Posted on 09/05/2007 7:28:30 AM PDT by Calpernia
Sec. 1:3
Developments in China’s Military Forces
China is pursuing long-term, comprehensive transformation of its military forces to improve its capabilities for power projection, anti-access, and area denial. Consistent with a near-term focus on preparing for offensive Taiwan Strait contingencies, China deploys its most advanced systems to the military regions directly opposite Taiwan.
Ballistic and Cruise Missiles. China is developing and testing offensive missiles, forming additional missile units, upgrading qualitatively certain missile systems, and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defenses.
- By October 2006, China had deployed roughly 900 mobile CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles to garrisons opposite Taiwan, expanding at a rate of more than 100 missiles per year. Newer versions of these missiles have improved range and accuracy.
- China is modernizing its longer-range ballistic missile force by adding more survivable systems. The road-mobile, solid-propellant DF-31 intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM) achieved initial threat availability in 2006 and will likely achieve operational status in the near future, if it has not already done so. A longer range variant, the DF-31A, is expected to reach initial operational capability (IOC) in 2007. China is also working on a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, the JL-2 (IOC 2007-2010), for deployment on a new JIN-class (Type 094) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, also in development.
- China continues to explore the use of ballistic and cruise missiles for anti-access missions, including counter-carrier and land attack, and is working on reconnaissance and communication systems to improve command, control, and targeting.
Naval Power. China’s naval forces include 72 principal combatants, some 58 attack submarines, about 50 medium and heavy amphibious lift vessels, and approximately 41 coastal missile patrol craft.
- China received the second of two Russianmade SOVREMENNYY II guided missile destroyers (DDG) in late 2006. These DDGs are fi tted with anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and wide-area air defense systems that feature qualitative improvements over the earlier SOVREMENNYY-class DDGs China purchased from Russia.
- China is building and testing second-generation nuclear submarines with the JIN-class (Type 094) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and the SHANG-class (Type 093) nuclear-powered attack submarine, which began sea trials in 2005.
- China took delivery of two KILO-class submarines from Russia, completing a contract for eight signed in 2002. China operates twelve KILOs, the newest of which are equipped with the supersonic SS-N-27B ASCM, and wireguided and wake-homing torpedoes.
- The PLA Navy’s newest ship, the LUZHOUclass (Type 051C) DDG is designed for anti-air warfare. It will be equipped with the Russian SA-N-20 SAM system controlled by the TOMBSTONE phased-array radar. The SA-N- 20 more than doubles the range of current PLA Navy air defense systems marking a signifi cant improvement in China’s ship-borne air defense capability.
- The LUZHOU-class DDG complements ongoing developments of the LUYANG I (Type 052B) and LUYANG II (Type 052C) DDGs. The LUYANG I is fi tted with the Russian SA-N-7B GRIZZLY SAM and the YJ-83 ASCM. The LUYANG II is fi tted with an air defense system based on the indigenous HHQ-9 SAM.
- In 2006, China began producing its fi rst guidedmissile frigate (FFG), the JIANGKAI II (Type 054A). The JIANGKAI II will be fitted with the medium range HHQ-16, a vertically launched naval surface-to-air missile currently in development.
- At the 2006 Zhuhai Air Show, PRC military and civilian offi cials asserted China’s interest in building an aircraft carrier.
Air Power. China has more than 700 combat aircraft based within an un-refueled operational range of Taiwan and the airfi eld capacity to expand that number signifi cantly. Many aircraft in the PLA force structure are upgrades of older models (e.g., re-engined B-6 bombers for extended ranges); however, newer aircraft make up a growing percentage of the inventory.
- The PLA Air Force (PLAAF) is deploying the F-10 multi-role fi ghter to operational units. The F-10, a fourth generation aircraft, will be China’s premier fi ghter in the coming decades.
- China is now producing the multi-role Su- 27SMK/FLANKER (F-11A) fi ghter under a licensed co-production agreement with Russia following an initial production run of Su-27SKs (F-11). China is employing increasing numbers of the multi-role Su-30MKK/FLANKER fi ghterbomber and its naval variant, the Su-30MK2.
- Chinese aircraft are armed with an increasingly sophisticated array of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons, satellite and laser-guided precision munitions, and cruise missiles.
