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THE RISING SEA DRAGON IN ASIA - 2012 UPDATE By Jeff Head - Last Update: June 15, 2012 (Click on any image for a larger picture) 2011 has seen significant increases in major combatant shipbuilding by the PLAN across the board. From the PLA Navy's first carrier being launched and sent to sea for trials, to continued testing and production of J-15 fighters for that carrier's airwing, to the increased tempo of serial production of the PLAN's Type 071 LPD, the Yuzhao Class (with a second and third unit launched and a fourth being built), to increased serial production...

China usually holds its military hand very close to the vest--that, or things “mysteriously” leak that it doesn’t (does) want the world to know about--so we’re left to wonder why the People’s Republic has decided to publish this in the journal Advanced Materials Research. Nonetheless, it’s pretty interesting. Chinese navy researchers have plans for a new submarine hunting scheme that uses ship-launched UAVs running genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms narrow down a range of possibilities to an optimal solution much the way evolution does (at least in a simplified sense)--by weeding out the weaker offspring and mating the best with the...

THE RISING SEA DRAGON IN ASIA - 2012 UPDATE (Click on any of the following images for a larger picture) 2011 has seen significant increases in major combatant shipbuilding by the PLAN across the board. From the PLA Navy's first carrier being launched and in trials, to continued testing and production of J-15 Fighters for that carrier's airwing, to the increased tempo of serial production for the PLAN's Type 071 LPD, the Yuzhao Class (with a second and third unit launched and a fourth being built), to increased serial production of the PLAN's premier stealthy, area-wide anti-air/multipurpose destroyer, the...

The new Chinese aircraft carrier, which conducted its first sea trials in August, has emerged from dry dock and is apparently at sea once again for more trials. While in dry dock her hull was scraped and painted, her deck received a new non-skid coat, and she may have had arresting wires installed, though that last is not confirmed. The former Russian carrier, Varyag, purchased from Ukraine and towed to China in 2003, has spent over 7 years being refit and refurbished and is now undergoing sea trials. THE NEW CHINESE CARRIER OUT OF DRY DOCK AND DEPARTING THE TRANSFORMATION...

Should We Be Afraid of China's New Aircraft Carrier? Not yet. BY ABRAHAM M. DENMARK, ANDREW S. ERICKSON, AND GABRIEL COLLINS | JUNE 27, 2011 Six months ago, Gen. Liu Huaqing -- the father of China's modern navy and its commander from 1982 to 1988 (and, according to the state-run People's Daily, "a distinguished member of the CPC, a seasoned loyal Communist fighter, an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, politician and strategist, and an excellent leader of the Party, the state and the military") -- passed away. Liu sought to build China's navy first into a "green water" fleet and, eventually, into...

China has officially admitted for the first time that it has embarked on an aircraft carrier building program, part of a grand strategy to "build itself up as a maritime power." A report published by the State Oceanic Administration says the country's leaders decided last year to back plans to build China's first aircraft carrier. The Chinese government and military had kept the program under wraps until now. The annual national ocean development report says that asserting China's power at sea is "indispensible to accomplishing the great resurgence of the Chinese people." Chinese military sources said initial plans had called...

Work is picking up on what appears to be China's first aircraft carrier, the Shi Lang. For eight years now, China has been tinkering with a half finished Russian aircraft carrier. Two years ago, this ex-Russian aircraft carrier, Varyag, was renamed the Shi Lang (after the Chinese general who took possession of Taiwan in 1681, the first time China ever paid any attention to the island) and given the pennant number 83. Until last year, progress was slow. But there has been a lot of work lately. Early in 2009, China moved the Shi Lang into dry dock, where work...

Aircraft carrier plan shows China naval ambitions By Sebastien Blanc (AFP) BEIJING — The new generation of combat aircraft China proudly showed off at the Zhuhai Air Show in the country's south this week could soon be taking off from a prestigious runway: an aircraft carrier. Beijing has become increasingly assertive in its ambitions on the high seas -- as demonstrated by recent tensions with old rival Japan -- but still lacks this naval centrepiece. This looks set to change. Although it has not officially announced as much, China is working on a carrier and Western experts believe it could...

