Tag Archives: taiwan

Technology

World War 3 Vehicle I-D: YY-20, China’s new long range airborne fueler, offspring of the Il-76?

Video

YY-20 during Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. Photo by Deng Hua, 08NOV2022.

I have heard many people say the Y-20 is China’s version of the U.S. Boeing C-17, but if you look at the main wing and nacelles, from above, it is clear it is a development of the old Cold War era Soviet Ilyushin 76.

Two Russian IL-76 transports on McChord Air Force Base, Washington. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Steve Thurow, 01NOV1995.

Model kit builders: Just take the the Il-76 and stick a C-17 tail on, then get rid of the glass nose.

YY-20 during Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. Photo via Xinhua, 08NOV2022.

Some Chinese news releases are referring to the YY-20 as the YU-20.  In this excerpted air show video, released on 09NOV2022, notice that it starts with a graphic calling the tanker a YU-20:

YY-20 during Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. Photo via Xinhua, 08NOV2022.

On 01AUG2022, the People’s Liberation Army(PLA)-Air Force announced the successful completion of YY-20 training, which just happened to take place near Taiwan. PLA-AF promotional video:

Also in August, the YY-20 was first used operationally to refuel aircraft taking part in a blockade of Taiwan.  I excerpted this video from a PLA Eastern Theater Command report dated 11AUG2022:

PLA Air Force promotional video released on 30AUG2022:

World War 3 Vehicle I-D:   CHINA MAKES SURPRISE(?) DELIVERY OF MILITARY AID TO RUSSIAN ALLY, USING NEW Y-20!

Labor Shortage: CHINA TURNS TO ROBOTS & DRONES TO SUPPLY ITS MILITARY!

Technology

Robot Wars, 2025: That’s no FLIR pod, that’s a robot flying that helicopter! Or, whatever happened to AACUS?

Video

U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams, 11DEC2015.

AACUS (pronounced Ay-Kus, and not to be confused with the new British empire/Biden alliance known as AUKUS) = Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System

Boeing AH/MH-6 (MD 500) supposedly operated by a robot. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Samuel Ellis, 27FEB2014.

On 27FEB2014, a public demonstration was made of a new technology that supposedly would make human pilots for helicopters a thing of the past.  Over U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia, a Boeing AH/MH-6 (aka MD 500) combat (yes, the MD500 is mainly a combat ‘copter, not cargo) rotary wing was supposedly flown by AACUS, a system of software and sensors, which purportedly could be applied to any existing helicopter.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Samuel Ellis, 27FEB2014.

“This is a Navy-Marine Corps team project. We’ve taken a landing system that can autonomously land an unmanned helicopter or aircraft into a very dangerous landing zone, potentially with the touch of a tablet. This is an expeditionary type of capability and there was no better place to test it than Quantico.”-Rear Admiral Matt Klunder

Supposedly this Kaman K-Max is being flown by a robot. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Samuel Ellis, 20MAR2014.

Then on 20MAR2014, over Marine Corps Base Quantico, a Kaman K-Max cargo helicopter was also flown by AACUS, mounted on the belly between the main landing gear.

According to the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps (USN/USMC), as of April 2014, AACUS had  cost taxpayers $98-million, since the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Innovative Naval Prototype program was started in 2012.

Notice the human pilot does not have his hands on the the control stick. U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams, 11DEC2015.

In December 2015, another AACUS demonstration was held using a Bell 206L (aka Kiowa), this time at the Flying Circus Aerodrome located in Bealeton, Virginia.

USN photo by John F. Williams, 11DEC2015.

USN photo by John F. Williams, 25MAY20216.

In May 2016, a different Bell 206 was tested with AACUS.

USMC video report by Corporal Thor Larson, 25MAY2016:

USN photo by John F. Williams, 30NOV2017.

