China Armed Forces

[Khafee]

China debuts most powerful destroyer in celebrations
By Guo Yuandan in Qingdao and Liu Xuanzun in Beijing
2019/4/23

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, reviews a naval guard of honor during an event to celebrate the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's 70th anniversary in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy celebrated its 70th anniversary Tuesday afternoon in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province by holding a grand maritime parade, which featured China's latest and most powerful destroyer, the Type 055, for the first time.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, reviewed the fleet, which consisted of Chinese and foreign vessels.

In heavy fog, a total of 32 Chinese vessels formed into six groups during the fleet review - a submarine group, a destroyer group, a frigate group, an amphibious landing ship group, an auxiliary ship group and an aircraft carrier group.

In addition to China's first aircraft carrier the Liaoning and other advanced warships including the Type 052D destroyer, the PLA Navy also displayed some new vessels for the first time.

Long expected by Chinese military enthusiasts, the Nanchang, China's first Type 055 destroyer, which is painted with the hull number 101, was part of the destroyer group.

Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the revelation of the name and hull number indicates Nanchang is already combat-ready.

The Type 055 destroyer will become a new icon to represent the PLA Navy's capabilities and could sail to the high seas, Wei said.

Compared to China's previous destroyers, the Type 055 destroyer can see farther with its active electronically scanned array radar system and deal with targets faster, acting as an information center in a fleet, Wei said, noting that it is also the firepower hub of a fleet as it can carry the most weapons, thanks to its large displacement.

The Type 055 can act as a heavily armed escort for aircraft carriers. Two Type 055s plus a submarine and some smaller destroyers and frigates will form a perfect aircraft carrier combat group, said Xu Guangyu, a senior consultant at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

It can also lead a destroyer fleet without an aircraft carrier, Xu told the Global Times on Tuesday, noting that the Type 055 could operate around the globe, thanks to its speed and long operational range.

In the future, the Type 055 destroyer could also be deployed in antiballistic missile operations, Wei said.

Having a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, the Type 055 is a 180-meter-long, 20-meter-wide guided missile destroyer with a 112 vertical launch missile cells capable of launching a combination of surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land-attack missiles and anti-submarine missiles, according to media reports.

The number of vertical launch missile cells is an important indicator of how powerful a warship is, Xu said.

By comparison, China's Type 052D destroyer has only 64, the US' Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has 96, and the US' Ticonderoga-class cruiser has 122, according to media reports. Some even consider the Type 055 a cruiser instead of a destroyer.

In the submarine group, the Long March 10 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, China's latest and largest submarine, led the others during the parade. Chinese military experts told the Global Times on Tuesday the Long March 10 seems to be an upgraded Type 094.

In the air, 39 warplanes, including early warning aircraft, reconnaissance, anti-submarine aircraft, bombers, fighter jets and helicopters flew above the fleet.

A total of 18 naval vessels from 13 countries including Russia, India, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines also joined the international fleet review to celebrate the PLA Navy's anniversary.

Looking to the future

While Chinese military experts hailed the parade as a transparent show of the PLA Navy's magnificent development over the past years, they said the development will not stop just yet.

The PLA Navy will operate more and more Type 055 destroyers soon.

A second Type 055 was launched in April 2018 in Shanghai, and the third and fourth was launched in July 2018 in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, media reported. Much more is to come.

Many Chinese military enthusiasts wanted to see the Type 001A - China's second aircraft carrier which is also the country's first domestically built carrier - join the parade. Unfortunately, it did not.

The Type 001A remained at the Dalian Shipyard, where work is progressing on painting its flight deck, which is proceeding very smoothly and seems almost completed, according to photos available on Chinese image service provider IC on Monday.

Although it did not join the fleet review, Chinese military experts said the new carrier will likely enter service within 2019.

In the meantime, China has already started building a third aircraft carrier, the PLA Daily reported on Sunday.

Analysts predict that the third carrier would be larger and feature an electromagnetic catapult to replace the ski jump ramp seen on the previous two, as it would be able to carry more aircraft in both number and type and send them into the air much faster.

China is also experimenting with the futuristic electromagnetic railgun, Beijing-based newspaper Science and Technology Daily reported in 2018.

The railgun is reportedly installed on a tank landing ship and underwent several trial runs. Chinese naval experts said the weapon could be deployed on a modified version of the Type 055 as soon as the technology matures.

Should the PLA Navy decide to hold another maritime parade in 2029 to mark its 80th anniversary, people may see the three aircraft carrier combat groups with six to eight Type 055 destroyers, Xu predicted.


