Latest news with #PeterLayton
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China's sixth-gen fighters: fresh photos hint at cruising capacity and drone control
Fresh photographs of China's two sixth-generation fighter jets, the Chengdu J-36 and Shenyang J-50, have revealed more clues about the warplanes, including their potential cruising capacity and ability to work with combat drones, according to defence experts. Advertisement The latest image of the larger J-36 fighter , which started circulating on social media on Saturday, offers the closest look at the mysterious jet so far. The photo, the first to show the aircraft on the ground, shows the jet parked on a tarmac at what appears to be Chengdu Aircraft Corporation's main plant in Sichuan province. The background matches the facility from which the J-36 has been seen departing multiple times over the past six months. A week earlier, a high-definition photo of the J-36 in test flight surfaced online. The image, which appears to have been taken with a DSLR camera, offers the clearest airborne view of the fighter to date. Peter Layton, a retired Australian air force officer and visiting fellow at Brisbane's Griffith Asia Institute, said the latest image confirmed the J-36's three weapons bays – one large and two smaller – and the dorsal intake for the third engine. Advertisement He added that the third engine was 'probably the same as the other two rather than some exotic engine such as ramjet'. That suggests it is there to provide the additional thrust needed for cruising at supersonic speeds – something two engines alone probably cannot achieve, according to Layton.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's drone attack the latest in a series of daring David versus Goliath hits against Russian targets
Ukraine's large-scale drone attack on Russian air bases thousands of miles behind the front lines is the latest in a long line of daring missions by Ukraine's forces against its giant neighbor. The operation, more than a year and a half in the making, involved drones being smuggled into Russian territory and hidden in wooden mobile houses atop trucks, according to a source in the SBU, Ukraine's domestic intelligence agency. The strikes caused an estimated $7 billion in damages and hit 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers at its main air bases, the source said. The assault also showed that Ukraine still has the ability to pressure Russia even as Moscow ramps up its own attacks and offensive operations. Here's a look at some of the Ukrainian force's most significant hits during the war: Analysts have called Ukraine's Sunday drone attack on the bomber bases the most significant by Kyiv since the beginning of the war. More than 40 aircraft were known to have been hit in the operation, according to an SBU security source, including TU-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers and one of Russia's few remaining A-50 surveillance planes. The Tu-22M3 is Russia's long-range missile strike platform that can perform stand-off attacks, launching missiles from Russian airspace well behind the front lines to stay out of range of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire. Russia had 55 Tu-22M3 jets and 57 Tu-95s in its fleet at the beginning of the year, according to the 'Military Balance 2025' from the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. The Tu-95 joined the Soviet Union air force in the 1950s, and Russia has modified them to launch cruise missiles like the Tu-22. Military aviation expert Peter Layton said the loss of the bombers, which could carry the heaviest and most powerful cruise missiles, mean Russia will need to rely more on drones for future attacks on Ukraine. Outside the immediate air war, the attack on the air bases will be a major distraction for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center, now a military analyst in Hawaii. 'Putin will direct more resources to internal security after such a domestic security failure,' Schuster said. 'Ukraine was able to deploy dozens of containers with drones to within line of sight of major Russian strategic bases and launch massive air strikes. Can you imagine explaining that one to Putin?' One of Ukraine's first major wins was the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the pride of Russia's Black Sea fleet, in the early months of war. The Moskva was one of the Russian Navy's most important warships and its sinking represented a massive blow to Moscow's military, which at the time was struggling against Ukrainian resistance 50 days into Putin's invasion. In April, 2022, Ukraine's Operational Command South claimed the Moskva had begun to sink after it was hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. Russia, meanwhile said a fire broke out on the guided-missile cruiser, causing munitions aboard to explode, inflicting serious damage to the vessel, and forcing the crew of the warship to be evacuated. Analysts said its loss struck hard at the heart of the Russian navy as well as national pride, comparable to the US Navy losing a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today. What followed was a string of naval defeats for Moscow's Black Sea Fleet. In early 2024, six sea drones, powered by jet skis, felled a Russian guided missile ship, the Ivanovets. Night-time footage released by the Ukrainians showed Russians firing at the drones as they raced toward the Ivanovets, before at least two drones struck the side of the ship, disabling it and causing massive explosions. Built following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, the 12-mile Kerch bridge was a vital supply line for Moscow's war effort in Ukraine and a personal project for Putin, embodying his objective to bind the peninsula to Russia. Russia built the bridge at a cost of around $3.7 billion In July, 2023, Ukrainian security services claimed to have blown up the bridge using an experimental sea drone. The attack caused damage to the road lanes of the bridge, and, according to Russian officials, killed two civilians. The head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, told CNN at the time that the Kerch attack was a joint operation with the Ukrainian navy. The bridge is a critical artery for supplying Crimea with both its daily needs and supplies for the military. A number of high profile Russian military figures have been killed inside the country over the past year. Crucially, Ukraine has never claimed the killings but it is notable that many of those killed played prominent roles in Moscow's . Last month, Russian deputy mayor and prominent veteran of the war, Zaur Aleksandrovich Gurtsiev, was killed in an explosion in southern Russia. Russian authorities said they were investigating all options into the killing, 'including the organization of a terrorist attack' involving Ukraine. Gurtsiev had been involved in the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which destroyed about 90% of residential buildings, according to United Nations estimates. Gurtsiev had 'introduced his developments in the technology of targeting missiles, which allowed them to increase their accuracy and effectiveness many times over,' according to the 'Time of Heroes' program. In April, Russian authorities charged a 'Ukrainian special services agent' with terrorism, after he was detained in connection with a car explosion that killed Russian General Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. And in February Armen Sarkisyan, the founder of a pro-Russian militia group in eastern Ukraine – described by authorities in Kyiv as a 'criminal mastermind' – died following a bombing in central Moscow. The bombing took place in an upmarket residential complex in the capital city, Russian state media outlet TASS reported at the time. Ukraine has never claimed the killings but it is notable that high-profile figures have been assassinated in Russian territory.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Torpedo Washes Ashore, Aussie Beach on 'Lockdown' (Video)
On the shores of the Main Beach, on Australia's Gold Coast, about 17 clicks north of Snapper Rocks, a curious piece of debris washed ashore, sparking a 'lockdown.' It was a torpedo, one used by the Royal Australian Navy against submarines, which had been floating in the water for months before arriving on the sand, and was allegedly used in a training exercise. Still, out of caution, after the Australian Defense Force was called in and confirmed it was one of their own, officials cleared the beach of civilians. Luckily, nobody was blown to bits. 'It's a Mark 24 torpedo,' said Dr. Peter Layton of the Griffith Asia Institute. 'It's a sophisticated underwater guided missile, if you will. You would not want one of those guidance systems being handed over to an unfriendly country.'According to the news report, Australia purchased 200 of these submarine-sinking missiles from the United States 15 years ago. And during training exercises, which officials are saying this one was used in, the explosive is typically swapped for a lead weight. Dr. Layton continued: 'The lead weight was dropped, and the torpedo floated to the surface, where it is buoyant. It's just a few meters long, weighs about 200 kilograms. It is relatively difficult to find. It is surprising, though, that they didn't find it, and surprising that it ended up here.' The Mark 24 (also called FIDO) was developed by the United States, and used by Allied forces, during WWII. Hailed as the first American homing torpedo, it was primarily utilized as a deterrent against the dreaded German U-Boats. And, according to the FIDO missiles sunk around 37 German and Japanese submarines since its inception in 1943.
