military

China prepares one of the biggest military parades in history. It will be, above all, a warning to the world

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On September 3, Beijing will convert Tiananmen Square in the epicenter of an unprecedented demonstration of force. China will organize a military parade massive to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. In addition, it will also be the perfect time to show the military capacities acquired under the mandate of Xi Jinping. An event of magnitudes. More than 10,000 military personnel, a hundred aircraft and several hundred land vehicles will participate in A 70 -minute ceremony which promises to be the largest Chinese armament exhibition since 2019. The parade will include 45 troops formations and will present more than 100 different types of military equipment, all national production and active duty. We don’t know everything. Chinese authorities have confirmed that a great proportion of the weapons will be completely new. Among the novelties are hypersonic missiles capable of traveling five times the speed of sound, antimile defense systems, directed energy weapons, autonomous combat drones and electronic warfare systems. According to Major general Wu Zeke, deputy director in charge of the military parade, these weapons “will fully demonstrate the solid capacity of our army to adapt to technological advances and win future wars.” A message for another recipient. Although officially commemorates the victory over Japan, the parade has a strategic objective between the lines: show the United States and its allies in the Pacific The new Chinese military capacity. The analysts They expect See new anti-buque missile models such as YJ-15, YJ-17, YJ-19 E YJ-20, specifically designed to neutralize carriers and deny access to Western naval forces in the region. Taiwan in the spotlight. The arsenal that Beijing will also have direct implications for Taiwan’s future. The new tanks with unmanned turrets and active protection systems would significantly complicate the island’s defense strategy, which is based on mobile and cheap anti -tank weapons. As Point out Sheu Jyh-Shyang, from the Taiwan National Defense and Security Research Institute: “This is not good news for Taiwan.” Putin as guest star. The confirmed presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Xi Jinping during the ceremony sends another powerful geopolitical message. Putin already attended the great military parade of China in 2015, when the majority of Western leaders declined the invitation, so it is another step in The alliance between the two countries in front of the West. The backdrop. The military power deployment comes at a time of maximum tension in the Pacific. The popular liberation army has intensified your exercises Simulating blockages and attacks against Taiwan, while systematically denies the operation capacity of US forces in the region. Beijing has promised to reveal more details about the specific weapons that will be shown in the coming weeks. Cover image | Pang Xinglei/Xinhua In Xataka | Deepseek has suggested that Nvidia chips no longer needs. We believe to know who is buying them

