Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
LUCKNOW (Reuters) – U.S. and European defence firms backed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s military modernisation drive at a defence exhibition on Friday, despite a lengthy procurement process running into years and limited funds.
Airbus SE (AIR.PA) and U.S.-based Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co. (BA.N) are eying multi-billion dollar deals under Modi’s aim to upgrade an ageing fleet of aircraft and enhance local arms manufacturing to cut imports.
“I feel encouraged overall,” Anand Stanley, President and managing director of Airbus India and South Asia, told Reuters.
“Every year the government is doing capital allocation. They are spending,” he said.
The military is also looking to buy submarines, warships and battlefield communication systems. But these have made little headway.
Airbus is offering to set up an assembly line in India in partnership with the Tata Group to produce the C295W military transport aircraft as a replacement for Indian Air Force’s Avro fleet.
The 120 billion rupee Avro replacement programme has been in the pipeline for almost a decade.
Airbus on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India’s Adani Aerospace and Defence, part of the diversified Adani Group, for aircraft services in India and South Asia.
Boeing, which has pitched its F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet fighter for the India air force and navy and is competing with Lockheed Martin’s F-21, said it plans to push India’s armed forces’ drive for modernisation through a suite of five products – the Super Hornet, KC-46 tanker, P-8I aircraft, AH-64E Apache and CH-47(I) Chinook helicopters.
The company said it wants to build a global defence and aerospace ecosystem “that creates jobs and industrial capacity with Make in India,” said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India in a statement during the exhibition.
Boeing and Lockheed will be competing with Sweden’s Saab AB (SAABb.ST) with its Gripen fighter and France’s Dassault Aviation SA (AVMD.PA) Rafale and Russian fighter aircraft.
Lockheed Martin, as part of its fighter jet F-21 proposal for the Indian Air Force, signed an MoU with Bharat Electronics Ltd (BAJE.NS) on Friday to explore industrial opportunities around the F-21 fleet, which is essentially building up a spare and supply ecosystem.
The three aerospace giants, with huge displays at the Defence Expo 2020 held in the northern city of Lucknow, displayed miniaturised versions of the latest aircraft and helicopters that they have pitched to India.
Another French defence firm, Dassault (DAST.PA), which recently delivered its first Rafale aircraft to the government in October under a contract to supply 36 units, said it is developing its facility in central India to make the Rafale jets in the subcontinent.
An Airbus A380 landed at the military base of Istres in the southern French region of Bouches-du-Rhone on Sunday
Of the 180 French people who were flown back from Wuhan on Friday, one showed symptoms of being infected with the virus
An Airbus A380-84, believed to be carrying European citizens flown out from the coronavirus zone in Wuhan, approaches the Istres-Le Tube Air Base near Istres. Photo: AFP
A second French-chartered plane carrying 300 evacuees from China flew to France on Sunday as more foreigners fled China’s rapidly developing virus.
The Airbus A380 landed at the military base of Istres in the southern French region of Bouches-du-Rhone. A first French plane landed Friday.
Officials said that when this latest flight left the central Chinese city of Wuhan, none of the passengers had symptoms of coronavirus. They include French, Belgians, Dutch, Danes, Czechs, Slovaks and some citizens of African countries.
Authorities said the plane would drop off most of its passengers at Istres before leaving for Belgium with several dozen people from northern Europe. Authorities haven’t said if the travellers arriving at Istres will be put into quarantine.
Of the 180 French people who were flown back from Wuhan on Friday, one showed symptoms of being infected with the virus and was sent to a Marseille hospital for testing, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said.
The other passengers were being quarantined for 14 days at a large, isolated Mediterranean resort not far from Marseille near Carry-le-Rouet.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that two people who were flown back to Germany on Saturday were found to be infected with the virus. That brought the total of cases in Germany to 10. Spahn said the two had been symptom-free when they left Wuhan and when they arrived in Frankfurt, and that they were “doing well at the moment” in quarantine at a Frankfurt hospital.