Chinese Type 093 class SSN (nuclear attack sub) was recently seen moored at their new naval base on Hainan island. This base, just north of Vietnam, must make the Indians nervous, because more and more Chinese warships are showing up in the Indian Ocean. It was only a year ago that China confirmed, as many suspected, that the first Type 093 boar entered service in December, 2006. Officially, that was a secret, and Chinese nuclear subs don't go to sea at much, so it's difficult to tell if new ones are actually in service, and not just tied up at...

The greatest geopolitical development that has occurred largely beneath the radar of our Middle East-focused media over the past decade has been the rise of Chinese sea power. This is evinced by President Obama's meeting Friday about the South China Sea, where China has conducted live-fire drills and made territorial claims against various Southeast Asian countries, and the dispute over the Senkaku Islands between Japan and China in the East China Sea, the site of a recent collision between a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese coast guard ships. -excerpt- China has the world's second-largest naval service, after only the...

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on June 24 that all vessels would be prohibited from entering areas located east of Zhoushan to Taizhou city in Zhejiang in the East China Sea from June 30 to July 5. During that time period, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) conducted a six-day, live ammunition drill in a move that analysts say may be in response to a planned joint exercise between the United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) navies in the Yellow Sea. In spite of a lack of expert agreement over Chinese intentions, one aspect of the exercise...

On Sunday near Okinawa, the Japanese navy spotted two Chinese warships sailing south into the Pacific. The Chinese vessels were in international waters, but their proximity to Okinawa, which hosts a preponderance of U.S. and Japanese military forces, alarmed Tokyo. As a courtesy, navies traditionally announce their routine cruises in advance, particularly when one nation's ships might pass close to another's territory. Sunday's infraction of that protocol was not the first for China. Just three months prior, two Japanese warships patrolling around Okinawa had discovered an unannounced flotilla of at least 10 Chinese vessels, including two submarines. During the encounter,...

China is sending its largest surface combatant, the amphibious landing ship Kunlun Shan, to the Gulf of Aden to serve as a command ship for a PLA Navy anti-piracy task force, according to China Defense Blog. This marks the first deployment of the 071 LPD, launched in 2006, the largest naval ship of its own design China has built to date with an estimated displacement of around 20,000 tons. China is scheduled to command the multinational task force operating off the coast of piracy haven Somalia. Accompanying the Kunlun Shan is the destroyer Lanzhou and the supply ship Weishanhu. Available...

Last month was the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). At the naval parade held to commemorate the event, in front of delegations from 29 countries, PLAN Commander General Wu Shengli declared that Beijing intended to build aircraft carriers, spurring widespread speculation over China’s blue-water ambitions. So what should we make of Beijing’s assertiveness and openness about its carrier plans? My advice: ignore it. Traditional measures of naval power fail to give an accurate picture of China’s maritime ambitions and capabilities. Beijing currently lacks the hardware and skills to keep a carrier at sea,...

Satellite photos recently revealed that the Chinese Navy has received J-11 jet fighters. These are illegal Chinese copies of the Russian Su-27. This plagiarism has been a source of friction between Russia and China for over five years. It all began, legally, in 1995, when China paid $2.5 billion for the right to build 200 Su-27s. Russia would supply engines and electronics, with China building the other components according to Russian plans and specifications. But after 95 of the Chinese built aircraft were built, Russia cancelled the agreement. They claimed that China was using the knowledge acquired with this Su-27...

For much of the Cold War, China's navy was little more than an elaborate coast guard. It was barely a blip on the maritime horizons of Japan and Southeast Asia. Today the Chinese armed forces are in the midst of an intense and sustained modernization program, and the navy has emerged as a key service for protecting and advancing national interests. It gets more than one-third of the declared military budget. China's navy, like those of other leading nations, aims to protect vital trade routes, project power and influence, and deter potential adversaries. What makes the Chinese navy significantly different...

