The military-political events that take place almost daily in the Asia-Pacific region are the main indicators of the world's rapid entry into the long-term stage of the global confrontation between the multipolar and unipolar concepts of building foreign policy interaction. The construction of an American military town and a base for more than 40 thousand personnel near the South Korean Pyeongtaek, as well as its cover with the regional anti-missile complex "THAAD", directly threatens the capabilities of the 2nd artillery corps of the PRC to maintain at least some parity positions in comparison with the 20th Air Force of the US Air Force Global Strike Command. Intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed in the eastern provinces of the Middle Kingdom to deliver probable attacks on the US West Coast have a trajectory just over the Republic of Korea. The initial section of the trajectory is included in the high-altitude lines of interception (150 km) of THAAD interceptor missiles. At the same time, ICBMs in the arsenals of the 2nd artillery corps are no more than 80, and a couple of divisions of the American complex can seriously thin out the strategic strike potential of the PLA.
The threat to Russian ballistic missiles from the South Korean missile defense position area is less significant, since the trajectories of our missiles to a greater extent pass over the Arctic region, but here another unpleasant moment is a powerful high-potential AN / TPY-2 (GBR) radar with active HEADLIGHTS, which is capable of "looking »Into the stratospheric section of Russian airspace over the Primorsky Territory, and track various aircraft used by the Pacific Fleet and the Russian Air Force. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly pointed out the inadmissibility of deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula due to the likelihood of an even greater militarization of the PRC, but the Americans completely ignored these calls. The Asia-Pacific region continues to "grow" with modern American anti-missile weapons. The Chinese are far from simple guys, and literally every successful situation is used by Beijing to realize its strategic interests, especially in the direction of reconnaissance.
So, in recent years, the Taiwanese security forces have identified and disclosed the fact that the Taiwan Air Force has organized a large intelligence network consisting of a group of Taiwanese officers and the agent of the 2nd Directorate of the PLA General Staff Zheng Qiazhang, who is leading them. The network was engaged in finding out the detailed tactical and technical characteristics of the 48 single-seat multirole Mirage-2000-5Ei fighters and 12 two-seat Mirage-2000-5Di fighters in service with the Taiwan Air Force. It would seem, what could be of interest to the specialists of the PLA, which is no longer quite a new tactical fighter of French production, which is in service with the enemy? Naturally, their avionics, as well as flight performance, as reported by the article "Les Mirages, cibles preferes des Chinois" on the French resource "Intelligence online".
Complementing the opinion of the French newsletter, it should be clarified that the Chinese are most interested in the operating modes of the onboard RDY-2 radar, and in particular, the mode of using the MICA-EM // IR medium-range air-to-air missiles with active radar and infrared seeker, which in the amount of 960 units were purchased by the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan for the national air force. It would seem, what could be special in the modes of operation of a conventional airborne radar with an effective detection range of up to 100 km and 8 simultaneously tracked targets?
Firstly, this is almost complete compliance with the algorithms of the RDM radar systems installed on the Indian Mirage-2000H / TH fighters: due to direct access and study of the parameters of the fire control system and the radar operation modes, Taiwanese officers could provide the Chinese Air Force with comprehensive information on the operation of RDM / RDY, which in turn would help Chinese specialists quickly find the most optimal type of electronic suppression, which would be effective against both Taiwanese and Indian Mirages.
Secondly, it is the presence of MICA-EM missiles in service with the Mirages. The characteristics of the active radar homing head of this AD4A missile are of interest to the Chinese Air Force command no less than the avionics of the Mirages themselves, because very soon, according to the 7.9 billion contract, the Indian Air Force will receive 36 Rafale multipurpose fighters, which in future conflicts may be used against Chinese tactical aircraft. Here, the Chinese special services could work for the long term: having learned the exact parameters of the active radar seeker AD4A, the basic principles of operation of similar homing heads of anti-aircraft guided missiles "VL-MICA", "Aster-30" and long-range air missiles MBDA "Meteor" would automatically open. These products will soon occupy a serious niche in the global arms market, and it will be vitally important for the Chinese electronic warfare to be able to withstand these homing heads.
Of equal interest among Chinese specialists is the maneuverability of the Mirage-2000-5, which, thanks to the tailless aerodynamic configuration with a low delta wing, is almost as good as such machines as the F-16C, J-10A / B or MiG-29SMT in steady turn at angles of attack up to 28 degrees. If you look at the performance of "Mirage-2000-5" at the MAKS-2007 aerospace show, you can see a unique "energetic" aerobatics with high angular rates of turn in pitch and roll, which, for example, for "Falcon" or "Super Hornet" is very difficult. The wing loading at normal takeoff weight is 254.4 kg m2, which indicates a decrease in the radius of turn and better bearing qualities of the fuselage. Afterburner thrust midships is 3233 kgf / m2, which is enough for excellent acceleration qualities of the car from 600 to 1200 km / h. And, finally, the G-limit of the Mirage-2000-5 airframe is 13 units, which can be found only in a few types of tactical fighters.
The modernization of Mirages with new radars with AFAR is capable of transforming a light multifunctional fighter into an advanced aviation complex for intercepting and gaining air superiority of the 4 ++ generation, and therefore the PRC's regular hunt for the technical data of this aircraft will continue.