French police officers gather at the entrance gate of the ENSOSP (French National Fire Officers Academy) where French citizens will be quarantined after their repatriation from Wuhan. Photo: EPA-EFE
Europe has 25 reported cases of people who have been infected with the virus that emerged from Wuhan: Germany has 10; France has six; Russia, Italy and the U.K have two each and Finland, Sweden and Spain each have one.
The Italian foreign ministry said permission had been given for cargo flights to fly between Italy and China.
Separately, the special commissioner in charge of coordinating Italy’s efforts during the viral outbreak said consideration was being given to letting a handful of Chinese commercial airliners fly to Italy to pick up Chinese tourists and other Chinese citizens stranded in Italy by the suspension of commercial flights.
The commissioner, Angelo Borrelli, was quoted by Italian media as saying that Italy would like those flights, if approved, not to fly to Italy empty, but instead to bring back Italians from China. There are an estimated 500 other Italians in China who have apparently expressed an interest in returning home during the outbreak, but nothing firm had been decided on those flight possibilities.
Meanwhile, an estimated 3,000 tourists and others from China are stranded in Italy and want to return to home, according to Italian media.
Coronavirus: Indonesia evacuates citizens, stops flights from China
2 Feb 2020
The death toll in China climbed Sunday to 304 and the number of infections rose to 14,380. In addition, the Philippines on Sunday reported the first death from the virus outside China.
On Saturday night, a Turkish military transport plane carrying 42 people arrived in Ankara from Wutan. The 32 Turkish, six Azerbaijani, three Georgian and one Albanian nationals will remain under observation in a hospital for 14 days, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
Twenty Turkish personnel who took part in the evacuation will also be kept in quarantine.
The Egyptian government said 306 of its nationals would return home from Wuhan on a chartered plane later Sunday and will be subject to a 14-day quarantine. The online news outlet Masrawy reported that authorities prepared a hotel in the northwestern city of Marsa Matruh where the returnees would be quarantined.
HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in shorts and t-shirts made a surprising appearance in some Hong Kong streets on Saturday, briefly helping residents clean up debris after anti-government protests blocked roads, witnesses said.
The presence of PLA troops on the streets, even to help clean up roads near their base, could stoke further controversy over the Chinese-ruled territory’s autonomous status.
Hong Kong has been rocked by more than five months of demonstrations by protesters angry at perceived Communist Party meddling in the former British colony, which was guaranteed its freedoms when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing denies interfering and has blamed the unrest on foreign influences.
Clashes between protesters and police have become increasingly violent. China has warned that any attempt at independence for Hong Kong will be crushed, but troops have remained inside their base.
RELATED COVERAGE
China’s PLA soldiers seen helping clean up streets after Hong Kong protests – RTHK
Saturday’s clean up followed some of the worst violence seen this year, after a police operation against protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The authorities have since largely stayed away from at least five university campuses that had been barricaded by thousands of students and activists who stockpiled petrol bombs, catapults, bows and arrows and other weapons.
Many protesters appeared to have left the campuses by late Saturday, though some remained behind to man makeshift barricades. Hong Kong’s Cross-Harbour Tunnel was still blocked by protesters occupying Polytechnic University.
Earlier, hundreds of pro-China demonstrators gathered by the city’s legislature and police headquarters, waving Chinese and Hong Kong flags. Some held up posters reading “Police we stand with you”, while others chanted “Support the police”.
Pro-China protests have so far attracted much smaller numbers than those angry at Beijing.
RARE TROOP PRESENCE
By late afternoon, the PLA soldiers had left the streets outside Baptist University, beside their barracks in leafy Kowloon Tong.
Chinese troops have appeared on local streets only once since the 1997 handover, to help with cleanup operations after a typhoon in late 2018. It was not immediately clear how many were involved on Saturday.
Calls to the PLA Hong Kong garrison office and a media liaison officer went unanswered.
Demosistō, a pro-democracy organisation, said Saturday’s cleanup operation could set a “grave precedent” if the city’s government invites the military to deal with internal problems.
In August, Beijing moved thousands of troops across the border into Hong Kong in what state news agency Xinhua described as a routine “rotation”.
Foreign envoys and security analysts estimate up to 12,000 troops are now based across Hong Kong — more than double the usual garrison number.
