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March 20 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and Russia are close to finishing months of negotiations on a new agreement to cut their nuclear arsenals and may sign the accord next month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday in Moscow.
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Mar.17 (China Military News cited from WASHINGTON TIMES and written by Reuben F. Johnson) — Recent developments in Iran confirm that China is providing Tehran with critical defense technologies and weapons systems, including some that violate stated Chinese policies aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation.

The disclosure of Chinese military aid comes as the Obama administration is trying to persuade Beijing to join other members of the U.N. Security Council, European Union member states and major non-aligned states such as Brazil to adopt a new set of tough sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear-arms program.

Proliferation of defense industrial know-how and brain power from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics to Iran — specifically advanced anti-ship missiles, nuclear technology and ballistic-missile designs — has been at the top of U.S. government concerns since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

KD-88 missile and JH-7A attacker

One of the more recent issues is the expected delivery to Iran of state-of-the-art Almaz-Antei S-300 air-defense missiles systems under a contract originally signed in 2005 between Teheran and Russia’s Rosoboronexport (ROE), the state-run arms-export agency.

The U.S., Israel and others have objected to Russian S-300 deliveries on the grounds that the missiles will significantly improve Iran’s surface-to-air missile network and reduce the chances — if deemed necessary at some point — of successful air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran has made little effort to disguise what analysts say is a modern-day “underground railroad” of Russian and Ukrainian scientists who traveled to the Islamic state on what were officially deemed “tourist” visits or to attend scientific conferences with benign themes.

In reality, the scientists are engaged in assisting numerous Iranian weapons-development programs.

A CIA report to Congress made public in 2009 states that assistance from Chinese and Russian entities “has helped Iran move toward self-sufficiency in the production of ballistic missiles.”

Some of this Russian assistance has produced results for Iran, such as the Shafaq fighter/attack aircraft, which has been traced back to aircraft designs developed many years before at the Mikoyan Design Bureau and other aeronautical research centers of the former Soviet Union.

But, over the longer term, Moscow’s most significant contribution was encouraging Western nations to concentrate inordinately on the proliferation of people, technology, equipment and skills from Russia and Ukraine to Iran.

The diversion has made it easier for China to supply the Iranians with a number of weapons — and the industrial capacity to manufacture them — without drawing much attention.

YJ-62A land-based anti-ship missile

Last week, Iran’s naval forces announced test firings of two basic models of anti-ship missiles — a short-range design called the Nasr-1 and Nasr-2 (the two different designs use different types of guidance systems), and a longer-range missile called the Nour.

According to reports from both the Iranian IRIB TV news network and the pro-government Borna news agency, the Nasr-1 and -2 missiles are not only in service with the Iranian military, but there is now a production line in Iran that has the country’s Aerospace Industries Organization turning these weapons out in large numbers.

The Nour, which has a range greater than 60 miles, is also produced in Iran and analysts said there is a new version of the missile in development with triple the current range.

According to missile specialists, both weapons were originally developed and built in China, and have been advertised as being in service with the Chinese armed forces.

The Nour is known in China as the C-802 anti-ship cruise missile, and the Nasr is a design that was developed specifically for Iran by China’s Hongdu Aviation Group at the beginning of this decade. It has undergone several name changes and configuration alterations, resulting in two competing designs: the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC) weapon designated C-704 and the Hongdu TL-2.

China’s history of cooperation with Iran in defense industrial technology dates back almost to the first days of the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Chinese arms specialists remain among the world’s best experts at reverse-engineering foreign weapons, and have produced large numbers of copies of Russian-design weapon systems for decades.

Chinese engineers used that experience to teach Iranian industry how to fabricate parts for Iran’s U.S.-made systems inherited during the time of the shah, when Tehran could no longer purchase spares due to the U.S. embargo that remains in place today.

The result is an Iran that can today produce aircraft, missiles, defense electronic systems and various other weapon systems on its own.

The same week as the missile launches, Iran’s air force announced it has formed the first squadron of Iranian-manufactured Saeqeh, or Thunderbolt, fighter aircraft.

The aircraft is a modified version of the old Northrop F-5 fighter that first saw service in the Vietnam War, but it has some subtle differences, including a new twin vertical tail. It is another conventional-weapons capability that Iran built with Chinese development assistance.

