now I read
What can China do in response to THAAD deployment in South Korea?
2017-09-08 15:31 GMT+8
mentions also the data issue (or non-issue) about which I posted Yesterday at 5:26 PMThe U.S. military flew two strategic bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force late on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump met top defense officials to discuss how to respond to any threat from North Korea.
Tensions have soared between the United States and North Korea following a series of weapons tests by Pyongyang and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has launched two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth nuclear test in recent weeks as it fast advances toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
The two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers were joined by two F-15K fighters from the South Korean military after leaving their base in Guam, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Wednesday.
After entering South Korean airspace, the two bombers carried out air-to-ground missile drills in waters off the east coast of South Korea, then flew over the South to waters between it and China to repeat the drill, the release said.
The U.S. military said in a separate statement it conducted drills with Japanese fighters after the exercise with South Korea, making it the first time U.S. bombers have conducted training with fighters from both Japan and South Korea at night.
The U.S. bombers had taken off from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. In August, Pyongyang threatened to fire intermediate-range missiles toward the vicinity of Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory that is frequently subjected to sabre-rattling from the North.
GUARD RAISED
South Korean and U.S. government officials have been raising their guard against more North Korean provocations with the approach of the 72nd anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling party, which fell on Tuesday.
Trump hosted a discussion on Tuesday on options to respond to any North Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent Pyongyang from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons, the White House said in a statement.
Trump was briefed by Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford at a national security team meeting, the statement said.
U.S. and South Korean wartime operational plans, including a plan to wipe out the North Korean leadership, were stolen by North Korean hackers last year, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Some 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken from South Korea’s Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year, Democratic Party representative Rhee Cheol-hee said in radio appearances on Wednesday, citing information from unidentified South Korean defense officials.
In May, an investigative team inside the defense ministry announced the hack had been carried out by North Korea, but did not disclose what kind of information had been taken.
SHIPS BANNED
The United Nations Security Council, which has imposed a series of ever tighter sanctions on North Korea, has banned four ships from ports globally for carrying coal from North Korea, including one vessel that also had ammunition.
The vessels are the first to be designated under stepped-up sanctions imposed on North Korea by the 15-member council in August and September over two long-range ballistic missile launches and Pyongyang’s sixth and largest nuclear test.
China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, has consistently argued sanctions alone will not work, urging Washington and Pyongyang to lower their rhetoric and return to the negotiating table.
China’s influential Global Times tabloid expressed alarm at how far the rhetoric on both sides had gone and how it had increased the risk of a “fatal misjudgment”.
“The international community won’t accept North Korea as a nuclear power. North Korea needs time and proof to believe that abandoning its nuclear program will contribute to its own political and economic advantage. This positive process is worth a try,” the paper said in an editorial late on Tuesday.
“War would be a nightmare for the Korean Peninsula and surrounding regions. We strongly urge North Korea and the U.S. to stop their bellicose posturing and seriously think about a peaceful solution,” it said.
related:
now noticed in Twitter
US special ops SSGN727 pulls into Busan 13 Oct. Been operating off Korea for quite awhile, ROKN appears appreciative
US Navy’s Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN 727) pulled into Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, three days ahead of announced .
Prior to USS Michigan’s arrival in Busan, another US submarine, the USS Tucson spent time in South Korea at US Fleet Activities Chinhae.
The US Navy said the Michigan’s arrival to South Korea was a routine visit during a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific. The same submarine visited Busan on April 25, this year.
The navy did not say whether the submarine would be taking part in next week’s drills between the US and ROK navies, noting only the sailors would engage in relationship-building activities with military and the local Busan community.
“The U.S. and ROK navies have always enjoyed a strong relationship. Today, our relationship is stronger than it has ever been and our ironclad partnership is further reinforced by this visit from Michigan.” said Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea. “Michigan sailors were warmly welcomed by the ROK Navy today and I know they’ll receive the same wonderful welcome from the local community during their visit to Busan.”
USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class submarines converted from ballistic missile to guided-missile platforms.
South Korea plans to complete the mass production and deployment of additional K-2 main battle tanks by 2020, three years behind the original target date, due to technical setbacks, the state arms agency said Friday.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) initially sought the domestic supply of a powerpack, which comprises transmission and engine, for the second round of mass production, in preference to the German-designed one used for the previous production run, which began in 2013.
