Hypersonic SR-72 spyplane demo spotted


A subscale demonstrator of the SR-72 hypersonic spyplane was reportedly spied at Lockheed’s facilities in California.

A proposed hypersonic reconnaissance and strike aircraft, the SR-72 would serve as a replacement for the famed SR-71 Blackbird, which was retired by the Air Force back in 1998. The SR-71 Blackbird could fly at 2200 mph (over 3 times the speed of sound).

Lockheed has said they are working on a combined-cycle engine. It uses both a turbine and a scramjet to achieve hypersonic speeds. Lockheed Martin is testing Aerojet Rocketdyne from 2013 to 2017. Two combined-cycle engines are planned to power the SR-72, which is designed to be about the same size of the SR-71 and could achieve first flight in the late 2020s.


 
An optionally piloted flight research vehicle (FRV) is also in the works to flight test elements of the SR-72 design. The FRV will be about the size of an F-22 and use a single combined-cycle engine for propulsion. Development of the FRV is expected to begin next year and first flights could occur as soon as 2020. Leading up to the FRV, Lockheed could be conducting ground and flight tests on even smaller demonstrators.






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Heavily armed CASC CH-5 UAV makes public debut




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Chinese Scientists Developing Powerful Radar Device To Detect Traces Of Stealth Aircraft


Chinese scientists have reportedly tested a new military radar device that can generate powerful terahertz radiation capable of tracking concealed weapons in a crowd from hundreds of metres away.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, China North Industries Group Corporation tested a device that produces terahertz radiation last week at a military research facility in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Terahertz radiation, or T-rays, can theoretically see through the composite materials that help hide stealthy jets and is widely used in industrial plants to spot product defects. The report says China’s biggest arms manufacturer is currently developing more powerful version of T-rays producing device to put on an early warning aircraft or satellite to identify and track military aircraft, including the US’ F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters.

Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday that this new device could generate stable, continuous radiation at an average level up to 18 watts, and terahertz pulses with peak power close to one megawatt, on par with some military radars.

“The radar-absorbent coatings on the F-35 will look as thin and transparent as stockings if [the Chinese radar] is as powerful as they claim,” a technical executive told the Post. The reported power of the radars is “more than a million times higher” than other terahertz machines — dubbed T-rays — that have tried to measure the physical specifications of stealth coatings on F-35s, the executive added.

The new instrument was developed by the China Academy of Engineering Physics in Mianyang, the nation’s largest research institute for the development and production of nuclear weapons.




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Breaks Foreign Technical Blockade, China Builds Advanced Helicopters



Mil.huanqiu.com published a report on its interview with Chief Engineer Deng Jinghui, China’s top helicopter expert. According to Deng, through 66 years of hard efforts, China has had 12 platforms and over 60 types of helicopters. 
China’s new generation of helicopters adopts world advanced technology to achieve the capabilities of operation in all the various areas at all time and in all kinds of complicated weathers.
China has been able to achieve that in spite of foreign technical blockade.
For example, the advanced de-icing technology that prevent icing on the rotary wings of helicopter. For a long time only the US and France have mastery of such technology and been unwilling to pass it to any other country. When China asked France for help, French experts said that no matter how much China paid France, France was only willing to help China build one type of helicopter with de-icing technology.
Deng’s team has conducted research unswervingly and has finally mastered the technology for all Chinese helicopters that need such technology. Tests have proved that China’s technology is as good as that in the type of helicopter France has helped China to build with French technology.

For another example, the new fly-by-wire technology adopted only in America’s H-92 and UH-60M new type of Black Hawk and Russia’s Kazan Ansat helicopters. The flight control system using that technology is much lighter than conventional flight control. It greatly improves flight control, automatically helps stabilize a helicopter and prevent unsafe operation of a helicopter outside of its performance envelope. Without foreign help, Deng’s team has successfully developed and incorporated such technology in China’s newest helicopter.

Another advanced technology to achieve:

Z-19Q

    Z-19X MMW radar


Z-19 is world's first AESA milimeter wave radar on armored heli




A Chinese private enterprise has successfully purified the rare metal rhenium to manufacture the single crystal blade, which is crucial for the production of aircraft engines, CCTV.com reported on Sept. 3.
The rare metal was purified after a year and a half effort by Chengdu Aerospace Superalloy Technology Co. Ltd. in cooperation with the Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals.
The company discovered a mine with about 176 tons of rhenium in Shaanxi province in 2010, accounting for 7 percent of the world’s total reserves of the metal.