China debuts most powerful destroyer in celebrations - Global Times

 

[Khafee]

China Plans to have 8 Type 055 Destroyers
April 24, 2019

Type 055 destroyer

China plans to have a fleet of 8 Type 055 destroyers, its most powerful naval vessel which was showcased during the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s 70th anniversary on Tuesday in Qingdao.

While four have been built, four more are planned to be constructed, state media reported. The first Type 055 has been christened as the ‘Nanchang.’

Displacing more than 10,000 tons, the Type 055 is a 180-meter-long, 20-meter-wide guided missile destroyer with 112 vertical launch missile cells capable of launching missiles such as surface-to-air, anti-ship, land-attack and anti-submarine missiles, according to media reports. There are plans of the destroyer being deployed for anti-ballistic missile operations.

"Should the PLA Navy decide to hold another maritime parade in 2029 to mark its 80th anniversary, people may see the three aircraft carrier combat groups with six to eight Type 055 destroyers," Xu Guangyu a senior consultant at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association said.

The number of vertical launch missile cells is an important indicator of how powerful a warship is. China's Type 052D destroyer has 64 vertical launch missile cells, which is nearly half that of Type 055 destroyer.

US' Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and US' Ticonderoga-class cruiser have 96 and122 respectively, according to media reports. Some experts consider the Type 055 a cruiser instead of a destroyer.

"The Type 055 destroyer can see farther with its active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system in comparison to the previous destroyers and deal with targets faster, acting as an information center in a fleet," Wei Dongxu, a military expert, said.

A perfect aircraft carrier combat group can me formed by two Type 055s, a submarine, some smaller destroyers and frigates, according to Xu Guangyu, a senior consultant at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.​

China Plans to have 8 Type 055 Destroyers

www.defenseworld.net

 

[Khafee]

China’s latest class of warship makes its public debut
By: Mike Yeo  
27.04.2019

Fireworks explode next to China's new domestically built 10,000-ton Type 055 destroyer during a launching ceremony at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, China, on June 28, 2017. (Wang Donghai/Xinhua via AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia – the first of a new class of guided missile destroyer from China made an appearance at a naval review to mark the 70th Anniversary of the country’s navy.

The Type 055 destroyer, named the Nanchang, was among several ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy or PLAN that took part in the naval review held off the northern Chinese city of Qingdao with Chinese President Xi Jinping in attendance.

China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship, was also in attendance along with 18 warships from 13 other nations including Australia, India and Japan. The United States declined an invitation to send its ships to the naval review, and France was disinvited after its frigate Vendémiaire sailed through the Taiwan Straits prior to the event, Reuters reported.

The Nanchang was launched at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Changxin shipyard in June 2017. The Type 055, which is classed as a cruiser by the Pentagon, measures almost 590 feet and displaces 10,000 tons according to specifications released by China — although some naval analysts believe that figure is an underestimation. Each ship is also equipped with a total of 112 vertical launch cells that are capable of launching either surface-to-air or anti-ship missiles, and fitted with a modern sensor suite that includes phased array radars.

Speaking at a regular press briefing conducted by China’s Ministry National Defense on Thursday, Senior Col. Ren Guoqiang confirmed that the Nanchang is on the verge of completing sea trials and will be officially handed over to the PLAN later this year.

In addition to the Nanchang, recent open-source satellite and aerial imagery show that seven other Type 055s are in various states of construction and fitting out at the two major Chinese naval shipyards in Shanghai and Dalian. The latter is also where China’s first domestically-built carrier, which is based closely on the Liaoning, is currently being completed. Further underscoring the astonishing pace of China’s ongoing naval buildup, the photos also show five other smaller Type 052D destroyers undergoing construction at Dalian with six more being built at Shanghai.

The latter shipyard has four more destroyers of an unknown sub-type being put together, along with what are reportedly the modules for China’s third and largest aircraft carrier.

China’s latest class of warship makes its public debut

 

[Khafee]

Our friends of Alert5 reported a terrible crash of a most probable Chinese military Z-10 helicopter.

The attack helicopter was said practicing a fly-by when it crashed, resulting in one pilot killed and the other one injured. The Chinese armed forces are operating the Z-10 mainly within the People's Liberation Army - Aviation (PLAA), but also the PLAAF is operating some.

Photo credit: via Alert5 and unknown

 

[Khafee]

China leads U.S. on potent super-fast missiles
by Reuters -
26th Apr 2019


China is leading the U.S. in a race to deploy hypersonic missiles that would defeat existing air defense systems, according to senior U.S. officials.
The combination of speed, maneuverability and altitude of these missiles makes them difficult to track and intercept. They travel at speeds of more than five times the speed of sound or about 6,200 kilometers (3,853 miles) per hour. Some will travel as fast as 25,000 kilometers per hour, according to U.S. and other Western weapons researchers. That’s about 25 times as fast as modern passenger jets.