Standing beside a black flag with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times,” James Wong, 23, was among a handful of protesters still manning a bridge at Baptist University.
“We didn’t want to confront the people and the PLA troops directly,” he told Reuters. “We are not directly against the PLA, but rather the government. But the PLA should not leave their base because this is Hong Kong territory.”
Wong said even after the campus fortifications have been dismantled “Hong Kong will keep resisting until the government responds to our demands”.
Hundreds of residents moved in to help clear barricaded roads near several universities.
Clashes on Saturday saw at least one petrol bomb thrown before anti-government protesters at the campuses retreated. No soldiers appeared to have been involved in the confrontations.
“We just want our lives to continue,” said one resident who was helping clear streets near HKU. “There are many elderly who need to go the hospital and children who need to go to school. I am very sad to see what is happening in my community.”
PRO-POLICE DEMONSTRATION
Saturday’s rally to denounce the anti-government violence drew a mix of young and elderly.
“From the bottom of our hearts, we believe it is the correct thing to support the police in fighting the rioters for Hong Kong citizens,” said a 49-year-old housewife surnamed Kong.
“A lot of people keep silent, afraid of the rioters. It’s time for all the people who are silent to step up and say that’s enough.”
A 70-year-old street cleaner died on Thursday after being hit on the head by one of several bricks police said had been thrown by “masked rioters”. On Monday, police blamed a “rioter” for dousing a man in petrol and setting him on fire. The victim is in critical condition.
On the same day, police shot a protester in the abdomen. He was in a stable condition.
Many pro-police protesters laid white flowers outside the government office to pay their respects to the cleaner. Others applauded and cheered the police, some bowing and giving thumbs up as they walked past riot police on duty.
Authorities said on Saturday that a highway blocked by anti-government protesters on Friday had reopened after being cleared of debris and petrol bombs.
Train services suspended earlier in the week were gradually resuming, metro operator MTR Corp (0066.HK) said.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – China and the Pacific island state of Kiribati restored diplomatic ties on Friday after the former diplomatic ally of Taiwan abandoned Taipei.
A poor but strategic country which is home to a mothballed Chinese space tracking station, Kiribati announced last week that it was cutting relations with self-ruled Taiwan in favour of China, which claims Taiwan as a wayward province with no right to state-to-state ties.
China and Kiribati had ties until 2003, when Tarawa established relations with Taipei, causing China to break off diplomatic relations.
Up until that time, China had operated a space tracking station in Kiribati, which played a role in tracking China’s first manned space flight.
The Chinese government’s top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi and Kiribati’s President Taneti Maamau signed a communique on restoring diplomatic relations at the Chinese mission to the United Nations in New York.
“We highly prize this important and the correct decision,” Wang told a news conference. “Let’s hope for our friendship to last forever. We will work together to grow together towards a bright and prosperous future.”
Speaking alongside Wang, Maamau said there was much to learn from China.
“I do believe that there is much to learn and gain from the People’s Republic of China and the re-establishment of our diplomatic relations is just the beginning,” he said.
There was no mention of the space tracking station at the news conference, nor in the joint communique between the two countries released by China’s Foreign Ministry.
China’s space programme is overseen by the military.
China’s Defence Ministry this week declined comment on the Kiribati facility.
Last week was difficult for Taiwan, as the Solomon Islands also ditched it for Beijing. The Solomon Islands foreign minister signed a deal on diplomatic ties in China last Saturday.
Both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati are small developing nations but lie in strategic waters that have been dominated by the United States and its allies since World War Two. China’s moves to expand its influence in the Pacific have angered Washington.
A former Taiwanese ambassador to Kiribati, Abraham Chu, told Taiwan’s Central News Agency last weekend that China had never fully removed the tracking station in Kiribati and that it “could come back at any time”.
Taiwan now has formal relations with just 15 countries, mostly small and poor nations in Latin America and the Pacific, including Nauru, Tuvalu and Palau. China has signalled it is coming for the rest of Taiwan’s allies.
