News of hypersonic drone could be Xi’s ‘gift’ to Obama: Duowei

China’s new hypersonic drone could be similar to the US SR-71 “Blackbird.” (Internet photo)

 

Reports that China could be developing a new hypersonic aircraft could be Xi Jinping’s “big present” to Barack Obama during the Chinese president’s first full state visit to the United States this week, says Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet.

On Friday, a report surfaced claiming that the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) had completed a successful test flight of an unspecified new aircraft, adding that it was a breakthrough in hypersonic aircraft technology.

Divine Eagle: How much of a threat is China’s new high-flying drone to US air superiority?

Yesterday the press doubted China and Russia’s ability to pose a serious challenge. Today they’re 50-50. Tomorrow there’s likely to be no question.

 

 

The US has led the way in the use of stealth aircraft in combat. Now the game could soon be up, as scientists in China and Russia are discovering ways to make the invisible visible. Mark Piesing reports

In May, grainy pictures emerged of a huge new twin-fuselage, high-altitude Chinese drone called the Divine Eagle. Those in the know instantly labelled it the “stealth-hunting drone”. Stealth technology is the equivalent of electronic camouflage for planes, making them hard for enemy radar to spot – but the Chinese drone is certainly big enough to carry the special radars developed to detect stealth aircraft. It’s able to fly high enough to detect them long before they can reach their targets. Its radar is rumoured to have been able to pick out an American stealth F-22 Raptor off the coast of South Korea almost 500km away.

Were mysterious bangs heard all over Britain and in New York caused by U.S. stealth jet? Expert claims noises mimicked ‘pulse detonation engine’ – which could power rumoured Aurora project

Please see the source for audio/video of the  sound.

 

• Sounds reported last night from Aberdeen to West Sussex to Devon
• Twitter users blamed meteors, fireworks, aliens and ‘the end of the world’
• A woman in south London managed to record the mysterious bangs
• Now an expert says the noises sound like a ‘pulse detonation engine’
• Dr Bhupendra Khandelwal is helping develop technology behind engines
• Conspiracy theorists say power source could be behind U.S. spy plane
• MoD said no aircraft scrambled; Met Office said unusual weather not cause

An expert claims the loud bangs which baffled Britons last night sounded like a type of experimental jet engine – which conspiracy theorists enjoy linking to a rumoured spy plane.

Dr Bhupendra Khandelwal added his comparison to a debate which began when hundreds of Twitter users from Aberdeen to Devon – and even New York – reported ‘explosions’ which shook windows and disturbed sleeping children at around 10pm.