Apple to close business in China

Yesterday, Apple announced that it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June in “an entirely new online format” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook tweeted on Saturday that the company will temporarily close all of its retail stores outside China until 27 March in a bid to "prevent the spread of COVID-19", also known as the coronavirus.

The announcement comes after Apple said in a statement on Friday that “as of today, all of our stores in Greater China have reopened”.

In our workplaces and communities, we must do all we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Apple will be temporarily closing all stores outside of Greater China until March 27 and committing $15M to help with worldwide recovery. https://t.co/ArdMA43cFJ

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 14, 2020

In the statement, Apple also pointed out that it is “taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers” now that “rates of new infections continue to grow in other places”.

“Extensive, deep cleaning will continue at all sites. In all our offices, we are rolling out new health screenings and temperature checks”, the statement stressed, adding that Apple is “matching our employee donations two-to-one to support COVID-19 response efforts locally, nationally, and internationally”.

Apple also announced that it "will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) scheduled for June in “an entirely new online format”.

The WWDC is typically held to announce Apple’s new products and software features.

Earlier, it was reported that the first day of this year’s conference will see the presentation of new versions of the operating systems iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there are already more than 145,000 confirmed Corona virus cases in 123 countries across the world. The death toll currently stands at 5,429, with the number of those who have recovered now exceeding 71,700.

What May Help China's J-20 Warplane Dominate US F-35 According to Experts in Air Force technology in USA,China and Russia

The fifth-generation Chinese Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter, which entered service in 2017, is touted in China as a warplane capable of getting the better of the sophisticated US F-22 Raptor.

In an article for The National Interest on Thursday, the US magazine’s contributor Mark Episkopos focused on the advanced armaments of the Chinese stealth jet fighter J20, which he claimed may help it “dominate America's [state-of-the-art] F-35 [warplane]”.

The author recalled that among other things, the J-20 is armed with four long-range PL-15 missiles, which are equipped with active electronically scanned radars and feature a reported maximum range of up to 300 kilometres.

Two J-20 stealth fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force performs during the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China 2018, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Zhuhai city, south China's Guangdong province

Episkopos claimed that the PL-15’s “impressive specifications place it in the ranks of the top air-to-air missiles along with the European Meteor missile and Russian K-37M”.

According to him, the Chinese missile’s range is much higher than that of the US-made AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) counterpart, which is estimated to be 180 kilometres or less.

“The American F22 and F35 Jet fighters are now equipped with the latest AIM 120-D missiles, but a massive range deficit remains nonetheless. The challenge of the PL-15 comes on the heels of questions about the uncertain future of the aging AMRAAM system”, Episkopos noted.

In this context, he cited US Army Captain James Stoneman as saying in an interview with The National Interest that currently, “there is no program of record for a follow-on” and that the US military is “probably close to maxing it out”.

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F-35

Episkopos added that as for the PL-10, it may be called “China’s response” to the short-range AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder missiles that the US sells to Taiwan.

“It is a bigger long-term concern”, the author goes on to say, that both the PL-10 and the PL-15 are “reportedly built with the latest anti-jamming technology at a time when the AIM-9X and AIM-120D are perceived as increasingly vulnerable to modern digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jamming techniques”.

He concludes the piece by pointing out that with many details about the J-20’s characteristics “still unknown”, “the juxtaposition of the PL-15 and PL-10 inside the J-20’s frame can become a stark concern for the United States and some of its regional allies who continue to rely on aging AMRAAM technology”.

According to intelligence reports;US Mulls Producing Decoy Missiles to Confuse Enemy Air Defences which seen as a counter action against China and Russian successes in this field

The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) plans to clinch a contract with the American company Raytheon for the production of the Navy's Miniature Air Launch Decoy (MALD-N) missiles, defence news website Jane’s reports.

According to the news outlet, “no potential contract value, timeline, or MALD-N numbers” have been disclosed.

At the same time, Jane’s reported that NAVAIR is due “to issue a cost plus incentive-fee contract to Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) for the commencement of low-rate initial production (LRIP) for the naval derivative of the US Air Force's (USAF's) ADM-160C MALD-Jammer (MALD-J) system”.

