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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...