Asian Military Review - December 2021/January 2022

Volume 29/issue 6

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Contents

december 2021/january 2022 VOLUME 29 / ISSUE 6 Volume 29/iSSue 6

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AsiA PAcific’s LArgest circuLAted defence MAgAZine

ARTILLERY AMMUNITION

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ELECTRONIC WARFARE IN JAPAN

MARITIME UNMANNED

CHINA'S HYPERSONIC TECHNOLOGY

TAIWAN'S AIR DEFENCE www.asianmilitaryreview.com

NAMMO’s 40km capable 155MM HE-ER being fired by a Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 firing at the Ravlunda test field in Sweden in 2019.

INTEGRATING UNMANNED MARITIME CAPABILITIES Dr Lee Willett explains how unmanned maritime assets are being integrated to address hybrid threats.

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LONGER RANGE, GREATER ACCURACY CHINA KEEPS PRESSURE ON TAIWAN’S AIR DEFENCE The persistent incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone is now a serious cause for concern, reports David Oliver.

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Christopher Foss examines how artillery range is being extended through improvements and additions to artillery rounds.

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JAPAN NETWORKS NEWS Dr Thomas Withington reveals how Japan’s military is bolstering its electronic warfare capability as tension over China and North Korea continues to build.

CHINA’S HYPERSONIC TESTING SURGE JR Ng explains how amphibious warfare development is intended to break A2AD areas of control.

| december 2021/january 2022 |

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Editorial

DANGER OF DOUBLE WHAMMY

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s the People’s Republic of China keeps piling the pressure on the Republic of China (Taiwan), particularly in terms of penetrating its air defence identification zone and watching the reaction times and tactics of the Taiwan Air Force (RoCAF), half way around the world Russia continues to build and organise its forces which appear to have been strategically placed around the eastern borders of Ukraine.

Both events are alarming for Western-style democratic nations and commentators are seriously concerned about the intensions of both China and Russia. Both countries have continually demonstrated that they would like to assimilate both Taiwan and Ukraine into their nations and/ or close sphere of influence.

Strategically, Taiwan is important as it would extend China’s geographical boundaries in both the South and East China Seas, while giving clearer access to the western Pacific. It would also quickly become home to a wide variety of military bases, putting it in a position to increase its powerful stance against Japan and the Philippines, while bringing the navy closer to operations off northern Australia. Should it ever restrict commercial shipping in the South China Sea, forcing it to take a much longer route around the east of the Philippines, it would also be closer to interdicting the extended route to commercial traffic heading to Japan and South Korea.

In much the same way, Ukraine used to be one of the Soviet Union’s satellite states, not only providing domination over the northern Black Sea but also acting as a buffer state for Russia, with its territory bordering Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania (all of which have become NATO members over the last 20 years). This recruitment by NATO of members in eastern Europe has certainly been a concern to President Putin, who would view the absorption of Ukraine back into Russia’s sphere of influence as a counter - and warning - to any other states who have changed allegiance including the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

If both China and Russia were to coordinate any serious military action or incursions towards Taiwan and Ukraine, the western alliance and its allies would be seriously challenged to confront both at the same time. Direct military intervention in either or both would be hugely dangerous at best, and would send the global economy into a crash that could well dwarf any since the Second World War. Let us hope - from all sides - that cool heads prevail.

Roman Durksen, Media Transasia Limited Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mobile +66 83 6037989 E-Mail: roman@mediatransasia.com

Andrew Drwiega, Editor-in-Chief

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Vice Admiral Brad Cooper (left), the US Navy (USN’s) US Naval Forces Central Command, US Fifth Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces Commander with Captain Michael Brasseur, Commodore Task Force 59 (TF 59), shaking hands at TF 59’s commissioning ceremony at US Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain in September 2021.

INTEGRATING UNMANNED MARITIME CAPABILITIES TO TACKLE HYBRID THREATS

Western and regional navies operating around the Persian Gulf have for some time faced the challenge of hybrid threats, including from unmanned systems. Now these navies are combining to deliver a more integrated approach to dealing with this threat.

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n 29 July 2021, the impact that unmanned system technologies can have on real-world security in critical strategic regions like the Gulf was demonstrated once again when an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was used in an attack on the Liberiaflagged tanker MV Mercer Street. Two of the ship’s crew were killed when the UAV struck the vessel as it transited waters off the coast of the Sultanate of Oman.

The Mercer Street attack underlined

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by Dr Lee Willett the continuing risk that rogue actors pose to the security of strategically important sea lines of communication (SLOCs) that dissect regions such as the Gulf and the Northern Indian Ocean. The attack was also one of a growing number of events that have highlighted the use of unmanned capabilities by rogue actors conducting ‘grey zone’, hybrid activities that are threatening maritime security broadly across the Northern Indian Ocean region. For example, the civil war ashore in Yemen has spilled over into

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the maritime domain, with unmanned, remote-controlled rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) carrying explosives – what are termed water-borne improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs) – being used to target commercial ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea. In ‘grey zone’ activities, the use of unmanned capabilities offers rogue actors one key benefit – deniability. Conducting random attacks using stand-off, remotely operated or autonomous systems enables the actor concerned to create a ‘stand-

sea power

Risk and response In a region like the Gulf, the risk-andresponse relationship in how unmanned capabilities might provide both a threat and a counter are multi-layered. While UAVs could be used by rogue actors to target commercial shipping transiting the key global strategic choke point of the Straits of Hormuz or to attack resource platforms at sea or resource facilities ashore, in return greater collective UAV capability could provide broader air surveillance across the region. Rogue actors could use unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to deploy mines or WBIEDS across the Straits of Hormuz or outside key ports; in response, naval ships or USVs could be used to deploy remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to provide unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) capability to deter or defeat this threat.

ROVs and AUVs could also be deployed to address any threat to underwater cables and pipelines – what Western naval officials increasingly refer to as strategic lines of communication (a recent evolution of the original definition for the ‘SLOC’ acronym). The oft-demonstrated rogue actor tactic of swarm operations uses a force of small craft, one that is now multiplied by the presence of USVs: in return, though, UAVs, USVs, and UUVs can provide layers of sensor and effector barriers to this threat.

Given the challenges facing navies in the Gulf region, unmanned capabilities offer some key advantages in deterring hybrid and other threats, Dr Sidharth Kaushal, sea power research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

US Navy

off’ distance geopolitically between the source and effect of the attack.

In a theatre like the Gulf region, the challenge that the unattributable use of unmanned capabilities creates for Western navies, their parent countries, and their regional partners is a strategic one to address, but is also in some senses a straightforward one. Perhaps the most important and immediate response is to build co-ordinated and integrated surveillance presence. For these navies and countries, responding to such risks with the use of unmanned capabilities – in the air, on the surface, and below the surface – can provide a critical tool for monitoring the sea to provide maritime domain awareness (MDA) and, thus, to increase both deterrence of and defence against such risks.

During Exercise New Horizon, unmanned and manned assets worked together. The USN sees increased integration of such assets as improving broader maritime domain awareness.