Admiral Harry Harris, the former head of U.S. Pacific Command, told the House Armed Services Committee in February last year that hypersonic weapons were one of a range of advanced technologies where China was beginning to outpace the U.S. military, challenging its dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last April, Michael Griffin, the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that China has deployed, or is close to deploying, hypersonic systems armed with conventional warheads. These can travel thousands of kilometers from the Chinese coast and threaten American forward bases or carrier battle groups, he said.

“We do not have defenses against those systems,” Griffin said.

Russia may have already fielded a hypersonic weapon. At a parade in May last year, the Russian military displayed what it had earlier said was a hypersonic missile. Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the missile as invincible.

Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters about its hypersonic weapons capabilities.

The Chinese military in 2014 said it had conducted a hypersonic test flight. By early 2016, it had conducted six successful tests, according to U.S. military officials.

In early November, China unveiled a new ballistic anti-ship missile, the CM-401, at the biennial airshow in the southern city of Zhuhai. Reports in the official state-controlled media said the new missile was a hypersonic weapon.

An information panel alongside a model of the new missile said the CM-401 was a “high supersonic” ballistic missile which had a trajectory reaching near space. It had a range of up to 290 kilometers, the panel said.

China, Russia and the United States have focused research and development on two classes of these weapons: hypersonic glide vehicles and cruise missiles that fly at hypersonic speeds, according to U.S. and other Western weapons analysts and military officials. Both types could carry conventional or nuclear payloads.

A hypersonic glide vehicle is boosted aloft on a rocket to heights of between 40 km to 100 km above the earth before detaching to glide along the upper atmosphere towards its target. It is released at a height and speed that would allow it to glide unpowered to the target. Control surfaces on the glide vehicle mean it can steer an unpredictable course and maneuver sharply as it approaches impact.

These glide vehicles follow a much flatter and lower trajectory than the high, arching path of a ballistic missile, these researchers say. That makes them much harder to detect early with radar, giving missile defenses less time to respond.

Hypersonic cruise missiles, meanwhile, have internal engines. But unlike regular cruise missiles, they travel far faster and higher.

After years of stop-start development of hypersonics, the U.S. is now trying to accelerate testing and deployment to match China and Russia, according to senior Pentagon officials.

Last year, the U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin Corporation two contracts to develop hypersonic missiles. And, the U.S. navy said it conducted a successful test of a long-range hypersonic missile on October 30, 2017. Last month, the Pentagon awarded missile-maker Raytheon Company a $63.3 million contract for hypersonic weapons development, the company said in a statement.

“Frankly, we were the leaders in that 10 and 15 years ago, and we just let it drop,” Griffin told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in April last year. “We need to get started again.”

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/joint/science-a-defence-technology/china-leads-u-s-on-potent-super-fast-missiles/

 

[Khafee]

Pentagon expects China to add international military bases
By Agence France-Presse
-
May 3, 2019


The US Defence Department expects China to add military bases around the world to protect its investments in its ambitious One Belt One Road global infrastructure programme, according to an official report released on Thursday (May 2).

Beijing currently has just one overseas military base, in Djibouti, but is believed to be planning others, including possibly Pakistan, as it seeks to project itself as a global superpower.

“China’s advancement of projects such as the ‘One Belt, One Road’ Initiative (OBOR) will probably drive military overseas basing through a perceived need to provide security for OBOR projects,” the Pentagon said in its annual report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments.

“China will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,” the report said.

That effort could be constrained by other countries’ wariness of hosting a full-time presence of the People’s Liberation Army, the report noted.
But target locations for military basing could include the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the western Pacific.

China has already established well-armed outposts on contested atolls it build up in the South China Sea.

Last year, there were reportedly discussions on a base in the Wakhan corridor of northwest Afghanistan.

In addition, The Washington Post recently identified an outpost hosting many Chinese troops in eastern Tajikistan, near the strategic junction of the Wakhan Corridor, China, and Pakistan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought to project the country’s power beyond its immediate “back yard” in East and Southeast Asia.

This includes strengthening the country’s presence in international institutions, acquiring top-flight technology and establishing a strong economic presence worldwide.

It also includes projecting the country’s military force on land, sea and in space, the report notes.

“China’s leaders are leveraging China’s growing economic, diplomatic, and military clout to establish regional preeminence and expand the country?s international influence,” the report said.

