China Defense Blog has a photo essay from China’s recent expedition to the Arctic, as well as pictures of their station in Antartica. Below is a photo of their large Russian built icebreaker from the post, with the Wiki link for the specs. Note in the link above, their helo looks an awful lot like an H-65. There is also some photos of their new support aircraft, a modified DC-3.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-08/21/c_13455724.htm
ABOARD XUELONG, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) — A group of Chinese scientists reached the North Pole on Friday afternoon, extending their research on the Arctic Ocean to Earth’s northernmost point.Fourteen Chinese scientists were flown in by helicopter from icebreaker the Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, which carried a Chinese exploration team and reached a point at 88.22 degrees north latitude and 177.20 degrees west longitude.
Photo: MV Xue Long
This ship recently completed a transit between the Pacific and the Atlantic via the Arctic Ocean.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/china-snow-dragon-icebreaker_n_1918260.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Xue Long collided with an iceberg earlier this week. No injuries, superficial structural damage to the vessel, and 250 tons of ice on the deck…