“There is great interest in using unmanned systems to enhance MDA and deterrence.” think-tank in London, told AMR. “They can deliver persistent overwatch from the air and at sea, which can contribute to situational awareness regarding threats like … small boats.” Critically, Dr Kaushal explained, small boats “tend to elude traditional MDA efforts”.

Moreover, Dr Kaushal highlighted one benefit that combining new unmanned system capability with the established crewed platform presence may offer Western navies and their regional partners when dealing with hybrid threats – numbers. “Unmanned assets can contribute to missions like mine clearing on a scale that might be needed in the Gulf,” said Dr Kaushal. “These missions can be performed by manned platforms, but manned/unmanned teaming could add efficiencies of scale.”

Dr Kaushal also noted that major Western navies such as the US Navy (USN) and UK Royal Navy (RN), which co-operate closely in any region they operate in together, could develop unmanned capabilities and concepts of operations (CONOPS) in a region like the Gulf in preparation for employing them in other more high-profile regions – for example, addressing Russian anti-access/ area denial (A2/AD) threats in the EuroAtlantic theatre. In the Euro-Atlantic context, integrated UUV operations for

| december 2021/january 2022 |

example could have impact in countering Russian submarine and mine warfare activities, both of which would be central in Russian A2/AD strategies.

Western navies are already introducing combined unmanned capabilities to deal with some of the threats that may have a hybrid element to them. In the Gulf, the USN and RN are working increasingly closely together on using ROVs and AUVs in mine counter-measures operations, to keep platforms and personnel out of harm’s way. Across a broader range of operational circumstances in theatres around the world, Western navies are also developing unmanned capabilities to deliver integrated surveillance and communications.

Thus, unmanned capabilities are already in use to counter the asymmetric application of unmanned systems by rogue actors. From the USN’s perspective, as regards what unmanned systems bring to operations in the Gulf region, “There is great interest in using unmanned systems to enhance MDA and deterrence,” Commander Tim Hawkins, a USN officer and US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) spokesperson, told AMR. In the Gulf, three significant developments have occurred in recent months that underline the increased focus of Western navies and regional powers

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A US Marine operates a MANTAS T12 unmanned surface vehicle (USV) during a training activity at NSA Bahrain in October 2021. As well as developing US capability for operating unmanned systems, the MANTAS T12 has been used in combined training including with Bahrain Defence Force maritime assets.

on constructing a combined operational response to the rogue unmanned capability threat.

Combined capability On 9 September 2021, NAVCENT took a prominent step towards building an organised, collective structure for applying unmanned capabilities to address this threat. It formally stood up Task Force (TF) 59, a new construct designed to rapidly integrate unmanned capabilities and artificial intelligence (AI) with maritime operations in US Fifth Fleet’s area of responsibility (AOR).

This AOR encompasses the Gulf, Gulf of Oman, parts of the Northern Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea. This maritime region also includes three globally vital SLOCs: the Straits of Hormuz; the Bab-el-Mandeb Straits, connecting the Gulf of Aden to the southern Red Sea; and the Suez Canal.

Unmanned systems have been operated in the Gulf region for many years – especially UAV and UUV capabilities, said Cdr Hawkins. “What’s recent is the establishment of a dedicated task force for leading US Fifth Fleet’s integration of unmanned systems and AI into fleet operations.”

“The bottom line on why we’re doing this is so that we can develop and integrate unmanned systems and AI as a means to do two things: one, enhance our MDA; and two, increase deterrence,”

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Vice Admiral Brad Cooper – the USN’s NAVCENT, US Fifth Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Commander – said in a statement, released as TF 59 was stood up. VAdm Cooper added that TF 59 would draw strongly on regional and coalition partnerships, within broader moves to enhance and expand the common operating picture (COP).

It is worth noting that the combination of increasing levels of rogue actor ‘grey zone’ activity and returning great power competition at sea is creating a range of threats across the full spectrum of operations for Western navies and their partners, to the extent that there is now much greater emphasis on creating integrated task forces – both ashore for capability development, and at sea for operations – and on creating a collective approach to maritime security.

Establishing TF 59 seems to reflect these two requirements.

TF 59 is commanded by the USN’s Captain Michael Brasseur who is an established expert in developing and integrating unmanned capabilities.

Amongst several relevant previous appointments, Capt Brasseur cofounded and directed NATO’s Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation and Coordination Cell (MUSIC) organisation that focuses on accelerating alliance crewed/ unmanned teaming CONOPS. He also commanded two USN Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs): the LCS CONOPS includes

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significant integrated use of unmanned capabilities. TF 59’s staff includes experts on unmanned systems, unmanned exercises, task force integration, new technologies (including AI, cyber, and space), and partnering. Overall, its primary operational purpose, said Cdr Hawkins, is “[to] help us accelerate the discovery, development, and integration of new unmanned systems and keep pace with advancing technology and tactics”.

The emerging collective approach was reinforced, in the second key development, in September 2021 when the United States and Bahrain agreed to accelerate bilateral cooperation in bringing unmanned capabilities into regional maritime operations. “This initiative enables us to expand MDA awareness on, above, and below the water, and enhance regional deterrence,” VAdm Cooper said, in a US Central Command (CENTCOM) statement.

Exercising combined capability In the statement issued when TF 59 was stood up, NAVCENT noted that the task force would aim in its early weeks to start building trust in human-machine teaming through conducting operations at sea. Certainly, the rapid addition of operational output for TF 59 would underline USN commitment to building the deterrent credibility of the capability the task force aims to deliver.

Reflecting this desire to build momentum, the third key development took place in October 2021, when TF 59 led NAVCENT’s New Horizon exercise, a two-day activity in which TF 59 integrated and evaluated the MANTAS T-12 USV in operations alongside USN patrol craft and Bahrain Defence Force maritime assets.

In the exercise’s first phase, USVs conducted high-speed manoeuvres in formation while controlled from the USN’s Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship USS Firebolt. In the second phase, a larger collection of US and Bahraini crewed and unmanned platforms, supported by aerial assets, conducted integrated operations.

The unmanned system presence included a V-BAT UAV. The presence of Bahraini forces underlined the importance of collective approaches to delivering maritime security. “Working with our regional partners on unmanned systems integration is crucial to enhancing collective MDA,” said VAdm Cooper, in a NAVCENT statement.

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US Marine Corps

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A MANTAS T12 USV is deployed for training in waters off Bahrain. The USN has been developing the integration of manned and unmanned assets (such as USVs) at sea.

over two weeks starting in late January 2022, with more than 60 countries and international organisations involved. The first planning conference for the exercise took place back in August 2021, in Manama, Bahrain: such conferences are designed to identify requirements and develop training scenarios.

For IMX22, said Cdr Hawkins, “We will integrate manned and unmanned systems during operations at sea …. We will use more unmanned systems than ever before, in scenarios designed to put this technology to the test.” “We fully expect IMX22 to be the largest unmanned

US Marine Corps

The exercise also demonstrated two firsts, Cdr Hawkins told AMR. “It marked the first time NAVCENT integrated USVs with manned assets at sea in the US Fifth Fleet AOR. New Horizon was also the first time for NAVCENT’s integration of USVs with manned assets at sea alongside partner forces.”