- China’s first indigenously produced attack helicopter, the Z-10, is undergoing fl ight testing. The Z-10 will fi re the Red Arrow 8E anti-tank guided missile, offering combat performance equal to the Eurocopter Tiger, but below that of the AH-64 Apache.
- Improvements to the FB-7 fighter program will enable this older aircraft to perform nighttime maritime strike operations and use improved weapons such as the Kh-31P (AS-17) antiradiation missile and KAB-500 laser-guided munitions.
Air Defense. In the next few years, China will receive its fi rst battalion of Russian-made S- 300PMU-2 surface-to-air missile systems. With an advertised intercept range of 200 km, the S- 300PMU-2 provides increased lethality against tactical ballistic missiles and more effective electronic countermeasures. China also is developing the indigenous HQ-9 air defense missile system, a phased array radar-based SAM with a 150 km range. As noted above, a naval variant (HHQ-9) will deploy on the LUYANG II DDG and a vertical launch naval SAM (HHQ-16) will deploy on the JIANGKAI II FFG.
Ground Forces. China has about 1.4 million ground forces personnel with approximately 400,000 deployed to the three military regions opposite Taiwan. China has been upgrading these units with tanks, armored personnel carriers, and additional artillery pieces. In April 2006, China made its fi rst delivery of the new third generation main battle tank, the ZTZ-99, to units in the Beijing and Shenyang military regions.
Amphibious Forces. The PLA has deployed a new amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) and developed a range of modifi cations for existing vehicles including fl otation tanks and mounted outboard engines. Its newer amphibious vehicles have greater stability and performance in open water.
Increased amphibious training, including multiple training evolutions in a single year, is building profi ciency among China’s amphibious forces.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1890507/posts?page=61#61
Excerpt:
Duncan Hunter: You know this last report on China actually received lots of criticism from the State Department because it was very candid about assessing this enormous growing military strength of China. The assessment of the Pentagon was they are doing so much more then they have to do for self defense. They are building an offensive capability. When they shot that satellite out of space on January 11th, because America’s military eyes are largely in space, that really hurdled a new era of military competition between the U.S. and China in space. Like it or not, if you have to rely on satellites for movement of special forces or army brigades or marine corps divisions, you have to rely on satellites for that, and your satellites are in danger, you are in trouble. So we have our eyes, our military eyes [on China]. Plus a lot of our economic capabilities are reflected through our space apparatus. You have to protect that. We are going to have to spend a lot of money now and take a lot of effort to neutralize what is an aggressive Chinese policy in regard to space.
Hugh Hewitt: Let’s talk about the media and China. I asked you about this on the radio yesterday, how many questions have you had about China in the course of the Campaign. You have been on the trail for how long?
Duncan Hunter: We have had 4 congressional debates now and we have been out campaigning hard this entire year. We had one great question, I think it came from either Brit Hume or one of his team, during the Fox debate in the South Carolina, last question of the debate to me on China. I was able to give, you only have one minute answer, I try to be a master on the compact answers, I laid out that we have this cheating on trade which is stacking up billions to China and they are using this money to arm. This presents a long term challenge to the United States. Maybe not a direct threat; but a military threat is comprised of two things, capability and intent. They certainly are building a capability to cause us a lot of harm. And the intent of China is always difficult to understand.
Those tough old communists that ran the Poly Bureau are still running things. We see these generals make wild statements like, “We hope you value L.A. more than you do Taiwan”. That is a thinly veiled threat to nuke L.A. Then there will be a flurry of newspaper statements by people saying well, ‘general so and so didn’t mean it’. Well I hope general so and so is pretty far away from that nuclear trigger. Because that is a wild statement. You see those wild statements that came out of Yunnan Island where the American plane was shot down or was forced down, and the wild statements that came out of there diplomacy core after that were tempered by their trade people. But it shows us there is a element of leadership that is embedded in the Chinese hierarchy that is very aggressive, very anti American and very war like. It is difficult to know which element of the Chinese leadership is going to dominate the government in 5 years.