Sin rare Chinese, the US military supply chain wobbles

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The United States is one of the main military powers of the planet. And that war muscle It does not feed exclusively with money. Requires something else: Rare earth. That’s where his geopolitical antagonist, China comes into play. The Asian giant controls rare earth production And the United States is realizing something: those who do their arms do not have it easy to find suppliers that are not Chinese. And it’s what is causing A new war, the magnets. And it is affecting the entire US military chain: from bullets to the most expensive hunt in history. Rare earth. Yes, again. We have already counted on other occasions that “rare earths” are a peculiar term because they are neither lands, nor are they rare. It is a set of 17 elements that are all over the world, but whose difficulty lies in the process to “take off the grain of the straw.” It is a polluting process that was delegated to China, which is why The country dominates its production. How far? It depends on the material, but it is estimated that China produces around 90% of refined rare lands, as well as 94% of gallium production and 83% Germanioalso crucial for industries such as the military. They also control the production of aluminum or steel. Stab where it hurts: weapons. Within the rare earths, a crucial component is the magnets. They are used in many industries such as audio (headphones do not work without magnets, for example), that of renewable (for wind turbines) or for electric cars batteriesto quote just a few. And yes, they are also crucial for the military industry. Combat fighters, guided ballistic missiles, drones and even night vision glas iron control over what they export and their possible military use by other countries, who manufacture weapons and systems for the United States are forced to look for alternatives. The problem is not cheap. This graph shows China’s enormous power in the rare earth metals segment Shot prices. The Wall Street Journal Ha Posted an article in which they expose the case of a manufacturer of pieces for military drones that is crashing against the wall of the rare Chinese earth. It is being forced to delay orders for up to two months because it does not give viable sources of magnets other than China itself. In the article, he points out that these materials necessary for the war industry are being sold for five times their usual value, or more. The countries and companies that need these materials usually have an emergency stock, but as the Leonardo DRS company (a US -based defense contractor and Italian company comments on the company. Leonardo Spa.), They are already using that security stock. If you want to maintain the punctual pace of deliveries, the flow of materials “must improve in the second half of this year,” they point out. Case: The most expensive hunt in history. One of the most leading and controversial products of the United States military machinery in recent years has a name and surname: Lockheed Martin F-35. This hunting is the most expensive in history (What do we know), One of the most advanced And even Donald Trump critical Before his first term, claiming that his cost was “out of control.” Only the pilot’s helmet costs $ 400,000 and the initial estimate of the cost of each plane was more than $ 100 million and the project was described as “El that devoured the pentagon“ Well, among the hunting components, we have some 400 kilos of rare earth magnets, an element that placed the plane In the eye of the hurricane a few months ago. And previously, there were already revealing How much the US needs China’s rare trade. Those upward prices due to Chinese commercial restrictions They have caused other sources of samarium, a necessary element to manufacture the magnets of the engines of the fighters, offer the material for a price 60 times higher than the standard. Beyond F-35. To problems with magnets and rare earths are added Export restrictions of Germanio, Gallium and Antimony. In the first bars of the commercial war, China closed the tap of these materials that are key to another good military solutions, such as the creation of hardened projectiles or infrared vision systems. Situation? Panic. Given this situation, USA, Europe, Japan and more countries are desperately looking for rare earth deposits or alternative ways to obtain them. But, as we said, the complicated thing is not so much to find these deposits as processing them. Meanwhile, it’s time to continue buying China what China wants to export, since, as other sources in the sector point in the WSJ report, some of the elements are “so specific that they cannot occur profitably in the West.” Everything indicates that China has the pan of the rare earths through the mango. The pentagon demanded Defense contractors stop buying rare earth magnets of Chinese origin before 2027, but although some companies have accumulated reservations, other smaller ones have not had that opportunity to go with the accounts more “up to date”. The papers. And it is no longer just that the US does not want to buy from China, but that China has also begun to look at all the Westerners who want their rare earths. One of the companies is Eproppelled, American and manufacturer of drones, which a curious situation was found in May of this year. When buying magnets from your Chinese supplier, the supplier sent you a series of official forms that demanded plans, product images and a list of companies that would buy the finished product. Among Eproppelled customers are civil companies, but also military, and given the refusal to sign the papers, the Chinese supplier canceled the shipment of magnets. They point out that companies that use these materials to create civil use products are evaluated and approved, but if the use will be military or aerospace, the approval is more complicated. Committed merchandise. … Read more

An American military seemed like a cybercrime genius. He was given his own searches on how to desert Russia

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Cameron John Wagenius had no criminal record or a dark past. He had a military uniform, 21 years and a career ahead in the United States Army. But in his spare time, from his bedroom in Texas, It connected as “Kiberphant0m” to telegram groups and forums where stolen credentials are purchased and databases for thousands of dollars are sold. I knew how to move, how to enter without being seen and how to extort technological companies from the shadow. According to the Department of Justicefor more than a year he directed a campaign that affected at least ten organizations. It was made with private credentials, accessed protected networks and much more. He did it as he continued charging the army and fulfilled functions as an active soldier. Until everything fell apart, not by a filtration, or by a technical error. For himself. The soldier who moved as a professional cybercrime Wagenius and his accomplices were coordinated through encrypted chats. They shared passwords, discussed vulnerabilities and talked openly about their next objectives. They used Tools like SSH Brutea brute force solution to enter protected systems, and acted quickly to move stolen data in some of the best known cybercrime forums of the moment. Once they got access, they launched threats. Sometimes privately, sometimes publicly. They threatened to publish the stolen information if they did not receive money in return. In some cases, they came to sell the data directly. In others, they used that information to launch attacks from Sim Swapping and supplant identities. The goal was always the same: money. The Department of Justice estimates that they tried to extort at least 1 million dollars to the victims. But while all that happened, Wagenius did something that FBI agents did not expect to find so easily: I left trace. According to judicial documentsin October 2024, in full swing of its operation, it began to search Google how to escape from the country. Literally. These are some of the searches he made from his personal account: • “Where you can desert an US military without being extradited” • “US military personnel deserting Russia” • “Russia Embassy – Washington DC” • How to get a fast passport “ In parallel, I wrote to his contacts with phrases such as: “The fun is that if they ever discover me, They can’t immediately arrest me by military law. That gives me time to disappear. ” The reality was another. Not only did he not escape. All this activity was recovered, documented and used as proof to demonstrate not only its crimes, but its intention to escape. Wagenius was arrested and declared himself guilty of several serious positions: conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, extortion in relation to computer crimes and aggravated identity. He had already admitted before, in another case linked, his involvement in the illicit transfer of confidential telephone records. His conviction, which will be read on October 6, could add up to 27 years in prison. The charges have different weight: electronic fraud can cost up to 20 years; Computer extortion, up to five; and the theft of aggravated identity entails a mandatory penalty of two additional years that cannot be combined with the previous ones. Wagenius had knowledge. I knew how to move around the network and how to hide behind proxies, vpns and Tools that in theory had to protect it. But something in his strategy went wrong. Now he is paying the consequences. Images | Xataka with Gemini Flash 2.5 | Kevin Ku In Xataka | Sam Altman believes that a serious crisis is coming with the AI fraud. The problem is that it has strong interests in the solution