But the indigenous transmission, produced by S&T Dynamics, failed in reliability and durability testing.
In a report to the National Assembly's defense committee for an annual audit, the DAPA said it is pushing for the supply of transmissions from a foreign contractor. It plans to pick a domestically-produced engine for the powerpack.
"The second mass production and deployment will be completed between 2019-2020" if the plan is approved by a government defense industry committee slated to decide in January next year, added the DAPA.
The K-2 Black Panther is South Korea's new signature battle tank, and is designed to replace the aging K-1 battle tanks. It is one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world.
South Korea hopes to export the K-2, with one tank priced at around US$7.5 million.
also related:
South Korean and U.S. troops began five days of naval drills on Monday after North Korea renewed its threat to fire missiles near the American territory of Guam.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries regularly conduct joint exercises, often enraging North Korea, which views such training as an invasion rehearsal. The latest drills in the waters off the Korean Peninsula come amid fears of a possible military clash following the exchanges of insults and fierce rhetoric between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The drills involve fighter jets, helicopters, and 40 naval ships and submarines from the allies, including the American aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, according to South Korea’s Navy. Spokesman Jang Wook told reporters the drills are aimed at practicing how to respond to a potential naval provocation by North Korea and improving the allies’ combined operational capability.
The drills were to include live-fire exercises, but South Korea’s military didn’t release any photos or video.
In a possible show of force against North Korea, the United States also sent four advanced fighter jets — two F-22s and two F-35s — for an air show and exhibition in Seoul that are to begin Tuesday. Last week, the United States flew two B-1B supersonic bombers from its air base in Guam to South Korea to try to demonstrate its power against any North Korean aggression.
North Korea didn’t immediately respond to the start of the drills. On Friday, the North’s Foreign Affairs Ministry accused the United States of provoking the country by mobilizing the aircraft carrier and other war assets near the peninsula.
“Such military acts compel (North Korea) to take military counteraction,” said Kim Kwang Hak, a researcher at the Institute for American Studies at the ministry. “We have already warned several times that we will take counteractions for self-defense, including a salvo of missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.”
In August, North Korea issued a similar threat, saying its military had presented Kim Jong Un with plans to launch intermediate-range missiles to create “enveloping fire” near Guam, a key U.S. military hub in the Pacific. The North has yet to carry out its threat.
Lobbing missiles close to Guam would be deeply provocative for the United States, and a miscalculation on either side could lead to a military conflict.
Under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, North Korea has been accelerating its efforts to bolster its weapons arsenals and acquire the capability to fire nuclear missiles at any target in the U.S. mainland. The North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September and test-launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.
KF-X advances, as detailed design beckons
The final design of the Korea Aerospace Industries KF-X fighter is expected in June 2018, at which point detailed design will commence.
The detailed design phase for the twin-engined type will run until late 2019, at which point the production of prototypes will commence, says an official familiar with the programme.
A first flight is planned in the middle part of 2022, with testing and evaluation to run until 2026.
The KF-X will have both single and two-seat versions, and be powered by two General Electric F414 engines.
At present, the design is undergoing wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamic analysis.
The official adds that Indonesia, which is undertaking 20% of development costs, obtained export licences from the US government in April 2017. Indonesian Aerospace has over 80 staff working on the programme, along with staff from Lockheed Martin and KAI. Jakarta's variant, of which it will obtain about 80 examples, is referred to as the IF-X.
"At this point, there is almost now difference between KF-X and IF-X shapes," says the official.
Still, the South Korean and Indonesian examples are likely to be different. Previously, officials have said that a Block I configuration without stealth coatings and the ability to carry weapons internally will go to Indonesia. South Korea will have a Block II aircraft, with stealth coatings and weapons bays.
Seoul will also develop indigenous capabilities in key areas where it failed to obtain export licences from the US, an early stumbling block for the programme. These include the jet's active electronically scanned array (AESA), which will be developed with Israeli assistance, infrared search & track (IRST), electro-optical targeting, and the aircraft's electronic warfare suite.
Djakarta plans to obtain 80 IF-X fighters, while Seoul plans to obtain 120 examples of KF-X.
