space and marine. – China information and news

space station.

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On June 5, a new team of three astronauts, including a woman, settled in the Tianhe Central Unit of Tiangong Station after a six-hour flight aboard the Shenzhou-14 capsule, launched from the Jiuquan position by Long Walk 2-F. .

Commander Chen Dong, 44, who took part in Shenzhou 11 in 2016, and his colleagues Liu Yang, 44, who was the first female astronaut aboard Shenzhou-9 in 2012 and pilot Cai Xuze, 46, whose first mission is , you will spend six months in the central unit Tianhe (Heavenly Harmony) placed in low orbit on April 29, 2021.

The three, who will conduct a series of scientific experiments and conduct several spacewalks, must prepare for the docking on both sides of the station scheduled for the next July and October for the two other units Wentian 问 天 and Mengtian 梦 天.

This is the third mission of its kind to build the space station, which is scheduled to be completed next December. It was preceded by an initial three-month mission, completed in September 2021, followed by another six months that returned to Earth on April 16, 2022. Read: End of Shenzhou 13 mission.

Six missions scheduled between now and the end of the year, including two more cargo flights and a new manned mission, responsible for securing the two lab units. It will be assembled in Tianhe’s main cabin in a T-shaped structure – creating the ultimate living space for the astronauts – whose volume will increase from 50 to 110 cubic metres. After construction is completed, the Tiangong space station is expected to last 15 years.

Another space adventure from Beijing targeting Mars, where 6 years after NASA, the Chinese rover Zhurong in May 2021 discovered traces of water for longer than astrophysicists expected. Read: The Chinese “god of fire” has landed on Mars.

The third major project will consist of building a Sino-Russian scientific research base open to international participation by 2035.

Naval Aviation Force.

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3^e The Chinese aircraft carrier was launched on June 17 by the Jiangnan 江南 shipyard whose history, integrating with the history of the industrial center in Shanghai, dates back to industrialization in 1865 [1].

The Fujian is baptized, the third conventionally powered aircraft carrier that is much larger than the first aircraft carriers “Liaoning” and “Shandong”. With a full payload displacement of 80,000 tons, it is the world’s leading PA in service, directly behind the US Navy’s seven 88,000-ton Roosevelt-class nuclear-powered ships.

The first Chinese PA without a launcher, with a total length of 316 meters, Fujian, which is entering the testing phase, which will last for at least two years, is equipped with a take-off assist system (Catopar). It is improved by an electromagnetic device.

While the type of combat aircraft on board could be a J-35, a fighter derived from the FC-31, or a J-31 multi-role stealth aircraft manufactured in Shenyang, similar to the F-35, American experts estimate that the building will begin At least 80 combat aircraft (comparable to 90 Roosevelt-class nuclear-protected aircraft) plus AWACS type control and control devices, including Chinese model, twin-engine “Xi’an KJ-600” very close appearance From the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, it is now being tested.

The launch of Fujian, the first conventional aircraft carrier with dimensions and capabilities similar to those of the US Navy, testifies to the continued progress of the Chinese Navy. According to the Pentagon, its steady rise in power for more than twenty-five years stems from a judicious strategy of learning, integrating and assimilating proven naval aviation technologies.

Progress can be seen first in the numbers. Between 2000 and 2021, the number of combat ships increased from 210 to 360, while the number of ships of the US Navy was reduced from 318 to 297. Among the ships of the first class, two aircraft carriers (+1 under test), 40 cruisers or destroyers and 102 frigates or corvettes.

Forecasts based on the current growth rate predict that in 2030, the Chinese Navy will be equipped with 460 ships, most of which will be first-class surface ships (4 aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, submarines, naval missile launchers, attack submarines, amphibious ships and ships). Anti-mine and logistics ships). Read Naval Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress (PDF).

In addition to the classic tasks of protecting the Persian Gulf’s logistical lines of communication, combating piracy, evacuating Chinese citizens and providing humanitarian assistance, US strategists see it as the first serious challenge to US military power since 1945.

They believe that the massive increase in resources is primarily intended to deny the US Navy access to the Taiwan region and the South China Sea, where US warships regularly carry out missions aimed at enforcing freedom of navigation in the waters that Beijing claims to refute the legal authority. of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

During the recent “Shangri-La Dialogue”, from June 10 to 12 in Singapore, Defense Minister Wei Fengyi referred to these missions passing through the Taiwan Strait and in the waters claimed by Beijing in the South South China Sea, for these reasons. The United States has been accused of being the main troublemaker in the western Pacific region.

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