Between February 2017 and November 2017, more public demonstrations, this time with a Viet Nam era Bell UH-1H ‘Huey’, and this time they were really talking-up AACUS: “This is more than just an unmanned helicopter. AACUS is an autonomy kit that can be placed on any rotary-wing platform and provide it with an autonomous capability. Imagine a Marine Corps unit deployed in a remote location, in rough terrain, needing ammunition, water, batteries or even blood. With AACUS, an unmanned helicopter takes the supplies from the base, picks out the optimal route and best landing site closest to the warfighters, lands, and returns to base once the resupply is complete, all with the single touch of a handheld tablet.”-Walter Jones, Executive Director of ONR

USMC natural sound video, by John F. Williams, of final testing of AACUS over Marine Corps Base Quantico, 12DEC2017:

USN photo by John F. Williams, 30NOV2017.

However, Lieutenant General Robert Walsh, of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, admitted they still didn’t know what to do with this latest & greatest technology, saying “…it’s up to us to determine how to use it…”

USN photo by John F. Williams, 15FEB2017.

Officials with the AACUS program also pointed out that the system can also be used to help human pilots in inclement weather: “It can be used as a pilot aid in degraded visual environments…”-Dennis Baker, AACUS program officer

USN photo by John F. Williams, 15FEB2017.

USMC dramatic music video explainer,  by Sergeant Laiqa Hitt, 13DEC20217:

It was also revealed that AACUS is a technology that is part of the Department of Defense’s Force 2025, a modernization program started in 1995 and based on hypotheticals of what future warfare my require.  Each branch of the DoD has their own term for it, the USMC calls theirs Marine Corps Force 2025, and for fiscal year 2017 they claimed that Phase II of Force 2025 was “way ahead”.

Dramatic video report, 13DEC2017, by John F. Williams (for some reason the audio for the last half of the report is silent):

USMC natural sound video, by John F. Williams, of presentation of AACUS to news media on Marine Corps Base Quantico, 15DEC2017:

USMC photo by Matt Lyman, 14MAY2018.

In 2018, AACUS testing was moved to Twenty Nine Palms, California.

Robot Huey refueling at a Forward Area Refueling Point. USMC photo by Matt Lyman, 14MAY2018.

Integrated Training Exercise 3-18 (in May 2018) is considered the first time an AACUS flown rotary wing aircraft flew, and delivered cargo, during a wargame.

Not much has been reported about AACUS since 2018, but in 2021, Vertical Magazine revealed that wildfire fighting contractor Columbia Helicopters was working with Aurora Flight Systems to apply AACUS to be able to conduct aerial fire fighting at night.

ASPNT Huey, photo via Aurora Flight Sciences.

On 10JAN2022, Aurora Flight Sciences revealed they were working on an upgraded AACUS which will use ‘detect & avoid’ systems to prevent midair collisions, and a ‘GPS-Denied’ system (All Source Position, Navigation, and Timing, aka ASPNT) to allow robot aircraft to fly where GPS is not available.

Aurora Flight Sciences is a subsidiary of Boeing, they are also involved with programs to integrate humans and robots, and developing anti-drone systems.

In June 2022, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (aka CAL FIRE) made the first, ever in the U.S., series of night time water bombings on a wildfire called the Electra Fire. The Sikorsky S70i Fire Hawk was modified by United Rotorcraft, there was no indication what type of night flying system was being used.

U.S. Army photo, September 2017.

In September 2017, the U.S. Army conducted a robot helicopter operation using two Bell 206s (officially called RMAX UAS) to lift a 20 pound object and then fly it through an aerial obstacle course over Moffett Federal Airfield, California.  It is part of the Army’s AMRDEC Aviation Development Directorate autonomous program, ongoing since 2002.

U.S. Air Force, 1996: An Operational Analysis for Air Force 2025

U.S. Army, 2015: Force 2025 and Beyond

Royal Canadian Army, 2022: Due to lack of labor (being short 8-thousand personnel), the Force 2025 structure was adopted and is now being implemented.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), 2022: Battle Force 2025, the U.S. plan to defend Taiwan 

Operation Jupiter: COMBONET A-I ROBOT SAYS REMDESIVIR IS THE NEW WONDER DRUG!

Zombie Tank: CHINA’S TYPE 59D TO LIVE-ON AS A ROBOT TANK?

