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☆ Obituary: China's Jiang Zemin confounded doubters, mended U.S. ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/5] A security guard stands next to a portrait of China's former President Jiang Zemin at an exhibition to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, China, July 7, 2011. Under Jiang, China weathered the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. "Jiang Zemin was more ready to be natural, even though sometimes it could be perceived as vulgar, not very sophisticated." At celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic in 1999, floats carried giant portraits of Mao, Deng and Jiang past Tiananmen Square. Jiang, like Mao, wore his trousers well above his waist and brushed his hair straight back.

Japan and Britain hope to agree by the end of the year to merge their next-generation Tempest and F-X fighter programmes, sources said in July. Those talks, aimed at a joint project to field a plane in the mid-2030s, remain on track, according to four other people familiar with the discussions. Japan ended a ban on military exports in 2014 in a bid to promote overseas sales. An export boom, however, failed to materialize because Japan only allowed sales of non-lethal gear such as surveillance and rescue equipment. LDP lawmakers, Onodera said, are also discussing a joint U.S-Japan command structure that could be formed for national emergencies.

☆ Ancient anti-aircraft guns are taking on a new mission amid Russia's war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia and Ukraine have both turned to older anti-aircraft guns to bolster their air defenses. During World War II, half of the Allied bombers shot down over Germany may have victims of "flak" — a shortened version of a German word for 1930s-era anti-aircraft guns. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty ImagesRussia and Ukraine are both using Soviet-made S-60 anti-aircraft guns that date to the 1940s. Older anti-aircraft guns also offer a political advantage. Even as more sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons have been deployed, anti-aircraft guns have remained useful, albeit in more limited roles.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. the person said, adding that the calls would connect but Chinese officials wouldn't pick up. Based on a long-standing practice, faxes continue to be exchanged between two semi-official organisations that handle routine affairs: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. The council told Reuters that while Chinese officials do not reply directly, they have handled Taiwanese requests when needed or responded through public statements. China this year labeled Tsai's administration "evil" while Taiwan called China "incredibly absurd".

☆ Ukraine is scrambling to shoot down Russian missiles and drones. Here are the weapons other countries are sending in to help.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Here are some of the air-defense systems that countries are sending Ukraine to take on that threat. The US, Britain, and several other countries are sending Ukraine a variety of air-defense systems. Here are some that are being supplied to Ukraine:NASAMSThe National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System. Norwegian Ministry of DefenseParticularly significant is that rather than custom-designed surface-to-air missiles, NASAMS fires existing air-to-air missiles that are modified to be launched from the ground. Shan Yuqi/Xinhua via Getty ImagesUkraine has already received the first of four German IRIS-T short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.

☆ Lockheed beats estimates on F-35 sales, maintains guidance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company maintained its 2022 revenue guidance of $65.25 billion despite lingering supply chain related headwinds. That, coupled with a fresh $14 billion multi-year share repurchase authorization plan adopted on Monday, means Malave expects earnings per share to increase in 2023. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company posted $6.71 in earnings per diluted share for the quarter, versus analysts' estimates of $6.67, according to Refinitiv data. Compared to the same quarter a year ago sales at aeronautics, which makes the F-35, rose 7.6% to $7.1 billion. And despite recent turbulence between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia over a cut to oil production, Malave said Lockheed had not been asked to alter deliveries to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

By pointing to 2027 as the moment when East Asia's power balance may tip in China's favour, Japan's government can rally support for greater defence spending, he added. At a congressional hearing last year, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Admiral Philip Davidson said that China's threat against Taiwan could "manifest" that year. Japanese defence ministry officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In July, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida won national upper house elections with a pledge to "substantially" increase defence spending. The splurge of defence spending should also benefit U.S. suppliers such as Lockheed, Boeing Co (BA.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).

☆ A fighter pilot's promotion shows how China's navy is learning from the US as its aircraft carrier fleet grows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Minnie Chan | South China Morning Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The promotion of flying officers to command positions on China's carriers mirrors the US approach. A CCTV documentary highlights another similarity, with the Chinese navy now training its own pilots. "As a user of ship-borne weapons, I would share my [naval flight experiences] with comrades working in the equipment department and try efforts to improve our operational system, finding a better way to help China's aircraft carrier undertaking," Xu told a documentary on CCTV. The launch in June of China's third and most advanced carrier, the Fujian, has increased the demand for more outstanding carrier-based pilots like Xu. The new aircraft combat platform's electromagnetic catapults — similar to those on the USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier — means the PLA Navy will have to master a new launch and recovery system.

☆ North Korea’s Provocations Push Tensions With the South to Highest in Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Dasl Yoon | Timothy W. Martin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL—Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated to their highest level in years, with the two countries engaging in tit-for-tat military exercises, trading barbs and hardening a diplomatic stalemate. Since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk -yeol took office in May, North Korea’s weapons launches have been met with an equal show of force, including missile drills and jet fighters. The two Koreas have blamed each other for worsening ties. Both sides are threatening to beef up their military powers.

☆ The Women Who Helped to Build the CIA
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Nathalia Holt | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Elizabeth Sudmeier loitered outside a cafe in Baghdad one day in early 1954, taking care not to draw attention to herself. Sudmeier, one of the female intelligence officers who helped start the CIA, had just stolen Soviet secrets. In her hands were the blueprints for the MiG-19 jet fighter, just gifted by Moscow to the Iraqis to gain favor in the region. After the war, the mission of Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services was broadened and handed to the new Central Intelligence Agency, which was created 75 years ago this month. Many operatives, including women first hired by Donovan, continued in their roles.

☆ The B-52 was designed in a hotel room over a weekend in 1948, and it may still be flying 100 years later
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Alex Hollings | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

That design emerged from a hastily arranged work session in a Dayton hotel over a weekend in 1948. The B-52 started flying when America was still relying on P-51 MustangsUS Air Force F-51D Mustang fighters during the Korean War. Spanning wars and altitudesA US Air Force B-52F dropping 750-pound bombs over Vietnam in the 1960s. US Air ForceIn July 1948, Boeing received a contract from the still-new US Air Force to design and build a new heavy bomber. By late Friday night, the new B-52 bomber was already coming into focus.

☆ 2 of Russia's most modern multi-role fighters are leading Putin's air war over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Sebastian Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Two of Russia's most modern fighters have led its air war over Ukraine: the Su-30SM and the Su-35S. Two of Russia's most modern multi-role fighters have spearheaded Moscow's air war over Ukraine: the two-seat Sukhoi Su-30SM (code-named Flanker-H by NATO) and its successor, the single-seat Su-35S Flanker-E. Su-35S units active in UkraineSu-35S jet fighter of the Russian Air Force taking off, Kubinka, Russia. Artyom Anikeev/Stocktrek Images via Getty ImagesThe Russian Air Force (VKS) is currently receiving the last of 128 Su-35s ordered, most now committed to the war in Ukraine. Russia evidently lacks enough longer-range/endurance surveillance and combat drones to hunt Ukrainian air defense assets through laborious optical scanning.

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