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Senate Republicans are preparing a legislative plan of action in case the Supreme Court strikes a major blow against ObamaCare and rules subsidies provided to people on the federal exchange are illegal. GOP senators are confident the justices will rule in their favor, and they want to be ready to act if millions of people lose their subsidies to buy insurance through the healthcare law. “If the Supreme Court were to say the law says what the law says, we would like to be ready with a response to that that makes practical sense for the 5 or 6 million...

It was a mission like no other. In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, one businessman armed with cash and a casino cover story scooped the world to buy the unfinished hulk of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier that would become the centrepiece of the PLA Navy. Speaking to the media for the first time, the Hong Kong-based businessman at the heart of the undertaking reveals in a two-part series the details of the little-known, behind-the-scenes odyssey to realise China's long-held dream of owning such a warship. Xu Zengping disclosed that the militarily sensitive original engines of the carrier were...

A picture has just emerged on the Chinese internet showing that construction of the first Type 055 destroyer may have started. The Type 055 guided missile destroyer is the next generation destroyer designed for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy). According to Chinese sources, the picture was taken last week at the Changxing Jiangnan shipyard (member of CSSC - China State Shipbuilding Corporation) near Shanghai. It shows a sign with the mention "Commencement Ceremony for the Construction of 055 destroyer number 1". Such ceremonies are common practice in Chinese naval shipyards and should the picture be authentic,...

PLA drills sandwich Japan from north and south Staff Reporter 2014-12-28 13:10 (GMT+8) The People's Liberation Army appears to be strategizing on how it would sandwich Japan from the north and south in the event of a military conflict, says a Taiwanese military expert. Ching Chang, a research fellow at Taiwan's Society for Strategic Studies, made the comments in response to a series of naval drills conducted by the PLA's three main fleets — the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet and the South Sea Fleet — earlier this month. On Dec. 4, the North Sea Fleet's flagship Harbin...

Russian media has reported that China's latest indigenous Type 1130 close-in weapon system can fire 10,000 rounds per minute and destroy 90% of hypersonic missiles traveling at a speed four times the speed of sound, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily. The system, which is the third-generation of the close-in weapon system developed by China, was recently spotted being installed on a PLA Type 054A frigate. Compared to its seven-barreled Type 730 predecessor, the Type 1130's Gatling-type gun has the same 30 mm caliber but the number of barrels increased to 11. While the Type 730 has only one...

China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to a new report. The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended to Congress the U.S. Navy respond by building more ships and increase its presence in the Pacific region – a strategy they U.S. military has already started. The commission asked Congress to increase its Pacific fleet up to 67 ships and rebalance homeports such that 60-percent of the force is based in the region by 2020. The commissions’ recommendations, which are...

It is a battle to send a drone supersonic - and pits China against Britain. Experts have claimed that China's drone, called Dark Sword, is under secret development. It was unveiled in 2006 at an airshow, but has since disappeared from public view.

One of the many new weapons shown for the first time Airshow China this year was the China Aerospace Science Industrial Corporation (CASIC) CX-1 Mach 3 cruise missile. The PRC’s defense industrial complex has a number of cruise missiles that can be either ship- or air-launched, and each successive show at Zhuhai seems to generate new models. So this missile is not a major breakthrough in Chinese defense technology. What makes the CX-1 unusual is its close resemblance to another missile that is well-known to the rest of the world: the joint Indian-Russian project, the BrahMos. The uncanny similarity of...

**SNIP** At that point, the liberal host held little back in showing her disapproval for Democrats falling remarkably short at the state level: Complete Republican legislative control in 30 states and we've only got 50 states. Elections, consequences. Democrats, do you guys have a catch-up plan for the states here or what? Because the trend here is obliterating. Earlier, Maddow erroneously put the measly number of state legislatures run by Democrats at eight – “Oregon, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware” when it’s really nine as Maryland’s legislatures remains controlled by Democrats (but will have a Republican Governor...

A model of China's J-15 carrier-based fighter displayed by an unknown ship design & research institute indicates has revealed that the PLA Navy is modifying the landing gear of the fighter for future aircraft carriers designed with catapults, reports the state-run Global Times. The landing gear retraction jack of the new J-15 seems to be thicker compared to earlier models, said the report. The nose gear seems to be designed for catapults and arresting gear. Since the Liaoning, China's only carrier in service, is not equipped with a catapult, all J-15 fighters have to be pulled to the afterdeck for...

One Sunday morning last December, China’s defense ministry summoned military attachés from several embassies to its monolithic Beijing headquarters. To the foreigners’ surprise, the Chinese said that one of their nuclear-powered submarines would soon pass through the Strait of Malacca, a passage between Malaysia and Indonesia that carries much of world trade, say people briefed on the meeting. Two days later, a Chinese attack sub—a so-called hunter-killer, designed to seek out and destroy enemy vessels—slipped through the strait above water and disappeared. It resurfaced near Sri Lanka and then in the Persian Gulf, say people familiar with its movements, before...

