UFO Incidents or U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in China?

Published in Nanfang Daily
(China) on 31 Dec 2011
by Chen Guang Wen (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Yu Huifang. Edited by Tom Proctor.
On Dec. 27, the Xinhua website released an article written by Xu Yong Ling, a former test pilot from the Chinese Air Force, entitled “2011 Review of Military Aviation Events:Motives behind the UFO." A section of the article, labelled "Mysterious Visitor in the Sky," mentioned that Xu had witnessed several unidentified objects in China’s skies and deduced that these unidentified objects were man-made. This has prompted us in China to place emphasis on such incidents, which we should deem military events. When one such unidentified flying object was shot down, it was confirmed that the flying object did not require human operation. However, if one witnessed the object in flight, one would have thought it was a supernatural phenomenon.

In this age, unmanned aerial vehicles have become an important means of investigating an invasion. If aerial vehicles are manned, that would mean an invasion. In an era where technology is not symmetrical, such harassment against weak nations is common. Major powers use their technological advantages to carry out such invasions against weak nations. In fact, this has become a way for major powers to show off their superiority. This article suggests that high-tech stealth aircraft of a certain country can fly in China's skies at will. This is no UFO incident; China's air defenses just has no good way of dealing with this!

One is definitely shocked by such things. In recent years, there have been numerous UFO incidents, and the frequency of these incidents seems to be increasing at an exponential rate. Previously, most UFO incidents occurred only in technologically advanced nations. For example, the U.S. has had several reports of such incidents. With the development of China in recent years, such reports have been more frequent. The traces of the events can be found in almost more than half of China; in Beijing, Changzhou, Hohhot, Shijiazhuan, Lanzhou, Inner Mongolia and so on. Some experts felt that this is perhaps due to the latest technological experiments in China. On top of that, the same conclusion was arrived at after several countries analyzed the follow-up reporting on the UFO incidents. It is after reading pilot Xu's article that we learned that such incidents are related to rival nations conducting a secret investigation on China. In other words, they are investigating China's military secrets while the Chinese military is powerless to react to such incidents.

It is just like the year when the U.S. was testing the F-117 stealth aircraft. There were several Americans who had witnessed all types of UFO incidents. But such incidents are only within the grasp of the government or the military. Due to military secrecy, it is not easy to provide an explanation of the events. As a result, authorities took no stance regarding the incidents. Therefore, various appearances of UFOs can fit into two categories. First, the Chinese military is currently experimenting on some advanced technology and various types of secret aircraft. Second, some country's secret unmanned aerial vehicle is currently active in our country. Just like what pilot Xu said, what was shot down would be considered an unmanned aircraft. Furthermore, what could not be shot down or was not discovered by the air defense system would be deemed UFO incidents. This can be further illustrated by the shooting of an American unmanned aerial vehicle, the RQ-170 Sentinel, by Iran in the beginning of last month.

We know that with the rise of China, the U.S. has already listed China as a potential strategic adversary. Therefore, it has become a main goal of the U.S. military to scout and gain control of China's core military secrets. According to America's well-known National Defense Magazine, the U.S. military's emphasis on unmanned aerial vehicles has heightened. The U.S. is also currently in the midst of developing an enhanced unmanned aerial vehicle capable of penetrating the People's Liberation Army and the Iranian air defense system. However, the concrete details are still confidential. The U.S. is already successfully deploying or is currently experimenting with various unmanned aerial vehicles like the RQ-3A, RQ-4A, RQ-170, HTV-170, HTV-2, X-37B, X-47, X-51 and so on. Such projects are semi-public, and, according to the U.S. military's practice, it is possible that there are many more top-secret reconnaissance missions with unmanned aerial aircraft. An example would be the long-rumored SR-71 and Aurora Hypersonic Strategic Reconnaissance. The SR-71 has been in service for nearly 50 years so far without being shot down. As for the latter, there has been no confirmation of its existence, and there is no way of detecting or countering it. Especially when there are many unmanned aerial vehicles which are beyond the traditional shapes that we know of, such advanced aircraft could be what is being seen in the UFO incidents.

