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5 days ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
China’s nuclear power construction is booming, yet the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) harbours growing concerns about how Chinese reactors will fare in a conflict. Last month, Beijing greenlit 10 new reactors, bringing the total number of operational and under-construction commercial reactors to 102 – more than any other country. All of these plants are along the coast, with some in geopolitically sensitive areas, such as the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
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6 days ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
China’s hypersonic weapons can travel at extreme speeds of up to Mach 20, strike global targets within half an hour and even be launched from space, according to a new study. Researchers from the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) summarised the capabilities and vulnerabilities of China’s re-entry glide missiles, revealing they can travel up to 21,000km/h (13,000 miles per hour) in high altitudes within the atmosphere.
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1 week ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
In a naval combat simulation conducted by Chinese researchers, an anti-ship missile targets a fleet of eight People’s Liberation Army warships showing on its radar. But it is not an armada – it is just a single vessel. Four electronic warfare devices circling the ship created the illusion, sending signals that could deceive even an advanced radar from a distance. It was developed by a team from the Beijing Research Institute of Telemetry, an aerospace defence contractor.
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1 week ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
Chinese government scientists have released the results of a weather modification experiment in the dry western region of Xinjiang. A fleet of cloud seeding drones increased rainfall by over 4 per cent across more than 8,000 sq km (3,089 sq miles) in a day, according to the project team led by Li Bin, senior engineer with the China Meteorological Administration.
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1 week ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
Researchers at one of China’s top defence electronics institutes say they can track advanced US stealth radars to the centimetre using modified commercial detection gear, a development that would have the potential to change the dynamics of electronic warfare.
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2 weeks ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
China is developing an ambitious undersea network to improve navigation, provide real-time environmental monitoring, and potentially track submarines and drones. The sprawling network of floating and submerged buoys and sea floor nodes is a bid to expand Beijing’s maritime influence but also fill the gaps in existing underwater observation systems. Dubbed the “Underwater BeiDou” – China’s satellite navigation system – the project is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
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2 weeks ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
Chinese scientists have reached a milestone in directed-energy weapon technology, successfully testing a compact high-power microwave (HPM) system capable of firing over 10,000 times without failure, according to a new study. The feat leverages the latest vacuum-sealing technologies in China’s high-end manufacturing sector to overcome long-standing barriers in HPM durability and miniaturisation, with potential to shift the balance in the global race for next-generation warfare systems.
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3 weeks ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
As US-China tensions simmer over submarine operations in the South China Sea, Chinese space scientists have unveiled a breakthrough in magnetic detection technology that could tip the balance in underwater warfare. A drone-mounted quantum sensor system, tested successfully in offshore trials, achieved picotesla precision to track magnetic anomaly and map seabed resources while overcoming some severe practical limitations of existing devices, researchers disclosed in a peer-reviewed paper.
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3 weeks ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
The designers of China’s J-36 stealth fighter are working on a computer system that will help pilots achieve the difficult and dangerous manoeuvre of landing a sixth-generation jet on a moving aircraft carrier, according to a research paper. The tri-engine, tailless flying-wing behemoth sent shock waves through global defence circles when it was spotted in December soaring over the mega city of Chengdu in southwest China.
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3 weeks ago | 
scmp.com | Stephen Chen
Chinese researchers have successfully detonated a hydrogen-based explosive device in a controlled field test, triggering devastating chemical chain reactions without using any nuclear materials, according to a study published last month. The 2kg (4.4lbs) bomb generated a fireball exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than two seconds – 15 times longer than equivalent TNT blasts – without using any nuclear materials, it said.