Military Advantage: Our defense secretary proposes doing what no other foreign adversary has done: sink the U.S. Navy. We don't need those billion-dollar destroyers, he says. Meanwhile, the Chinese navy rushes to fill the vacuum. Once Britannia ruled the waves, later to be replaced by America and its Navy. From the Battle of Midway to President Reagan's 600-ship fleet that helped win the Cold War, naval supremacy has been critical to the protection and survival of our nation. Which is why we find the recent remarks of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the Navy League at the Sea-Air-Space expo so...

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recently carried out its annual exercises far from China's coastal waters. The flotillas of naval warships were reportedly deployed on an unprecedented scale, seemingly to demonstrate China's emergence as a full-fledged blue water navy that is willing and capable of projecting its power into the Western Pacific. According to Japanese Defense Ministry sources cited by the Yomiuri Shimbun, the PLAN's East Sea Fleet was engaged in training exercises from April 7 to April 9 involving a total of 10 warships and submarines, including Sovremenny guided missile destroyers. The flotilla traveled from the East China...

An expanded understanding of the 'string of pearls' strategy suggests a China that is more expansionist, more mercantilist, and less interested in 'peaceful development' than many analysts often contend. The last decade was rough for the Japanese and South Koreans. North Korean missile launches, Kim Jong-Il’s nuclear program, a rapidly modernizing People’s Liberation Army, an increasingly aggressive Chinese navy—the defense establishments in America’s key Asian allies have not had this much to worry about since the Cold War ended. Things, of course, always find a way of getting worse.A Chinese company, the Chuangli Group, has recently rebuilt and leased a...

Last week, warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) sailed through what Chinese strategists call "the first island chain" that links Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The units from the East Sea Fleet included the imposing Sovremenny class destroyers, plus frigates and submarines. The flotilla moved through the Miyako Strait, setting off alarms in Japan, which is disputing Chinese claims to mineral wealth in the waters between the two Asian powers. The exercise took place just days after warships from the North Sea Fleet returned from what the PLAN called "confrontation exercises" in the South China Sea....

YALONG BAY, China — The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the United States Navy has long reigned as the dominant force, military officials and analysts say. China calls the new strategy “far sea defense,” and the speed with which it is building long-range capabilities has surprised foreign military officials... --snip-- A 2009 Pentagon report estimated Chinese naval forces at 260 vessels, including 75 “principal combatants” — major warships — and more than 60 submarines. The report...

Downplaying the threat from the China PLA Navy with periodic reports of its move to acquire an aircraft carrier, the former Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral (retd.) Arun Prakash said on Thursday it was not going to happen soon. “The PLA Navy is some years away from attaining [aircraft] carrier capability,” he said at the conclusion of a two-day seminar at the annual maritime power conference 2010, organised by the National Maritime Foundation. Referring to China focussing on expansion of its Navy for the last two decades, possibly to address areas of maritime concern including Taiwan and its extended...

China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region appears to have injected new momentum in India’s efforts to fortify its farthest military outpost, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Plans are afoot to upgrade airstrips to support fighter operations, induct 5,000 more troops and deploy additional warships, senior officials said. Myanmar’s Coco Islands, where the Chinese navy has reportedly set up a surveillance post, are barely 40 km from the Andamans’ northernmost tip Landfall. New Delhi may not openly flag concerns about China’s strategic moves to squeeze India with its presence in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but there is a...

Recently, the Taiwanese Navy detected an unidentified submarine outside one of its major naval bases. Ships and helicopters pursued the contact, but the suspected submarine left the area. A Chinese boat was suspected, mainly because for the last decade, Chinese subs have increasingly been showing up close to Japan and South Korea as well. Two years ago, Japan increased anti-submarine patrols in international waters, just outside Japanese territorial waters. Chinese submarines were apparently exercising there more frequently, looking for Japanese, South Korean and American warships to play tag with. The U.S. has also redirected more of its space based naval...

