Chinese ships, planes hold war games in Sea of Japan
China’s military says its planes and ships held war games in the Sea of Japan last week.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website that the long-range exercises staged Aug. 19 pitted a red army against a blue one in a simulated bomber attack on a naval task force.
It said the primary ships in the exercise were the Jingzhou, a latest-generation type 054A class stealth frigate of which China is planning to deploy more than two dozen, and the type 052C destroyer Xi’an.
The statement made no mention of what sort of conflict the exercise was intended as a response to, prospective foes or why the Sea of Japan was chosen as the location of the drills. China claims a chain of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan. AP
Woman sentenced for exporting U.S. military gear to China
A California woman has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for illegally exporting U.S. military gear to China including jet fighter engines and a drone aircraft.
Court records show a Miami federal judge imposed the sentence Aug. 19 on 45-year-old Wenxia Man of San Diego. A jury convicted her in June of conspiring to export and actually exporting military equipment without the proper license.
Federal prosecutors say evidence in the case showed Man worked with a person in China to export engines used in F-135, F-22 and F-16 fighter jets as well as an MQ-9 Reaper drone aircraft capable of firing Hellfire missiles.
Man allegedly told an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent she worked with a spy who helped the Chinese military copy items from other countries. AP
Boeing issues layoff notices to 100 employees
Boeing issued about 100 layoff notices in Washington state Aug. 19.
The Seattle Times reports the 60-day notices will go to 16 employees in the Commercial Airplanes division with the rest going to people in the defense division and corporate units reporting to company headquarters in Chicago.
Spokesman Doug Alder says it’s possible that not all who receive the notices will be laid off at the end of two months because in many cases employees find another job at the company.
Employees say the layoffs will include some staff in the flight test unit at Boeing Field.
Boeing employed almost 75,700 people in the state at the end of July, down more than 3,500 since Jan. 1. AP