The MALD system’s goal is to confuse enemy air defence systems by duplicating friendly flight profiles and radar signatures of a manned fighter jet or a bomber.  

Jane’s notes that the MALD-J “provides for an additional electronic warfare capability to actively jam enemy air defences, and is the basis for the US Navy's (USN's) MALD-N derivative”.

MALD missiles can be launched from any warplane capable of carrying the Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). Those aircraft include the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the F-35C Lightning II.

NAVAIR’s moves come after media reports in August 2018 said that the Pentagon reported a series of successful tests of MALD-N missiles carried out at Point Mugu in California.

NAVAIR’s current decision followed the National Security and Counterintelligence Centre's introduction of a strategy for 2020–2022 that ranks China and Russia as major threats.

“The United States is facing increasingly aggressive and complex threats from foreign intelligence services, as well as state and non-state actors”, the centre’s director, Bill Evanina, noted in an introduction to the strategy document.

The US Space Force has started operating a new offensive weapon system: an upgraded version of the ground-based satellite communications jamming system used to block adversary satellite transmissions.

The US Space Force has started operating a new offensive weapon system: an upgraded version of the ground-based satellite communications jamming system used to block adversary satellite transmissions.

The so-called Counter Communications System (CCS) was introduced in the US Air Force in 2004. The updated version, called CCS Block 10.2, reached initial operational capability on March 9 and is now operated by the Space Force.

— SMC (@AF_SMC) March 11, 2020

​"CCS is the only offensive system in the United States Space Force arsenal," Lieutenant Colonel Steve Brogan, the Combat Systems branch materiel leader within the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center's Special Programs Directorate, is quoted as saying in January by the drive. "This upgrade puts the 'force' in Space Force and is critical for Space as a warfighting domain."

The Space Force was established last December as the space warfare branch of the US Armed Forces, and is part of the Department of the Air Force.

The system has gone through several iterations. 

“CCS has had incremental upgrades since the early 2000s, which have incorporated new techniques, frequency bands, technology refreshes and lessons learned from previous block upgrades," Major Seth Horner, the CCS B10.2 Program Manager, said in January. "This specific upgrade includes new software capabilities to counter new adversary targets and threats."

While the Block 10.1 version introduced in 2014 consisted of seven systems, the Block 10.2 version will be made up of 16 systems.

Although details on exactly how the CCS functions aren’t clear, it is believed to be a jamming system that stops transmissions from adversary communication satellites.

The latest upgrade was completed by L3Harris Technologies, an American technology company and defense contractor.

During a March 4 House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing, Space Force Vice Commander Lieutenant General David Thompson told law makers the new branch was working on developing technologies "to protect and defend" America.

"We began prototyping and demonstrating and preparing for what I’ll call abilities to protect and defend our assets, and we did that extensively in the budget in [fiscal year 2020]," he said. “In [fiscal year 2021], we are now taking steps to extend that across the fleet, as well as look at other capabilities to be able to continue to defend those assets that we have and defend adversary use of space."

The US Department of Defense has awarded three multimillion-dollar contracts as it embarks on a two-year design competition to bring mobile nuclear microreactors to US military troops in an effort to keep up with nuclear developments made by Russia and China.