Terminator: U.S. ARMY TRIPLES INVENTORY OF COMBAT ROBOT TANKS!

Robot Wars: BEWARE THE ZOMBIE KIOWA!

Texas Air National Guard hires robots to wash their F-16s!

Business/Economics

Electronics maker Sharp admits it lied about sales, loses $1.5-billion!

30 March 2016 (12:28 UTC-07 Tango 01) 11 Farvardin 1395/20 Jumada t-Tania 1437/22 Xin Mao 4714

On the verge of a takeover deal from Republic of China’s (Taiwan) Hon Hai (Foxconn), Japan’s Sharp has admitted it’s been cooking its books to make itself look like a good buy.

Up ’til now Sharp claimed it was going to make a profit for 2015, but now it estimates a loss of $1.5-billion USD!  Amazingly, Hon Hai says it will go through with the takeover, officially by this weekend.  However, Hon Hai will pay $1-billion less than what it originally offered.

No more electronics maker Sharp! Foxconn beats out Samsung! 

Influenza

Influenza: H7N9 medical martial law! U.S. CDC issues directive!

22 January 2014 (17:32 UTC-07 Tango 21 January)/20 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1435/02 Bahman 1392/22 Gui-Chou (12th month) 4711

China: National Health and Family Planning Commission now coordinating closely with other national and local government departments to stop the spread of deadly H7N9.   The UN World health Organization reports at least 47 confirmed H7N9 cases in China since the beginning of January.  Most are hospitalized in critical condition. 

Since March 2013, there’ve been at least 200 human cases in China, with at least 55 deaths.

Health officials continue to claim H7N9 is not a human to human virus, despite that fact that more and more cases involve people who’s only contact with H7N9 is with infected humans.

Also, The South China Morning Post says an unnamed hospital official confirmed that a 31 years old surgeon who recently died from H7N9 had no contact with birds.  The unnamed hospital official thinks the doctor got sick from hospital patients infected with H7N9.

Back in August 2013, it was confirmed that a woman caring for her sick father caught H7N9 from him.

Japan:  Japanese health officials have been warning for a long time that H7N9 has become a human influenza.  Now the Japanese government is preparing for medical martial law.

The Tokyo Quarantine Station and Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department held a drill in which 35 people were locked down at the Haneda Airport, for being infected with H7N9.  Japanese health officials say the only way H7N9 is going to get into their country is from sick travelers.

Taiwan: Health officials know what Japan is fearing, as two people who traveled to Taiwan, from mainland China, brought H7N9 with them.  One of those has just died.

An 86 years old man who arrived in Taiwan, in December, sick with H7N9 has just died.  Interestingly he died six days after being released from medical quarantine.  The official cause of death is septic shock.

The first person to bring H7N9 to Taiwan was a man returning from a business trip to China, in April 2013.  It took one month of intensive care before he recovered.

United States: “Potential cases of human infection with influenza A (H7N9) virus should also be investigated, using current case definitions and testing recommendations for avian influenza A (H7N9) virus.”-U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

International, U.S.

World War 3, Asia-Pacific Front: Obama increasing military personnel in Australia! Japan & Canada increases wargames in California, preps for war with China!

14 June 2013 (12:10 UTC-07 Tango)/05 Sha’ban 1434/24 Khordad 1391/07 Wu-Wu (5th month) 4711

It’s been revealed that President Barack Obama is increasing the number of U.S. Marines occupying Australia.

Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, announced that they’ve agreed to allow 1150 U.S. Marines to be deployed in the city of Darwin next year.  Currently about 200 Marines spend six months a year, in the Darwin area, playing army with Aussie Diggers.  There are other U.S. military personnel stationed elsewhere in Australia.

In 2011 Obama announced he would be stationing at least 2500 Marines and U.S. Air Force airmen in Australia.

Analysts point out that the city of Darwin has a strategic advantage to quickly deploy troops against China!

In the U.S. state of California, it was revealed that for the first time ever all three branches of the Japanese Self Defense Forces are taking part in a major war game with U.S. Marines, Canadian navy and New Zealand.  Officials from Australia and Singapore are observing operation Dawn Blitz 2013.

