, K., Xue, Q. K. et al. Crossover of the three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3 to the two-dimensional limit. Nature Phys. doi:10.1038/nphys1689 (2010). | Article"

Virology:*Influenza virus has a new weak spot : Article : Nature China

"Virology: Influenza virus has a new weak spot
Published online: 7 July 2010 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2010.76
Felix Cheung

Nucleozin treats influenza by inhibiting nuclear protein accumulation in viruses

Original article citation
Kao, R. Y. et al. Identification of influenza A nucleoprotein as an antiviral target. Nature Biotechnol. doi:10.1038/nbt.1638 (2010).

© (2010) istockphoto.com/Ping Han

Experts are concerned about the potential emergence of a 'super flu' that no drug can treat, owing to the ability of influenza viruses to constantly evolve and become resistant to particular drugs. For this reason, scientists have been looking for drugs that can attack targets on the influenza virus. Using forward chemical genetics, Kwok Yung Yuen and Richard Yi Tsun Kao at the University of Hong Kong and co-workers[1] have established influenza virus nucleoprotein as a viable target and nucleozin as a drug that treats influenza by inhibiting nucleoprotein accumulation.

The influenza virus nucleoprotein is the most abundantly expressed protein during the course of infection. It accumulates in the nucleus in the early phases of infection and spreads in the cytoplasm during viral assembly and maturation.

The researchers screened a chemical library of 50,240 compounds with diverse structures on cell-based influenza virus assays and selected 950 compounds that showed protective effects. They then tested the selected compounds using a cytopathic effect assay and identified 39 compounds that were particularly potent.

When the researchers used fluorescence microscopy to examine the effects of these 39 compounds on nucleoprotein trafficking, they found five compounds that blocked the accumulation of nucleoprotein in the nucleus. Nucleozin, in particular, was deadly against influenza viruses at submicromolar levels and protected mice subjected to lethal doses of the avian influenza virus H5N1.

The study will further the development of small-molecule therapies in treating influenza.

The authors of this work are from:
Department of Microbiology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Research Center of Infection and Immunology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Chemistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Biochemistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Computing Sciences, Capilano University, British Columbia, Canada.

Reference

1. Kao, R. Y. et al. Identification of influenza A nucleoprotein as an antiviral target. Nature Biotechnol. doi:10.1038/nbt.1638 (2010). | Article"

Quantum physics:*Entanglement for sure : Article : Nature China

"Quantum physics: Entanglement for sure
Published online: 7 July 2010 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2010.85
Felix Cheung

Researchers in Hefei have designed a linear optical circuit for deterministically producing entangled photon pairs

Original article citation
Wagenknecht, C. et al. Experimental demonstration of a heralded entanglement source. Nature Photon. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2010.123 (2010).

© (2010) Nature Photonics

Entangled photon pairs are great information carriers for quantum communication and quantum computation. Unfortunately, spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) — the predominant mechanism for generating entangled photon pairs — is a random process and therefore has difficulty in supporting practical applications. Jianwei Pan and Kai Chen at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and co-workers[1] have now overcome this limitation by designing a set-up for deterministically producing entangled photon pairs (that is, with a probability of 100%).

The set-up (see image) comprises an SPDC source for producing entangled photon pairs, an optical circuit of beamsplitters for splitting the photons, and six outputs. Single-photon detectors monitor four of the outputs and function as triggers — the detection of four photon states signals the creation of one entangled photon pair through the other two outputs.

The use of an SPDC source makes the entangled photon pairs stable and robust. The researchers say that they could also improve the performance of their set-up by using beamsplitters with different transmission ratios. So far, they have achieved a fidelity of 87% and a state-preparation efficiency of 45%. The next step in their study is to miniaturize the SPDC source and optical circuit using waveguides instead of bulk optics for on-chip integration.

The authors of this work are from:
Physikalisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Physics and National Center for Theoretical Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.

Reference

1. Wagenknecht, C. et al. Experimental demonstration of a heralded entanglement source. Nature Photon. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2010.123 (2010). | Article"

China launches "Shijian VI-04" group satellites

"China launches "Shijian VI-04" group satellites
English.news.cn 2010-10-06 14:56:53


Long March 4B rocket, carrying two satellites of the "Shijian VI-04" group, lifts off from the launch pad in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, on Oct. 6, 2010. The satellites, which have entered space orbit, will carry out probes on the space environment, radiation levels, and conduct space science experiments; according to the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. (Xinhua/Shang Chunya)

I don't get it. Is this just a series of posts to stroke your own over-inflated egos?

If things are so great just let them happen why do you need the attention? Do you need the attention to justify the work these people do?

Pride comes before a fall.

Originally Posted by inperson

I don't get it. Is this just a series of posts to stroke your own over-inflated egos?

If things are so great just let them happen why do you need the attention? Do you need the attention to justify the work these people do?

Pride comes before a fall.

That accusation is more apt for places like the US or India long before China, really...