Russia Deploys Nuclear-Capable Bombers Near Korea

Russian TU-95 bomber

 

With the U.S. periodically sending the occasional sortie of B1 bombers, accompanied by South Korean fighters, over the Korean peninsula to simulate what a (very fast) war with Pyongyang would look like, the airspace over the biggest geopolitical hotspot in the world today just got a little hotter after Russia deployed nuclear-capable strategic bombers over the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, prompting Japan and South Korea to scramble jets to escort them, Reuters reported.

China May Be Developing New Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile

China’s President Xi Jinping / Reuters

 

BEIJING (Reuters) – China may be testing a new, long-range air-to-air missile that could take out early warning aircraft and aerial refueling aircraft, a state-run newspaper said on Thursday, after pictures of the new missile surfaced online.

President Xi Jinping is overseeing an ambitious military modernization program that includes stealth jets and aircraft carriers. The country has also tested anti-satellite missiles.

Russia’s new missile has 250-mile reach

Russia has a new, long-range missile for its S-300V4 anti-ballistic missile system that is capable of striking targets up to 250 miles away, officials said Thursday.

“That means that Airborne early warning and control aircraft, including AWACS [Airborne Warning and Control System], will noew [sic] be unable to enter the 400-kilometer zone without repercussions,” Pavel Sozinov, chief designer for the state-run Almaz-Antey defense company, told the TASS news service.

Shen Diao drone could track and guide missiles to US warships

The Shen Diao unmanned aerial vehicle. (Internet photo)

 

Shen Diao, China’s new unmanned aerial vehicle also known as the Divine Eagle, could be used to track the location of US aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific and guide DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles to their target, according to overseas Chinese news outlet Duowei News.

Russia developing Shtorm supercarrier

 

Russia’s Krylovsky State Research Center (KRSC) has developed a new multipurpose heavy aircraft carrier design called Project 23000E or Shtorm (Storm).

A scale model of the ship is going to be demonstrated for the first time at the International Maritime Defence Show 2015 in St Petersburg from 1-5 July, Valery Polyakov, the deputy director of KSC, told IHS Jane’s .

WRAPUP 1-China military sends air patrols through new defence zone

Nov 29 (Reuters) – China sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft into its new air defence zone over the East China Sea on Thursday, state news agency Xinhua said, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Japan and South Korea also flew military aircraft through the zone on Thursday while Washington sent two unarmed B-52 bombers into the airspace earlier this week in a sign of support for its ally Japan. None of those aircraft informed Beijing.