As regards lessons learned about the unmanned capabilities demonstrated in the exercise and the wider importance of integrating with partners, Cdr Hawkins added “Exercises like New Horizon enable us to begin building trust and confidence in the human/machine team prior to deploying the new assets on ‘real-world’ missions. Working with our regional partners on unmanned systems integration is crucial to enhancing collective MDA.” In a USN social media post on 10 November that provided further details on New Horizon USN Commander Thomas McAndrew said “We envisage a combination of manned and unmanned systems that gives a much broader view of MDA from seabed to space, giving us a much better picture of what’s happening.”

exercise in the world,” Cdr Hawkins added.

The growing global emphasis on the importance of exercising unmanned capabilities is underlined by the fact that NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) is conducting its inaugural Dynamic Messenger exercise – its first alliance-wide exercise activity dedicated to the collective development of unmanned capabilities – in 2022.

For IMX22, TF 59 will play a leading role in developing the exercise’s operational outputs.

“TF 59 is spearheading US Fifth Fleet’s effort to partner with a number of countries expected to bring their unmanned systems to the exercise,” said Cdr Hawkins. In the exercise itself, “An IMX22 task force called Task Force X will be stood up to integrate and demonstrate the value of unmanned technology in operations alongside crewed ships,” Cdr Hawkins added.

Underlining the impact that unmanned capabilities employed by rogue actors can have on the interests of regional and extra-regional countries in a strategic region like the Gulf, IMX22 “is designed to demonstrate global resolve to maintain freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce throughout the region’s diverse maritime environment, and to build interoperability between partner nations and international organisations,” NAVCENT said, in a statement released at the planning conference.

“Modernising our fleets to harness these technologies will help us maintain our advantage at sea and secure regional trade routes,” Cdr Hawkins told AMR. AMR

On the horizon

Beyond New Horizon, the next major exercise on the planning ‘plot’ for US Fifth Fleet to continue integrating TF 59 into regional operations will be the International Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMX22), which is scheduled to take place

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USVs, like the MANTAS T12 pictured here, can be used in combination with unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to provide layered defence against, for example, swarm tactics.

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AIR power

CHINA KEEPS PRESSURE ON TAIWAN’S AIR DEFENCE The ROCAF is upgrading its fleet of 141 F-16A/Bs and acquiring 66 new built aircraft.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has been persistent in its incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

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Taiwan MoD

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ver the past two years, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has increased its air activity with near-daily sorties into the Republic of China’s (Taiwan’s) air defence identification zone (ADIZ), which is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location, and control of aircraft ascertained and confirmed in the interest of national security. These incursions can be timed to combine with military drills and exercises in nearby maritime areas.

Tracking data of these incursions shows a change in the makeup of the PLAAF missions. While surveillance aircraft were the most frequently observed, the balance has now tipped to see fighter aircraft dominate the air packages while the inclusion of H-6 bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, has also increased. In 2021 a total of 746 PLAAF aircraft have operated near and inside Taiwan sovereign borders.

by David Oliver

Incursions by PLAAF military aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ on one day in November.

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AIR

Speculation has been growing that this is an indicator that China will attempt to mount an invasion at some point in the near, mid- or longer term future. On 2 October, Taiwan’s defence minister claimed China was capable now, but by 2025 would be in a much better position to launch a ‘full-scale’ invasion.

Historically, large-scale PLAAF activities have been connected to specific events such as China’s patriotic holiday, National Day on 1 October, or signalling Beijing’s grievances over some perceived slight or recent incident. After the US condemned the incursions of 38 planes on 4 October and 39 the next day, China sent more aircraft into the Taiwan ADIZ. The first package of 52 aircraft included 34 Shenyang J-16 fighter aircraft, derived from the Russian Su27, and 12 Xian H-6 bombers, derived from the Russian Tu-16, among other aircraft, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence. Later, four more PLAAF J-16s flew towards the southwestern part of Taiwan’s ADIZ followed on the night of 9 October, by another PLAAF package of four J-16s, a Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft and a PLAN Y-8Q anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

On 14 November, Chinese military forces held a series of air exercises near Taiwan in response to a visit by a US congressional delegation to the island.

The Chinese Defence Ministry said that the joint war preparedness patrol, by the PLAAF Eastern Theatre Command was prompted by the serious situation caused by the US mission.

Taiwan's Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) scrambled again on 28 November in response to a package of 27 PLAAF aircraft that entered the ADIZ. Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that tension across the Taiwan Strait had increased as the Chinese President met his top generals. H-6 bombers and six of the fighter aircraft flew close to Taiwan, cutting across the country’s southwestern ADIZ but without crossing into its national air space. The operation itself was not unusual as the PLAAF and PLAN routinely send fighters, bombers and patrol planes around Taiwan ostensibly for training and as a show of force.

But this mission was special in at least one regard. It was the first time the PLAAF had operated one of its new Xian Y-20U tankers along on an ADIZ mission.

The US Air Force has more than 600 strategic tankers, most of them KC-

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Eastern Theatre Command H-6K nuclear bombers took part in PLAAF exercises close to Taiwan.

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PLAAF J-16s make regular incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ.

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is upgrading 141of its F-16 A/Bs to the F-16V variant, which is equipped with more advanced avionics, including the Helmet Mounted Cueing System, APG83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, and other electronic warfare systems. In addition to the upgrade programme, Taiwan is also buying another 66 new-build F-16V Block 70/72 aircraft from the United States to replace its obsolete fleet of Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II interceptors.

US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, warned that China’s air incursions by fighter jets, bombers and other warplanes near Taiwan appeared to be rehearsals for military operations against the country. “It looks a lot like them exploring their true capabilities and sure looks a lot like rehearsals,” Austin said in a recent speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum. AMR

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135s. By contrast, the PLAAF had only three Russian Il-78MP Midas tankers until recently as well as over ten tankerconversions of the H-6 bomber. The Il-78s each can offload up to 230,500lb (104,500kg) of fuel per mission, while the H-6U has an internal fuel payload of some 80,000lb (36,200kg), half of which is available for refuelling operations. It is not clear how much fuel a Y-20U, which is a tanker version of the large military transport, can give away, but the figure is likely to be at least 200,000lb (90,700kg).

China’s vast infrastructure of mainland air bases, not to mention its dozen or so major island outposts plus the PLAN’s growing fleet of aircraft carriers, mitigates the range penalty resulting from the PLAAF’s lack of large tankers for any operations China might conduct along its periphery, such as an attack across the Taiwan Strait.

The current ROCAF inventory includes over 400 combat aircraft, the mainstays being the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kou Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) while the F-16 and the Mirage 20005 provide the ROCAF’s most formidable air-defence capabilities. As part of a $3.8 billion military modernisation project launched in 2016, the ROCAF

A rare PLAN Y-8Q ASW aircraft penetrated the Taiwan ADIZ in October 2021.