... goes on below due to size limitTwo-seat version and European weapons added to Seoul’s new fighter
The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-X fighter keeps growing. What began as a concept design as big as the has repeatedly gained length and wingspan and is now likely to be heavier than that earlier aircraft.
The indigenous fighter will have a two-seat version, developers have confirmed, following years of depictions of it with just one seat. And the type will be equipped with MBDA Meteor and Diehl IRIS-T air-to-air missiles, says South Korea’s defense procurement office, outlining a plan to avoid complete reliance on U.S. weapons.
The twin-engine KF-X is intended to fly in 2022. The Republic of Korea Air Force and KAI have said the service will receive its first unit in 2024, but KF-Xs delivered before 2026 must be developmental units. The first version is not due to be fully developed until 2026 and will lack features intended for later variants. Indonesia is a junior partner in the KF-X program.
The defense ministry’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) led preliminary design and is still deeply involved as KAI works on detail development. The military procurement office, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), chose the F414 engine for the KF-X in 2016.
The newest design, C107, is the latest in a series that began sometime before 2012. The iteration numbered C104 was chosen as the basis of the KF-X when won the separate F-X Phase 3 import competition in 2013 with the Lightning; the competition winner was required to support KF-X development.
This design series has featured tailplanes; an alternative concept with canard control surfaces would have been used had a European supplier won F-X Phase 3. Designs before C107 have been shown only as single-seaters, though a model of a two-seat version was glimpsed on a television report about KAI in 2016. In describing C107, officials have confirmed that a second seat will be available.
The extra place is unrelated to the increase in size. Rather, the aircraft has been enlarged to create more space and to give it a better aerodynamic shape, DAPA officials said at a briefing on the program.
Thanks to DAPA’s release of low-resolution plan drawings of the latest five design iterations, it is now possible to tell some of the story of the evolution of the KF-X since 2012. Although the aircraft has grown and the wing has been enlarged, the designers have stuck with the planform of the mainplane: It has 40 deg. of leading-edge sweep, 10 deg. of forward sweep on the trailing edge and an aspect ratio of 2.7.
The first design in the series was C101. By 2012, it had evolved to C103, which had the general configuration that has persisted until now. At the time of program launch, C103 was thought to be the current design, but in 2014 designers had proceeded to C104, adding conformal antennas and refining the placement of internal equipment. Low-resolution drawings suggest little change to the external shape, if any.
The dimensions of C104 are unknown, but C105, from 2016, was bigger than C103. Span rose to 11 m (36 ft.) from 10.7 m (see table) and length by 40 cm (16 in.). At least half of the lengthening was probably associated with enlargement of the wing, since the chord and therefore the carry-through structure in the fuselage had to be longer. The wing was moved back in relation to the fuselage, so its trailing edges were now behind the leading edges of the fins. The fuselage appears to have been slightly widened.
Also, the canopy shape changed to improve some unstated aspect of performance, perhaps stealth, while the F414 was incorporated and the intake design was revised. The F414 was the bulkiest and most powerful engine under consideration, so its selection may have had something to do with the enlargement of the design.
Despite these changes, empty mass rose only 2%, to 11.1 metric tons, suggesting weight savings had been found. The aircraft was still just a little lighter than the Typhoon, the fighter with which the KF-X has been most comparable in size.
Further growth appeared in C106: span, wing area and fuselage length all increased. The cockpit moved forward. The dimensions of C106 are unknown but C107, for which figures are available, is apparently about the same size. While C107’s span, up 20 cm, is only modestly greater than C105’s, the fuselage is considerably longer. The aircraft is now fully 1.2 m longer than it was in the C103 concept. Empty mass is unavailable, but it is now likely to be significantly greater than the Typhoon’s.
The shapes of the forward fuselage and the inlets have been improved in C107. The wing roots are extended forward, blending with the fuselage, while the tail fins have moved forward and, with trailing edges now swept forward at a greater angle than before, are almost cropped triangles. They have probably been heightened in compensation for the loss of moment arm caused by their relocation; the whole aircraft has gained 30 cm of height from C103’s 4.5 m.
The engines were closely spaced before C107; now they are farther apart, improving survivability and providing volume between them. The nose is blunter in plan, rather like that on designs for Japan’s proposed indigenous fighter. More changes can be expected, because three more design iterations will be prepared by June 2018.