Airbus’s last military drone has been designed and manufactured in Spain. Its importance is not measured only in meters of altitude

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Spain has just marked a milestone in the European defense industry. Airbus is over assembly of the first SIRTAPa New Generation Tactical Dron which has been designed and manufactured in the country. It is not just a technical advance: it is a declaration of intentions about the role that is sought to play in the development of strategic technologies. The Sirtap has been assembled at the facilities of Airbus Defense and Space in Getafe. The purchase was formalized by the Ministry of Defense in November 2023, with a request for nine complete systems composed of 27 aircraft and nine control stations on land. It is there where the first prototype has taken shape, and where it is now preparing to start the Test Campaign on Earth. The Spanish set by tactical drones The tests, which will evaluate both the structure and the main components of the system and the software, will be extended during the next months. The goal: to leave it ready for your first flight Before ending 2025at the CEUS DEL INTA trial center, in Huelva. According to Airbus, the new drone has been designed to fly in extreme conditions: it can operate between -40 ° C and 50 ° C, land on unpaid tracks and stay in the air for more than 20 hours in a row. To this is added an operational roof greater than 21,000 feet (6,400 meters), which would make it an ideal platform for long -distance recognition and surveillance missions. What Airbus poses with the Sirtap goes far beyond simple recognition. The drone has been thought of as A modular platform capable of adapt to different missions: You can monitor convoys from the air, act as an armed escort, detect electronic signals, participate in electronic war operations or control borders in hostile environments. It can also be deployed in emergency tasks, such as the search for vessels on the high seas or fire support. One of the most outstanding points of SIRTAP is that it has been designed without components subject to Itar restrictionswhich, according to Airbus, facilitates its export to international markets. This feature, together with its modular architecture, opens the door to future versions adapted to different environments, such as a naval variant or with complete weapons integration. A no less detail is that the system is also designed to interoperate with existing command and control networks. The Sirtap breaks into a segment with Several established actors. Uav like him TACTICAL HERONwith its ability to carry several useful loads simultaneously and operate from semi -sighed clues, or the Bayraktar TB2known for its missions in real combat and more than one million hours of operational flight. We also find al Falco Xplorerwith its autonomy of more than 24 hours and flight roof above 30,000 feet. Given that panorama, Airbus drone proposes a promising combination: Itar restrictions free, modular architecture, interoperability with European systems and operability in extreme conditions. Its focus is not to overcome figures, but to offer an adaptable platform, easily exportable and margin to evolve towards naval or armed versions. He has not yet taken off, but his road map places him as an actor to take into account. Images | Airbus Media Center In Xataka | Otto wants to break molds with the Phantom 3500: Goodbye to the windows for passengers, hello to the immersive screens

The US is relocating military airplanes in the middle of the Middle East. The B-2 has not come into play, but already intimidated