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AIR power

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KMW

warfare

German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann PzH 2000 is fitted with a 155mm/52 calibre ordnance which meets the NATO Joint Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding

LONGER RANGE, GREATER ACCURACY Developments in artillery ammunition are seeing greater ranges with better accuracy for tube artillery.

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raditionally, the main role of conventional tube artillery, be it self-propelled (SP) or towed, is not only to provide suppressive fire against threat forces using high explosive (HE) projectiles, but also to fire more specialised ammunition such as illuminating, smoke, top attack of various types, and more recently precision guided munitions (PGM).

Today the field artillery arm is demanding not only higher rates of fire but increased range and more accuracy.

Higher rates of fire can be achieved by automating the ammunition handing system (AHS) on SP artillery platforms.

Such is the case in the German KraussMaffei Wegmann 155mm/52 calibre PzH 2000 SP artillery system which has a semi-automated AHS in which the fuzed 155mm projectile is loaded automatically and the modular charge system (MCS) then loaded manually.

In the longer term, a fully automated AMS could be installed in the PzH 2000

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by Christopher F Foss in which the fuzed projectile and the MCS would both be loaded automatically.

This would have the added advantage of reducing the crew members by two as well as increasing the rate of fire.

For many years the 155mm/39 calibre ordnance installed in SP artillery systems such as the US M109A3 tracked SP artillery system was the most widely deployed in NATO and many other countries. It could fire a standard 155mm M107 HE projectile a maximum range of just over 18 kilometres (11 miles) which is very short by today’s standards.

An increase in range can be achieved by the installation of a Rheinmetall 155mm/52 calibre ordnance with a 23 litre chamber that meets the NATO Joint Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU).

The maximum range of a conventional tube artillery system depends on a number of factors including where the weapon is positioned (eg. altitude) and the type of projectile/charge combination

| Asian Military Review |

being used to engage the target. A good example again is the PzH 2000 which can achieve a maximum range of 30km (18.6 miles) using the 155mm DM111/DM121 HE projectile, 40km (24.8 miles) for a 155mm HE Base-Bleed (BB) projectile and 54km (33.5 miles) using the South African Rheinmetall Denel Munitions Velocity Enhanced Artillery – Projectile (V-LAP).

The previously mentioned 155mm M107 HE round is an old design but is still used, especially for training, as it is cheaper and its shorter range enables it to be used on more artillery firing ranges.

Range can be increased in a number of ways including a redesigned 155mm artillery projectile with tighter manufacturing standards such as being machined inside and outside as well as having a more streamlined design with the option of a hollow base (HB) to reduce drag.

BB and rocket assist (RA) can increase range but with all artillery systems as the range increases so the circular

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Nexter

warfare

Nexter CAESAR 155mm/52 calibre self-propelled artillery system deployed and carrying out a fire mission

area of probability (CEP) increases and adjustment of fire is required to bracket the target. A new family of 155mm ammunition is that recently developed by NAMMO with the HE-Extended Range (HE-ER) having a maximum range of 41km (25.4 miles) when fitted with a BB unit and fired from 155mm/52 calibre ordnance. This is reduced to a maximum range of 30km (18.6 miles) when fired from a 155mm/39 calibre ordnance.

It is available with an insensitive munition (IM) filling with more specialised rounds of the family including Illuminating ER/Infra-red Illuminating ER, Smoke ER and Target Practice ER. In addition the company is marketing a 155mm HE projectile with a HB which has a maximum range of up to 24km (nearly 15 miles).

Currently under development are ramjet powered 155mm artillery projectiles, but these will have a smaller payload and their control attachments make them easier to detect with artillery locating radars (ALR). In October 2021 NAMMO announced that it had

ADSB fast patrol boats set to tackle maritime threats Nations across the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean face the same maritime challenges; piracy, insurgency, people and drug smuggling, and incursion into valuable fishing resources. This is driving a boom in the need for patrol vessels with the key characteristics of range, speed and cost effective armament sufficient to counter the threats faced.

Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), the GCC region’s leading shipbuilder that specialises in the design, new build, repair, maintenance, refit, and conversion of naval and commercial vessels, is tapping that demand with its newly launched series of fast patrol vessels designed to boost maritime security.

Having reinforced its in-house design capabilities, ADSB has developed a range of

fast patrol boats that are entirely designed and built in the UAE. The 160 ITEP patrol boat, a 16 m inshore tactical and engagement platform, and 120 FIP interceptor, a 12 m fast inshore platform, provide key tactical capabilities to naval, security, and coast guard operations. The vessels are deployed in missions such as anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, fisheries protection, search and rescue (SAR), exclusive economic zone (EEZ) surveillance, and coastal patrol.

ADSB’s 16 m vessel delivers performance and endurance for high-speed pursuit and interception, in addition to a wide range of patrol operations. Fitted with two diesel inboard engines, the patrol boat offers a range of over 350 nautical miles and speeds up to 50 knots. Armament ranges from a manually operated 12.7 mm machine gun to a 30 mm cannon installed on a remote weapon station mounted on the superstructure. Surfaceto-surface missile options are available and the rear deck can be configured for UAV operations.

Flexible to deploy, 160 ITEP fulfils the needs of naval forces, coast guards, and other security organisations. Having worked alongside coast guard forces to meet their

requirements for the 16 m boat, ADSB has the utmost confidence that the vessel meets the highest standards of safety and performance to address the rise in maritime incursions. In the event of capsizing, the boat is also self-righting to ensure the safety of its crew.

Powered by two or three 400hp outboard engines according to customer requirement, 120 FIP can reach speeds exceeding 65 knots at full load, with manoeuvrability and stability.

The 12 m vessel has a payload of up to two tonnes, allowing it to carry a remote-controlled weapon station or small missile systems if required.

ADSB’s fast patrol boats are highly customisable, designed to perform multiple missions and meet the specific operational requirements of the end user. Other designs and prototypes are currently in the pipeline to be completed this year and are certain to meet all maritime security, defence, and surveillance requirements to protect territorial waters.

Securing a country’s maritime borders is essential to national sovereignty and economic prosperity. As the Middle East region’s leading shipbuilding company for over 25 years, ADSB is a trusted partner in strengthening maritime security.

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Northrop Grumman

warfare

Detailed drawing of the Northrop Grumman M1156 Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) that fits into the standard deep fuze well of a 155mm artillery projectile and showing the control surfaces at front

completed more than 300 rocket motor tests that had yielded important feedback in the development process.

The company added that current designed ramjet motors could be fired from 155mm 39/52 or 58 calibre artillery and that they had already demonstrated reliable ignition and in-house flight. For the US market, NAMMO is teamed with Boeing.

Greater accuracy can be obtained but fitting a precision guidance kit (PGK) with the most widely used one being the now Northrop Grumman M1156 PGK which has been produced in large numbers for the US Army and Marine Corps and an increasing number of export customers.

According to Northrop Grumman, use of the M1156 PGK gives an 75 percent reduction in HE rounds for the same effect.

Other developments include Nexter’s Spacido while the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has adopted the Israel Aircraft Industries Top Gun for its 155mm artillery projectiles.

be back-fitted to the latest M109 which will also feature an automated AHS to enable a higher rate of fire to be achieved as well as firing a new family of 155mm ammunition.