Chinese submarine crossed into territorial waters close to Taiwan’s largest naval base last week, reports said Sunday. The unidentified vessel was moving just 24 nautical miles southwest from the Tsoying base in Kaohsiung last Wednesday morning as Taiwan’s navy was holding maneuvers close by, the Chinese-language United Evening News reported. A Navy spokesman denied the newspaper story later Sunday. The submarine first appeared on the sonar of a Taiwanese S-70C anti-submarine helicopter. The Taiwanese frigates on a drill nearby were put on full alert and joined the search. The submarine never responded to requests and left the area shortly later,...

The U.S. Navy accidentally posted their classified estimate on the size and composition of the Chinese Navy. This data was quickly taken down, but not before it was copied and posted worldwide. The strength of the Chinese fleet was listed as; Submarines- 62 (53 diesel Attack Submarines, six nuclear Attack Submarines, three nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines). The U.S. has 72 submarines, all nuclear (53 attack and 18 ballistic missile.) Destroyers-26. The U.S. has 52. Frigates-48. The U.S. has 32, including two of the new LCS vessels. Amphibious Ships 58. The U.S. has 30, all much larger and equipped with flight...

At the very beginning of the new year, the reporters learned from the South China Sea drilling ground that the new-type warships including the No. 171 guided-missile destroyer and the No. 570 guided-missile frigate which ever fulfilled escort tasks in the Gulf of Aden had again accomplished the missile launching task in the complicated electromagnetic environment. Surface ships are the main battle weapons which can best display the image of a navy. In recent years, the equipment of the surface ship force of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been enjoying rapid development with the service...

The growth of the Chinese navy, seen from the Chinese point of view, is the result of China's three decades of economic growth and modernization. This economic growth depends on massive imports of raw materials, particularly oil and ores, especially iron ore. While China's economy could continue to grow without its massive exports, that economy would collapse without the imports. Thus China has gone from being classic "Continental Power" (that was not dependent on seaborne commerce), to a maritime power, that must maintain access to oceanic supply routes. Thus China needs a navy to help preserve that access. Russia, the...

<p>Taiwan said Wednesday that its giant neighbour China has started building its first aircraft carrier, a move analysts have said could raise military tensions in the region. The head of Taiwan's National Security Bureau told parliament construction of the carrier had begun, Lin Yu-fang, a legislator of the ruling Kuomintang party, told AFP.</p>

China recently announced the decommissioning of "Submarine 303." This was a Type 33 boat (a copy of the Russian Romeo class). Romeo was the successor to the Russian Whiskey class boats, which were, in turn, based on the German Type XXI. The German design first showed up in 1943, and was the first modern submarine, in that it was designed to spend most of its time underwater (with just the snorkel device and periscope above water, to bring in air for the diesel engine and crew). The Type XXI was a 1,600 ton (on the surface) sub, compared to the...

The sixth meeting of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's (CPPCC) Standing Committee, the highest-level advisory body of the People's Republic of China, met ahead of the general plenary that is taking place in Beijing from June 22 to 27. During one of the committee's working group meetings on June 18, the former deputy chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and standing committee member of the CPPCC, General Zhang Li, recommended that China build an airport and seaport on Mischief Reef located in the Spratly Islands in the South China...

The People's Republic of China has moved the carrier Varyag from dock side in their Dalian Naval shipyards, to a dry dock and logistics facilty two miles from its former birth. Here are pictures of the carrier being moved and located at the dry dock. With all of the material on deck and the expensive dry dock time, and in the wake of recent Chinese announcements that they are on track to produce their first carrier in the 2011 time frame, and with no current large carrier construction occurring ion other Chinese shipyards, it is more and more clear that...