These and other Iranian-Chinese programs may end up having a cumulative effect on the security balance in the region that outweighs the Russian S-300 deal.

But, by far the most alarming transfer of defense technology was an illegal sale made last year to Iran of 108 pressure transducers. Nuclear specialists said these items, which are also known as capacitance diaphragm gauges, would only have been purchased in such large numbers in order to be used to monitor the processing of the gas centrifuges Iran is operating to produce enriched, weapons-grade uranium.

These pressure transducers are in theory prohibited for sale to Iran, but a lengthy investigative report by the Associated Press bureau in Taipei has proved that by using backdated paperwork and false end-user certificates, Chinese agents were able to set up an elaborate daisy chain to conceal the true destination of these components.

The Swiss manufacturers of these components were told that the transducers, which were ordered by its Taiwan-based sales agent, were intended for shipment to Shanghai.

Export licensing paperwork was altered to change the destination to Tehran, where they were received by an Iranian company.

According to the AP, the transaction for the transducer gauges, at first, seemed aboveboard. A Jan. 24, 2009, purchase order shows that Roc-Master Manufacture & Supply Company ordered the gauges for delivery to its Shanghai base. The order — in the amount of $112,303.72 — was placed with Heli-Ocean Technology Co. Ltd., the Taiwanese agent for Swiss manufacturer Inficon Holding AG.

On Feb. 6, Heli-Ocean received an initial payment from Roc-Master and placed an order with Inficon for the transducers, documents show.

Then the situation changed. Roc-Master issued a revised purchase order, backdated to Jan. 24, instructing Heli-Ocean to ship the transducers not to Shanghai, but to the Tehran airport. The consignee was named as Moshever Sanat Moaser, an Iranian company described on its Web site as a provider of specialty alloys and industrial parts.

David Albright from the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, and the author of the upcoming book “Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America’s Enemies,” commented that the Chinese essentially rode to the rescue of Tehran’s nuclear program by providing a purchasing channel where all other efforts at acquiring these items had failed.

“The [Iranian] government looked everywhere — Russia, Europe, the U.S. and they were being thwarted by the international community,” Mr. Albright said.

European intelligence services have reported that nine out of ten attempts to acquire these transducers had been blocked until now.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that it was unaware of this sale and that all illegal exports of nuclear-related items are forbidden.

But, observers familiar with the trade patterns between the two nations point out that Beijing is not in a position to deny too much of what the Iranians would like to have whether it is legal or not.

Energy-hungry China purchases some 15 percent of its oil and natural gas from Iran and this dependency is only likely to increase over time — as are the demands from Iran for more advanced military technology.

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Mar.17 (China Military News cited from reuters and Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Ralph Jennings in Taipei) — China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to the island. Beijing has threatened to attack if Taiwan tries to declare independence.

Following the election of China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan president in 2008, the two sides have signed a series of landmark trade and tourism deals. But military suspicions on both sides remain deep and there has been no progress on political talks.

Relations have strained of late following a U.S. decision earlier this year to sell a new batch of weapons to Taiwan, though China’s anger has been directed more at Washington than Taipei.

“We agree with looking at the issue of setting up a military and security mutual trust mechanism for both sides at an appropriate time,” Yang Yi, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular news briefing.

“This process should progress step by step and in proper order, dealing with the easy first and the hard later.

“For example, it could begin with exchanges between retired military officers and related academics,” Yang said, without elaborating.

China has made similar suggestions in the past, but had not repeated them recently.

The island’s deputy defence minister, Andrew Yang, told Reuters, though, that Taiwan would not pursue military talks any time soon, since it is focussed on a free trade-style deal and building more overall trust with Beijing.

Military talks are unlikely next year as the island ramps up for the 2012 presidential race, he added.

“There’s no policy at the moment, and in the foreseeable future I don’t see a chance to go ahead with that,” Yang said. “It’s not feasible to discuss now. It’s too complex.”

Premier Wen Jiabao offered last year at the annual meeting of parliament to hold political and military talks with democratic Taiwan and sign a peace agreement with the island. Wen did not repeat the offer at this year’s session.

