2013年12月2日 星期一

由地區和平看東海防空識別區


由地區和平看東海防空識別區

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作者︰Dasein

                中國內地在十一月二十三日單方面宣東海防空識別區﹐台、日、韓、美立即對中方成立東海防空識別區表示不滿。原則上﹐中方成立東海防空識別區就是以國防為理由﹐要所有企圖進入該區的飛機先向中方表明身份。日、韓、美為了在實際上否定東海防空識別區的意義﹐她們都曾派出軍機在無通知中方的情況下進入東海防空識別區內。而台灣亦表明東海防空識別區對她們「不友善」。


(Pic 1︰東海防空識別區與日本防空識別區)

 
(Pic 2︰東海油田)
               
             東海防空識別區在國際間最大的爭議在於它包括了釣魚台(中日爭議地區)、蘇岩礁(中韓爭議地區)和東海油田區域。由於上述三個海域都有主權爭議﹐而台灣北部又幾乎被東海防空識別區包圍﹐所以台、日、美、韓均對中方的行為有相當的反感。

                平心而論﹐中方和其他國家一樣有權成立自已的防空識別區﹐事實上美、日均比中國早四十多年成立防空識別區。而防空識別區的成立本來就是基於國防需要而非法律﹐並無硬性標準﹐更非領空領海問題﹐本應難以非議。那為何各國反應如此緊張呢?那是因為中國無考慮地區軍事平衡問題!

                參照歷史﹐維持國與國之間的和平無非依賴三個因素︰互信、軍事平衡和互相毀滅保證。美國和加拿大的和諧關係就是以互信來達至和平的例子﹐由於美國和加拿大有相似的文化基礎﹐亦有相似的民主程度和價值觀﹐所以美、加一直維持相當友好的關係。走在東亞地區﹐中國和日、韓、台不但有各自的歷史問題、利益和歷史包袱外﹐還有相當程度的政治價值觀不同。因此﹐就實際上來看東亞並沒有太大的基礎互信來維持和平。

 

軍事平衡

                就算沒有太大的互信﹐只要有軍事平衡和一定的經濟互動﹐就可以形成一個「戰是弊多於利」的事實﹐一定程度防止戰爭。馬來西亞和新加坡就是以軍事平衡來達至和平的例子。這樣一個維持和平的方法有一個明顯的特徵﹐那就是易於發生軍備競賽。由於我們必須令對方感到「戰是弊多於利」﹐所以必須有一定的軍事威脅實力。當馬來西亞由波蘭買了PT-91戰車﹐新加波就買了豹-2戰車回應﹐可見她們之間存在微妙的平衡關係。

                明顯地﹐中方和日、韓、台的關係不存在軍事平衡。台灣受制於<<中美三個聯個公報>>而長期缺乏有效的武器更新。事實上﹐中方早已不把台海中線放入眼內﹐而一般軍事家亦會認為台灣和中國開戰將在短時間內失去制海權和制空權。對於日本﹐受制於<<和平憲法>>日本自衛隊欠缺有效的攻擊性武器﹐失對於主動防禦的能力﹐另一方面她純防禦的海、空優力量優勢已經被中方追近。因此﹐日本十分依重<<美日安保條約>>作為安全保證。對於韓國﹐她的攻擊力量為日、台、韓之首﹐可惜美國對韓攻擊性武器有相當的限制﹐而且和中方相比數量差太大﹐難以在攻擊力上和中國平衡。

                如果將日、韓、台視為一體﹐也許東亞仍可算有軍事平衡﹐但日、韓、台仍各有各的心結(獨島、釣魚台問題)而未能同心制衡中國﹐因此她們實力是有不足﹐目前很大程度依賴美國在亞太的軍兵協防。

 

互相毀滅保證

                互相毀滅保證是指雙方均有核戰力來完全地互相毀滅對方。經典的例子是冷戰﹐這是美、蘇在常有利益分歧下沒有開大戰的原因。基本上﹐互相毀滅保證理論亦可以用來預測中、美關係﹐這亦是絕大部份評論認為中、美不可能開戰的原因。

                在東亞的情況來看﹐基本上美、日、台均在美方的核保護傘下﹐只要美國對東亞立場不變﹐想必互相毀滅保證仍會是東亞安全最重大的保證。

 

中方成立東海防空識別區的問題

                雖然有美國的核保護傘保護﹐但作為東海當事國家﹐她們當然希望自己的安全不會只建基於美方的善意之上。事實上﹐台、日、韓亦相當主動建設防禦武力。但是時移勢易﹐中國的軍力不但不是吳下阿蒙而是已經走在世上前列的國家了。因此﹐日、韓均有必要依賴自己的防空識別區以維持戰爭前期的基本優勢。