A report released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that the explored reserve of rhenium in the earth’s crust is only about 2,500 tons, even less than that of rare elements. The price for each gram is about $31 to $46, which makes it as expensive as platinum.


Rhenium - A Rare Metal Critical to Modern Transportation

The metal is the main material for producing the single crystal blade, which is crucial for manufacturing aircraft engines, and the technology directly affects the performance of the engine.
Zhang Zheng, chairman of the company, put together a professional team through the country’s talent recruitment program.
Verified results show that the single crystal blade met Europe and U.S quality standards in terms of tensile properties and endurance performance at high temperatures.

The success makes the company China’s first to achieve mass production of the single crystal blade for manufacturing aircraft engines.
Aircraft engines, as one of the most complicated mechanical systems, should be able to work under high temperatures, high pressures, high rotation speeds, and high load; and be high power, light weight, long lasting, and highly reliable.
China has been faced with a hurdle of self-developing aircraft engines, because the U.S. and some Western countries have blocked certain exports such as rhenium to China for many years.

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Eurofighter jet plunges into sea at Italian air show (VIDEO)



Spectators at an air exhibition near Terracina witnessed the shocking death of an Italian Air Force pilot, after their plane plunged into the sea during a risky aerobatic maneuver on Sunday.
Captain Gabriele Orlandi, 36, was piloting a Eurofighter jet in front of crowds at Terracina Air Show, in the Italian region of Latina, when the tragedy unfolded.
The twin-engine jet is used primarily by the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Footage of the incident shows the pilot attempting to complete a midair loop before the military aircraft nosedived into the sea.
The incident occurred in the final stage of Orlandi’s performance. The reason for the crash has not yet been determined.
Following the accident, activities at the air show were cancelled and the event organizers said the death on Sunday afternoon “deeply marked us”.
“To the family and to the Air Force, our most heartfelt condolences,” a message on the Terracina Air Show Facebook page read.

Photo published for Pilot dies as fighter jet crashes into sea at air show



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Engineers make plane into first large delivery drone

PAC P-750 XSTOL turboprop aircraft, built by the New Zealand was refitted into a cargo drone.

Chinese engineers have refitted a manned utility aircraft into the world's first large transport drone for one of the nation's largest express delivery companies, according to a leading designer involved in the project.

A PAC P-750 XSTOL turboprop aircraft, built by the New Zealand plane manufacturer Pacific Aerospace, has been modified into an unmanned aircraft and has recently begun conducting taxiing tests, said Chen Xiang, director of unmanned aircraft vehicle guidance at Aviation Industry Corp of China's Xi'an Flight Automatic Control Research Institute.

"The plane will make its maiden flight in early October if preparation work proceeds well. Once its flight tests are finished, it will become the world's first large transport drone that is ready for commercial operations," he told China Daily in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of a civilian-military integration development expo, a weeklong event that concludes on Friday.

The refit was done by designers and engineers from several domestic institutes such as the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the AVIC Xi'an institute. The work is being done for SF Express, the second largest courier service in China after State-owned China Post.



The cargo drone first will be used for technological demonstrations and the civil aviation authorities' certification process and then will be put into commercial operation, according to the AVIC Xi'an institute.

 
World's first 'freight drone' will take to the sky in China next month

PAC P-750 XSTOL turboprop aircraft, built by the New Zealand was refitted into a cargo drone. (Photo provided to China Daily)

International giants such as Amazon.com and DHL Express have begun to deploy drones for delivery service on a small scale and are continuing to develop new models. However, the drones in service or under development are all small and could not compete with the large Chinese drone in speed and carrying capacity, Chen said.

"The reason we lead in this field is that China is leading in online commerce and thus has a bigger demand for such drones than others."

Engineers removed the pilot's instruments in the P-750's cockpit and installed ground-control and automated flight devices, which are the most important apparatus on an unmanned plane, he said. Other institutes 'engineers rearranged the cabin and mounted other equipment on the aircraft.

After the modification, the plane has a maximum takeoff weight of 3.4 metric tons, a carrying capacity of 1 ton and a flight range of more than 2,000 kilometers, according to the designer.

 

PAC P-750 XSTOL



File:PACP-750XSTOL2.jpg PAC P-750 XSTOL

Chen said that compared with manned cargo planes, a freight drone's operational costs will be about 30 percent less. It will be used for short-haul deliveries of time-sensitive goods such as fresh food and medical supplies.