Taiwan says China aims more than 1,000 missiles at it and there has been no sign these are starting to be pulled back, despite a warming of relations.

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Mar.16 (released by China Military Power Mashup) — A combat helmet has been an essential part of military kit from ancient times. What about the combat helmet in active service in China?

NEW-GENERATION NON-METAL HELMET

For much of the time since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) did not use an indigenously designed helmet because of the poverty and backwardness of China and its industry. It only used helmets captured during previous wars. As a result many soldiers not wearing helmets suffered head and neck wounds during the Korean War (1950-1953). The number accounted for more than half of the total Chinese casualties in the war. China didn’t successfully develop its first generation of ballistic helmet the GK80 steel helmet until the 1970s.

GK80 helmet

The GK80 helmet is made of bulletproof steel and the ballistic protection performance was on a par with then-current Western models. More importantly, the GK80 is quite cheap, ideal for big production runs. However, troops complained it was not comfortable. Other shortcomings were exposed during combat use it had a small protection area and could fragment when hit, causing further injuries. The GK80 was outdated compared with the non-metal combat helmet equipping the armies of the U.S. and Britain.

In June 1991, the Quartermaster Institute of the General Logistics Department of the PLA started to develop a new non-metal ballistic combat helmet. The army’s requirements were: bulletproof area and ballistic protection performance to equal GK80 but with a lighter weight. However, Zhou Guotai, director of the institute and academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, insisted that the design of a new-generation combat helmet should aim to be as good as the U.S. army’s. Therefore, a higher standard had been set: besides meeting the standard about weight and bulletproof area, the overall ballistic protection performance should exceed that of the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) helmet used by the U.S. military.

QGF02 Aramid Fiber helmet

China’s first generation non-metal combat helmet —QGF02 Aramid Fiber helmet was successfully developed in 1994 after four years of research. The QGF02 helmet was issued to the PLA Hong Kong military in 1997 and later issued to other important military units. A series of improvements has been made to the helmet.

THREE INDICES OF THE NEW HELMET

There are three hard indices to evaluate a combat helmet’s quality: ballistic protection performance, bulletproof area and the helmet’s weight.

The ballistic protection performance is extremely important as it decides the helmet’s essential quality. The V50 measurement should be introduced here. V50 is a military measurement of ballistic protection at which 50% of projectiles (l.lg, 22 Caliber, 17 grain fragment simulated projectile) are stopped, and 50% penetrate. V50 equals the average impact velocity of the projectiles. Briefly speaking, the higher the V50 is, the better the fragmentation resistance performance the helmet has.

The V50 of China’s QGF02 helmet is 630 m/s, while the PASGT helmet is 609 m/s, German’s active helmet 620 m/s and NATO’s aramid fiber helmet 487 m/s.

the improved QGF03 helmet

The bulletproof area is also an important index. The QGF02 helmet’s bulletproof area is 1,266 square centimeters, 16 percent more than the GK80, almost equaling the PASGT helmet’s. According to the experience of several wars since World Warl, limbs are the most vulnerable part of the body, then the head and then the chest and belly. However, a hit in the head is the most deadly. That’s why all the helmet designers have been trying their best to enlarge the protective area of the helmet under the precondition of ensuring ballistic protection performance.

The helmet’s weight should be lighter. The QGF02 weighs 1.25 kilograms, lighter than the 1.36-kilo GK80 steel helmet. It is well balanced between weight and protective performance. The small PASGT helmet weighs 1.5 kilograms, and the middle-sized, which is more widely used, is 1.59 kilograms.

The manufacturing of aramid fiber helmet is complicated. The plurality of layers of aramid fiber materials, which have been cut and coated with resin, should be pressed in a mould. The resin should be well distributed. The pressed layers should neither be too tight, nor too loose.

DESIGNING FEATURES OF THE NEW HELMET

Currently, the non-metal combat helmet mainly uses nylon-reinforced resin, glass fiber and aramid fiber as fragmentation resistance materials. Compared with the first two, the aramid fiber’s manufacturing cost is higher, however, aramid fiber of the same weight may provide two to three times the protective capability of other fibers and five times that of bulletproof steel. Therefore, aramid fiber is the best choice for volume produce of personal protective system after comprehensive consideration of all factors including cost and weight. However, the aramid fiber also has a shortcoming —its protective performance will decline after long-time exposure to ultraviolet radiation or in a highly humid environment. Therefore, the aramid fiber helmet often has a cover.