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While Iran and Israel continue to exchange attacks, United States has begun to reinforce His military presence in Middle East. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh, confirmed last night Through a publication in X that he had ordered “the deployment of additional capacities” to protect his forces and improve defensive position in the region. As detailed Media as Reuters and BBCthe deployment includes the USS Nimitz aircraft carriers, one of the key pieces of the US Navy. On board they can travel to 5,000 people and more than 60 aircraft, including fighters, light bombers and support planes. They have also mobilized at least 30 cistern aircraftmostly KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46 Pegasus, next to a fighter fleet composed of models such as F-16, F-22 and F-35. HEREWORKS, fighters and a pending question: B-2 But in the midst of this climb, many looks are directed to an unknown that plans on the US strategy: will the bomber end up mobilizing B-2 Spirit? There is a clear reason for that question. This is the only aircraft under direct control in the United States that is certified to transport and launch the GBU-57/B MASSIVE ORDNANCE PENETATORa pump designed to pierce high depth underground structures. That capacity is not a simple technical detail. According to various estimatesthe GBU-57 could be one of the few weaponss capable of reaching fordow, Iranian uranium enrichment installation excavated under a mountain, about 80 or 90 meters deep. No one has confirmed it, but the B-2 Spirit already flies over the hypotheses. The simple possibility that the United States mobilizes it is enough to alter the strategic conversation. Justin Bronk, of the Royal United Services Institute, He made it clear: The current type of deployment is “highly indicative” that Washington is preparing to support “intensive combat operations” in the region. The B-2 would be the strongest piece of that support. Its scope, 9,650 km without repostingallows you to operate from some key locations. He usually does it from Whiteman, in Misuri. Other options on the table are Fairford, in the United Kingdom, and Diego García, a remote base in the Indian Ocean leased by the United Kingdom to the United States. The B-2 Spirit is not the fastest or newest bomber, but it is one of the most difficult to detect. Its steering wing -shaped design, added to special materials and a low flight profile, allows you to penetrate highly sophisticated air defense systems. It is precisely where its value lies: it can fly where others could not. It measures 52 meters of wingspan and 21 meters long, and is propelled by four general electric F118-GE-100 engines. It has a 15,000 meter operational roof And, as we have seen, an Intercontinental Alance. Your load capacity Round the 20 tonsand can carry both conventional and nuclear armament. It is created by two people, much less than in other heavy bombers such as B-1b or B-52, and its missions are coordinated from a limited network of strategic bases. Its maintenance is the responsibility of the American Air Force, with the support of contractors led by Northrop Grumman. There are only 19 active units. The B-2 began to fly in 1989 and is not a resource that unfolds lightly. Its value is not only in technology that makes it undetectable, but in its ability to combine Stealth, scope and attack power On a single platform. It is, in many ways, the letter that is kept until the end. Images | US Air Force (Via Wikimedia Commons) Northrop Grumman (1, 2, 3) In Xataka | Ukraine was the anticipation of what Israel has done: war is no longer a thing of fighters or missiles, but something much cheaper

China’s military and civil nuclear capacity grows at an unprecedented rate. The US does not take away your eyes off