"Next, we will focus on how to improve the drone's safety, reliability and intelligence. Future models will also be based on utility aircraft with a takeoff weight of 3 to 5 tons and will likely be capable of conducting an automated takeoff, cruising flight and landing with no manual manipulation," he said.

"The project team is in talks with the Civil Aviation Administration and other related authorities on issues of policy and airworthiness certification. The administration is open to the service of cargo drones."

SF Express said it owns an aircraft fleet of 40 Boeing cargo jets and has rented 15 planes from leasing firms. The company plans to expand the number of its own cargo planes to 100 by 2021.

Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said there is no large transport drone now available in the market and regional freight transportation in China relies on trucks and ships because the air transport is restrained by high costs, strict airspace controls and a shortage of pilots.

"Each manned cargo plane requires an average of 3 million yuan ($456,000) each year for its crew. Meanwhile, there has been a personnel gap of at least 10,000 aviators in the domestic market, which hugely contributes to the slack growth of cargo air transport," he said. "Therefore, unmanned cargo aircraft will be a reasonable solution for couriers to expand their network and boost their efficiency."

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360-view video: First-ever panoramic view of Earth from aboard Intl Space Station



Next month RT will show the first-ever panoramic video shot in open space by the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), sharing an actual spacewalk experience with an unparalleled level of immersion. 
“The first-ever panoramic video from open space is a revolution both for VR technology and for exploration of the universe,” said Eduard Chizhikov, the head of RT’s Space 360 project. “Thanks to the project any person on Earth may feel what being in space is like right at home. Our video offers an opportunity to get closer to the infinite.”

The video was produced in collaboration with the Russian space agency and leading spacecraft producer Energia. It will premiere on October 3 during a special event at a VR theater at Moscow’s Museum of Cosmonautics commemorating the launch of Sputnik-1, the first artificial satellite of Earth, in 1957.

Photo published for Spacetacular: RT to show world’s first 360-view video shot in open space — RT News

Roscosmos / Instagram

Cosmonauts Sergey Ryazansky, who is currently on board the ISS, will tell the audience via a direct link how he shot the panoramic video during a spacewalk he conducted with Fedor Yurchikhin in August.

RT was the first producer of 360-view video content to shoot footage in space. The first clip shot on the ISS was published in November 2016 and was followed by six more. Cosmos 360 videos won international praise, with astronaut Terry Virts saying that watching it was like being back on the station.
RT is a leading producer of panoramic content, with over 130 videos made since 2015, when it joined the market. The video library is available through RT’s Facebook and YouTube pages as well as mobile apps.


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VCU physicists discover a tri-anion particle with colossal stability

Featured photo
A rendering of protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom.

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have achieved a feat that is a first in the fields of physics and chemistry — one that could have wide-ranging applications.

A team in the lab of Puru Jena, Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics in the College of Humanities and Sciences, has created the most stable tri-anion particle currently known to science. A tri-anion particle is a combination of atoms that contains three more electrons than protons. This discovery is novel because previously known tri-anion particles were unstable due to their numerical imbalance. These unstable particles dispel additional electrons, interrupting chemical reactions.

Jena partnered with Tianshan Zhao, a graduate student in the physics department; Jian Zhou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow; and Qian Wang, Ph.D., a physics professor at Peking University, to use quantum mechanical calculations to create computer models to prove the stability of the BeB11(CN)12 tri-anion. This tri-anion is made of the elements boron and beryllium and the chemical compound cyanogen.

The researchers’ work will be featured on the cover of Angewandte Chemie, a world-renowned chemistry journal, on Oct. 17. The team’s article was designated a VIP paper by the publication, which means it is considered among the top five percent of papers for its contribution to the study of chemistry.

“This is very important in this field, nobody has ever found such a tri-anion,” Jena said. “Not only can it keep three electrons but the third electron is extremely stable. The guiding principles we have used in this paper will help with the design of other tri-anions. The question is: What do we do with this knowledge?”


Puru Jena, Ph.D.
Puru Jena, Ph.D.


Real world applications

The tri-anion may have a number of industrial applications. So far, Jena and his team have hypothesized that the particle may be used in the creation of an aluminum ion battery, which has distinct advantages over the widely used rechargeable lithium ion battery. Aluminum is in greater supply than lithium and is less reactive.