Work on China's second locally designed and built aircraft carrier will soon get under way at Jiangnan Shipyard, overseas reports says China will soon start building its second locally designed aircraft carrier in Shanghai, according to a Canadian report. Kanwa Asian Defence, an English-language monthly defence review produced in Toronto, said Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard was preparing to start work on the carrier. When completed, the carrier and another under construction in Dalian will give the PLA Navy two fully functioning, battle-ready aircraft carriers. The recently completed Liaoning, the refitted former Soviet carrier Varyag, is classed as a training platform, not...

‘Liaoning’ shut down during recent sea trials There’s no more of a conspicuous and potent symbol of China’s growing naval power than the aircraft carrier Liaoning. But the 53,000-ton, 999-foot-long carrier could be dangerous to her crew and prone to engine failures. If so, that makes the vessel as much of a liability as an asset to Beijing. The ex-Soviet carrier once went by the name Varyag until a cash-strapped Ukraine sold the ship to Beijing in 1998. The Chinese navy has since invested considerable resources into modernizing the warship and testing her at sea. But on at least one...

China has deployed its most advanced guided-missile destroyer to the disputed South China Sea to participate in a large naval exercise, according to Taiwanese media. This week, the Want Daily and its English-language sister site, Want China Times, reported that China deployed the Kunming, the first of its new Type 052D guided-missile destroyers (DDG), to the South China Sea last month. The purpose of the deployment was to hold a military drill in the disputed wars simulating an Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) attack. The Type 052D guided missile destroyer was joined by some of two of its earlier variants, a Type...

The August issue of Russia's National Defense Magazine has advised the country to buy warships from China to compensate for its own weakness in shipbuilding and to strengthen Russia's power in the Asia-Pacific region. China's Type 054A frigate may be an ideal option for Russia, the report said. With debate sparked by the suspension of a French delivery of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Russia, the need to bring in escort ships is all the more pressing. Even if Russia receives the two warships — the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol — and integrates them into the fleet in the...

The new ship appears to be different from any other PLA replenishment ship. Photos: cjdby.net The Chinese military may be building a new type of resupply ship, according newly surfaced photos, as the countryÂ’s navy seeks to shore up its ocean-going capabilities. The half-finished PeopleÂ’s Liberation Army (PLA) ship was photographed anchored at a harbour, identified as the Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI), in about two dozen pictures published at the weekend on cjdby.net, an influential military forum in China. The website is known as an unofficial outlet of rare images of some of the PLAÂ’s latest weapons and caters to...

The Changzheng 2, a Type 091 Han-class nuclear-powered submarine has become the first Chinese submarine to visit Colombo Harbor in Sri Lanka according to the website of state-run Sri Lanka News on Sept. 15. The Chinese submarine arrived at Colombo Harbor one day before Chinese president Xi Jinping began his visit to the country on Sept. 16. In addition to the Changzheng 2, there were two other People's Liberation Army Navy warships in the harbour. The Changzheng 2 is currently under the command of the PLA Navy's North Sea Fleet. Equipped with C-801 anti-ship missiles, it is capable of attacking...

BEIJING --- The PLA Daily reported that the naval and air forces of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will conduct its first free air-combat confrontation drill. According to the drill plan, an aviation detachment equipped with several fighters under the East China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLAN) and a troop unit under the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) will join the confrontation drill. It is the first of its kind in the history of the PLAN and the PLAAF. The free air-combat confrontation drill will be conducted on the one-to-one and two-to-two basis...

A Hongqi-10 ship-based missile defence cell installed on a Chinese warship. Photo: SCMP Pictures China has shown off the People's Liberation Army's latest hardware on primetime state television, an advanced short-range missile defence system said to have a “high success rate” destroying incoming missiles and aircraft. The Hongqi-10 (Reg Flag 10) surface-to-air missile was shown in China Central Television's evening news bulletin Wednesday being fired from ships and land-based mobile launchers, and exploding in the sky on impact with its target. It will protect warships against rockets over a limited area, and will be used alongside an “area defence system”...

More types of aircraft are still needed for Beijing to establish its first carrier air wing on China's first aircraft carrier the Liaoning, according to Wendell Minnick, in an article written on Sept. 7 in Washington-based Defense News. 24 J-15 Flying Shark fighters, six Z-18F anti-submarine warfare helicopters, four Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters and two Z-9C rescue helicopters will together form the first carrier air wing of the People's Liberation Army Navy according to an article in Chinese-language newspaper Shanghai Morning Post published Aug. 28, citing an interview with Cao Dongwei, a senior colonel and researcher at the PLA...