military » M.I.C. Gadget

Pentagon Rely Chinese Satellite to Carry Data

Star Chang, Apr 30, 2013 11:48 AM, 303 views, Got something to say ?,

U.S. lawmaker is questioning the Pentagon’s decision to use a Chinese commercial satellite to provide communications for its Africa Command. Use of China’s satellite was leased because it provided “unique bandwidth and geographic requirements” for “wider geographic coverage.” The satellite’s services were leased under a one-year, $10.6 million contract through a U.S. company. American politicians and policy-makers expressed its concern that too much American data are passing through Chinese electronics — and that those electronics could be sieves for Beijing’s intelligence services. Pentagon insists that any data passed through the Chinese satellite is protected from any potential eavesdropping by Beijing. The satellite uplinks and downlinks are encrypted. But researcher said even if the data is encrypted, the coded traffic could be used to give Chinese cryptanalysts valuable clues about how the American military obfuscates its information …

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North Korea Wants to Buy DIY Submarines That is Made by Enthusiast From China (Video)

Star Chang, Apr 15, 2013 4:06 PM, 727 views, 1 Comment »,

According to a news report from Hong Kong’s press, North Korea is interested to purchase domestic submarines that is manufactured by some enthusiast from China. Last year, we had covered a story on a Chinese laid-off man who build his own DIY submarines for sale. The 38-year-old man, named Zhang Wuyi, opened a factory to build small submarines in Wuhan, central China. He has not much engineering background but designs the submarines from his ‘imagination’. The diving transport has everything needed for simple underwater work, such as grabbing and lifting, emergency oxygen reserves as well as an underwater video camera for monitoring, it cost only about US$31,000. The news has widely circulated and many buyers approached Mr. Zhang, willing to order his domestic submarines. One of the buyer claimed to be a representative of North Korea, consulted about the purchase. Zhang did not obtain a production license from the authorities, as a result no trade was made …

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Spying Who ? China to Launch High-Res Earth-Observation Satellite

Randy Cheung, Apr 4, 2013 12:08 PM, 202 views, Got something to say ?,

China will launch the first satellite for its high-resolution system for Earth observation this month. According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, examinations of the satellite “High Score 1″ and its carrier rocket have been completed and the satellite is now in the launch stage. The system will mainly provide services for the ministries of land, agriculture and environmental protection, and is expected to help predict natural disasters. It will also enhance China’s ability to obtain high-resolution imaging data and accelerate its development of satellite application technologies. China plans to launch five to six satellites before the end of 2015 in order to build a spatial, temporal and spectral high-resolution observation system. It is inevitable that the U.S. will be concerned about the China’s increasing activities in space, as a threats to its intelligence satellite system.

Star Chang, Mar 26, 2013 6:56 PM, 240 views, Got something to say ?,

In a finding uncovered by Reuters, a research connection has turned up between Shanghai Jiaotong University and the People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398, suspected of participation in cyberattacks on the West. PLA Unit 61398 is well-known after a report was released by security firm Mandiant which stated that an “overwhelming” number of cyberattacks originate from the single unit located in Shanghai. The international news agency has discovered at least three research papers on cyber warfare co-authored by professors at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and members of PLA Unit 61398. According to the school’s Web site, they have been credited with developing China’s leading cyberattack platform. However, there is no evidence to suggest that any of these academic parties are actively involved in cybercrime or military operations …

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Chinese Government Investigates Coca-Cola for Illegal Mapping

Star Chang, Mar 14, 2013 8:07 PM, 387 views, Got something to say ?,

The government of a remote province in western China says it is investigating Coca-Cola over allegations that it illegally mapped parts of the province. The Yunnan Geographical Information Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said the US drinks company had been “illegally collecting classified information with handheld GPS equipment”. Coca-Cola said it had “co-operated fully” with the inquiry, adding that local bottling plants use “e-map and location-based customer logistics systems that are commercially available in China” to improve customer service and fuel efficiency. Coca-Cola claim that the system is broadly used for commercial application across many industries in China and worldwide. But the deputy director of the Yunnan bureau commented that mapping information can be used by enemies, it can be profited from it by providing to foreign intelligence agencies …

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China Doesn’t Need Stark Industries to Launch its First Solid Fuel Rocket

Star Chang, Mar 9, 2013 10:24 AM, 400 views, 1 Comment »,

China plans to launch its first solid fuel rocket by 2016, marking a strategic shift from liquid fuel rockets, which so far has been used in over 170 successful launches in the last two decades. According to China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, China’s first solid-fuel rocket Long March-11 is expected to make its first launch before 2016. The Long March-11 rocket will use China’s largest solid-fuel rocket engine and a brand new launching support system. The rocket will be easy to operate and cost-efficient to launch. It can remain in storage for long periods and reliably launched at a short notice. China has launched more than 170 liquid-fuel rockets successfully, but is yet to make breakthrough in developing solid-fuel rockets, which analysts say can be applied in missiles as well. We can see the development of Long March-11 will greatly improve China’s capabilities to rapidly reach space and at the same time, creating more advance missiles aiming at Japan and Taiwan.

So Much News in China… #073

Star Chang, Mar 4, 2013 9:24 AM, 335 views, Got something to say ?,

There are so much news from China that passes by that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Here are the Chinese tech news we have left behind because we are just too busy or too lazy to post. There are stories on China Mobile @MWG2013, Chinese mobile messaging service in U.S., Shanghai to debut 4G network soon and so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: how a government official turned violent after missing his flight … Hope everyone have a fresh start to your week.

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China New Military Cargo Plane is a Knockoffs ? (Video)

Star Chang, Jan 30, 2013 6:23 AM, 1,753 views, 12 Comments »,

China lacks of large cargo aircraft, and now they are building it. For the first time, the Chinese Air Force launched their new heavy-lift transport aircraft Y-20. The new plane will enable China to project military power across vast distances. But its design appeared to incorporate features from the world’s most advanced military cargo plane, the US-made Boeing C-17 Globemaster. C-17 is certainly a “much better plane”, one of the reasons being that it apparently uses a much higher proportion of lightweight composite materials, which China is difficult to produce …

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This is How Waitress in Chinese Restaurant Get Military-style Training (Video)

Star Chang, Jan 19, 2013 7:31 PM, 1,389 views, 5 Comments »,

With their synchronised marches, loud chants and team-building exercises, you might mistake these girls as part of the military troop. Well, this is indeed a training exercise, except for waitresses in a Chinese restaurant, located at Liaoning province, northeast China. The 15-minute long video has already gone viral on the Chinese internet. In the video, the female staff neatly lined up in ranks shout passionate slogans and lines, the atmosphere was ‘very communism’. Emotive music was played in the background through the training, and was occasionally injected with encouraging cheers by the on-lookers and other restaurant staff like the cooks. Many netizens criticized this kind of management style. The restaurant is not valuing employees’ dignity and facing this kind of waitstaff may make customer lose their appetite …

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“Chinese Pirate” Pleads Guilty to Steal US$100 Million Worth of Military Software

Star Chang, Jan 8, 2013 12:28 PM, 563 views, 3 Comments »,

A Chinese dude pleaded guilty to selling pirated software—used by defense, space technology and engineering businesses—worth a retail value of over US$100 million. According to Reuters, these software was stolen from an estimated 200 American manufacturers, including Microsoft, Oracle, Agilent Technologies and Siemens, and sold onto 325 black market buyers in 61 countries between 2008 and 2011. The price was sold at between US$20-$1,200. Some of the software are officially retailed for more than $1 million apiece …

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