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Long March 3C in secretive launch with new Upper Stage

The Chinese opened their 2015 campaign with the launch of a Long March 3C with the first of a new generation of navigation satellites. The launch – of what is believed to be a satellite called Beidou-3 M1 – took place at 13:52 UTC from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, utilizing the debut use of the new Expedition-1 (Yuanzheng-1) upper stage.

Launch:
Monday’s launch involved a new series of satellites that is expected to mark an advancement in the completion of its Beidou Phase III program several years ahead of schedule, by as soon as 2017, rather than 2020.
However, the launch initially received a blackout in the Chinese media, with lift-off only confirmed by local observers. It took several hours – once the spacecraft was successfully deployed – for the Chinese media to acknowledge the launch.
The Beidou Phase III system includes the migration of its civil Beidou 1 or B1 signal from 1561.098 MHz to a frequency centered at 1575.42 MHz – the same as the GPS L1 and Galileo E1 civil signals – and its transformation from a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation to a multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) modulation similar to the future GPS L1C and Galileo’s E1.



The current (Phase II) B1 open service signal uses QPSK modulation with 4.092 megahertz bandwidth centered at 1561.098 MHz.
The current Beidou constellation of geostationary (GEO) – five inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO), and four middle Earth orbiting (MEO) – spacecraft are transmitting open and authorized signals at B2 (1207.14 MHz) and an authorized service at B3 (1268.52 MHz).
Real-time, stand-alone Beidou horizontal positioning accuracy was classed as better than 6 meters (95 percent) and with a vertical accuracy better than 10 meters (95 percent).
The Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS) is China’s satellite navigation system, approved by the Chinese government in 2004, capable of providing continuous, real-time passive 3D geo-spatial positioning and speed measurement.



The long-term goal is to develop a global navigation satellite network similar to the GPS and GLONASS by 2020 eventually consisting a constellation of 35 vehicles, including 27 MEO (21,500 km orbits) satellites, three IGSO satellites (inclined at 55 degrees) and five GSO satellites.
The system will be dual use, based on a civilian service that will provide an accuracy of 10 meters in the user position, 0.2 m/s on the user velocity and 50 nanoseconds in time accuracy; and the military and authorized user’s service, providing higher accuracies. The first phase of the project will involve coverage of the Chinese territory. However, the future Compass constellation will cover the entire globe.
The new satellite uses a new bus that feature a phased array antenna for navigation signals and a laser retroreflector. Launch mass is about 800 kg and the satellites have an operational lifespan of 5 years.

Launch vehicle and launch site:
This mission was also the first flight of the Long March-3C/YZ-1 (Chang Zheng-3C/YZ-1) version of the Long March-3C.
The Long March-3C was developed to fill the gap between the Long March-3A and the Long March-3B, having a payload capacity of 3,800 kg for GTO or 9,100 kg for LEO. This is a three stage launch vehicle identical to the CZ-3B but only using two of the strap-on boosters on its first stage.

CZ-3C provides two types of fairing and two kinds of fairing encapsulating process and four different payload interfaces, which is the same as CZ-3B launch vehicle. The various fairing and interface adapter and the suitable launch capacity make CZ-3C a good choice for the user to choose the launch service.
The development of the CZ-3C started in February 1999. The rocket has a liftoff mass of 345,000 kg, sporting structure functions to withstand the various internal and external loads on the launch vehicle during transportation, hoisting and flight.
The rocket structure also combines all sub-systems together and is composed of two strap-on boosters, a first stage, a second stage, a third stage and payload fairing.
The first two stages as well as the two strap-on boosters use hypergolic (N2O4/UDMH) fuel while the third stage uses cryogenic (LOX/LH2) fuel. The total length of the CZ-3C is 54.838 meters, with a diameter of 3.35 meters on the core stage and 3.00 meters on the third stage.



On the first stage, the CZ-3C uses a DaFY6-2 engine with a 2961.6 kN thrust and a specific impulse of 2556.2 Ns/kg. The first stage diameter is 3.35 m and the stage length is 26.972 m.
Each strap-on booster is equipped with a DaFY5-1 engine with a 704.4 kN thrust and a specific impulse of 2556.2 Ns/kg. The strap-on booster diameter is 2.25 m and the strap-on booster length is 15.326 m.
The second stage is equipped with a DaFY20-1 main engine (742 kN / 2922.57 Ns/kg) and four DaFY21-1 vernier engines (11.8 kN / 2910.5 Ns/kg each). The second stage diameter is 3.35 m and the stage length is 9.470 m.
The third stage is equipped with two YF-75 engines developing 78.5 kN each and with a specific impulse of 4312 Ns/kg. The fairing diameter of the CZ-3C is 4.00 meters and has a length of 9.56 meters.