China's navy will develop a new generation of warships and aircraft to give it much longer-range capabilities, its commander-in-chief said in comments published Thursday. Admiral Wu Shengli told the state-run China Daily newspaper the Chinese navy wanted to develop hardware such as large combat warships, stealth submarines with abilities to travel further and supersonic cruise aircraft. More accurate long-range missiles, deep-sea torpedoes and a general upgrade of information technology were also in the pipeline, according to Wu.

China has escalated a spat with America, accusing an unarmed US Navy surveillance ship of illegally monitoring the Chinese coast. Washington had complained five small Chinese ships "shadowed and aggressively manoeuvred" near USNS Impeccable in international waters around 75 miles south of China's Hainan island on Sunday. The Chinese boats, which came within 25 feet of the US ship, were all small vessels, including a naval intelligence ship, a patrol vessel, a maritime fisheries boat and two fishing boats. Chinese crew members on board one of the boats even bared their bottoms after US seamen doused them with hoses, according...

China must build an aircraft carrier "soon" if it wants to be taken seriously as a global superpower Speaking on the fringes of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament, the official added that China now had the technology to build an indigenous carrier and should use it. "Building aircraft carriers is a symbol of an important nation. It is very necessary," said Admiral Hu Yanlin in an article published in the government-sanctioned China Daily newspaper bearing the headline "Build aircraft carriers soon". "China has the capability to build aircraft carriers and should do so," he added in remarks...

<p>One of the principle issues that the Chinese Navy has been experiencing in the development of their many new classes of warships is the ability to defend them adequately, particularly close-in.</p> <p>They have developed verticle launch systms (VLS) for medium and long range engagements, they have developed Phased Array Radars (PARS) and the acquisition and guidance systems for them. They have developed gatling gun Close in Weapons Systems (CIWS), but to date, they had not developed a strong, short range but effective close in weapon missile system that compares with the west.</p>

About a decade ago the foreign policy establishment was busy dismissing China's efforts to build a powerful, modern military. Writing in the Washington Post in 1997, Michael Swaine, a China specialist then at the RAND corporation, declared that the "enduring deficiencies in China's military logistics system call into question its ability to operate [naval and aviation] weapons over a sustained period, particularly outside China's borders." Well, right now, Chinese naval vessels are deploying in the Gulf of Aden to assist in the international anti-piracy mission. It's 4,000 miles from China to the Gulf of Aden. Swaine further predicted that China...

(Click on any image for a larger picture) In 2008 the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has continued to concentrate on integrating its new surface combatants into its various fleets, while continuing to introduce new combatants simultaneously...as it did in 2007 In particularly, the PLAN has added more of the new nuclear attack and ballistic missile submarines, punctuating the PLAN's continued advance and improvement of its nuclear submarine capability, while continuing to build and add more new diesel electric submarines. In addition, the PLAN has restarted its new guided-missile frigate production and is continuing serial production of the very...

Chinese Navy sets sail for anti-piracy mission off Somalia (Xinhua) Updated: 2008-12-26 15:13 SANYA - The Chinese naval fleet set sail at 1:50 p.m. on Friday from a port here in the southernmost island province of Hainan for Somalia. The ships will take part in an escort mission against piracy. The warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy, decorated by colored ribbons and flowers, were unmoored at the military port by crew members in white naval uniforms who saluted the crowds who saw them off. Two destroyers, DDG-169 Wuhan and DDG-171 Haikou, and the supply ship Weishanhu from the South...

HONG KONG, June 24 (UPI) -- China is building up its military forces facing South Korea, possibly to deter South Korea and Japan from aiding Taiwan. Although in many respects the situation in the Taiwan Strait appears to be improving, China's military actions do not reflect this apparent trend. In fact, China has reinforced its troops on the Shandong Peninsula, opposite South Korea, where they would engage U.S. and Japanese troops should they attempt to support Taiwan in the event of a confrontation. In the past, Shandong's Jinan Military Region was where China kept its strategic reserve force to guard...