Rheinmetall provides the 155mm/52 calibre ordnance for the PzH 2000 SP artillery systems but is now working on a 155mm/60 calibre ordnance with the first application being for their 10x10 SP artillery system revealed in late 2021.

Engaging armoured targets For many western armies 155mm artillery projectiles containing bomblets were the standard means to try and neutralise massed attacks by armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) and other platforms. The most widely used were the US 155mm M483A1 which carried 64 M42 and 24 M46 dual purpose top attack grenades and when fired from a 155mm/39 calibre system had a maximum range of 17.5km (10.8 miles).

The main drawback of these submunitions was the high dud rate when

fired over some types of terrain such as sand or soft soil which were hazardous to follow up forces as well as civilians and for these reason these are now banned by an increasing number of countries.

There are two top attack 155mm artillery projectiles deployed in the West; the German SMArt 155 and the French/ Swedish Bonus and both of these have top attack sub-munitions which will penetrate vulnerable upper surfaces of an AFV.

Precision artillery projectiles The United States deployed the 155mm M712 Copperhead Cannon Launched Guided Projectile (CLGP) in Gulf War One but have now run out of shelf life.

Russia is currently marketing 155mm, 152mm and 122mm Laser Guided Projectiles (LGP) as is China.

The main disadvantage of these LGP is that the designator has to have line-ofsight to the target which in some terrain and weather conditions can be difficult.

Airborne assets can also be used to designate targets and some ground based assets can designate the target with the actual LGP being launched by another platform.

The Raytheon Excalibur 155mm M982 is the most widely used 155mm PGM in the West, was used extensively use in Afghanistan and Iraq and has been continuously developed with a recent model being laser guided. These PGM are not cheap and would only be used to engage high value targets.

In November 2021 the US Army activated its 56th Artillery Command in

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Christopher F Foss

US seeks more range It was expected that the US Army would have fielded the advanced Crusader 155mm SP artillery system and its associated ammunition resupply vehicle.

This was cancelled following the end of the cold war as was the Non-Line-OfSight Cannon (NLOS-C) which was part of the ambitious Future Combat System (FCS).

The US Army continues to upgrade its M109 series of SP howitzer to the latest M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) but these currently still retain their 155mm/39 cal ordnance. In the not-todistant future ordnance will be replaced by the 155mm/58 calibre Extended Range Artillery Cannon (ERAC) which is a key part of the US Army’s Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) project.

This 155mm/58 calibre ordnance will

NAMMO are investing on 155 mm ammunition including one with a Ramjet propulsion system (left) and more streamlined 155 mm extended range projectiles (right)

| Asian Military Review |

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Christopher F Foss

warfare

The latest 155 mm XM1113 Extended Range Projectile with Rocket Assist (top) and with new XM654 charge below

Germany which in the longer term will be equipped with the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile which will provide a step change in the US Army artillery capability.

Artillery rockets These have traditionally being area effect weapons as they are unguided but there is also a trend to give these a more precision effect.

The US Lockheed Martin M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) fired a 227mm M26 unguided rocket out to a maximum range of 31.6km (nearly 20 miles) with the warhead containing 644 M77 Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM). This was followed by the extended range version which had more propellant but only 518 DPICM with range increased to 45.5km (over 28 miles).

German DM702 SMArt 155mm projectile cutaway to show interior (top) with one of the two sub-munitions and effect on conventional steel armour

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Production of both of these has been completed and were followed in production by the Guided MLRS with a range of over 70km (43 miles) and which was originally developed to meet requirements of not only the US but also France, Germany and UK for use with their upgraded tracked M270 tracked launchers.

These rockets are also fired from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) based on a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) 6x6 crosscountry truck with a protected forward control cab. HIMARS has one pod of six rockets compared with the tracked M270 launcher which has two pods each of six 227mm rockets.

To engaged targets at longer range the US Army fielded the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) with the tracked M270 MLRS capable of carrying two pods. The original one had a warhead containing 954 M74 DPICM and a maximum range of over 165km (102 miles). This was followed by versions with range increased to 300km (186 miles), improved accuracy and a blast fragmentation warhead.

In the longer term the ATACMS will be replaced by the Precision Strike Missile (PSM) with a range of nearly 500km (310 miles).

China, Israel, India, Turkey and Russia and other have already fielded a wide range of ARS with the Russian BM-21 122mm (40-round) system being the most widely deployed and reverse engineered by many countries, especially in the Middle East.

The BM-21 fired a 122mm unguided

| Asian Military Review |

rocket out to a range of 20km (12.4 miles) but this was followed by rockets with ranges of up to 30km (18.6 miles) and 40km (24.8 miles) and more recently guided 122mm rockets have been developed to provide a precision effect.

Russia has also fielded the 220mm (16-round) Urgan which initially fired unguided rockets out to a range of 35km (21.7 miles), but again new rockets have been developed with an increase in range.

The largest Russian rocket launcher is the 300mm (12-round) Smerch which has been built in large numbers for the home and export markets with early versions firing unguided rockets having a maximum range of 70km (43.5 miles) with the latest ones having an extended range.

In addition to firing rockets fitted with warheads carrying sub-munitions, other warheads types have been developed for the 300mm rockets including fragmentation grenades, top attack submunitions, anti-tank mines, fuel-air explosive and even an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which could be launched to acquire the target or to carry out poststrike damage assessment.

For NATO countries, the deep strike mission is normally carried out by the air force but this in changing with the introduction of longer range missiles.

Finding the target While the user is demanding more range and greater accuracy the Achilles heel will always be target acquisition. Targets can still be located using forward observers equipped with a suite of day/night observation devices, laser rangefinders, land navigation and communications systems.

But targets at longer ranges have to acquired by other means such as electronic warfare and signals locating systems, ALR, sound ranging systems, fixed and rotary wing assets and increasingly UAVs..

The latter also need to be equipped with a variety of sensors to enable targets not only to be rapidly located but this information passed down the chain of command to the artillery battery to rapidly carry out the fire missions.

Many users are now operating their artillery systems on ‘shoot and scoot’ missions in which they will only remain in one position for perhaps four minutes while the carry out a fire mission. This makes them very difficult to be engaged by counter-battery fire. AMR

l and warfare

| december 2021/january 2022 |

ELECTRONIC

Twitter

warfare

A new electronic warfare (EW) NEWS subvariants. This type is towing what appears to be a folded, tall SIGINT collection antenna.

JAPAN NETWORKS NEWS Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force is overhauling its electronic warfare posture, both in force weight and capabilities.

by Dr. Thomas Withington

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eflecting ever-present tensions in East Asia, Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in November that it plans to deploy an Electronic Warfare (EW) unit to Yonaguni Island. Yonaguni is one of Japan’s most southerly islands and lies off the east coast of Taiwan. Local news reports stated that the EW unit would be drawn from the Japan Ground Self Defence Force (JGSDF).

The JGSDF is in the midst of an overarching modernisation of its EW capabilities and posture. This is arguably driven by two threats: this first is continuing tensions with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

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The Japanese government also appears perturbed of late by bellicose rhetoric from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) towards Taiwan.