The US Department of Defense has awarded three multimillion-dollar contracts as it embarks on a two-year design competition to bring mobile nuclear microreactors to US military troops in an effort to keep up with nuclear developments made by Russia and China.
A total of $39.7 million in contracts was split between three companies on Monday by the Pentagon, initiating a two-step plan to bring nuclear power to US forces in a variety of conditions.
According to the March 9 Department of Defense news release , the Virginia-based BWX Technologies was awarded $13.5 million, $14.3 million was issued to Westinghouse Government Services of Washington, DC, and Maryland’s X-energy received $11.9 million from the Pentagon.
The nuclear power effort comes as part of Project Pele , a “mobile microreactor program using a two-phased approach to mitigate project and technical risk” that is headed by the Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO).
Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Robert Carver told Defense News that Project Pele “involves the development of a safe, mobile and advanced nuclear microreactor to support a variety of Department of Defense missions such as generating power for remote operating bases.”
He explained that the three companies will be given a “two-year design-maturation period” before the Pentagon chooses which company will develop and demonstrate a prototype.
“The United States risks ceding nuclear energy technology leadership to Russia and China,” SCO Director Jay Dryer said in the departmental release. “By retaking technological leadership, the United States will be able to supply the most innovative advanced nuclear energy technologies.”
Dr. Jeff Waksman, program manager of Project Pele, was also quoted in the release and said that the Project Pele is unique due to the “reactor’s mobility and safety.”
“We will leverage our industry partners to develop a system that can be safely and rapidly moved by road, rail, sea or air and for quick set up and shut down, with a design which is inherently safe,” he noted.
The Pentagon predicts that the developed microreactors will significantly reduce the department’s investment in power infrastructure and promote the “sustainment of operations for extended periods of time anywhere on the planet.”
According to the Department of Defense’s current estimates, the Pentagon uses “30 terrawatt hours of electricity per year and more than 10 million gallons of fuel per day.”

USA tested it's super gun on Friday

US Army artillery experts recently revealed that a working version of the autoloader designed for the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system should be demonstrated by the end of the year.
According to a report by Military.com , Army leaders on Friday watched the ERCA system launch two rocket-assisted projectiles: a 155-millimeter round and an Excalibur precision-guided round. The projectiles traveled distances of 65 kilometers, which is almost double the range that can be reached by a typical 155-millimeter artillery gun. The test demonstrations took place at the Yuma Proving Ground facility in Yuma, Arizona.
— Ashley Tressel (@ashleytressel) March 6, 2020
"This provides a significantly longer-range capability, so it enables commanders to attack and fight differently," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin told reporters after the demonstration, Military.com reported.
"Our adversaries are artillery-centered formations ... so we are never going to have the same number of cannons as they do, but what we will have is overmatch in terms of range, accuracy and lethality," he said.
Army leaders also believe that the ERCA system could be in service for use by 2023 and include a M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) “howitzer chassis mounted with a 58-caliber length gun tube that fires the new XM113 rocket-assisted projectile,” Military.com reported. The XM113 is a 155-millimeter artillery projectile that can strike at longer ranges than conventional projectiles.
According to Army-Technology.com , the M109A7 is a next-generation artillery system being manufactured by British multinational defense company BAE Systems. The US Army has contracted BAE Systems to build 18 ERCA systems for use by 2023.
Army officials also hope the new autoloader will further improve the ERCA.
"The autoloader will give us the ability to fire at a rate of six-to-10 rounds per minute and deliver that volume of fire to create the effect of mass in large-scale ground combat," Brig. Gen. John Rafferty Jr., director of the Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team at Army Futures Command, is quoted as telling Military.com. "In the year and a half that I have been doing this job, it has matured significantly."
The autoloader, being developed in a laboratory in Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, will undergo demonstrations in December.
"It will demonstrate its ability to take the XM113 off the ready rack in the howitzer, load it into the breech, go grab a supercharged propellent, put that behind it ... and allow the crew to fire the howitzer," Rafferty said.
"The other thing it's got to do, is it has to fuse it and then set the fuse. Right now, it takes two cannoneers and a sergeant watching them to do that, so it is not a simple machine."
The Army also plans to demonstrate the autoloader in conjunction with the ERCA gun in 2021.

U-2 spy planes carry navigational watches capable of finding their way by using Chinese and Russian satellite networks if access to the US GPS network is interrupted.