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China has deservedly consolidated as the country to which all the nations that bet on nuclear energy look. It currently has 58 nuclear reactors whose joint capacity is approximately 61 GWE (electric gigawatts). Besides, It has another 28 reactors under construction that will add additional 33.65 GWE. And just a month ago the State Council approved the construction of 10 more nuclear reactors. China is already the second country with more machines of this type, only behind the US. In any case, the best asset of this Asian country is its commitment to innovation. And the reactor of Molten Sales and Torio TMSR-LF1 is a very valuable letter of presentation. This machine received the approval of the Chinese Nuclear Safety Administration in mid -June 2023 after having successfully completed the initial testing phase that started in 2021. and since then the itinerary that had set the Institute of Applied Physics of Shanghai, which is the institution responsible for its tuning. As explained by the American nuclear engineer Nick Touran In your tweetthe TMSR-LF1 reactor officially entered into operation on October 11, 2023. A few months later, on June 17, 2024, He started working at full power. And on October 8 of last year the technicians who operate it detected protacinium-233 (PA-233), a radioactive isotope intermediate derived from the transformation of the thorium into Uranium-233 as part of the fuel cycle of the thorium. This nuclear reactor is in the Minqin industrial complex of the province of Gansu, in northern China. It has a power of 2 thermal megawatts (MWT), and, although it will not be the first Fourth Generation Nuclear Reactor In activity, and not the first one that Torio will use as fuel, it will be the first of molten salts that will use this chemical element. However, the ambition of this Asian country does not end here; It is already planning to build a molten salts and more capacity sales reactor for 2030. The modernization of China’s nuclear arsenal is accelerating Nuclear physics has two faces. We all know that the knowledge that has given us can be used to generate electricity and favor the development of large population masses, as we have just seen, but it can also be used to produce weapons of mass destruction. China carried out its first test with an atomic bomb in 1964. Initially its scientists had the help of Soviet nuclear engineers, but this alliance was broken in 1959 and the country that was then led by Mao Zedong was forced to continue with this project without having any external help. This isolation did not prevent China from carrying out the first test with a hydrogen bomb in 1967, just three years after launching its first atomic bomb. During the next three decades the Chinese nuclear armament continued advancing, although Mao never aspired to deal with the number of atomic and hydrogen bombs With the US or the Soviet Union first, and Russia later. His doctrine pursued China’s survival by resorting to deterrence, but without directly involving themselves in the cold war that the two hegemonic powers held at the end of the 20th century. “Beijing has the ambition to create a wide sphere of influence in the regions of the Indian and the Pacific, as well as becoming the leading world power” The funny thing is that everything changed during the first decade of the 21st century. China’s economic capacity was growing and its scientific and technical development during the second half of the twentieth century had been out of all doubt. The US government was already realized that this Asian country was consolidating as a superpower Able to dispute your world supremacy. This was the context in which the tension between these two countries was born that seems to be currently reaching its peak. The following literal extract of the document that collects The National Security Strategy Published by the US government in October 2022, it reflects very clearly why it considers China a threat: “The People’s Republic of China (RPC) is the only competitor that has both the intention of remodeling international order and, increasingly, more and more Economic, diplomatic, military and technological capacity To do so. Beijing has the ambition to create a wide sphere of influence in the regions of the Indian and the Pacific, as well as to become the leading world power. “These lines perfectly condense the background history that has triggered the international situation in which we meet. If we stick to its military development the US Department of Defense He estimates that China currently has an arsenal made up of More than 600 nuclear eyeletsand plans to increase this figure until reaching 1,000 eyelets in 2030. USA and Russia have an arsenal of approximately 5,200 and 5,500 eyelets respectively, although many of them are in reserve and others will be dismantled. China has less eyelets, it is evident, but at least rivals with the US if we stick to the sophistication of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, its nuclear submarines, its bomber and its hypersonic missiles. Let us trust that China, the US, Russia and the other nuclear powers enter and stop this climbing of the nuclear weapons. Image | Пресguese More information | US Department of Defense In Xataka | China prepares the mate to the US: it will have its own UVE lithography team to make chips in 2025

The war in Ukraine has become a video game. Kill gives points and rewards to exchange in a military Amazon