The unit which will deploy to Yonaguni maybe drawn from the JGSDF’s 1st Electronic Warfare Battalion (1 EW Bn).

According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ 2021 Military Balance this is deployed with the JGSDF’s combat support element. The battalion contains three EW companies and is headquartered at JGSDF Camp HigashiChitose, near Hokkaido Island’s south coast. Although not mentioned in open sources, it is entirely possible that one of these three EW companies may deploy to Yonaguni.

| Asian Military Review |

Strategic move Strategically and operationally deploying the EW unit to Yonaguni Island makes sense. The former is a mere 60 nautical miles (111 kilometres) due west of Taiwan.

Yonaguni forms part of the Okinawa Archipelago stretching northeast towards the main Japanese Islands.

It is apparent that relations between the PRC and Taiwan are at a nadir.

October 2021 saw the PRC’s government criticise Taiwan’s President Tsai Ingwen’s speech on the Republic of China’s National Day. President Tsai promised to continue bolstering Taiwan’s defences.

She said this was driven by the PRC’s threats to seek Taiwan’s incorporation into mainland China by force if necessary.

ELECTRONIC

The PRC’s Global Times newspaper, a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, went further. It called for a “final solution to the Taiwan question”. The rhetoric did little to cool tensions which have continued to increase. Towards the end of 2021 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military aircraft ramped up their flights in Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

Sino-Japanese relations have experienced bouts of tension since the end of the Second World War. Nonetheless, the global COVID-19 pandemic has seen relations improve. Local Japanese news sources documented the mutual assistance provided by the two countries.

In 2020, the PRC donated 12,500 COVID-19 testing kits to Japan. Japanese companies donated over $6 million to the PRC, along with over three million face masks, to help China’s fight the disease.

Japan finds herself in a delicate situation regarding the PRC and Taiwan. On the one hand Beijing is ratcheting up the rhetoric regarding the island while on the other current relations between Japan and the PRC appear smooth.

Still, moving an EW unit to Yonaguni maybe a prudent move. There is the danger that the PRC could succeed in occupying Taiwan and incorporating the island into China. The Okinawa archipelago would be adjacent to what would then probably be a large PLA presence on Taiwan. This could potentially threaten the rest of the Japan.

Deploying an EW unit to Yonaguni is almost certainly meant to have a deterrent effect warning the PRC not to venture any further into Japanese territory should the unthinkable happen. Could the EW unit aid the Republic of China’s armed force during a crisis? Possibly, but it would risk Japan being dragged into the mess. For now, it seems safe to assume that the unit is in Yonaguni chiefly for deterrence.

Standing Up EW Alongside the deployment of the unit to Yonaguni, new EW assets are being raised to support other JGSDF commands. In June 2020, AMR’s sister publication Armada International reported that the JGSDF was planning to deploy an EW unit to Kyushu Island in the southwest of Japan’s Northeastern Honshu Arc. Local news reports in early 2021 confirmed that this new companysized unit had been activated at Camp Kengun. It is the first of seven of planned new JGSDF EW companies each of

Japaninfo

warfare

The Island of Yonaguni is just miles away from Taiwan and is the last island in the Ryukyu island chain.

around 80 personnel. This first unit at Camp Kengun has been designated the 301st EW Company. It will provide EW support to the JGSDF’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB).

Part of the Western Army, the ARDB has two amphibious regiments, a single amphibious assault battalion, one reconnaissance company and one logistics battalion. This formation would be tasked with recapturing Japanese islands occupied during hostilities.

A further six EW companies are planned for activation between April 2021 and March 2022. No details appear to have been shared with the public domain regarding which JGSDF formations these will furnish. By cross-referencing the locations of these new units, one can anticipate which formations they maybe deployed with. For example, an EW company will be deployed at Camp Rumoi on the west of Hokkaido Island.

This will likely be deployed with the Northern Army. It could provide EW support to the 2nd and 7th Divisions, and 5th and 11th Brigades. An EW company will be activated at Camp Asaka, Tokyo.

This could have the Eastern Army as a parent and provide EW support to the 1st Division and 12th Air Assault Brigade. It seems that the Western Army may receive the lion’s share of the new EW companies.

One will be deployed to Camp Ainoura on the west of Kyushu Island possibly providing EW support to the 8th Division. An additional company could be deployed to Camp Amami on AmamiOshima Island in the northeast of the Okinawa Archipelago. This unit will be joined by another two at Camp Naha and

| december 2021/january 2022 |

ELECTRONIC

Twitter

warfare

While specific details on which NEWS platform does what, images have emerged on social media of the vehicle types comprising the ensemble.

Vice Camp Chinen on southern Okinawa Island. All three will provide EW support to the 15th Brigade, responsible for defending the Okinawa Archipelago.

Judging from the planned timeline of introduction, this could mean that the JGSDF commissions a new EW company approximately every two months. It

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would unsurprising if the numerical designation for the other six awaiting activation sequentially followed that of the 301st EW Company. The JGSDF’s EW headquarters will be at Camp Asaka.

Its’ signal school, where EW training is thought to take place, is located on the capital’s outskirts.

| Asian Military Review |

The decision to activate these units was the result of national defence guidelines issued in 2018. These stressed that the electromagnetic spectrum must be considered integral to offensive and defensive military actions, alongside space and cyber space. Until the government’s decision in 2018, the 1 EW Bn headquartered at Camp HigashiChitose was the JGSDF’s sole dedicated EW unit. This was deployed to Camp Higashi-Chitose due to its physical proximity to the southeast and eastern Soviet Union.

What will happen to this unit remains open to question. Will the three EW companies of the 1 EW Bn work alongside the seven new formations, giving the JGSDF a total of ten dedicated EW companies? Alternatively, will the 1 EW Bn be disbanded and the seven new EW units take up the burden? Otherwise will the 1 EW Bn be enlarged to include its existing formations and the new units?

Time will tell.

Doctrinally, local reports note that the JGSDF will be tasked with several missions. These will include traditional land forces EW roles detecting and locating hostile units based on their radio transmissions. Traditionally, land EW also exploits those transmissions for intelligence, and attacks them when required. Alongside this mission JGSDF EW doctrine stresses the detection, location and attack of hostile radars in the sea, land and air domains. The doctrine also prescribes similar actions against hostile sea and air communications.

In this respect, the new EW units are to be truly joint in their focus. It is also noteworthy that Camp Kengun is home to a 40-strong cyber unit. The collocation of these two units seemingly indicates a synergy between JGSDF electronic and cyber warfare capabilities. Much like the jointness evident in the JGSDF’s EW doctrine coalescing cyber and EW capabilities will let these complement one another. On the battlefield, as much as in any domain, electronic attack is the means to deliver a cyberattack into hostile command and control networks. At the tactical and operational levels battlefield communications networks nearly always use wireless links. Penetrating these radio networks is therefore essential for the delivery of cyberattacks.

