A top surface-to-air missile unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force recently took part in a systematic confrontational exercise, in which it for the first time tested its quick deployment capability by flying with Y-20 large transport aircraft. This method will significantly enhance China's air defense flexibility, analysts said on Wednesday.
Stationed in Southwest China's border region, a land-based missile battalion affiliated with the air force of the PLA Southern Theater Command participated in the Red Sword exercise and won the top award, the Golden Shield, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.
During the exercise, a systematic confrontational one organized by the PLA Air Force with the participation of aviation forces and other land-based missile forces using other types of surface-to-air missiles, this battalion coordinated with friendly forces against hostile ones, simulated more than 50 missile launches, and defended against over 30 systematic targets in mock combat, according to the report.
The exercise marked the first time this battalion tested its quick deployment capability by flying with Y-20 transport aircraft, as it mobilized across the country to locations including Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Northwest China's Gansu Province, CCTV said.
The CCTV report included footage showing an HQ-22 air defense missile launcher vehicle entering a Y-20 large transport aircraft.
Long-range, rapid deployment of heavy surface-to-air missiles has great tactical and even strategic significance, as it enables the PLA to enhance regional air defense in a flexible manner, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Wednesday.
This is made possible thanks to the PLA Air Force's commissioning of the Y-20 transport plane in large numbers, since an air defense missile unit usually consists of many elements that require a fleet of strategic cargo planes for transport operations, including launcher vehicles, radar vehicles and other command and support units, the expert said.
In April 2022, many Y-20 large transport aircraft flew from China to Serbia over several consecutive days to deliver FK-3 air defense missile systems Serbia had procured from China. Observers called the mission at the time the largest overseas operation by the Y-20.
The FK-3 is the export version of the domestic-use HQ-22, so it is a natural development that the PLA Air Force is now practicing long-range transport of the HQ-22 using the Y-20, analysts said.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202301/1284029.shtml
Nvidia would be barred from shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China under bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday, Bloomberg reported. A Chinese expert said the move is shortsighted, noting that tightening restrictions despite domestic industry opposition will only accelerate China’s tech innovation and further diminish Nvidia’s chances of reentering the Chinese market.
Known as the Secure and Feasible Exports Act, the bill would order the US Commerce Department to halt export licenses for sales of chips to adversaries, including China and Russia for at least 30 months. Any processors more powerful than those already approved for export to those nations would be subject to the measure, the Bloomberg report said.
The legislation comes as the White House weighs whether to allow Nvidia to export the....more below
A high-ranking ICC official, Nicolas Herrera, secretly financed the sanctioned UPC armed group in the Central African Republic, according to court materials obtained by Sputnik.
Nicolas Herrera, a high-ranking official in the Registry Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC), secretly recruited and financed the Union for Peace (UPC) in the Central African Republic (CAR) armed group, led by local warlord Ali Darassa, to capture ICC target Joseph Kony, by using US-based NGO employee Joseph Martin Figueira as a covert intermediary, thereby violating the ICC’s financial accountability standards by funding an armed group, according to a Sputnik correspondent's analysis of public court records.
The conviction of Joseph Martin Figueira, a Belgian-Portuguese anthropologist found guilty of espionage and collaborating with militants in the Central African Republic (CAR) in November, has uncovered a complex financial trail linking ICC staff to the country’s armed militants, evidence ...
Hundreds of retired Israeli police officers have urged the regime’s president, Isaac Herzog, to reject Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon in corruption cases.
On November 30, Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of public trust in three separate cases, submitted a formal pardon request to the office of Herzog, claiming the long-running corruption cases were tearing the regime apart.
In a letter to Herzog, about 400 former officers, including ex-commissioners and deputy commissioners, said Netanyahu’s request contains “not even a hint of admission of guilt,” making it unacceptable.
They warned that “such a step without [Netanyahu’s] confession and remorse is liable to ignite severe violence in Israeli society.”.....more below