There is no doubt that most American unmanned aerial vehicles are stealth aircraft. The above examples are American manned or unmanned reconnaissance aircraft systems. Especially since the turn of the century, after the American stealth fighters, the F-22 and B-2, came into service, the Chinese air defense has become unprecedentedly more rigorous. As a result, China has started to actively develop its anti-stealth capability. What takes precedence here is China's recent development of several anti-stealth radars. One which is widely known is the DWL002 passive detection radar system. Another tool is the YLC-20, a radio detection system, the Chinese version of Czech Republic's Vera-E. Another one is a ground-based, long-range passive radar system. There are other means as well, including the monitoring of cell phone base station signals or discovering stealth aircraft through their disturbance of the wireless transmission of television signals. The above are four known anti-stealth radar systems. Although the local media sees these as marvelous, these systems can do nothing to those foreign, technologically-advanced unmanned aerial vehicles. If one cannot rely on radio signals to detect unmanned aircraft, then it becomes all the more difficult to counter it; there have been witnesses, but no air force had been dispatched to track or attack. Put another way, there is no way of discovering or continuing with the tracking. This will mean that all the surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles are ineffective, and Chinese skies are completely open to others.

If this is the case, what intelligence does the U.S. want to obtain? First, it wants to get a hold of China's preparations for the possibility of war with Taiwan. This means China making use of the Taiwan Straits Exercise opportunity and exercising force against Taiwan. Second, it wants to know the key performance indicators of China's new air and navy equipment, especially the main battle equipment used by the Navy and the Air Force. It will then be easier to do close surveillance. Third, the U.S. wants to monitor China's military movements and secret communications, discovering the secrets and patterns behind Chinese military deployment and transactions. Fourth, Americans seek the latest intelligence on China's weapons testing and production. What is important from this intelligence is the location of weapons manufacturing and testing sites.

Although some of the above intelligence can be obtained through satellite reconnaissance, unmanned aerial vehicles is still able to approach the target and obtain even more details. On top of that, such stealth reconnaissance would not be shot and would only be "vaguely" discovered by Chinese military forces. In turn, this would induce the Chinese air defense system to trigger its emergency radar and electronic communication parameters. This is one of the reasons why satellite reconnaissance cannot replace the unmanned aerial vehicles.

From Xu's article, we see that China's air defense system isn't all that tight and China's means of counteracting unmanned aerial vehicles is somewhat lacking. Yet with China's recent improvements in stealth technology, the country is catching up in this area with many excellent anti-stealth radars and stealth capabilities. The Chengdu J-20 has been tested 63 times in one year. This indirectly means China has made tremendous progress in the fields of stealth and anti-stealth. What we are concerned with is when will China be able to prove itself like Iran by shooting down or forcing a true American unmanned aerial vehicle to land?


陈光文:UFO事件,或是美国无人机横行中国

据新华网12月27日发表的中国空军前试飞员徐勇凌的一篇文章,题目为《2011军事航空事件回眸:UFO背后的杀机》。该文在“神秘的空中之客”一节中,提到他曾经多次在中国上空肉眼看见过所谓的不明飞行物,并判断为一定是人类产品,提示我们要把它作为一种军事事件加以重视。这种不明飞行物被击落了、被证实了,就是无人机,而如果仅仅是看见则变成了“灵异现象”。当前,无人机就已经成为军事大国侦查侵略的重要手段。有人驾驶飞行器的凌空侵犯,就意味着侵犯,必将引起被侵害国的打击和抗议,而无人化武器的侵入,则成为一种技术欺辱,让你吃亏却不知如何表达愤怒。在技术相对不对称的时代,这种被骚扰成为弱国的常态,而大国利用技术优势进行的侵犯,则成为一种技术上的炫耀。其文中暗示,现在某国的高技术隐身飞行器可以在中国的天空任意横行,只是中国防空部队没有办法应对罢了,并非什么UFO事件!