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It is something that has happened in all modern wars and conflicts, and in Ukraine it was not going to be different. We refer to the use of surprising tactics for combat. We had previously talked about the use of a Naval optical illusion And of a drone that “seeks” That they capture it to display your true threat. The latest: a rewards system with points. The prize: go to a war “Amazon. A war with points. I told it This week Insider and Political. In an unprecedented fusion between military and video game logic, Ukraine has launched a Rewards system that gives points to their soldiers for killing Russian troops or destroying their vehicles, provided that these acts are verified by recording of video drones. These points, called “Epoints”, can then be exchanged In Brave1 Marketa new digital platform that operates as A “Military Amazon”where combat units can acquire from attack drones and terrestrial robots to electronic warp devices or components such as batteries, cameras and engines. Add casualties to buy artillery. The initiative, promoted by Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, seeks to speed up and Decentralize access To the equipment, allowing the soldiers themselves to choose and buy the technology that best suits their needs in the front, either with own funds or through the rewards accumulated by their effectiveness in combat. The system establishes a numerical value for each target Enemy: Six points for each Russian soldier eliminated, forty for each destroyed tank, with equivalences that allow, for example, to acquire drones such as The “Baba Yaga” by 43 points or the sophisticated “backfire”which costs about $ 60,000 for three units. Delivery is made directly with state financing, without intermediaries. The Magyar’s Birds Unitfamous for its FPV drones attacks, it has already exceeded 16,000 points, heading The March rankingfollowed by specialized brigades in unmanned systems and special operations. A military Amazon. Far from being a simple shopping site, Brave1 Market represents a Disruptive Logistics Model and acquisition in times of conflict. Your catalog has More than 1,000 items ranging from advanced armament to technical solutions of communication, surveillance, navigation and electronic protection. Soldiers can navigate the portal, compare models, read specifications and contact manufacturers to close orders. Part of the content is of restricted accessbut the bulk of the inventory is publicly available to facilitate fast and autonomous decision -making from the front. One of the main objectives is to reduce the gap between technological development and its real implementation on the battlefield. In fact, Insider told that many units did not know that certain devices were available; They can now request them directly without having to wait for bureaucratic channels or slow -on channels. Drones as currency. The points system has the drones that, like We have explainedare absolute protagonists of the new battlefield Ukrainian. The most used They are the FPV (First-Person View) and short-range bombing models, operated by highly mobile units that film each impact to document it to the military intelligence network. These videos not only allow to verify the elimination of enemy objectives, but have become The “hard currency” with which more technology is accessed. Each approved purchase is Financed by the Ukrainian Government and delivered directly to the requesting unit, which reinforces a decentralized supply model based on operational merit. Meritocracy and ethical dilemma. No doubt, we talk about a system that converts the war effectiveness into immediate benefitswhich generates a Ethical conflict on the gamification of the conflict. Killing becomes a rewarded act not only with recognition, but with material power to improve the offensive abilities of the unit. Although brutal, the model has proven to be effective for Accelerate the answer On the battlefield, promote tactical initiative and allow troops to access the technology they really need. In parallel, it also represents a form of digitalized war economy, where each confirmed impact translates into purchasing power, each successful mission in Access to strategic resources. A logic that is not free: responds to the urgency of Modernize the military apparatus Ukrainian in the midst of an asymmetric war, and the need to compete technologically with an enemy that has greater industrial and human reserves. Of course, he questions the ethical limits of the military culture model that can generate in the long term. A new military paradigm. The only existence of A “store” like this Change the concept of war in the 21st century. We talk about a digital architecture, distributed and Efficiency oriented Immediate with which Ukraine not only tries to match Russia in offensive capacity, but to overcome it in technological agility, tactical innovation and adaptation speed. If you want too, the battlefield does not seem only a physical space, but also a kind of Interactive platform where each action can be measured, rewarded and transform into operational advantage. A New War Economy where the value is measured, not in abstract terms, but in eliminated objectives, points won and delivered drones. Together with the obvious ethical dilemmas he poses, he also reveals to what extent the modern war is as technological as lethal. Image | NATO North, Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Russia has confirmed one of the great unknowns of war in Ukraine: North Korea accompanies them and not only with troops In Xataka | Russia has crowded a surprising blow to Ukraine: 100 soldiers walking for four days inside a gas pipeline

Put solar panels in space has never been profitable, but there is something that motivates the current interest: its military use

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The old idea of ​​collecting energy from the sun from space to transmit it uninterrupted to Earth has always collided with the huge costs and technological barriers that have prevented their deployment. Until now. A global interest. Governments and companies around the world seem to have a renewed interest in space solar energy. The drastic drop in launch costs, thanks to the emergence of reusable rockets such as Spacex, could have cleared the main economic obstacle from the equation. The necessary technology has also matured in parallel: solar panels are lighter and more efficient, and wireless energy transmission (microwave or laser) is more advanced. The same with robotics, which will be necessary to assemble the stations in orbit. The military factor. As with any renewable project, the energy transition and emission commitments are the engine of this new effort. But behind the recent interests of the Chinese government or the pentagon there is something else: the military potential of space solar energy. “The military utility of transmitting energy to land, aerial or maritime units is obvious,” He said to Spacenews Darpa’s tactical technology project manager Paul Jaffe. Transporting fuel to remote places with tank airplanes can be a usual practice, but “it is not a practical way to bring energy where we need it for defense purposes.” In addition to DARPA, who has conversations with space solar energy startups and invests in the development of long -distance wireless energy transmission, the United States Air Force and Navy are also in garlic. Pentagon projects. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFR) actively develops space solar technology through its “Space Solar Incremental Demonstrations and Research” program. Its flagship mission “Arachne” will prove in orbit a sandwich panel that converts sunlight into radiofrequency energy to transmit it to a terrestrial receptor. Led by Northrop Grumman, it is scheduled for this year with the explicit objective of providing energy to the forces and reducing the dependence of fuel convoys, which are more vulnerable. For its part, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) integrated a module called PRAM into the X-37B secret space plane to prove the conversion of solar energy to microwave. Now the project is part of the space force. What can we expect. Military interest is an important catalyst, and possibly one of the motivations behind the gigantic project of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CASC), which will display its first satellites in low orbit by 2028 and in geostationary orbit for 2030. But in the coming years we will also see all kinds of commercial and space agencies, including the European Space Agency with its Solaris initiative, which focuses on viability studies. Despite these progress, the challenges are still considerable. The two major doubts are profitability, in the case of commercial efforts, which will compete with the renewable energies deployed on land, increasingly profitable despite their intermittency. And security, which depends on the fact that you are issued at distances of hundreds or tens of thousands of kilometers are very precise. Maybe let’s see some “fried” birds along the way.