The reason for the second seat has not been disclosed. Fighters designed before the 1990s routinely have two-seat versions. In some cases, the second seat is now used not just for training but for carrying another crew member in combat, as became popular during and after the Vietnam War. But the Raptor, F-35 and Avic Chengdu J-20 have only single-seat versions, relying on advanced simulation to prepare pilots for solo flights. Provision for a second seat in the KF-X may indicate that the type’s avionics will not be sufficiently advanced to support the most demanding strike missions without two crew members.
MBDA and Diehl have agreed to supply Meteor and IRIS-T missiles, respectively, says DAPA, presumably meaning that terms have been settled. But South Korea still needs the permission of Germany to use the IRIS-T and from the countries behind the MBDA consortium—Britain, France and Italy—for the Meteor. There is no indication of when government authorization will be received. The Meteor and IRIS-T are long- and short-range air-to-air missiles, respectively.
South Korea also plans to use the most equivalent U.S. weapons, the AIM-120 Amraam and AIM-9 Sidewinder. Negotiations for integration of those missiles are not complete, DAPA says. Washington agreed in June to give technical information on its two air-to-air missiles and nine other U.S. weapons, but this will only be data of the level called 1A: size, weight and basic interface particulars. South Korea is still seeking level 1B information: full interface data needed for integrating and operating the weapons.
Full-scale development of the KF-X began in late 2015 after years of national debate. One objective is to free South Korea from depending on Washington’s permission in integrating weapons, as it must when it buys fighters straight from the U.S. and would if it equipped the KF-X with U.S. avionics.
...
source:A related objective is to avoid the U.S. vetoing an export contract for the KF-X by withholding the weapons from the intended customer. But the fighter will be subject to U.S. export controls, anyway, because it will use the F414.
Cobham will supply weapon carriage and launch equipment for the development program under a contract that probably sets the company up for volume production.
The ejection launcher, featuring a long stroke to shove weapons safely away from the aircraft at 9 m per sec., suits the AIM-120 and Meteor, says Cobham, announcing its order. The company will deliver an unspecified number of launchers in 2020 under the contract, which it says is worth more than £7 million ($9.2 million).
The timing and value indicate that this is a contract for equipment for prototype and perhaps early production aircraft, probably also including engineering support.
Cobham does not mention the prospect of supplying the launcher for the full production run of KF-Xs, but a satisfactory supplier to the developmental stage of a program is well placed for follow-on volume work.
The launcher suits carriage and ejection of internally and externally mounted weapons, Cobham says. The KF-X was initially designed with a weapon bay, but installation of this feature has been deferred until a second version is developed.
Elsewhere in the program, a critical foreign authorization has been received. In April, Washington said Indonesia could have access to U.S. technology used in KF-X development, though it seems unlikely that it will receive all the information shared with South Korea. Lockheed Martin has sent 30 engineers to KAI, DAPA says. By the end of the year, that number will grow to 40. Indonesia has sent 80 engineers to KAI.
South Korea is developing four major avionics systems for the KF-X: a radar with an active, electronically scanned array (AESA); an infrared search-and-track system; an electro-optical targeting pod; and an electronic warfare suite.
Radar development is due to be completed by 2026 at a cost of 360 billion won ($320 million), says DAPA. The sensor will have about 1,000 transmit-and-receive modules. Critical design review for the radar is due in mid-2019.
Hanwha and ADD are building what they call a hardware demonstration model, combining a Hanhwa AESA antenna and power supply with a receiver-exciter and processor from Elta Systems Ltd. The Israeli company was chosen this year to validate Hanwha’s radar development program, but its role will evidently be rather deeper than that.
Hanwha completed the antenna and power supply in June, says DAPA, adding that the two components will be sent to Elta in September for assembly into a complete radar that will be tested until March 2018.
Another item, called AESA technology demonstration equipment, has been built. Tested in the back of a C-130H transport with the rear door open, it had about 400 transmit-and-receive modules.
South Korea requires 120 KF-Xs and 60 KAI FA-50 light-attack aircraft to replace 34 Block 32s and 140 F-5E/Fs. Indonesia reportedly wants to buy 50 KF-Xs.