Military experts say PLA modernisation brought about during Xi Jinping’s presidency will be the main focus of October 1 celebration in Beijing
It’s necessary for China to ‘show some of its muscle’ amid the trade dispute with the US, observer says
China’s land-based DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile will be among the military hardware on show on October 1. Photo: Reuters
China plans to show off its most advanced active weapon systems at the upcoming National Day parade, which will be the biggest of the 14 such events it has held over the past seven decades.
The parade, to be held on October 1 to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, will highlight the military modernisation – particularly in nuclear deterrence – that has taken place since President Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012, according to military experts.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) offered a glimpse of those weapons during rehearsals for the parade in downtown Beijing from September 14.
As part of the celebrations, Xi, who also chairs the Central Military Commission, will inspect 48 squads on the ground and more than a dozen airborne squadrons, according to a military insider involved in support services for the parade.
More than a dozen airborne squadrons will take part in the National Day parade. Photo: Kyodo
The squadrons will include the air force’s first stealth fighter, the J-20; the main active warplanes such as the J-10 and J-11B; and armed helicopters like the Z-20. However, the J-8 fighter jet would not appear this year, the source said, confirming that the first interceptor built in China has been formally retired.
“The ground march will be led by several hero forces from the five theatre commands, which is different from previous squads selected from the ground forces, air force and navy,” said the insider, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“The main goal of this year’s parade is to promote the military modernisation of the PLA under President Xi’s leadership over the past seven years, with the military overhaul being one of the key achievements.”
Thirty-three of the 48 squads would be “weapon squads”, while the 13 others would be made up of infantry troops from the five theatre commands, the source said.
National Day fireworks in Hong Kong cancelled over safety fears
As part of the PLA’s sweeping military reforms, the army’s previous seven military commands were reshaped into five theatre commands, while the four former general headquarters were dissolved and replaced by 15 small functional departments.
In September 2015, Xi announced the PLA would shed 300,000 troops, cutting its size to 2 million, a move aimed at turning the PLA into a more nimble and combat-ready fighting force on a par with international standards.
Xi also split the former Second Artillery Corps into the Rocket Force and the Strategic Support Force, with the latter backing up the military’s electronic warfare units in cyberspace and outer space.
Among the 33 weapon squads, the highlights are expected to be the PLA’s strategic nuclear missiles such as the Rocket Force’s land-based DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, the DF-17 hypersonic missile and the sea-launched JL-2, or Big Wave-2.
Adam Ni, a researcher at Macquarie University in Australia, said that showing off different types of missiles on land and sea indicated that the PLA was improving its nuclear deterrence capabilities by perfecting a three-pronged military force structure, or the so-called nuclear triad.
The DF-17 hypersonic ballistic missile will be one of the highlights of the parade. Photo: AP
The DF-41 is capable of carrying multiple warheads and many decoys, making it harder to detect than silo-based systems and better able to survive a first strike.
Ni said the DF-41 was China’s next-generation cutting-edge weapon.
“It’s actually an advanced ICBM and has a range to hit practically anywhere in the world, including the continental United States,” Ni said.
“The DF-41 is the ultimate symbol of the destructive potential of Chinese armed forces, just as nuclear weapons are similar symbols of the US and Russia.”
The JL-2 – which has a shorter range of 7,000km (4,350 miles) and can be launched by the PLA Navy’s Type 094 submarines – is unable to hit anywhere on the American continent when launched from submarines in the South China Sea and coastal areas of China.
China tests new warships in live-fire drills near Vietnam
However, China is developing the JL-3, which has a range of about 9,000km; the upgraded version of the JL-2, with a flight test conducted in June, though it is still less than the 12,000km range of the American Trident II.
“China is stepping up its military modernisation, which includes a number of aspects; the land-based aspect is introducing more mobile and survivable missile systems,” Ni said.
“The game change will happen when China is able to hit the whole US continent with its missile submarines in Chinese coastal waters.”
In military terms, survivable refers to the ability to remain mission capable after a single engagement.
The DF-17 is a land-to-land short-range strategic missile capable of delivering both nuclear and conventional payloads. The US intelligence community has estimated that it will reach initial operational capability by 2020. But if the missile is displayed in the parade, that means it is active already.