become the main United States military pitcher

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When Elon Musk founded Spacex in 2002 with ambitions as grandiloquent as the conquest of Marsfew would have bet money to unseat the two giants of the US space industry: Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Now it is a reality in every way because Spacex has just officially become the main military pitcher in the United States. Sorpasso The US space force has awarded 13.7 billion dollars in public contracts to launch the most critical satellites of the Pentagon from here at the beginning of the next decade. Among them, new advanced GPS satellites and strategic communications systems capable of resisting even a nuclear conflict. Spacex has taken most of the cake with 28 missions, valued at 5.9 billion dollars. There are nine more than those awarded to United Launch Alliance (The Boeing and Lockheed Martin Joint-Venture), With 19. For its part, Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos’ Aerospace Company) has received seven missions. Goodbye to the duopoly. When the New Space emerged with new rocket startups such as Spacex and Blue Origin, Boeing and Lockheed Martin shielded their military contracts with a joint business called ULA. For years, and thanks to the demonstrated reliability of its rockets, the Pentagon continued to feed the duo with the exclusivity of its juicy contracts. Spacex got open a gap in 2015 with its first military contract after a hard legal battle to compete on equal terms. Since then, he has not only managed to consolidate, but to become the preferential provider of the space force with the highest number of contracts. Excuses are over. With about 140 successful releases In the last year and more competitive rates than competition thanks to its unique reuse capacity, the Pentagon does not have many excuses to maintain favor treatment with ULA instead of choosing Spacex. Spacex requested space force 212 million dollars per launch In his Falcon 9 rockets and Falcon Heavy, compared to the 282 million that Ula asked for the Vulcan and the 341 million asked for Blue Origin for the powerful New Glenn rocket, which has barely flown once. There is a game. In spite of everything, ULA still has a lot to offer with its new Vulcan rocket, especially thanks to the upper Centaur V stage that offers greater maneuverability and orbit thrust than the Spacex falcon. Blue originated on your part, has the most powerful rocket of the fourwith a huge cofia in which all kinds of loads fit, and the same reuse aspirations as Spacex. Of course, he has barely completed a test launch, and failed in his first attempt to land in a barge in the Atlantic. He has at least one certification flight to launch military charges. Images | Spacex, United States Department of Defense In Xataka | Spacex has shot at unsuspected levels. So much that Gwynne Shotwell has entered the list of billionaires