The Yuanzheng-1 (“Expedition-1″) uses a small thrust 6.5 kN engine burning UDMH/N2O4 with specific impulse at 3092 m/s. The upper stage should be able to conduct two burns and has a 6.5 hour lifetime.
It will be adapted for use on the CZ-3A/B/C series mainly for direct MEO/GEO insertion missions (mostly for the navigation satellites of the Beidou GNSS).
The Xichang Satellite Launch Centre is situated in the Sichuan Province, south-western China and is the country’s launch site for geosynchronous orbital launches.
Equipped with two launch pads (LC2 and LC3), the centre has a dedicated railway and highway lead directly to the launch site.



The Command and Control Centre is located seven kilometers south-west of the launch pad, providing flight and safety control during launch rehearsal and launch.
The CZ-3B launch pad is located at 28.25 deg. N – 102.02 deg. E and at an elevation of 1,825 meters.
Other facilities on the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre are the Launch Control Centre, propellant fuelling systems, communications systems for launch command, telephone and data communications for users, and support equipment for meteorological monitoring and forecasting.
The first launch from Xichang took place at 12:25UTC on January 29, 1984, when the Chang Zheng-3 (CZ3-1) was launched the Shiyan Weixing (14670 1984-008A) communications satellite into orbit.
Long March 3C in secretive launch with new Upper Stage | NASASpaceFlight

(Various Chinese sites – see coverage thread for links)

Russia Builds Miles of Nuke Bunkers for preparations nuclear war

Russia Builds Miles of Nuke Bunkers While US Does Nothing

As Russians build gigantic underground bunkers, spanning 400 square miles, the US elite are planning their escape from America by purchasing airstrips, farms and underground shelters in record numbers.

As preparations for nuclear war intensify, the public is being told it’s not a danger anymore.
Get this emergency broadcast out to everyone you know before the time for action runs out.



The One Video That Can Change The World

Huludao Shipyard has completed the construction of three Type- 093 submarine

Huludao Shipyard has completed construction of three nuclear-powered attack submarines 093G













 


A leaked photo of the PLA Navy's Type 093G nuclear submarine. (Internet photo)

Type 093 submarine

Class overview
Builders:	China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation Bohai Shipyard, Huludao
Operators:	People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force
Preceded by:	Type 091
Succeeded by:	Type 095
Building:	4 as of January 2014
Active:	2 as of June 2014
General characteristics
Displacement:	6,000 - 7,000 tonnes submerged
Length:	110 m
Beam:	11 m
Draft:	7.5 m
Propulsion:	Pressurized water nuclear reactor
Speed:	30 kn
Range:	Unlimited
Armament:	6 torpedo tubes VLS for cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles

Citing Taiwan's Defence Interntional magazine wantchinatimes, the report said the manufacturing of two Type 093G nuclear subs — upgraded versions of the Type 093 — were completed by the Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co in December, with another resting in a dry dock.

The primary difference between Type 093G subs and Type 093 subs is that the former added a vertical launcher capable of firing cruise missiles and the YJ-18 anti-ship missil, the report said.

Based on available photos, the Type 093G also has a traditional teardrop shape similar to foreign modern nuclear subs, with a wing-shaped cross-section designed to improve speed and mobility as well as reduce noise. Together with the ability to equip YJ-18 missiles.

.Taking cost and price into consideration, Sina Military believes the YJ-18 is powered by a turbojet engine as well as a solid-fuel rocket similar to that used by Russia's 3M-54E missile, guaranteeing warhead acceleration to at least 2.9 Mach.

In addition to being an anti-ship missile, the YJ-18 serializes and universalizes the PLA Navy's missile systems through its compatibility with vertical launchers, laying a solid foundation for building surface warships with greater stealth capabilities.

Foreign media estimates that the PLA Navy curently has 3-4 strategic nuclear subs, 5-6 attack nuclear subs and 2-3 Han-class nuclear subs in service.

The addition of the Type 093G sub, which has a missile attack range of 300km, means it can provide strong support in taking on enemy aircraft carriers along with long-range bombers and surface warships. The Type 093 sub can also use long-range missiles to attack targets on foreign soil, laying a solid foundation for the development of the next-gen Type 095 sub.

