Need To Know: April 29
Japan’s Game Changing Missile
More evidence of Japan’s military rebuild with China in mind; Japan has started work on a super-fast hypersonic guided missile the Japanese Ministry of Defense describes as a “game changer.”
The missile, which will target both ships and ground targets, will use scramjet and ramjet engine technology to achieve very high speeds.
Hello, Beijing
A ramjet uses the engine’s forward motion to compress incoming air. It produces a high pressure, high velocity gas stream that exits the engine at supersonic speeds, propelling the vehicle. However, when the intaken air is compressed, the flow is reduced to subsonic speeds to allow better combustion. That limits top velocity to Mach 6 (7,400 km/h).
In a scramjet engine, combustion takes place when the airflow is supersonic. That means the theoretical top speed of a scramjet lies between Mach 12 (15,000 km/h) and Mach 24 (29,000 km/h).
Theoretical is the key word.
Aerodynamic drag at hypersonic speeds within the atmosphere is immense, so temperatures generated are very high. Better materials are needed to endure those temperatures. To date, the top speed of a scramjet engine is the NASA X-43A, which reached Mach 9.6.
The reason for having both kinds of engines is scramjets can only operate at hypersonic speed; they need an impractically long (and easy to spot) rocket for military purposes to achieve that. A ramjet uses a much short shorter rocket, and so it will be used to get the missile to speed for the scramjet.
The missile will also be maneuverable, making it difficult for enemy air defense systems to intercept. It will fly at an altitude higher than that of a typical lower level air defense system and lower than that of an upper level air defense system. That makes it difficult to predict the point of intercept, making it difficult for existing air defense systems to respond it. Japan's Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) is working with Mitsubishi to build the missile.
Radio and lightwave image seekers will be used to identify targets, and this missile will be capable of all-weather operations. The missile is expected to be capable of carrying a penetrating warhead to destroy the flight decks of enemy aircraft carriers and a high-density Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) warhead to suppress enemies on the ground.
ATLA says it will be operational by 2030.
China's Interesting Oil Buys
China's March crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia fell 1.6% from a year earlier, while purchases from No.2 supplier Russia rose 31%, according to Reuters.
China's March crude oil imports rose 4.5% year on year to 9.68 million barrels per day (bpd) as refiners stocked up on cheaper cargoes despite falling domestic fuel demand and cuts in refining rates due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic.
China's imports from the United States remained close to zero in March. After falling last year because of the U.S.-China trade war, they are expected to pick up after Beijing started granting tariff waivers on U.S. goods including crude oil from early March.
Alarmed by China’s increasing purchases of Saudi and Russian oil, U.S. producers have been pressuring the Trump White House to refocus on its trade deal with Beijing. Under phase one, China is supposed to buy US$18.5 billion more in US energy products in the first year and another US$33.9 billion in the second year.
Also, despite little sign of any easing in U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports, data showed China's imports from the Middle East producer at 2.558 million tonnes, up 11.3% from a year earlier.
China’s Cybersecurity Law Targets Foreign Firms
China has tightened rules for how certain companies must safeguard national security when choosing network products and services, raising concerns among the foreign firms who provide those services.
The new guidelines, released on Monday and set to come into force on June 1, will affect operators of “critical information infrastructure”, requiring them to undergo a cybersecurity review process for any procurements that could have national security implications.
The measures formalize steps needed to comply with a national security stipulation in China’s 2017 cybersecurity law.
Exactly which companies are considered critical information infrastructure operators remains unclear, but the umbrella term cuts a swathe through China’s industries including telecommunications, energy, transport, finance, health care and social security, as well as defence-related science and technology industries.
The new guidelines lay out both a government review timeline and a set of steps these companies must follow when purchasing products or services whose operations could be seen to have national security implications. These could include core network equipment, servers, cloud computing services, database software, and network security equipment.
To comply, the operators will need to initiate a cybersecurity review process when purchasing services and products, which could lead to an inter-agency evaluation of the national security risks of using certain products, led by a designated office housed under the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).
The review will be based on security factors including the risk of theft, breach, or damage of critical data, the possibility of disruption or interference with the infrastructure, and the service providers’ compliance with Chinese laws.
It will also include an evaluation of the potential for supply chain disruption due to “political, diplomatic or trade factors”, a stipulation that appeared in a May 2019 draft of the new regulations, as the U.S. was gearing up to cut Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei out of its own critical infrastructure over national security concerns.