The largest military base on the planet

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During The cold warthe Soviet Union prepared for “the worst” building a large number of Underground bases and bunkersresistant structures that could face nuclear attacks. In Germany also tell with a large number of these vestiges of war conflicts of the past. In China, since 1980 there is a group in charge in the creation of deep shelters capable of resisting the most powerful western bombs. The team has silently lifting an unpublished work: the largest military bunker on the planet. A vitamin “pentagon. I told it in exclusive the Financial Times through satellite images. China is developing a military complex of monumental proportions on the Western outskirts of Beijing, one that according to American intelligence would work as a War Command Center Designed to house the High Command of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) in case of conflict, including a eventual nuclear war. The site, informally nicknamed by analysts as “Beijing Military City”it covers about 1,500 hectares (ten times bigger that the Pentagon) and is approximately 30 kilometers from the center of the capital. Satellite images, analyzed by US agencies, show deep excavations and intense construction activity, suggesting the creation of a network of underground facilities strongly reinforced and connected by tunnels, capable of resisting attacks, even with nuclear weapons. Xi Jinping’s plans. The beginning of the works, detected in mid -2024coincides with the EPL preparations for the centenary of its foundation in 2027, date for which President Xi Jinping has ordered that the armed forces develop sufficient capacity to take Taiwan. The Nuclear Arsenal Expansionthe improvement in the integration between EPL branches and the impulse of new weapons systems are part of this modernization strategy. In fact, experts Like Dennis Wilderformer head of analysis of China in the CIA, interpret the new bunker as a clear sign of China’s intentions, not only to consolidate a conventional first level force, but also to strengthen their abilities for a nuclear war. Colosal bunker, absolute secretism. The FT had that more than 100 cranes operate simultaneously in an area of ​​five square kilometers, and according to the Former Image Analyst Renny Babiarzthe infrastructure includes underground facilities connected by hidden passages. The site completely lacks common elements in civil real estate projects, such as exhibition rooms or official mentions on the Internet, which further evidences its military character. In fact, and although there is no visible military presence, there are multiple signs that They prohibit the use of drones or photography, access controls with guards and restrictions to pass through nearby tourist areas, which have been declared “Military Areas” by local residents. Start of excavations in 2024 Echoes of the Cold War. We said it at the beginning. The characteristics of the site remind the Soviet underground bases of the Cold War, and reflect the influence of engineers Like Qian Qihupioneer in the development of resistant structures to nuclear attacks after their training at the former Military Engineering Academy of Kuybyshev in the USSR. Counted on Asian Times That at least since the 1980s, Qian and his team have worked on the creation of deep shelters capable of resisting extremely powerful bombs, such as the American GBU-57A/B.capable of crossing up to 200 meters. Strategic ambition. For their part, US officials point out that the new complex would replace the current center EPL command in the Western hillsbuilt during the Cold War and already considered obsolete for contemporary security standards. The new installation would not only increase the protection of the high command against American penetration weapons, but also allow Integrate advanced communications and have space for future military capabilities. In other words, the dimensions of the complex and its partially buried characteristics point to a unique purpose: to be the main operations center China strategic in case of war. Power symbol. Researchers and analysts also agree that the project presents all the typical signals of a highly sensitive military installation, such as the Use of reinforced concrete and one Network of tunnels deep. In this regard, a Chinese researcher accessed that his size, leaving the Pentagon in “tiny” XI JINPING ambitions for overcoming the United States in strategic capacity. Plus: construction coincides with a transformation process Urbanistic of the surroundings of Beijing, in which homes have demolished in areas such as Qinglonghu, feeding speculation about the nature of the project in Chinese social networks. Precedents China already has military underground facilities, such as Command Center in Xishansouthwest of Beijing, located 100 meters deep, from where EPL maneuvers are directed since 2013. In 2018, researchers identified A karst cave In Xishan’s forest park, with an estimated depth of 2,000 meters and its own water source, an enclave with the potential for the location of a nuclear bunker. That cave is considered comparable in depth to the famous Krubera in Georgiawhich suggests that, in addition to the monumental work, the EPL is exploring reinforced natural locations for future strategic facilities. Background: Taiwan. Impossible to ignore the island. Sources close to the Taiwan Ministry of Defense They have suggested to FT That the EPL is building a new command center, although some experts question the suitability of the ground for underground bunkers. Thus, given the size of the site, it is speculated that it could also house a high -level administrative installation or a large -scale training base. HSU YEN-CHI, INVESTIGIC AND WARGAMING STUDIES IN TAIPÉI, researcher on Talegic and Wargaming, He underlined that the land far exceeds the dimensions of an ordinary military base, which reinforces the hypothesis that the site has a strategic purpose much greater. Official silence. What seems clear about the images is that we are facing a pharaonic work in times of war. Officially, neither the Office of the United States National Intelligence Director nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington offered more comments on the project to the Financial Times. And while Washington carefully observes the progress of the works, Beijing is limited to insisting on its commitment to a defensive policy and peaceful development. However, the scale, secrecy … Read more

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