                中國實力日增﹐卻選擇把防空識別區拉到人家家門﹐在法理上也許沒有問題﹐在實力上考慮更是非常有邏輯﹐卻沒有考慮此舉增加了鄰國的不安。畢竟﹐防空識別區限制了空中防禦的縱深是事實﹐在敵盛已衰的大形勢下﹐對抗中國的東海防空識別區就成了日、韓必須的選擇﹐因為這是性命攸關的問題

                其次﹐遠東在二戰後的不穩中方都有參與引起韓戰是中國的盟友北韓先開打﹐後來中國亦有參戰;九六年台海危機亦是中方對台發射飛彈引發危機。反觀韓、日不但沒有主動攻擊中國的紀録﹐亦沒有攻擊的能力。因此﹐東亞各國就只有中國可以有效威脅別國的本土。

                再說﹐日、台對海路的需求比中國高很多。海路的安全是維持台、日的糧、油和出入口必要的條件。相反﹐中國有陸路可依﹐食物出產又多﹐相對不擔心東海的封鎖。

                總括來說﹐中方成立東海防空識別區或許合法﹐但不合時勢亦無助和平。把遠離本土的釣魚台和蘇岩礁納入東海防空識別區更有挑戰地區現狀的意思。如果有分析家要指「你日本有防空識別區﹐中國也可以有」﹐那日本、台灣、南韓又是否可以擁有中國亦擁有的核武?事實上﹐中國有了核武後本土就不見得有多少外在危險﹐因此「東海防空識別區是否國防需要?」﹐我想讀者可以有自己的判斷。

                我們必須明白﹐在國際上軍事現實需要比公義重要。美國不可能放棄巴拿馬運河、美國不可能容下古巴有蘇聯的飛彈、以色列不可能放棄戈蘭高地。這些都是國家性命攸關的問題﹐生命比法理的光環重要!

 

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ADIZ of East China Sea


 

ADIZ of East China Sea

The Glocal: The Glocal
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Author: Dasein

            China has announced their ADIZ for East China Sea on 23rd Nov, 2013. The US, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have given immediate responses to fight against China’s propose.  Taiwan government said the new ADIZ was not “friendly” to them. Also, the US, Japan and SK intentionally sent their military planes thought the new ADIZ without noticing China.


(Pic 1: East China Sea ADIZ and JAFIZ)

(Pic 2: East China Sea Oil fields)

            In the East China Sea ADIZ, it has included Senkaku Islands, East China Sea oil fields and Socotra Rock. Also, the south part of the ADIZ has covered the north part of Taiwan ADIZ, therefore, Taiwan, Japan, the US and SK were not happy for the new ADIZ.

            It is no doubt that China has the right to set up her own ADIZ, like Japan, Canada and the US. However, China did not take military balance into account, therefore the ADIZ will be bad for ensuring regional peace.  

            In the modern history, we may conclude that there are 3 factors for peace: mutual trust, military balance and Mutual Assured Destruction. It would be hard for the Far East to come up with mutual trust with China because of the difference points of view in democracy, culture and history. Now, we may go through the other 2 factors.

 

Military Balance

            It is possible for us to achieve regional peace if we have military balance and mutual economic benefit. Malaysia and Singapore is one of the examples of military balance. In the situation of military balance, military competition would occur easily. When Malaysia seeked for PT-91 from Poland, then Singapore purchased leopard 2 as a balance weight.

            In the Far East, it would be hard for us to say the region is in military balance. The military power of Taiwan is limited by The Three Communiqué. The Japanese military assault power is limited by her peace constitution. SK’s assault power is limited by the US. Therefore, the sum of assault power of these 3 countries are relatively low and the balance does not exist. It is no way to make China pay the price if China start a war with Japan, SK or Taiwan, if we do not take the US into account.

Mutual Assured Destruction 

            Mutual Assured Destruction means that both parties can kill another will nuclear weapons for sure. Cold War would be a great example to demonstrate how Mutual Assured Destruction can make peace. In theory, China and the US is sharing the same situation as the Cold War.

            If we assume the US will help Japan, SK and Taiwan from China’s threat with her nuclear weapons, we can say the Mutual Assured Destruction exist. However, the regional peace is heavily depends on the stand of the US.