China conducted two tests of the DF-17 in November 2017, with the first launched from the Jiuquan Space Launch Centre in Inner Mongolia.
An insider said the main goal of this year’s parade is to promote the military modernisation of the PLA. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said the nuclear weapons that would go on show in the parade would all be strategic missiles designed to improve China’s deterrent capabilities.
The show comes after the PLA delivered a national defence white paper in July stressing its goal to “maintain national strategic security by deterring other countries from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against China”.
Unlike in the past, this year’s report stated that the US and China were now competing superpowers, and that the PLA’s growing forces were developing to the point that they could challenge the US.
Zhou Chenming, a Beijing-based military observer, said it was also necessary for the PLA to “show some of its muscle” amid the ongoing trade dispute between Beijing and Washington.
“To prevent misunderstanding, most of the weapons are just strategic equipment, not tactical arms, because Beijing still doesn’t want to irritate Washington,” he said.
About 280,000 people were involved in the rehearsals for the parade and related support services, according to Xinhua.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic(4th R) meets with Zhang Youxia(3rd L), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in Belgrade, Serbia on Sept. 6, 2019. (Photo by Li Xiaowei/Xinhua)
BELGRADE, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) — Serbia hopes to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation with China in various fields, including military, to advance bilateral relations to new levels, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said.
Vucic made the remarks on Friday when meeting with visiting vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, Zhang Youxia.
Vucic said that history has proved that China is Serbia’s most reliable friend. The Serbian government, people and military support the “one-China” policy as well as China’s stance and proposition in many other issues concerning China’s core interests.
Vucic added that the Belt and Road Initiative has brought many opportunities to the development of Serbia. He said he hopes that the two sides will continue to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, including military, to advance bilateral relations to new levels.
Zhang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the traditional friendship between China and Serbia is profound.
He said that China is ready to work with Serbia to consolidate the all-weather friendship between the two countries, promote the quality of their bilateral relations and accelerate the growth of their ties.
Zhang also called for the militaries of the two countries to implement consensus reached between the heads of state of China and Serbia, deepen strategic mutual trust and enhance exchanges and cooperation in bids to promote their links to new height.
During his visit, Zhang also met with Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin, and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a Chinese medicine center in the Serbian Military Medical Academy.
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan would not use nuclear weapons first, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday, amid tensions with arch-rival India after New Delhi revoked the special status of its part of the disputed Kashmir region.
“We both are nuclear-armed countries. If these tensions increase, the world could be in danger,” Khan said, addressing members of the Sikh religious community in the eastern city of Lahore. “There will be no first from our side ever,” he said.
The foreign ministry’s spokesman subsequently said on Twitter that the comments were being taken out of context and did not represent a change in Pakistan’s nuclear policy.
“PM was simply reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to peace and the need for both nuclear states to demonstrate responsible behaviour,” spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on his official Twitter account.
Tension remains high in Kashmir, where security forces have used tear gas against stone-throwing protesters and the valley remains under lockdown after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw special rights for the Muslim-majority state on Aug. 5.
By stripping Indian-controlled Kashmir of its special status, New Delhi blocked the region’s right to frame its own laws and allowed non-residents to buy property there. Delhi said the change would help Kashmir’s development, to the benefit of all, but its move angered many residents of the region and was strongly condemned by Pakistan.
Khan has so far focused on a global diplomatic campaign condemning India’s actions, accusing Modi of committing human rights violations and atrocities in the valley.
He has also said frequently that any misadventure between two nuclear-armed nations could endanger the world.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan. Both countries rule parts of Kashmir while claiming it in full. Two of the three wars they have fought have been over it.
Also on Monday, Islamabad gave a consular access to an Indian who was given a death sentence for spying by a Pakistani military court, which the International Court of Justice asked Pakistan to review in mid-July.
“Pursuant to the decision of the International Court of Justice, Pakistan provided consular access on 02 September, 2019 to India for Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, Indian spy, serving Indian Naval officer,” a Pakistani foreign office statement said.
The statement said that at India’s request, there was no restriction on the language of communication and the access was recorded, which continued for two hours.