The Pentagon released its annual report on the military developments in the People’s Republic of China, and the big news is the escalation of spending seen from Beijing. Titled "Military Power of the People’s Republic of China," the report outlines a major expansion in appropriations. It also admits that the Pentagon has no clear idea of China’s overall strategy, or even if they have one: On March 4, 2007, Beijing announced a 17.8 percent increase in its military budget to approximately $45 billion. This number was later revised by the PRC State Council to $45.99 billion, a 19.47 percent increase...

Chinese Submarine Fleet Is Growing, Analysts Say By DAVID LAGUE BEIJING — Several recent events, from an eagle-eyed spotting of an image on Google Earth to an overt military delivery from Russia, suggest that China is continuing its rapid expansion of a submarine fleet that would be particularly useful in a conflict with the United States over Taiwan, analysts and military officials said. American and other Western military analysts estimate that China has more than 30 advanced and increasingly stealthy submarines, and dozens of older, obsolete types. By the end of the decade, they say, China will have more submarines...

/begin my excerpt U.S. Carrier Kitty Hawk was in 28-hour Standoff with Chinese Submarine Tense battle-ready standoff in Taiwan Strait (Hong Kong=Yonhap News) Chung Juho = U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk (and its battle group) had 28-hour battle-ready standoff with a Chinese submarine and a missile destroyer in Taiwan Strait last November, it has been revealed. This was the first military standoff between U.S. and China since the Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996. According to Jan. 16 dispatch by China Times in Taiwan, on Nov. 23 last year, Kitty Hawk battle group was en route to Japan after China...

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS: The Navy Times reports that the battle group led by the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk prepared for battle during a 28-hour standoff with two vessels from the Chinese Navy.

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders. That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board. By the...

Chinese Navy to build two carriers with Russian help - agency 18:36 | 27/ 07/ 2007 HONG KONG, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Kanwa, a Hong Kong defense news agency, said Friday purchases by China of Russian aircraft carrier components suggested that Beijing was planning to build one or two aircraft carriers, possibly by 2015. The agency cited a senior source in the Russian Navy, saying that Russia and China have an agreement to purchase four deck landing systems capable of handling heavy deck-based fighters such as the Su-33 Flanker. Kanwa experts suggested that one landing system would be studied...

KAOLAO, China -- On one side of a rocky promontory jutting into the Yellow Sea here sits a ramshackle fishing village, its wooden boats pulled up on the beach. On the other, lie well-guarded berths that are home to some of the most advanced vessels in the Chinese navy: heavily armed attack submarines. The stealthy subs, their black conning towers and tail fins rising above the water, are one of the most potent signs of China's ambitious effort to modernize its armed services, particularly its long-neglected navy. ......"The oceans are our lifelines. If commerce were cut off, the economy would...

rom May 15 to 18 Singapore hosted its bi-annual IMDEX naval technology show. One of this show�s highlights was the participation, for the second time since 2003, of a warship from China�s People�s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), to join the show�s Tour of Warships. This visit also served to symbolize China�s enhanced effort in recent years to complement its already decisive economic and political engagement of Southeast Asia with growing military engagement. In particular, China is for the first time in many years making a serious push to sell arms to its Southeast Asian neighbors, to parallel its strategic dialogues...

May 17, 2007 China's Quest for a Superpower Military by John J. Tkacik, Jr. Backgrounder #2036 The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced on March 4, 2007, that it would increase the country's military budget by 17.8 percent in 2007 to a total of $45 bil­lion—by far the largest acknowledged amount that China has ever spent on its military.1 The Chinese government went out of its way to reassure the world that this spending hike was normal and need not worry anyone. "China is committed to taking a path of peaceful development and it pursues...

Submarines a top priority in China By Richard Halloran - The Honolulu Advertiser Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 13:27:01 EDT An American military intelligence officer, asked some years ago how far the Chinese could project their military power, answered only half-jokingly: “About as far as their army can walk.” That is changing rapidly today as China’s leaders fuel the budgets of the People’s Liberation Army, which comprises all of their armed forces. Says a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations, the think-tank in New York, China is driven both by “a clear operational objective,” which is to...