对此不能不引人震惊。近年以来,在中国大地上,几乎间隔不久就会有UFO事件出现,而且还呈密集爆发阶段。早前,所谓UFO事件大多出现在技术先进国家,比如美国,就有很多关于目击的报告。近些年来,随着中国的发展,此类的报告也逐渐多起来,它的“足迹”似乎遍布大半个中国,北京、常州、呼和浩特、石家庄、兰州、内蒙古……有关专家认为,这也许是和国家新技术的实验有关。而且,从各国对UFO事件的后续分析来看,也大多如此。但读罢徐飞行员的文章,我们才知道,这很可能是和敌对国家对中国大陆的秘密侦查有关,也可以说是他们在侦查中国的军事秘密,而中国军方却对此无能为力。

像当年,美国试验F-117隐身飞机时,就有很多美国人目击到了形形色色的UFO事件。但是这类UFO事件只有政府或者军方掌握,出于军事保密的原因,都不好解释,因而也就任其传说不置可否。所以,中国各地密集出现的UFO事件,可以分为两种,一种是中国军方正在试验某些高技术以及各类秘密飞行器,另一类就是某国的无人秘密飞行器在我国进行活动。正如徐飞行员所说,打下来了就是无人机,打不下来或者防空系统发现不了,那就是UFO事件。特别是上月初,伊朗击落了一架美国的RQ-170“哨兵”隐身无人机,也可以说明这个问题。

我们知道,随着中国的崛起,美国已经将中国列为潜在的战略对手,因而对于掌控中国的核心军事秘密,已成为美国军方首先需要侦察的目标。根据美国知名的“国防杂志”的文章称,美军对无人机的重视程度日渐提高,目前其正研发一款可穿透解放军和伊朗防空系统的超级无人机,不过具体细节尚在保密之中。而美军已经实现部署或者正在试验的无人飞行器,就有RQ-3A、RQ-4A、RQ-170、HTV-2、X-37B、X-47、X-51等等,这还是半公开的项目,按美军的习惯,可能还有更多的执行绝密侦察任务的无人机是处于绝对保密的。就像盛传已久的SR-71和“曙光女神”高超音速战略侦察机,前者服役至今近50年了从没有被打下来过,后者至今不能确定是否存在也就意味着没有办法发现或者对付它。特别是很多无人机,并非我们传统意义上的外形,它们极有可能就是我们的UFO目击报告中的形状,因而更易被我们判断为UFO事件。

在美军的无人机中,大多数均是属于隐身机这一点毫不怀疑,上述列举的美国有人或者无人侦察机系统均属此列。特别是自世纪之交美国的隐身战机F-22和B-2先后服役之后,中国的空中防线空前严峻起来,因而才开始积极发展自己的反隐身能力。这里优先提到的就是中国近年发展的几种反隐身雷达:一种是广为所知的DWL002被动探测雷达系统,一种是YLC-20无线电侦查系统(捷克的“维拉-E”系统中国版),另一种就是所谓的“地面长效无源雷达系统”,还有一种是通过监测手机信号基站或者无线电视信号的传播被扰动而发现隐身飞行器的方法。上述这已知的四种反隐身雷达系统,虽然被国内媒体吹得神乎其神,但是现在来看,它们似乎都对先进的国外无人机无可奈何。如果不能凭无线电信号(有人目击但无空军出动追踪或者攻击基本可以说是无法发现或是无法连续跟踪)发现它,也就很难对付它,也就意味着所有的对空导弹或者空空导弹都形同虚设,中国天空将门户洞开。

那么,美国到底要侦查中国的那些情报呢?第一,掌握中国对台湾可能的战争准备情况,防止“借台海演习之机”对台动武。第二,掌握中国新式海陆空装备的主要性能指标,特别是海空军主战装备更容易地近侦察。第三,监视中国的军事动向和秘密通讯联络,从中发现中国军方的秘密部署和异动并寻找其规律。第四,监控中国武器试验和制造的最新情报,其中最主要的是那些武器制造厂和试验区域。

虽然上述有些情报也可以由卫星侦察获得,但毕竟不如更加接近目标的无人侦察机所获得情报更详细一些,而且由隐身的无人机出动实施侦察既不会被击落,还可以被中国军方执行防御任务的部队所“隐约”发现,因而可以诱使其防空系统紧急启动从而获知其最新的雷达和通讯电子参数,这也是侦察卫星所无法代替的原因之一。

从徐勇凌的文章来看,中国的防空系统还不是那么严密,中国对付隐身无人机的手段还略显欠缺。但从中国近年来在隐身技术上的不断进步可以看出,中国军方在这方面正在迎头赶上,众多的反隐身雷达和具有极佳隐身能力的歼-20的一年63次试飞,也间接说明中国在隐身和反隐身领域正在取得极大进步。我们关心的是,中国何时才能像伊朗那样,以击落或者迫降一架真正的美国隐身无人机来证明自己呢?!
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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