An Indian external affairs ministry statement said “Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable claims.” It said Delhi would wait for a detailed report to determine the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives.
BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — As the autumn semester started Sunday, Chinese education departments, schools and military authorities have geared up for military training programs for students.
The Ministry of Education and three departments of the Central Military Commission jointly issued a directive earlier this week underlining adequate preparation of trainers, careful design of training programs and proper security management.
Freshman college students across the country and entrants to middle schools in many places are required to attend a short military training program mostly on campus but sometimes at training camps.
The military should select competent servicemen to be trainers and provide them with adequate training on teaching policies and skills, according to the directive.
Civilian and military authorities were also asked to introduce more interactive and creative training models and design courses that suit students’ physical and psychological conditions.
Researchers at academy of science believe electromagnetic wave model is key that will herald new era in radar detection and avoidance for military ships and aircraft
China’s J-20 stealth fighter. Photo: AFP
Chinese scientists have achieved a series of breakthroughs in stealth materials technology that they claim can make fighter jets and other weaponry lighter, cheaper to build and less vulnerable to radar detection.
Professor Luo Xiangang and colleagues at the Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Chengdu, Sichuan province, said they had created the world’s first mathematical model to precisely describe the behaviour of electromagnetic waves when they strike a piece of metal engraved with microscopic patterns, according to a statement posted on the academy’s website on Monday.
With their new model and breakthroughs in materials fabrication, they developed a membrane, known as a meta surface, which can absorb radar waves in the widest spectrum yet reported.
At present, stealth aircraft mainly rely on special geometry – their body shape – to deflect radar signals, but those designs can affect aerodynamic performance. They also use radar absorbing paint, which has a high density but only works against a limited frequency spectrum.
In one test, the new technology cut the strength of a reflected radar signal – measured in decibels – by between 10 and nearly 30dB in a frequency range from 0.3 to 40 gigahertz.
A stealth technologist from Fudan University in Shanghai, who was not involved in the work, said a fighter jet or warship using the new technology could feasibly fool all military radar systems in operation today.
“This detection range is incredible,” the researcher said. “I have never heard of anyone even coming close to this performance. At present, absorbing technology with an effective range of between 4 and 18 GHz is considered very, very good.”
China’s new radar system could spot stealth aircraft from at long range
The lower the signal frequency, the longer a radar’s detection range. But detailed information about a moving target can only be obtained with higher frequency radio waves. Militaries typically use a combination of radars working at different frequencies to establish lines of defence.
The Medium Extended Air Defence System, Nato’s early warning radar, operates at a frequency range of 0.3 to 1 GHz. The American Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, the missile defence radar that caught Beijing’s attention when it was deployed in South Korea in 2017, operates at frequencies around 10 GHz.
Some airports use extremely short-range, high-frequency radars running at 20 GHz or above to monitor vehicle and plane movements on the ground, but even they might not be able to see a jet with the new stealth technology until it is overhead.
“Materials with meta surface technology are already found on military hardware in China, although what they are and where they are used remains largely classified,” the Fudan researcher said.
Professor Luo Xiangang. Photo: Baidu
Luo and his colleagues could not be reached for comment. But according to the academy’s statement and a paper the team published in the journal Advanced Science earlier this year, the stealth breakthroughs were based upon a discovery they made several years ago.
They found that the propagation pattern of radio waves – how they travelled – in extremely narrow metallic spaces was similar to a catenary curve, a shape similar to that assumed by chains suspended by two fixed points under their own weight.
China tests stealth ‘invisibility cloaks’ on regular fighter jets
Inspired by catenary electromagnetics, the team developed a mathematical model and designed meta surfaces suitable for nearly all kinds of wave manipulation.
These included energy-absorbing materials for stealth vehicles and antennas that can be used on satellites or military aircraft.
Zhu Shining, a professor of physics specialising in meta materials at Nanjing University, said the catenary model was a “novel idea”.
“The Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu has conducted long-term research in this area which paved a solid foundation for their discoveries. They have done a good job,” Zhu said.
“Scientists are exploring new features of metal materials, some of them are already in real-life applications.”
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 