A US Air Force general has revealed that pilots of the service’s U-2 spy planes carry navigational watches capable of finding their way by using Chinese and Russian satellite networks if access to the US GPS network is interrupted.
When the Air Force’s U-2 “Dragon Lady” spy plane pilots fly on their dizzying, high-altitude missions around the globe, they take with them equipment capable of hijacking the navigational networks of the very countries they’re spying on, a leading US general has revealed.
“My U-2 guys fly with a watch now that ties into GPS, but also BeiDou and the Russian [GLONASS] system and the European [Galileo] system so that if somebody jams GPS, they still get the others,” said Air Combat Command chief Gen. James M. Holmes on Wednesday at a conference in Washington, DC. The remarks were made in response to a question about the Pentagon’s addition of redundancies into its equipment, Defense One reported .
Holmes was short on details, but Defense One noted the Air Force bought 100 Garmin D2 Charlie navigational watches for its U-2 pilots in 2018.
“The D2 Charlie aviator watch will be an integral and functional part of the U-2 pilot’s toolkit,” the company
said in a February 2018 news release .
“Designed with pilots of varying backgrounds and missions, the D2 Charlie aviator watch features a colorful, dynamic moving map which depicts airports, navaids, roads, bodies of water, cities and more, offering greater situational awareness,” the company said. “When the D2 Charlie is paired with Garmin Connect on a connected mobile device, pilots can view weather radar on top of the map display relative to flight plan information.”
However, interest in the ability to tap into different navigational satellite networks is hardly restricted to the Pentagon: studies in 2010 and 2012 noted the practical benefits of being able to reference Russia’s 24 GLONASS satellites and the European Union’s 30 Galileo satellites for quicker and more accurate location data in the event that a direct line of sight to a GPS satellite is blocked, as can happen in urban environments The US operates 31 GPS satellites under the purview of the US Space Force.
“Inclusion of GLONASS observations does offer some significant advantages over GPS-only integrated systems. Although not quantified here, similar results would also be expected by including data from other GNSS [Global Navigation Satellite Systems] as well (e.g., Galileo),” a 2012 study published in the journal Sensors concluded.
China also operates a global navigation satellite system, BeiDou, which consists of two constellations totaling 33 satellites.

US Refuses to Buy $1 Billion Worth of Iron Domes as Israel Rejects Handing Over Source Code

The Iron Dome is one of three layers in Israel’s air defences and is responsible for shooting down short-range missiles like those regularly fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
The US military has reconsidered its plans to buy Israeli Iron Dome air defence systems after facing a number of challenges while studying the first two that they bought.
The Pentagon was planning to spend around $1 billion to buy two more batteries of the system. However, initial tests revealed issues that prevented the Iron Dome from being incorporated into the US Integrated Battle Command System, despite the military initially managing to hook it up to US radars and the Common Aviation Command and Control System during tests in 2019.
"We believe we cannot integrate them into our air defence system based on some interoperability challenges, some cyber challenges and some other challenges", the head of Army Futures Command, General Mike Murray, said during a hearing at the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.
Murray didn't elaborate on the specifics of the challenges, including the one related to interoperability, but according to anonymous sources cited by The Times of Israel, the key problem for the US military was that Israel had refused to provide the source code for the Iron Dome’s software. This, in turn, reportedly prevented the Pentagon from reprogramming it to make it compatible with the American systems.

Now the US military is stuck with two Iron Domes that have already been bought but can't be used to help American troops repel cruise missile attacks and cover this area of the Pentagon's Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept programme.
"So what we’ve ended up having was two stand-alone batteries that will be very capable but they cannot be integrated into our air defence system", Murray explained.
Now the US is looking for a replacement for the Israeli Iron Domes elsewhere. According to General Murray, a "shoot-off" will be organised for both the US and foreign countries' defence industries in order to fill the program by 2023.

Moscow’s first two hypersonic weapons – the Avangard glide vehicle and the air-launched Kinzhal ballistic missile – have already entered into service. In addition, Russia is finalising the development of the Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile. The US, meanwhile, has until recently kept the development of such weapons suspended.
The Pentagon has recently been intensifying its efforts in the development of hypersonic weapons and the means to protect against them . Namely, it plans to carry out tests of a hypersonic missile interceptor in the mid-2020s in a bid to counter new weapons that have been developed by Russia and are currently in development by China.
In addition to this, the US Navy will be spending over $1 billion in 2021 alone on developing hypersonic missiles under the Conventional Prompt Strike programme. According to the project, the US seeks to be able to "attack high-value targets or fleeting targets" at the start of or during a conflict, while not relying on its system of forward-based land or naval forces.

