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Non-military news -- Cotesa takeover has been approved by German government, and will be sold to the Chinese investor. Doubtlessly, the buyout is backed by Chinese government, but Cotesa could use their money for supplying more nanomaterials to Airbus and other military-related products:

https://www.ma-dialogue.de/berlin-geneh ... ebernahme/ (German)

ORIGINAL: AlGrant

Article discussing use or US LCS in Baltic (incl forward basing)
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-04/your-allies-have-littorals-%E2%80%93-send-lcss

That isn't a bad idea, but I'd hope that some effort to make the ships value added would be undertaken at some point before forward basing them within range of Russian CDCMs. The current ASuW package is fine if you're dealing with Somali pirates (which the LCS is not doing anyways) plus the MCM and ASW modules still don't exist, and all variants are wildly outclassed by nearly every other surface combatant in the region.

Second Type 055 Renhai-class DDG/Cruiser about to be launched. Speculated tomorrow at Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard.

Anoher HGV test over Huabei

They say it is "A large attack angle lowers the trajectory + non-continuous boost gravity turn + upper level full acceleration ("Mach20)". Let's see what Washington Free Beacon will report some days later.

https://www.weibo.com/tv/v/Ge4JNg1XT?fi ... fa71f26215



There's actually footage of it maneuvering;

Very low key (as the PLAN has forbidden official reporting on launches and commissionings), but the second Type 055 has been launched today.

Bye bye Russian stealth fighter...

http://www.janes.com/article/79457/indi ... o-it-alone

Interesting report with minimal details however. China has lasers in Djibouti:

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world- ... orth-korea

Maybe more will come out on this.

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

Bye bye Russian stealth fighter...

http://www.janes.com/article/79457/indi ... o-it-alone

AFAIK it’s complicated. India has ideas to get technologies and manufacturing line for 5-generation fighter. But now it reverts to simply buying planes, not R&D and produce.

ORIGINAL: Hongjian

Anoher HGV test over Huabei

They say it is "A large attack angle lowers the trajectory + non-continuous boost gravity turn + upper level full acceleration ("Mach20)". Let's see what Washington Free Beacon will report some days later.

Interestingly, many comments on Reddit says it's a failed CZ-11 rocket launch, however CZ-11 was launched a day before this event happens, and commercial space launch had to be internationally reported. This presumed HGV however is not, and has a very similar trajectory called "Qian Xuesen Ballistic".

https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments ... hat_is_it/

EDIT: Henri said it's CZ-3B to deliver Apstar-6C satellite, and in totally different location: https://mobile.twitter.com/HenriKenhman ... 1480506368

EDIT #2: The plot chickens. CAS announced it's a CZ-4B (not 3B) rocket launch to deliver YaoGan-1 satellite to LEO. However, many news does not quote what kind of satellite correctly, some said either GaoFan-5 image sat or Beidou-3 nav sat. Also there's no NOTAM warning during its launch.

This picture can prove it's not a crash, and did have the maneuver theorized on paper before:





Compare to SpaceX, which has no dip-down maneuver:

It should be a HGV. NOTAM has been declared over the area where previous HGV tests have happened. Henri K. agrees. No point of discussing that any further.

late series Su-30SM with R-77-1, Hmeymim

ORIGINAL: Triode

late series Su-30SM with R-77-1, Hmeymim

Finally a photo to prove it! Plus in line with the announcement made by TASS about the SU-30SM being fully Operational and accepted for service earlier in March.

http://www.airrecognition.com/index.php ... rvice.html

KJ-500 AWACS, first time seen with IFR probe.

Su-25 (SM?) with MSP-410 Omul ECM pods. Syria.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/busi ... talks.html

China Prepares a Hard-Line Stance on Trump’s Trade Demands

BEIJING — China will refuse to discuss President Trump’s two toughest trade demands when American negotiators arrive in Beijing this week, people involved in Chinese policymaking say, potentially forcing Washington to escalate the dispute or back down.

The Chinese government is publicly calling for flexibility on both sides. But senior Beijing officials do not plan to discuss the Trump administration’s two biggest demands: a mandatory $100 billion cut in America’s $375 billion annual trade deficit with China and curbs on Beijing’s $300 billion plan to bankroll the country’s industrial upgrade into advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, electric cars and commercial aircraft.

The reason: Beijing feels its economy has become big enough and resilient enough to stand up to the United States.

China is not giving up "Made in China 2025", the industrial policy which aims to make China into a second Japan and Germany in terms of technology. And seeing how a Plaza Accord styled economic suppression attempt wont work a second time against a rising competitor, the future of Sino-US relationship might increasingly shift towards full spectrum confrontation. Forget SCS and North Korea etc. THIS is the actual reason for a Great Power war. MIC2025, if implemented, will make China a true nightmare to the West.

Clear piture of the JD-15 (or J-17) Electronic Shark carrier EW plane.

Denuclearization won't save North Korea, because US always want war:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/u-warns-north ... 06544.html

"I would never use the word honourable to describe Kim Jong Un."

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Meanwhile, a war imminancy after this announcement. Israel don't trust IAEA at all:

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/pm- ... -1.6045300

ORIGINAL: Dysta

Denuclearization won't save North Korea, because US always want war:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/u-warns-north ... 06544.html

"I would never use the word honourable to describe Kim Jong Un."

Depending on how things go, it could be a Libya situation- give up your WMDs, and then 20 years later or so we will bomb you.

I think that they will bomb much earlier. Only who was before, Korea or Iran? But they will bomb anyway.

Assets Used In The Trilateral Missile Strikes On Syria:

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/20 ... s-on-syria

I started a thread in the The War Room for any discussion. Excellent article to show how these all too common strike packages are put together.