Actually, aramid fiber is not as good as some new types of bulletproof materials, for example, the high elasticity module polyethylene (HEMP) fiber, in terms of protective performance. The HEMP fiber, with a lower density and higher intensity than aramid fiber, is the one with the best mechanical capability at present. In recent years, the materials made of HEMP have also been applied for making helmets and ballistic vests, however, it still cannot be widely used because of high cost and technical difficulties.

Although the China-made QGF02 helmet is made of almost the same materials as the American PASGT helmet, it’s not a simple copycat. A new manufacturing technology has been used. It can cut cost, ensure quality, as well as extend the service life of the mould.

The QGF02 is free-sized as the helmet was designed with a special structure according to human body engineering. It’s also designed to suit the skull characteristics of Eastern people.

The suspended basket system is another characteristic of the new-generation helmet. The QGF02 helmet changed the “two-point fixation” of the PASGT helmet to a”three-point gallus fixation”, which can make a proper gap between the shell and head to ensure good ventilation and to effectively reduce the kinetic energy impact.

CHINA-MADE HELMET IN CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT

The successful development of the QGF02 aramid fiber helmet totally changed the less-developed situation of the PLA’s personnel protection and filled the blank of the PLA in the field of non-metal fragmentation protection helmets. However, the QGF02 is not perfect, for example, it doesn’t have interface and electrical outlets for external electrical equipment, which cannot meet the requirement for the future information war.

According to the advice and suggestions of soldiers and officers, the researchers developed the QGF02 into a new digitalized helmet, which has the functions of communication, observation and line-of-sight instrument verification.

The differences between Chinese and India Helmets

In October, 2000, the new helmet made its debut with PLA special troops in a technical achievement display in the suburbs of Beijing.

In 2005, the improved QGF03 helmet began to be issued to the military. The production cost has been cut compared with QGF02 and the quality control of QGF03 is more steady.

Xinhua News Agency reported on Jan. 15, 2006 that Zhou Guotai’s team had successfully developed helmets for infantry, paratroops, armored forces and helicopter pilots. They also developed a multifunctional combat helmet, with bone conduction receiver, laser protective glass, single eye night vision device, head-worn display system and laser warning device on it.

With the development of China’s economy, science and technology, domestic-made new helmet will be continuously improved. The information technology level will also be enhanced. The China-made helmet will help the Chinese soldier to better defend his country.

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In testimony presented before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, David Shlapak discusses how China’s past twenty years of military modernization is tilting the balance of power with Taiwan increasingly in Beijing’s favor, and how this might affect the U.S.
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The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ensuing conflict in that country fostered the rise of Iranian power in the region, but with more limitations than is commonly acknowledged. It also diminished local confidence in U.S. credibility and created opportunities for China and Russia.
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BEIJING (AP) — Beijing needs to take seriously American concerns about the value of the Chinese currency, but bilateral disputes should not impede cooperation on global issues such as climate change and Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing said Thursday. Washington and other trading partners are pressing China to ease currency controls that have kept its yuan steady against the …
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The Chinese government responded March 12 to the release of a U.S. human rights report critical of China by issuing its own report criticizing the U.S. human rights record. The report covered issues relating to crime, racial discrimination and poverty and accused the U.S. of using its hegemonic power to continue “trampling” on the sovereignty of other countries while “posing as the world judge …
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China still wants talks on building military and security trust with Taiwan, a spokesman said on Wednesday, despite Beijing’s anger over recent U.S. arms sales to the island.
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BEIJING (Reuters) – China still wants talks on building military and security trust with Taiwan, a spokesman said on Wednesday, despite Beijing’s anger over recent U.S. arms sales to the island.
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Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao takes the U.S. to task for undervaluing its currency — a criticism many have leveled at Beijing in recent years
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While relations between China and Taiwan are warmer now than in recent years, China still feels entitled to use force to prevent Taiwan from becoming independent. Meanwhile, the modernizing of China’s military may call into question the U.S.’ ability to defend Taiwan against a large-scale Chinese attack.
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Will the current global economic recession have long-term geopolitical implications? Assuming that economic recovery begins in the first half of 2010, lasting structural alterations in the international system — a substantial change in U.S.-China relations, for example — are unlikely. This is because economic performance is only one of many geopolitical elements that shape countries’ strategic intent and core external policies.
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China is once again the country Congress loves to hate. After a lull last year, U.S. politicians jockeying ahead of crucial November elections have stepped up attacks on China as a way to win support from voters worried that the Asian power is taking American jobs.
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Mar.11 (China Military News cited from Time.com and written by Austin Ramzy) — For the past two decades, China’s rapid economic growth has been twinned with an even more rapid increase in military spending. While GDP has expanded by an annual average of 9.6% over the past 10 years, the reported budget for the People’s Liberation Army has grown by an average of 16%. So it was an unexpected surprise when Li Zhaoxing, a former foreign minister who is now spokesman for the National People’s Congress, announced on March 4 that China’s defense budget would increase by 7.5% for 2010, just over half of last year’s 14.9% rise.