During the chemical reaction that would power the battery, the tri-anion would make the battery conductive by moving from one of its electrodes to the other.
While a battery is the only demonstrated use so far, existing applications for other particles with one additional electron, called mono-anions, and two additional electrons, called di-anions, show the potential of Jena’s work.

“Such particles are very important for many reasons. Number one, they make salts. Secondly, they are used in all kinds of chemical compounds, such as those in floor cleaners as oxidizing agents that kill bacteria,” Jena said. “They are also used to purify air, which is a billion-dollar industry, and in mood enhancers, similar to what Prozac does. The potential uses are endless.”


Physicists Just Cracked The Problem of Stabilising a Totally New Kind of Particle




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Call of Duty WWII: Explosive story line revealed in trailer shows shocking life-like graphics


Activision's latest installment of Call of Duty will see an explosive return to the game's World War II roots. 
More recent releases of the acclaimed franchise focus primarily on intense online multiplayer battles and futurist, sci-fi settings. 
But a new trailer for Call of Duty WW2 has revealed an equally as intense-looking story mode that promises not to shy away from the brutal reality of war. 
The two and-a-half minute-long clip shows once character as he is interrogated by a Nazi commander in a concentration camp — all rendered in breathtakingly realistic graphics.



More recent releases of the acclaimed franchise focus primarily on intense online multiplayer battles and futurist, sci-fi settings
More recent releases of the acclaimed franchise focus primarily on intense online multiplayer battles and futurist, sci-fi settings

The two and-a-half minute-long clip shows once character as he is interrogated by a Nazi commander in a concentration camp ¿ all rendered in breathtakingly realistic graphics

A life-like segment of the trailer shows an incredibly realistic convoy of military vehicles navigate through a snowy forest 
A life-like segment of the trailer shows an incredibly realistic convoy of military vehicles navigate through a snowy forest 

Developers Sledgehammer Games had previously vowed to stay true to historical accuracy ¿ including Nazi imagery and weaponry
Developers Sledgehammer Games had previously vowed to stay true to historical accuracy — including Nazi imagery and weaponry

A high-ranking Nazi, one of the game's sinister-looking villains, interrogates a line of US troops before one is hurled onto a train carriage 
A high-ranking Nazi, one of the game's sinister-looking villains, interrogates a line of US troops before one is hurled onto a train carriage 

The developers had previously vowed to stay true to historical accuracy - including the use of Nazi imagery 
The developers had previously vowed to stay true to historical accuracy - including the use of Nazi imagery 

Developers Sledgehammer Games had previously vowed to stay true to historical accuracy — including Nazi imagery and weaponry. 
But the studio also promised respect for the scale of death and suffering during the conflict. 
'In campaign, we need to balance the authenticity with the respect for the 100million people who died in the darkest days of humanity,' Sledgehammer Games told Eurogamer.
Call of Duty WWII is set to be released on November 3 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.



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Doomsayers watch countdown to Sept 23 ‘Planet X’ event rubbished by NASA



An online countdown says there are just days left till the alleged apocalyptic event predicted by author and doomsayer David Meade for September 23. The prediction, involving the so-called Planet X smashing into Earth, has been repeatedly debunked by NASA.

Meade wrote a book called “Planet X” in which he predicts that the planet, which is also called Nibiru, crashes into Earth in October. Recent events, including Hurricane Harvey and the solar eclipse, have caused him to move the date forward by a few weeks.

Meade cites Bible passages from Luke 21:25 and 26 as proof that these recent events are signs of an impending apocalypse.
His belief that the world will end is based on another Bible verse called The Woman and the Dragon from the Book of Revelation.

Evangelical Christian publication “Unsealed” tells the story of the verse in a four-minute YouTube video called “September 23, 2017: You Need to See This.” It uses animation from the planetarium software Stellarium showing constellations Virgo and Leo setting with the Sun. It is superimposed over the landscape of Jerusalem.

Meade shared the video on his website.
The theory has sparked feverish speculation online, with numerous conspiracy theory videos emerging on YouTube. A countdown clock has even been created to, supposedly, mark our planet’s final moments.

Doomsayers watch countdown to Sept 23 ‘Planet X’ event rubbished by NASA

NASA has repeatedly stated that Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an internet hoax and there is no factual basis for these claims.
The space agency say that if a planet was on a collision course with Earth, astronomers would have been tracking it for the last decade and it would be visible to the naked eye by now.