New Capabilities Integral to the overhaul of the JGSDF’s EW capabilities is the procurement of new

Japanese MOD

warfare

Other NEWS examples are seen here. There vehicles may well be one of the subvariants optimised to collect signals intelligence.

systems in the guise of the Mitsubishi Electric NEWS electronic warfare platform. NEWS is an acronym for the Networked EW System which is mounted on a Toyota Type-73 truck. NEWS comprises four distinct systems; NEWS Type-1, Type-2, Type-3 and Type-4. Open sources state that each overs a different frequency band and has a different role.

Development of NEWS commenced in 2010. Testing was completed in 2015.

In 2020 the MOD allotted $87 million for the procurement of NEWS. Little information has been made available in the public domain regarding NEWS writ large. Open sources state that the ensemble can detect and jam threats in frequencies of 30 megahertz/MHz to circa 40 gigahertz. This will enable NEWS to detect, locate, characterise and attack a host of radio and radar emitters. This could include very/ultra high frequency conventional radio and Satellite Communications (SATCOM) on wavebands of 30MHz to three gigahertz/ GHz. Ground-based air surveillance, naval surveillance, airborne surveillance, weapons-locating and fire control radars and SATCOM transmitting in L-band (1.215GHz to 1.4GHz), S-band (2.3GHz to 2.5GHz/2.7GHz to 3.7GHz), C-band (5.25GHz to 5.925GHz) and X-band (8.5GHz to 10.68GHz) could also be detected and engaged.

Higher up the radio spectrum NEWS could detect and engage fire control and

weapons guidance radars, and SATCOM transmitting in Ku-band (13.4GHz to 14GHz/15.7GHz to 17.7GHz) and Kaband (33.4GHz to 36GHz). An important caveat must be made regarding these impressive capabilities. Detecting and attacking any transmission in these frequencies depends on NEWS being within a line-of-sight range from these targets. Secondly, NEWS must have the wherewithal to defeat the low probability of detection/interception waveforms used by contemporary and future radar and radio systems. Nonetheless, given Japanese acumen in electronic engineering it would be unsurprising if such competencies have not been mastered.

NEWS has already begun to furnish the 1 EW Bn. It will form the mainstay of the new JGSDF EW companies for the foreseeable future, which looks set to be characterised by continued instability in eastern Asia. This is likely to still be driven by DPRK and PRC muscleflexing. JGSDF EW investments indicate the force’s embrace of electromagnetic manoeuvre to achieve electromagnetic superiority and supremacy. In the worstcase scenario this will make the JGSDF a formidable player in the wartime electromagnetic domain. In the best case these capabilities will have deterrent value helping to keep the peace in this tense part of the world. AMR

| december 2021/january 2022 |

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China Global Television Network

warfare

The Dongfeng-17 (DF-17) hypersonic weapon was displayed to the public for the first time 1 October 2019 during the National Day Parade in Beijing.

CHINA’S HYPERSONIC TESTING SURGE Although China is downplaying its hypersonic testing, recent demonstrations are showing an increase in technology maturity.

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n 27 October the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), General Mark Milley, confirmed that China had tested a new hypersonic weapon system, noting that the test launch was a “very significant” and “very concerning” development for the US military although he did not elaborate.

“I think I saw in some of the newspapers that they used the term ‘Sputnik moment',” General Milley said. “I don't know if it's quite a ‘Sputnik moment', but I think it's very close to that. It has all of our attention.”

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by JR Ng The general’s remarks are the Pentagon's first official acknowledgement of China's hypersonic test first reported by the Financial Times on 16 October, which claimed that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had launched a rocket carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) that circled the globe in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) before descending towards its target, although the HGV had reportedly missed “by about two dozen miles”.

However, Beijing denied that the test was military in nature, with foreign affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian asserting that it had been a “routine test of spacecraft to

| Asian Military Review |

verify technology of [it’s] reusability”.

“It is of great significance to reducing [sic] the cost of using spacecraft and providing a convenient and cheap way for mankind's two-way transportation in the peaceful use of space,” Zhao told reporters during a 18 October briefing.

“Several companies around the world have conducted similar tests.”

“After separating from the spacecraft before its return, the supporting devices will burn up when falling in the atmosphere and the debris will fall into the high seas,” he added, without providing further details.

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| december 2021/JANUARY 2022 |

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land warfare

CASC

Very little detail about China's alleged hypersonic weapon test has emerged, but it is believed that the HGV was launched on a polar LEO by a Chang Zheng 2C CZ-2C orbital launch vehicle, which is produced by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s (CASC’s) China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology subsidiary. The CZ-2C is also understood to be a derivative of the PLA Rocket Force’s (PLAARF’s) Dong Feng-5 (DF-5) intercontinental ballistic missile.

According to reports, the launch vehicle can deliver payloads of up to 3,086 pounds (1,400 kilogrammes) when configured in its two-stage version.

The same concern was echoed by JCS vide-chairman General John Hyten in a November interview with CBS News, noting that the rocket “went around the world, dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle that glided all the way back to China, that impacted a target in China."

Hypersonic missile gap General Hyten noted that while the US military is also developing hypersonic weapons, China appears to have taken the lead with “hundreds of hypersonic tests” carried out in the past five years while the US conducted just nine. The general also pointed out that the PLA has already deployed one medium-range hypersonic weapon, while the US is still “a few years from fielding its first one”.

The US military’s concern over China’s hypersonic weapons technology development is clearly understandable, given that such weapons that can travel at extremely high speeds in excess of Mach 5 (over 6,000km/h). Broadly speaking, there are two main types being pursued today: hypersonic cruise missiles and HGVs (or waveriders).

The former is equipped with an onboard air-breathing engine such as a scramjet or ramjet to travel under its own power to its target, while the latter uses a re-entry vehicle that uses a booster such as a rocket to accelerate into space at before ‘gliding’ down to its target using the shockwaves of its own extreme-speed descent.

“The main concern over hypersonic weapons is that there is no operational missile defence system today that is capable of intercepting these weapons, which is why the present race to develop hypersonic weapons – with countries such as Australia, China, Japan, India, Russia, and the US involved either as national or collaborative development – is such

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The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation successfully tested a hypersonic waverider prototype called Starry Sky 2 in August 2018.

an important one,” Feng Zhu, a senior researcher at a state-sponsored research institute, told AMR. “Of these, China, Russia, and the US appear to be the furthest along with their development and have performed significant testing in recent years,” explained Zhu, noting that Russia’s airlaunched, nuclear-capable Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile has a claimed range and maximum speed of more than 2,000km and Mach 10. “[As such], the recent Chinese test of a hypersonic vehicle is concerning for

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the US military regardless of whether it is a missile or spacecraft because the feat demonstrates that China is likely further ahead in operationalising this capability,” he added. “China is clearly committed to accelerating hypersonic technology development, although most of its development efforts remain highly classified.”

Indeed, Zhu noted that the country has poured significant investments into maturing hypersonic flight and testing capabilities for at least the past decade, with its primary science and technology

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A glide vehicle model undergoes testing in a hypersonic wind tunnel in a special feature on Chinese state television.

agencies aligned with Beijing’s desire to develop advanced weapons for its military.