Virginia-Class submarine

The Pentagon began to look into hypersonic weapons back in the 2000s, but suspended most programmes after initial tests failed to show the desired results. Now these projects have received fresh life, since both of the US’ so-called potential "near-peer adversaries", Russia and China, are developing their own hypersonic armaments.
Emphasis on Submarines?
One of the most promising of the Pentagon’s projects in the sphere are hypersonic missiles designed to be fitted on nuclear-powered fast-attack Virginia-class submarines – specifically its latest modification, the Block V. At least 10 vessels of this type will be produced over the next 20 years, each equipped with four Virginia Payload Modules hosting seven bays for vertical launches of the new hypersonic weapon. The same armament is also expected to be used on the Zumwalt-class destroyers in the future.

The future USS Zumwalt heads down the Kennebec River after leaving Bath Iron Works Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, in Bath, Maine

The hypersonic weapon itself consists of a two-stage missile carrier and a special warhead – the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB), which was first tested back in October 2017. Additionally, the C-HGB will be fitted on the ground-based Long Range Hypersonic Weapon system that is designed to operate at a speed of over Mach 5 – far below Mach 27, which Russia’s Avangard gliders reached during tests.
Lagging Behind New Leader in Hypersonics
The situation is not any better for the US when it comes to developing air-based hypersonic missiles. The experimental X-51A Waverider, designed by Boeing, has had a long series of failed tests since 2010. The missile itself has been in development since the middle of the 2000s and has still not reached operational readiness. Its deployment by the US Armed Forces is expected in the middle of the 2020s.

Multi-purpose fighter MiG-31 with the hypersonic Kinzhal rocket on the military parade devoted to the 73rd anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945

During its first successful test in 2013, the Waverider reached a speed of Mach 5 and there has been no information since then about whether its speed will increase in the future. At the same time, its Russian competitor, the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, is capable of traveling at a speed of between Mach 10 and 12.

LOCKHEED MARTIN
US Trying to Catch Up With Russia, China in Hypersonic Arms Development - Defence Department

In other words, the Pentagon's achievements appear bleak in comparison with those of the Russian military . The latter has already deployed its Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile, and is currently finalising the development of the Zircon (NATO reporting name: SS-N-33) anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile.
John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admitted back in 2018 that the US had failed in the field of hypersonic arms research and development, noting that it would take years to regain a leading position.

India has captured a Chinese vessel with material capable of manufacturing nuclear-capable missiles

China has denied allegations that it tried to ship material to Pakistan to help the latter develop nuclear-capable military equipment. The ship was seized by Indian customs on 3 February and defence scientists claimed the material the ship was carrying was meant to manufacture a nuclear arsenal.

India has captured a Chinese vessel with material capable of manufacturing nuclear-capable missiles.    

According to Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, the vessel "Da Cui Yun" was detained by Customs at the port of Kandla in Gujarat while en-route to Port Qasim in Karachi, Pakistan. 

“Our examination has revealed that the item is an autoclave that is controlled under a dual use export controls' list. Therefore the item has been seized by our authorities as per our legal procedures. It has also been ascertained by our examination that this item has military applications", inistry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday in New Delhi.

Indian authorities detained the Chinese vessel when it was docked in Kandla as it had incorrectly declared the item that it was carrying.

The ministry has conveyed New Delhi’s concerns on the issue to China and highlighted that as a friendly country “the Chinese government should take appropriate measures to ensure that Chinese entities do not engage in activities that can contribute to proliferation”.

Nevertheless, Beijing denied the allegation that the seized industrial autoclave from the Chinese ship "Da Cui Yun" was meant for manufacturing “very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets”.

"After seeking the information, we know that this item is actually a heat treatment furnace shell system, produced by a private company in China. This is not for military use and it is not a dual-use item under the non-proliferation and export control", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in Beijing.

On Tuesday, experts from India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) confirmed that New Delhi had seized a Pakistan-bound Chinese ship docked in Kandla on the western coast on intelligence input.

The seized autoclave can be used to manufacture the motor of very long-range missiles with range upwards of 1,500 kilometres as well as space rockets.