 “After searching hundreds of millions of objects across our sky, NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has turned up no evidence of the hypothesized celestial body in our solar system commonly dubbed ‘Planet X,’” it previously said in a statement.

Senior NASA scientist David Morrison also debunked the claim in a video titled “The truth about Niburu”.
“It’s not real, Niburu doesn’t exist, we can’t see it we can’t detect its gravity and we don’t see a signature of its previous passages because there weren’t any,” Morrison said.



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Four THAAD launchers being deployed in Seongju, South Korea










KCTV - Mars 12 2nd ICBM That Flew Over Japan





Pyongyang has launched dozens of missiles as it accelerates a weapons programme designed to provide the ability to target the United States with a powerful, nuclear-tipped missile.
North Korea said on Saturday it aimed to reach an “equilibrium” of military force with the United States.




US again warns North Korea of Military Option Exists




White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Friday, after the latest North Korean missile launch, that the United States was running out of patience: “We’ve been kicking the can down the road, and we’re out of road.”
On Sunday, he warned of imminent danger from Pyongyang.
“This regime is so close now to threatening the United States and others with a nuclear weapon, that we really have to move with a great sense of urgency on sanctions, on diplomacy and preparing, if necessary, a military option,” McMaster told the Fox News Sunday programme.

Military options available to Trump range from a sea blockade aimed at enforcing sanctions to cruise missile strikes on nuclear and missile facilities to a broader campaign aimed at overthrowing leader Kim Jong-un.
McMaster  has warned the consequences of any military action would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale” and bring severe risk to US ally South Korea.
 
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Military Aircrafts & Helicopters Flight Demonstration Highlights At MAKS 2017













Shaw AFB F-16CM Jets Evac before Hurricane Irma (HD)



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Unmanned Combat Helicopter AV500W



The 7.2-meter-long aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 450 kilograms, a maximum speed of 170 kilometres per hour and a flight ceiling of 4,000 meters, the State-run China Daily reported. The aircraft was developed and produced at the AVIC Helicopter Research and Development Institute in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province.

In addition, the helicopter is capable of carrying 120 kilograms of weapons and equipment. Its reconnaissance version can remain aloft for eight hours while the reconnaissance/combat model is able to fly for four hours.









Photo published for AV500W : l'Arabie Saoudite s'intéresse au drone VTOL armé chinois | East Pendulum

All of the military drones China has offered to the international market have been fixed-wing models, making the AV500W the first Chinese unmanned military helicopter available in that market, experts were quoted as saying.


For mass production
Jiang Taiyu, one of the chief designers of AV500W, said the aircraft fired weapons during its maiden flight test in August.
“The helicopter is able to take off and land on almost any landform including plateaus and canyons. It can operate in cold and tropical environments. It will be useful in border patrols, counterterrorism operations and low-intensity conflicts because it can carry out very-low-altitude penetration and keep hovering for a while,” he said.

Mr. Jiang said that all of the helicopter’s tests will be finished before the end of this year and it will be ready for mass production in 2018.
“Several nations have told us that they are interested in this aircraft. This is because there are a very small number of unmanned helicopters in the world that can perform strikes, while demand for such types is not small,” Mr. Jiang said.
He said only the U.S. and Israel have developed unmanned armed helicopters such as the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout in the U.S.

Numerous capabilities
An armed AV500W typically carries four air-to-ground missiles, which use radar homing technology for guidance. Each missile weighs eight kilograms and can hit a target five kilometres away, the report quoted AVIC officials as saying. It also can carry bombs or a machine-gun pod.

More than 400 helicopter producers and parts suppliers from 22 nations and regions — including the US, Russia and France — are taking part in the helicopter expo. They brought 98 aircraft to the event.
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"Short Tailed Hawk" high-speed helicopter

This year's Tianjin direct fair, the aviation industry helicopter showing the high-speed helicopter - "short tailed hawk"  Photograph: Beacon \/ gate vast










The appearance, short tailed hawk and the Osprey tiltrotor aircraft has some similarities. However, the difference between the two is also obvious: "short tail Falcon" under the rotor thrust propeller installed, the tail is also very special.


Thrust propeller design short tailed hawk


"Short tailed hawk" is type high-speed helicopter.


According to official information display, the maximum takeoff weight of 5500 kg, 700 kg payload or 7 passengers, maximum cruising speed of more than 400 kilometers per hour, full of oil and a range of 1100 kilometers, with 650 km range.


A glimpse of the static display area of the helicopter industry of the airline industry.


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