A300 hybrid rocket system

Derived from the 200 km-range A200, CASC's 290 km-range A300 is an innovative two-stage artillery rocket. A larger engine boosts an unpowered second stage with vanes for lift and control fins directed by an inertial measuring unit-navigation satellite (IMU/GPS) guidance system.

It may have a 150 kg warhead and according to a Chinese source could have a range greater than 300 km in PLA service. According to promotional material, the missile has a 30 to 45 m circular error probable (CEP) and can engage eight targets in a 20 km by 20 km area.

An A300 purchase indicates the SAC may also be acquiring the 280 km-range single-stage M20 SRBM. In one configuration shown by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a 8x8 Tai'an transporter erector launcher (TEL) carries one M20 and four A300s.

CASC‘s General Army Tactical Strike System (GATSS) 

 

http://video.sina.com.cn/p/news/ ... 0/231764235375.html













ALIT catalogue shows the ranges of its various surface-to-surface ballistic projectiles.
Source: China Aerospace Long-March International

Sukhoi T-50 fighter suffer technical problems

Grounded? Russia's answer to US next-gen fighter hits the skids.

The Kremlin is cutting its initial production of the Sukhoi T-50 fighter by 75 percent amid cost overruns and rumored technical concerns – the same kind of issues that have plagued US development of the F-35.

By Fred Weir, Correspondentcsmonitor

• 

  Alexei Druzhinin/RIA-Novosti/Pool/AP/File

  View Caption

Sukhoi Press Service/Reuters

MOSCOW — Russia's ambitious T-50 fighter plane project was meant to develop a rival to two futuristic US jet fighters, the F-22 Raptor and the planned F-35 Lightning-II.

But now, the T-50 appears to be rivaling the F-35 another way: in development troubles. The Kremlin is slamming the brakes on its "fifth generation" fighter program and cutting its initial rollout to a quarter of those originally planned.

The decision seems a setback for Vladimir Putin's sweeping $800 billion rearmament program, a vital component of the wider effort to restore Russia to its Soviet-era status as a major global superpower. However, the sharp slowdown in plans to procure the sophisticated new jet may represent an outbreak of wisdom on the part of Russian military chiefs, who will remember how the USSR was driven into bankruptcy by engaging in an all-out arms race with the US.

Financial constraints are the key reason cited for cutting the military order from 52 to 12 of the planes over the next few years, according to the Moscow daily Kommersant.

"Given the new economic conditions, the original plans may have to be adjusted," the paper quotes Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Borisov as saying. The project to build a cutting-edge fighter plane, which is partly financed by India, will not be canceled, but held in abeyance while the Russian Air Force makes the most of its existing "fourth generation" MiG and Sukhoi combat aircraft, he added.

No one knows whether technical problems may also have played a role in the decision to shelve the fighter.

"We may suppose there are problems, but hard information is lacking," says Alexander Golts, an independent military expert. "For instance, the prototypes of this plane have been using an old engine, pending the development of the engine it needs. Has that been developed yet? We have no idea."

The only operational "fifth generation" fighter in the world is the US F-22. Its production was canceled in 2009, after fewer than 200 of the hyper-expensive planes had been built. American military services are now awaiting the arrival of the newer and also hugely overpriced F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, but that program has been dogged with serious delays and technical failures.

The T-50, an advanced stealth plane with many capabilities lacking in previous fighters, has prompted some alarm in the West. The Russians have presented the project as an example of how they are able to leapfrog over the lost years, after Russia's military-industrial complex collapsed along with the Soviet Union, and field 21st century weapons that can rival the best the US has to offer.

Most of the weaponry that's currently in Russia's military inventory are Soviet-era designs that have evolved to incorporate new technology. Only three projects currently in the testing phase have been entirely developed by post-Soviet Russia. They are the T-50, the recently unveiled T-14 Armata tank, and the Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Recent reports suggest that Russian military brass have also decided to slash orders for the new Armata tank, and instead continue using older, Soviet-designed models for a few more years.

There is no word on the fate of other grand projects that Russian military leaders have claimed to have on the drawing boards. These include plans for a super-sized aircraft carrier that would dwarf the US Nimitz class, andan enormous supersonic transport plane that could deliver up to 400 tanks anywhere in the world.

"Despite all these soaring plans, I think we see a bit of reason taking hold in the Russian military establishment," says Mr. Golts. "Even if there were no economic crisis, and no sanctions, this massively expensive rearmament program would not be what Russia needs right now. Scaling it back is a wise move."

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