(snip)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1882543/posts
Dragon Hunter
Excerpt:
The investor class is also worried. As our political leaders gingerly attempt to address China’s currency devaluation and trade surplus with our country, powerful communist apparatchiks (yes, I know –it’s a Russian term) are hinting at a US treasury bill dump, a dump that could have severe financial consequences. China has pegged the value of the yuan to the dollar. Instead of floating in a natural balance against the dollar like other major currencies, this peg allows the Chinese imports to our shores to maintain their relative ‘cheapness’, not only here, but on the world market. It is China’s stated goal to leapfrog the US as the #1 economic powerhouse in the world, and undercutting US manufacturing is a very comfortable part of that plan. It has given them a staggering $233 billion trade surplus with the USA in 2006, a total that will easily be surpassed in 2007. But more likely than not, US negotiators will be reigned in and the status quo will continue, for now.
But how did we get here? Why have politicians and business leaders in the US allowed us to arrive at a place where a communist enemy holds such leverage over our economy? A place where a few words uttered by a ‘respected’ Chinese academic can rattle our markets? A place where we have allowed substandard food and materials onto our shores for years? And for that matter, a place where we pretend there is really only one China – Taiwan being a renegade province and such? The full answers are well beyond the scope of this article, but the short version is this: greed and a lack of strategic thinking.
The free-trade lobby will tell us that opening China up to free trade will bring about the desired political reforms and lead to a ‘partnership’. The problem with this argument is that it has been made for the last 25 years and relations have not improved, rather, they have deteriorated. But the siren song of the Chinese ‘comfort women’ is too much for big business to resist. “Come, build your new plant in China. We have cheap labor and negligible regulations…Oh, and by the way, we will be co-owners with you and you will need to share your manufacturing secrets…but hey, you will still make more money.”
Unfortunately, President Bush has his hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is hesitant to tackle the problem. His legacy is tied to success in the muslim world now and a financial showdown with China is not in the making. The majority democrat party is certainly yapping about China (dead pets, you know), but their leading candidate was bought and paid for with communist dollars.
Scanning the political horizon for 2008, there is only one man standing that vows to put an end to this entire charade, Duncan Hunter. Duncan Hunter is, and has been, a Dragon Hunter.
(snip)
“Clinton Gave China Chips for Nuclear War”
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/9/29/25139.shtml
Yes, but the U.S. has much more important things to worry about, like smoking and global warming!
More background:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1845268/posts
HUNTER INTRODUCES “NUCLEAR SECRETS SAFETY ACT” (Duncan Hunter - 2000)
Excerpt:
“The Clinton-Gore Administration has, through fumbling incompetence and short-sighted policies, lost critical defense secrets,” said Hunter. “The recent incident at Los Alamos National Laboratory is indicative of the irresponsibility and disregard this administration has given to protecting America’s national security. This legislation begins to correct the problem.”
Since 1996, there has been the transfer of missile technology to China, inadequate tracking of supercomputers, the discovery of a Communist spy at our national laboratory, the failure to remove this same individual for 17 months, and missing computer data containing nuclear secrets.
(snip)
Testimony at post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1845268/posts?page=40#40
BUMP!
That's quite a statement in the middle of this analysis, all of which is alarming.
Look at some of the wild statements in post 2 last paragraph.
U.S. carrier help? (Admiral offers help to China)
Adm. Tim Keating, the U.S. Pacific Command leader, told reporters during his visit to China last month that while building and operating a carrier battle group is complex, the United States is willing to help.
"We would, if they choose to develop [an aircraft-carrier program], help them to the degree that they seek and the degree that we're capable, in developing their programs," Adm. Keating said.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1845931/posts
U.S. may share missile info with China
WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- The United States would "seriously" consider sharing technology and missile warning intelligence with China, (Secretary of Defense Gates) the U.S. defense chief said Sunday.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1846099/posts
ping
Fighting a war with weapons made in China?
Doesn’t sound like the brightest idea to me. The only thing they have going for them is numbers.
Don’t forget, they shot the satellite out of space back in January.
We rely on our satellites for military deployment.
That is a concern.
***Those tough old communists that ran the Poly Bureau are still running things.***
Politburo***
That guy calls himself a journalist?
China is just taking advantage of the opportunity given willingly to them by all WTO nations, so blame western corporations for wanting it to happen, Clinton for letting it happen, and Congress for not stopping it from happening.
No, I do NOT call myself a journalist.
I never heard the word Politburo before. I typed it as I heard it, Poly Bureau.
Thank you for the criticism though.
Very well said.
Great. I’m sure Corporate America will be happy to sell them all they need. Probably ask for a tax break for doing it, too.
Ping and bump.
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