Chinese hypersonic rocket scientist defects to the West via MI6 | Hacker News Reader

Chinese hypersonic rocket scientist defects to the West via MI6

express.co.uk

> This is an intelligent man; a man who keenly follows cricket but prefers Jack Daniels to lager

I’m convinced

> Despite his apparent success, however, it was resentment at having been passed over for promotion

Welp, it would be nice to be able to say the west's superior values came out shining here. But this is closer to the plot of "The Trouble with Edward" than anything nearly so idealistic...it's kind of funny.

(Frightening too, since pretty much every team everywhere on the globe has a promotions process with some compromised elements)

>Described as a rocket technician, the Chinese national was attached to the stateowned Aviation Industry Corp of China, where he helped develop a mid-range hypersonic boost-glide vehicle capable of carrying DF-17 missiles to a range of up to 2,000 miles.

AVIC make planes not missiles.

> AVIC make planes not missiles.

In a post on Weibo on Monday, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China said the PL-15E “has the ability to attack manned aircraft, unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles and other targets located more than 145km [90 miles] away”. [1]

[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3150623/new...

As far as I know PL15 was developed by 607 Institute & 171 factory plant which spun off from AVIC in mid 2010s. But it looks like they're back in AVIC. In context of article, specifically hypersonic missiles like DF17, they're developed by CASIC and their subsidiary academies and manufactured by one of their numbered factories. If he worked on "recent hypersonic missile delivery system that can circle the globe". i.e. the glider/fob that made waves, that's under even more purview of CASIC who deals with aero/space delivery vehicles.

From https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1239529.shtml:

> Making their public debut, DF-17 missiles join the National Day parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019.

> Designated the FL-64, the wind tunnel - built by the Aerodynamics Research Institute under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC)

From https://eurasiantimes.com/china-moves-at-blistering-speed-in...:

> The Aerodynamics Research Institute under the state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has announced the development of the new wind tunnel.

> According to a press statement issued by the institute, the new wind tunnel will be used to test the “separation and release” of weapons from hypersonic vehicles. A hypersonic glide vehicle is a maneuverable warhead that sits on the tip of a long-range missile and glides to its target on an unpredictable course, making it difficult to intercept once unleashed.

I am no military expert, but I am not convinced AVIC isn’t related the hypersonic glide vehicle for hypersonic missiles such as DF-17.

Think tank sources will attribute DF17 and other HGVs to CASIC. Who has their own wind tunnels. DF17 was developed years before AVIC FL64, which was undergoing calibration testing around the time of the glider/fob news, it's not suppose to be operational until this year. AVIC might be pursuing hypersonic delivery platforms like drones etc, they might share testing infra with other branches but rocket boost glide vehicles isn't their wheelhouse. This article and it's source doesn't pass the smell test. I guess we'll see if it makes way in other reporting.

https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/df-17/

>China’s 10th Research Institute is responsible for developing the DF-17 and other Chinese HGVs. Also known as the “Near Space Flight Vehicle Research Institute,” the organization operates under the China Aerospace Science Industry Corporation (CASIC) 1st Academy.3

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