One such example is the experimental DF-ZF HGV, which had reportedly been tested on at least eight occasions since it was first documented in 2014. Earlier reports have suggested that a DF-ZF prototype – which was earlier identified by the US Department of Defense (DoD) as the WU-14 and is believed to comprise a DF-17 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with a HGV payload – successfully completed a November 2017 demonstration from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) in Inner Mongolia. The HGV reportedly travelled approximately 1,400 km following its atmospheric re-entry phase, achieving speeds of over Mach 9 (11,265km/h) during its flight.

The DF-17 MRBM system was first revealed to the public on 1 October 2019 during the 70th anniversary military parade to mark the country’s founding.

The maximum estimated range for the DF17 varies in open sources from 1,800km to 2,500km. US intelligence sources reportedly noted that at least several DF-17 test flights were conducted by the PLAARF in November 2017.

Defence industrial capabilities The state-owned space and defence technology prime China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) appears to be front-runner

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in China’s hypersonic weapons development race, with its flight technology development arm China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA) announcing in August 2018 it had successfully developed and tested an experimental HGV called Xing Kong2 (Starry Sky-2). It is understood that the test vehicle was launched by a solidpropellant rocket supplied by the Fourth Academy of the China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation (CASIC), also known as the CASIC Delivery Technology Technical Research Institute.

According to CAAA, the internally funded demonstration was aimed at validating core technologies that are vital to hypersonic flight, with the research institute noting that the test vehicle was subsequently recovered in its complete state at a designated landing zone.

“The test has laid a solid technological foundation for engineering applications of the waverider-type design,” the institute said in its statement, adding that the effort has enabled its technical staff to acquire valuable performance and telemetry data for further refinement of indigenous hypersonic aerodynamics such as microvortex generation, as well as other critical elements including flight control and guidance, payload separation, propulsion, and thermal protection technologies.

According to CASC, the test vehicle has been in internally funded development since around 2015 and was

| Asian Military Review |

launched from a facility in north-western China (likely JSLC). It separated from the booster rocket following a 10-minute ascent and controlled transition, engaging its own propulsion system to perform independent flight for over 400 seconds and attaining a maximum claimed speed of Mach 6 and flight ceiling of 30km (18.6 miles). The demonstration, which was aimed at validating core technologies that enable hypersonic flight, was deemed “completely successful” with CAAA claiming that the test vehicle was subsequently recovered in its complete state at a pre-designated landing zone.

CAAA operates several hypersonic wind tunnels aimed at determining the aero-elastic properties of aircraft travelling at hypersonic speeds, including the FD-02, FD-03, and FD-07. The FD-02 is believed to be capable of generating a simulated range of Mach 3.5 to 8, while the FD-03 and FD-07 can simulate speeds of between Mach 5 to 10 and Mach 5 to 12 respectively.

Other Chinese government-owned hypersonic research institutes also exist, with the State Key Laboratory of Gas Dynamics being the most prominent.

The institute has operated the JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel – which is capable of simulating conditions at speeds up to Mach 9 – since 2012. Its new JF-22 hypersonic wind tunnel is expected to be ready for use in 2022 and is reportedly designed to be capable of simulating conditions for vehicles travelling at speeds of up to Mach 30 at altitudes between 40km (24.8miles) and 100km (62miles).

Testing for success Just weeks after CASC’s Starry Sky-2 demonstration, the Institute of Mechanics at the government-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) also carried out atmospheric tests with three hypersonic vehicle models, with state-owned television channel CCTV 7 reporting that the tests were completed successfully.

According to CCTV7, the three test vehicles were carried to a high altitude by a specially designed balloon before being released and free-falling back to the surface at speeds in excess of Mach 1.

Although no official details were disclosed, visual analysis of CCTV footage revealed that the scale vehicle models – each around 6.5 feet (2 metres) long with a wingspan of about 5ft (1.5m) – adopted different aerodynamic configurations, with one featuring a delta form and single vertical tail fin (D18-1S), another with

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Following the launch of Starry Sky 2 in August 2018, China conducted additional testing with three hypersonic vehicle models at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre a month later.

twin vertical fins (D18-2S) and the third with the vehicle body underslung beneath the wing (D18-3S).

While the test vehicles were unlikely to have achieved hypersonic speeds given their unpowered gravity launch method, but Chinese media reports have indicated that the demonstration was intended to gather comparative data on the vehicles’ flight performance characteristics when operating at speeds around the sound barrier.

“The reports seem to suggest that the tests had been designed to assess airframe performance around the sound barrier and low supersonic speeds,” said Zhu. “This design approach may reflect that China is developing a hypersonic weapon capable of operating in a wide range of speeds,” he further explained.

“For example, the vehicles could transit to the target area at hypersonic speeds

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which would minimise time for reaction, but slowing down in the terminal phase of the engagement to improve targeting accuracy.”

Powering hypersonic ambitions China has also made significant strides in developing other enabling technologies, particularly in the realm of propulsion systems. For instance, IMCAS claimed in mid-2020 that it had successfully performed ground testing of an indigenous scramjet engine that lasted 600 seconds, according to an official statement that has since been removed from its website but reported widely by authoritative local media.

According to IMCAS, a prototype scramjet built by a team led by the Princeton-educated scientist Fan Xuejun – one of its top state academicians – broke the current world record of 210 seconds of

| Asian Military Review |

continuous scramjet engine burn held by the United States with its X-51A waverider prototype in May 2013.

A scramjet had accelerated the X-51A to a final speed of Mach 5.1 (6,247km/h) before the craft’s fuel load was expended and glided to a programmed impact in the Pacific Ocean.

Local reports indicated that Fan, an expert in special fuels and engine cooling technologies, had also been instrumental in the construction of China’s first test facility for active cooling technologies in Beijing’s Huairou district. The district is also home to the Huairou Science City, which is expected to support the country’s leading public and private technology research and development organisations.

China is also developing turbinebased combined cycle (TBCC) engines that can be used during the launch and hypersonic phases of flight, although the challenges of thermal management have yet to be fully addressed.

However, it appears that the country has made significant strides on hypersonic-capable precooled aerospace engine technology with the influential Beihang University – previously known as the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) – leading the charge and securing a National Award for Excellence in Innovation nomination in May 2020.

Additionally, materials used to construct hypersonic weapons must be carefully selected to ensure that they resist deformation or warping due to the harsh aerothermal environment associated with extreme-speed flight within the atmosphere. Suitable materials for such demanding applications include carbonbased composite materials or ceramic metal composites (CMC), which would typically form part of the outer shell of the airframe to protect the rest of the vehicle during hypersonic transit and/or atmospheric re-entry.

China has certainly been actively involved in advanced materials research to meet a broad spectrum of commercial and military requirements, with recent announcements would indicate that work has progressed on high-temperature CMC materials. In this regard, Chinese researchers appear to have made some progress, with the state-owned newspaper Global Times reporting in April 2020 that a new heat-resistant material that can “endure temperatures of over 3,000 °C from friction caused by a Mach 5-20 flight within the atmosphere”. AMR

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