The slowdown was partly attributed the difficult economic climate. While China was able to grow at 8.7% last year, that healthy rate came at the expense of $586 billion in stimulus spending. Last week Premier Wen Jiabao said that government spending would grow more slowly this year as Beijing seeks to control inflation while maintaining stable growth.

Amid those economic demands, another double-digit increase in military spending might be seen as excessive. But perhaps the most compelling reason for the slowdown in spending is that Chinese officials have become more cautious of the way the development of the People’s Liberation Army is perceived abroad. Last year China marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic with an Oct. 1 military parade in front of Tiananmen Square. While generally a cause for celebration in China, the parade of soldiers, tanks and missile carriers was seen as intimidating by many foreign observers.

Chinese military analysts have explained the rapid spending increase as normal for a large nation climbing out of decades of poverty. “Although China now has a growing military demand, it has always upheld the principle of peaceful development. The double-digit increases in the past should be interpreted as compensational growth,” says Zhao Zongjiu, deputy secretary-in-general at Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies, a government-backed think tank. “I predict that, given the current policy environment, the growth rate of military expenses will remain roughly on the same level as China’s GDP growth in the next few years.”

China’s 2010 military budget, which is awaiting legislative approval, will be $78 billion. That would make it second only to the United States, which for 2010 has a total budget of $663.8 billion. U.S. spending is equivalent to 4.7% of the nation’s GDP, while China’s defense outlay equals about 1.5% of its estimated 2010 GDP.

But military observers have long cautioned that China’s official defense budget figures shouldn’t be taken at face value, and that actual spending could be two or three times higher than what is reported. China is engaged in a significant number of expensive military equipment development programs, including likely efforts to develop its first aircraft carrier. Those all make it difficult to curtail spending, says Andrei Chang, Hong Kong-based editor-in-chief of Kanwa Defense Review Monthly. “There are very ambitious military plans for the Chinese,” he says. “This is the reason it’s impossible to have an increase of 7.5%.”

Improving ties with Taiwan have also lessened some of the military tension along China’s periphery. Beijing considers the self-ruled island a breakaway province that should ultimately be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. A more China-friendly leadership in Taipei has helped eased some of the fear of armed conflict. But the region still has the potential to be a flash point. Taiwan says China has some 1,500 missiles stationed along the Taiwan Strait. And a decision by U.S. President Obama in January to approve the sale of more than $6 billion in military equipment to Taiwan has angered the Chinese government, which has postponed some military exchanges with the U.S. in protest.

Chang also notes that China is just two years away from an expected reconfiguration of its leadership. President Hu Jintao is expected to step down, and will want to secure high positions for his political allies. Drastically curtailing defense spending could alienate the military, whose support he needs to ensure top spots for his proteges. “The new round of political power struggle is continuing,” Chang says. “You have to give souvenirs to the armed forces.”

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The Chinese government is likely behind recent cyberattacks on U.S. government Web sites and on U.S. companies in an apparent effort to quash criticism of the government there, an expert on U.S. and Chinese relations said Wednesday.
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An expert on U.S.-China relations says the government in China is likely behind recent cyberattacks.
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