Strategy Page

choi

(1) Is It Better Enough?  Jan 5, 2012
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20130105.aspx
("AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar (ALFS) systems for its anti-submarine helicopters. This model operates at higher and lower frequencies than existing sonars, providing the ability to cover four times as much area. The 272 kg (599 pounds) AN/AQS-22 operates in active (broadcasting) and passive (just listening) mode and can rapidly switch frequencies. This is a dipping sonar, which is lowered into the water from the helicopter using a 806 meter (2,500 foot) cable and winch. Overall, the AN/AQS-22 is a big improvement for navy helicopter anti-submarine capabilities and has been very successful at detecting submarines at sea")

Note: AN/AQS-22 ALFS; Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar. Raytheon, undated.
www.raytheon.com/capabilities/pr ... te/cms01_048559.pdf

Just see what the sonar looks like. Then go to images.google.com to see how it was dangled by a helicopter.


(2) China Shocks The World. Jan 4, 2013.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htweap/articles/20130104.aspx
("When the civil war ended in 1948 there were no Chinese factories producing modern (Western) weapons. There were some workshops repairing Western weapons and assembling them from parts, but that was it. In the 1950s China began producing licensed copies of simple Russian weapons (rifles, machine-guns, some artillery and ammunition for all this stuff), but nothing sophisticated. By the late 1950s China was producing copies of Russian tanks and other armored vehicles as well as the two seat trainer version of the MiG-15 jet fighter and the Mig-17 jet fighter. Many of the components for armored vehicles and aircraft had to be imported from Russia")

My comment: I always wanted to know what China (under either Chiang Kai-shek or Mao) was capable of: could it make guns from scratch?  I thought poaasibly not, because China could not make steel. Though without offering a shred of evidence, the Strategy Page's account is a first step in resolving my puzzement.


(3) Strong Hearts. Jan 4, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20130104.aspx

Quote:

"American military medical researchers were surprised to find that only ten percent of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq had signs of coronary heart disease (significant buildup of plaques in the arteries and other damage). The presence of coronary heart disease can most easily be determined during an autopsy, or during heart surgery. What made this finding surprising was that a similar study, done on soldiers killed during the Korean War (1950-53) revealed a rate of over 50 percent. A similar study during the Vietnam War (1965-72) again showed a 50 percent rate among soldiers killed in combat.

"The study results document a sharp drop in heart disease in just 60 years. Researchers are not sure which factors played the largest role in this decline. * * * Whatever the causes turn out to be, this study reinforces the belief that the current American armed forces are the healthiest and post professional the US has ever had.

(4) China Celebrates Another Grand Theft. Jan 3, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20130103.aspx

Quote:

"China has officially revealed its copy of the Russian Su-30MK2 and is calling it the J-16, claiming that the aircraft is of Chinese design.

"Russia and China jointly developed the two seat version of the Su-30, as the Su-30MKK in the late 1990s, and, a decade ago, an upgraded version (the Su-30MK2). China has received about a hundred legal Su-30MK2s but now nearly identical J-16s are showing up.