 

The problems of the East China Sea ADIZ

           

            Although Japan, SK and Taiwan can enjoy their safe from the protection of the US, they are all seeking for their own defensive power. However, China is no longer a poor and weak country. In fact, the military power of the China has already been stronger than Japan, SK or Taiwan.

            It could be totally legal for China to set an ADIZ on the large part of the East China Sea, but it could be a bad option for ensuring the regional peace. After all, China is now relatively powerful than any other neighbourhoods in the region, therefore her neighbourhoods have to fight against the new ADIZ to take initial advantages in the war.

            Also, China and her ally North Korea always fire first. In the Korea War, NK started the war and China has taken a part of it. In 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, China has fired missiles to Taiwan as well. However, SK and Japan do not have any firing-first history with China after WW2. They do not have enough assault weapons as well. We can see only China can threat the motherland of others while her neighbourhoods can only stay in defensive position.

                Furthermore, Japan and Taiwan heavily depend on the sea trade. They have to import foods from foreign countries and trade. However, it would be a different story in China. China can support foods for herself and trade by land.

                To sum up, the East China Sea ADIZ could be legal, but not helpful for the regional peace. It is hard to believe Senkaku Islands and Socotra Rock, which are far from mainland China, would be important for China’s air defense. It is obvious that China would like to change the current situation in the East Sea by introducing ADIZ. Some military analysts believed that China had right to introduce ADIZ in the East Sea because Japan has done so. If their theory was right, then is that means Japan can have nuclear weapon to make the game fair?

            We have to understand that military reality is more important than justice sometimes. The US will never give up Panama Canal, the US did not allow USSR missiles in Cuba, and Israel cannot give up Golan Height. It is not about justice, it is about survival!

 

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2013年11月24日 星期日

中國利劍無人機分析

中國利劍無人機分析

The Glocal: http://www.glocal.org.hk/articles/31112
My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E9%BA%A5%E5%85%8B%E9%98%BF%E7%91%9F%E8%BB%8D%E8%81%9E%E7%A4%BE/1374752162749515


作者︰Dasein

            二零一三年十一月二十一日一時左右﹐中國大陸在四川成都某機場成功測評了新銳的匿蹤無人機。[1][2]據網上資料顯示﹐中國內地繼美、英、法後成為少數擁有匿蹤無人機技術並成功試飛的國家。近來中國無人機在遠東地區大為活躍﹐中國在九月就曾派出無人機前往沖繩附近海域﹐引發日本不滿(詳請可以參閱作者另一篇文章)﹐因此英國BBC駐北京記者Martin Patience就有如此分析︰令所有人憂慮的是小小的差池將有可能引發更大的事態。」明顯地﹐大陸的軍事發展將令鄰國擔心地區戰力上的不平衡。

 
 
 
(Picture 1a,b: 利劍)

 

世界匿蹤戰鬥無人機(Stealth UCAV

國家和型號
美國X47B[3]
英國Taranis[5]
法國Dassault nEUROn[6]
中國內地利劍[7]
3.1m
4m
?
?
11.63m
11.35m
9.5m
?
18.92m
9.1m
12.5m
14m
淨重
6350kg
?
4900kg
5488kg(估計)
最大起飛重
20215kg
8000kg(重)
7000kg(共重)
7499kg(估計)
推力
79kN(軍用推力)[4]
29.4kN
40kN
98kN(RD93)[8], 43.15kN(WP7)[9]
推重比
3.9 - 12.44
3.675
5.7-8.16
13.07 – 17.86 (RD93), 5.75 – 7.86 (WP7)

(資料由網上搜集﹐作者製表)


(Picture 2: X47B)



(Picture 3: Taranis)

 
 
(Picture 4: Dassault nEUROn)

 

氣動外形

            大陸的利劍無人機似乎比以往更積極地追求匿蹤效果。和J20匿蹤戰機的中庸設計哲學不同﹐J20選擇安裝前翼﹐放棄一部份匿蹤能力來換取機動性。而利劍無人機則選擇和西方一樣的純匿蹤導向設計。

 

            究竟是甚麼令中方偏離以往「7分匿蹤﹐3分氣動」的設計方針呢?也許是大陸對匿蹤機設計仍在探索階段﹐因此哪個導向的設計都要試試。也許是大陸對匿蹤技術的信心増大了﹐再也不打算要維持一定氣動優勢來買保險!又可能是戰機和無人機的需求不同﹐所以設計才不一樣。無論是哪個原因﹐內地無人機發展將會成為各國軍情單位注視的熱點。