The war games began this past week, and involve (as in recent smaller war games with U.S. Marines) the invasion and capture of islands.  If you’ve been following news out of East Asia you’d know that Japan and China are at odds over certain islands, even threatening war over them.

The U.S. sponsored Dawn Blitz wargames began in 2010, which is about when Japan began ratcheting up their claims on disputed islands.  Recently Japan took over a island and China is demanding it be returned to them.

Japanese claims are upsetting not only China, but Russia, Korea (both north & U.S. ally south) and even U.S. ally Taiwan.  The Obama administration has repeatedly stated they support Japan’s claims on the disputed islands.

International, U.S.

Taiwan’s CDC says H3N2 outbreak possible in the United States

“The whole world is keeping a watch for possible mutation of the virus. We are now screening local patients who have come down with serious flu symptoms or complications of H3N2v.”-Chou Jih-haw, Taiwan CDC

On February 10, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced they are concerned of a possible outbreak of H3N2, after 12 people in the U.S. got infected at the end of 2011.

H3N2 is already hitting Japan, and parts of Europe, hard.  The new version of H3N2 is called H3N2v, and it contains genes from the H1N1 virus.

So far there are no confirmed H3N2v cases in Taiwan, but health officials there are stepping up efforts to head H3N2v off at the pass, by closely monitoring anyone who reports being sick.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence & What Economic Recovery? Another U.S. computer company, Dell, spends big, and loses big, in Taiwan. Want to work for Dell? Move to Taiwan

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs named U.S. based Dell their third biggest foreign buyer, after Hewlett Packard and Toshiba.

This comes after Dell was ordered (some says ‘suggested’) by the Taiwan government to honor a pricing mistake on 19 inch monitors and pricey laptop computers.  The monitors were mistakenly priced at U.S.$15.00 and the laptops at $563.40.

Dell tried to get customers to pay full price, but was threatened with a $759,000 fine by the Taiwan government.

“To avoid further confusion to our customers and to facilitate further investigation Dell has made the difficult decision to close our Taiwan online store.”-Dell statement

Dell is still trying to get the Taiwan government to let them recoup their loses, and avoid something like this in the future, after all Dell spends about $10 billion on Taiwanese made products every year!

Buy the way, if you want to work for Dell, be willing to move to Taiwan.  As of November 27, Dell has at least 40 openings in Taiwan: “Thank you for considering a career in Taiwan at Dell”

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Is Hewlett Packard lying about investing in U.S. operations? Spends tens of billions of dollars in Taiwan, hires hundreds of Taiwanese while laying off hundreds of Americans

On November 25, the Taiwan government’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) recognized U.S. based Hewlett Packard (HP) as the number one foreign buyer of Taiwan made computer related products.

The MEA refused to give an exact dollar amount but said it was at least 10% more than what HP spent in 2010.  In 2010 HP spent U.S.$25 billion on Taiwanese products!

HP officials told the Taiwan media they plan on buying $30 billion worth of Taiwanese made products in the next two years.  On top of that they plan to hire hundreds of Taiwanese for their Taiwan operations.

This greatly contrasts with what Hewlett Packard is doing with it’s U.S. operations.  Slashing and burning operating budgets and laying off hundreds of U.S. employees.

In a recent interview, the new CEO of HP, Meg Whitman, said this: “We’re relatively pessimistic about the economic outlook in two of our three major regions. 2012 just looks tough to me.”

Apparently the United States is one of the two regions she’s pessimistic about, because that’s not what HP officials are saying about their Taiwan operations.  Several Taiwan media sources reported that HP officials feel very “upbeat” about the economic situation in Taiwan, and Asia in general.

In July HP bought back $10 billion of their own stocks, then laid off 500 U.S. employees in September.  At the beginning of November, news of more lay offs was leaked by people claiming to work at HP’s Boise, Idaho, factory.  Idaho media contacted HP and was told that a press release was in the works.  So far no press release.