China says 2 pilots died in aircraft carrier tests

BEIJING (AP) — Two Chinese test pilots were killed during development of the country's first aircraft carrier fighter wing, state media said, in a rare admission of problems with the hugely popular naval program.

The admission came in a report by the official Xinhua News Agency saying President Xi Jinping had signed an order awarding honorary titles to all pilots in the first squadron to conduct take-off and landing tests aboard the Liaoning, China's only aircraft carrier.

"Two test pilots of the squadron sacrificed their lives during the tests," the report said. No details were given.

The original Xinhua report ran Aug. 28, but went largely overlooked at the time. It was picked up by U.S. defense blogs and linked Friday to the blog of the U.S. Naval Institute.

Carrier flight operations are inherently risky, and the loss of two pilots is far from unusual. However, China's military still operates under a shroud of secrecy and no deadly accidents relating to the carrier had been reported at the time.

[Yahoo]

look like the hull from the T-series tank while the turret is the copy of American M1 front and British challenger sides

Captain Patricia Yapp Syau Yin


soon MiG will be retired. Wonder if she will move on to commercial aviation or fly the next batch of new jets

The new ones will move into the new jets I guess

Next year will announce which jets will replace mig

if u want low, i would prefer the K2 design, slight heavier by rough weight 55 ton and lower or higher its suspension height
Best of all, got cooperation with Turkey   
plus side, it look bad ass compared to the traditional slope turret designt 

today no exercise?

K2 is 4th gen, mbt300 is 3rd gen    of course it would be more complex or bigger plus more expensive    (most expensive tank)

if you want smaller, of course the other would be the Type 10. But by far, I still like the K2.

No more exports ban liao.
type 10 ftw.

compared to the japan type 10 which also japan declare themselves 4th gen.. almost same capabilities

sold to turkey ad?   

the turret design will be diff only but the auto loader mechanism and the hull will based on the K2.
The only real major problem with the K2 compared to the type 10 would be it powerpack and transmission. Underpowered and unreliable

That why, Turkey was interested in the type 10 powerpack but Japan say dont want    But tat was before the export ban lifted, now not sure how,

M1A3 coming out soon. US say is gen 3++/4th, then we can do better comparison

Turbine engine suspected is to replaced with standard diesel (guess US canot tahan makan minyak like hell ad)

and possible return of the autoloader reducing crew to 3 man

the turbine T-80 was hated by the russian due to poor on site maintenance capabilities and kuat makan minyak, in end they swap for traditional diesel 

US also canot afford ad, there on budget report back in 2012 iinm saying reduce on board time on M1 during training to lower fuel consumption. That why, get more tank simulator to replace real training

What happen to philippine frigate acquisition?? So long still no news??

Guys do u all think buying kora class corvette from india is gd idea??  basically an enlarged version of vietnam molniya missile spam boat, 16 kh35 missile with 130km range, if conflict rly happen i think like 12 of these missile spam corvettes would be more scary than 6 sgpvs, and wikipedia say each ship 40million usd(wtf) but i think that is outdated prices and may or may not include weapons. and its indian, indian relationship w china not that good i think. so, gud idea??   

Most likely KK airport 

since tat the closest to South china sea and alot of US militray aircraft have landed there before

I was thinking kk because that the closest edge to south china sea, well labuan is another option

china wont be too happy about this since it almost their backyard 

I was thinking kk because that the closest edge to south china sea, well labuan is another option

china wont be too happy about this since it almost their backyard 

One missile only wont sink a ship, deswai nowadays adopt saturation attack

Pls dont misunderstood...... cruise missile not to sink a ship, its only to paralyse the ship. The true weapon to sink a ship is a heavy weight torpedo.

One missile is enough to 'stop' the ship.... the shake by missile is enough to damage the combat system.