            據中方的說法﹐利劍的任務是針對敵的區域防空系統。面對區域防空系統一般來說只會考慮距外武器(Stand-off Weapons)或低空突撃。按UAV的使用常理來說利劍應該是以投射距外武器任務為主﹐但中方在距外武器的研究一向不甚突出﹐令人不禁懷疑利劍會否有射距外武器以外的任務。

      一般來說﹐UAV並不適合低空飛行﹐因為地型會影響UAV和基地的聯繁訊號(當然仍可用衛星通訊)。但眾所周知中方的潛在對手均和中國相隔一海﹐理論上UAV應該可以在海上低空飛行而沒有通訊問題﹐因此這樣的地理環境給予利劍參與低空任務的可能性。

 

參數

參考維基百科﹐利劍和美國的X-47B有著接近的飛行距離(4000公里)和載酬(約2000公斤)。雖然本人對X47B的參數有所保留﹐但明顯地利劍最少已經在參數上走在科技的尖端。

另外由推重比來看﹐如果利劍採用俄國的RD-93發動機﹐那作者估計的推重比有點高得不太正常。作者的意思不是自認估算有錯﹐我是認為中國和西方對無人機使用哲學有所不同。在戰史中﹐西方傾向以距外武器技術性撃倒對邊防空系統﹐因此無人機並不預期會被敵陸基防空系統纏上(本來要雷達發現匿蹤機就有困難)。因為不需要大量推力餘裕﹐推動比自然足夠就好了。但中方的距外攻撃力被認為比潛在敵人的防空武力差﹐所以中國就有可能用低空穿透來攻擊敵防空系統。如此進取的方法當然為無人機帶來危險﹐特別是來自野戰防空體系的紅外線導引飛彈的攻撃。這樣﹐中方就有理由為無人機追求高推重比﹐以求更高的生存性。

 

 

服役時間

            一般飛機由原型機出現到量產形成戰力(Initial Operation Capability)﹐大概需要10年左右的時間。10年這樣長的時間主要是花在流體力學的評測、減重、可靠性評測、武器系統評測。如果飛機是打算在航母上作業﹐那樣對飛機結構、抗鹽蝕將需要另作測試。

            對於無人機而言﹐也許對飛安的測試可以寬鬆一點﹐但對機載系統和資料鏈系統的要求必然比有人機更多。因為無人機極依賴電子系統的穩定性來維持操作﹐如果電子系統被別國鑽了空子﹐飛機就有可能落入他國手中。到時損失飛機機體價值是小﹐損失技術才是大問題。

            因此﹐如果大陸要避免RQ170事件在利劍身上出現﹐他們也許會付出和有人機相當的研究時間以求萬無一失。

 

 

地區的影響

            無可否認的是﹐不講是韓、日、台都沒有和利劍相似的匿蹤無人機﹐她們亦沒有像利劍一樣的「察打一體」能力。利劍的出現在基礎上減少了中方開戰的代價﹐這樣將令中國的鄰國更加不安。因此﹐未來的軍備競賽不但會加劇﹐而且鄰國亦會增購攻撃性武器﹐以増加中方開戰的人命成本﹐這樣多多少少又會在日本修憲和台灣軍購上產生影響。

 

利劍的初期任務

            作者估計中方遲早會把利劍混編一般無人機逼近一些特殊區域(如金門)。中方有可能先人用利劍進入金門的防空體系之下﹐由一般無人機遠距觀察﹐測試台軍對利劍的偵測距離。後期可能會讓一般無人機在高空、利劍在低空穿過台海中線﹐這可測試台軍空軍對低空利劍的偵測能力﹐也可以測試美軍新型ASEA雷達(此雷達亦裝備在台灣F-16上)對中國匿蹤機的偵測效果。

            長遠而言﹐利劍亦可能像九月時一樣挑戰日本自衛隊的海空偵測系統。

結語︰

            面對利劍的威脅﹐在未來十年間中國的鄰國或會籌建不同波段的雷達系統﹐以技術層面在天空「防漏

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Reference:

[1]:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25033155, Viewed 24th Nov, 2013





[6]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_nEUROn, Viewed 24th Nov, 2013


[8]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimov_RD-33, Viewed 24th Nov, 2013



 
 

New Chinese Stealth UCAV – Sharp Sword


 New Chinese Stealth UCAV – Sharp Sword

The Glocal: http://www.glocal.org.hk/articles/31112
My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E9%BA%A5%E5%85%8B%E9%98%BF%E7%91%9F%E8%BB%8D%E8%81%9E%E7%A4%BE/1374752162749515

Author: Dasein

 

            In 21st Nov, 2013, a new Chinese stealth unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) named Sharp Sword (Chinese: Lijian) was successfully gone through a test fight in Chengdu, China. [1][2] China has been the fourth country that having stealth UCAV in the world. The success of the new Chinese stealth UCAV test flight reminds us that China sent her UAV to the nearby sea of Okinawa in the last September. Martin Patience (reporter of BBC) said "The fear for everybody here is that some small misstep could actually trigger a bigger incident".

 
 
 
(Picture 1a,b: Lijian)

 

Stealth UCAV

Country and Model
US X47B[3]
UK Taranis[5]
France Dassault nEUROn[6]
China Lijian[7]
Height
3.1m
4m
?
?
Length
11.63m
11.35m
9.5m
?
Width
18.92m
9.1m
12.5m
14m
Net Weight
6350kg
?
4900kg
5488kgApprox.
Max Takeoff Weight
20215kg
8000kgWeight
7000kgGross Weight
7499kgApprox.
Thrust
79kNMilitary Thrust[4]
29.4kN
40kN
98kN(RD93)[8], 43.15kN(WP7)[9]
Thrust-to-weight Ratio
3.9 - 12.44
3.675
5.7-8.16
13.07 – 17.86 (RD93), 5.75 – 7.86 (WP7)

(Information: Internet, Table: Author)

 

(Picture 2: X47B)

 

(Picture 3: Taranis)

 

(Picture 4: Dassault nEUROn)

 

Shape

            Lijian has been aggressively designed for stealthiness. In the past, Chinese military stealth plane designs were seeking the balance of stealthiness and maneuverability (for example: J20). However, we can tell that China is now aggressively seeking for stealthiness in Lijian, just like X-47B.

           

            It is important for us to ask why China is changing their stealth plane design from balance to high stealthiness. I believe this has been a new topic for intelligence service worldwide.

            Besides, China has admitted that Lijian will be used to destroy enemy’s area defense system. Nowadays, there are only two common ways fighting against area defense system effectively and efficiently, stand-off weapons and low altitude raid. UAV is generally used to fire stand-off weapons in this case but China is not good at producing stand-off weapons. I believe that Lijian may need to take part in low altitude raid in China’s war plan.

            It is important for us to remember that UAV is no good to be guided in low altitude because of land barriers. However, UAV can still work perfectly in low altitude above the sea.

Therefore, China is possible to use Lijian in most of the potential battle fields in the east of China.

 

Parameters

With reference to wikipedia, Lijian and X-47B is sharing similar range (approx. 4000km) and payload (approx. 2000kg). It is no doubt that Lijian is now on the edge of modern aerospace technology. 

If we assume Lijian is using russian engine RD-93, the thrust-to-weight ratio is unusually high for Lijian. I believe that the exceptionaly high thrust-to-weigth ratio of Lijian is because Lijian is designed for low altitude raid. For western UCAV, they were designed to fire stand-off weapons, therefore it is no point to make their UCAVs super good to run away from enemy missiles. However, in low altitude raid, Lijian could be shot by low level air defense system. The high thrust-to-weight ratio could save Lijian’s “Life” from surface-to-air missiles (SAM), infra-red guided missiles in particular.

 

 

When will Lijian join the force?

            In general, it takes 10 years for a prototype plane ready for mass production and initial operation capability.

            For UAV, they will take extra years for computer reliability and security test. Otherwise, RQ-170 incidence could happen to any other countries again.

 

Regional Effect

            Today, China is the only country that having stealth UCAV in the region. It is no doubt that Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are worrying for Lijian, because Lijian reduces the price for starting a war. In the foreseeable future, Lijian will lead to regional military competition, also countries in the Far East will purchase more assault weapons in order to threat against China. In a long run, Lijian will bond with Japan constitutional reform and Taiwan weapon purchase.

 

The possible first mission for Lijian

            It is possible for China to send Lijian to sensitive region to test its stealthiness. China will try to fly Lijian above other countries’ land radar system, sea radar system and fighter planes radar. I believe that China could be interested to know if Taiwanese new ASEA radar (US new radar system) can detect Lijian from different distances.

            Also, I believe China could send Lijian to Senkaku islands in the future, just like last September.

My Prediction

            In order to defense Lijian, radar systems with different EM frequencies could be introduced in the Far East countries.

Picture Source:






 

Reference:

[1]:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25033155, Viewed 24th Nov, 2013





[6]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_nEUROn, Viewed 24th Nov, 2013


[8]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimov_RD-33, Viewed 24th Nov, 2013