Beijing in particular increasingly see the United States as becoming more confrontational in an effort to contain China’s expanding power, it said.
Beijing meanwhile has taken note of a growing suspicion in many countries of the One Belt One Road programme, and has toned down its aggressive rhetoric in response.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon said Beijing’s leadership has not altered its fundamental strategic goals.

 

[Khafee]

China Develops Unique Heat-Resistant Material for Hypersonic Aircraft

Chinese scientists have developed a new heat-resistant material for hypersonic aircraft which can endure over 3,000 C from friction caused by a Mach 5-20 flight within the atmosphere.

The lead scientist on the project said the material outperforms all similar foreign-made ones with its high melting point, low density and high malleability.

The new material enables a hypersonic aircraft to fly at Mach 5-20 within the atmosphere for several hours, as the high heat resulting from the friction between the aircraft and the air reaches between 2,000 C to 3,000 C, a temperature normal metal would not be able to endure.
Normal metals melt at around 1,500 C, but this new material can bear over 3,000 C for an extended period, state-owned Hunan Television reported recently.

Unlike foreign technologies that use traditional refractory metals and carbon-carbon materials, the China-made new material is a composite of ceramics and refractory metals, Fan Jinglian, the lead scientist who developed the material and a professor at Central South University in Central China’s Hunan Province, told the Global Times.

The combination of ceramics and refractory metals makes the material far more efficient than foreign-made ones, and this technology is world-leading, Fan said.

In a simple analogy, Fan likened her composite to concrete cobble. “Think of the ceramics as the cobblestones, or the pellets, and the refractory metals are like the concrete. In high temperatures, the ceramics will act as pellets that pin the refractory metals, so they will not soften and deform.”
As a result, the material not only has a high melting point, but also valuable characteristics such as low density and high malleability, according to the Hunan Television report.

China launched a major hypersonic aircraft project in 2009, and most Chinese scientists considered using carbon-carbon materials instead of metals back then.

Fan was questioned for her proposal to use such a material, but she insisted on making a sample, which came into being in 2012 and showed great potential.

As of March, the material has been used for products in a variety of fields including aviation, space exploration, shipbuilding and national defense, Hunan Television reported.

Hypersonic aircraft is not the only area in which materials made of ceramics and refractory metals can shine, Fan said. Any field that involves extreme high temperature, such as engines, space rockets and nuclear reactors, will have a great demand for the material, Fan noted.

China launched the Xingkong-2 waverider hypersonic flight vehicle via a rocket in a target range located in Northwest China in August 2018.
On Tuesday, East China’s Xiamen University launched the Jiageng-1 hypersonic aircraft with a double-waverider design.

The test was part of the university’s project to try to quintuple the current speed of civil aircraft to achieve global direct access within two hours, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

It is unknown whether Fan’s material was used in these two cases.

 

[Khafee]

DOD Official Details Continuing Chinese Military Buildup

• May 03, 2019
• By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON --
China continues to build up its military to challenge and supplant the United States as the preeminent power in the Indo-Pacific region, the assistant defense secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs said today.



Randall G. Schriver, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, briefs the Pentagon press on the contents of the new DOD report on Chinese military power.
DOD photo by Army Sgt. Amber Smith

Randall G. Schriver briefed the Pentagon’s press corps following the release of the new China Military Power Report. He said China continues to challenge U.S. military advantages, such as America’s ability to deploy and sustain forces anywhere in the world and its unparalleled alliance system.

China is investing money and time into capabilities and capacity, Schriver said.

“Our 2019 report finds that in the coming decades, China seeks to become both prosperous and powerful, and the report notes that China has a stated goal of becoming a world class military by 2049,” he said.

China Building Military
China is continuing to build its missile force, Schriver said, and it has begun building a second aircraft carrier. The nation is sailing two new cruisers and is building more, he said. And China’s air force has flown its J-20 fifth-generation aircraft, Schriver said. The aircraft has stealth characteristics and many U.S. officials have said they believe it may contain technologies stolen from U.S. manufacturers.

Chinese conventional forces are moving to improve training and evaluation of ground, sea and air forces, he said. Newly published doctrine “emphasizes realistic and joint training across all domains and tasks the PLA to prepare for conflict aimed at ‘strong military opponents,’” Schriver said.

China is emphasizing civil-military integration with civilian companies entering the military market to achieve greater efficiencies, innovation and growth, he said.



Chinese sailors stand in formation in Beijing during a visit by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to China’s naval headquarters, Jan. 16, 2019. Richardson was on a three-day visit to Beijing and Nanjing to continue the ongoing dialogue with the chief of China’s navy and to encourage professional interactions at sea, specifically addressing risk reduction and operational safety measures to prevent unwanted and unnecessary escalation.
Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Elliott Fabrizio

The report also touches on Chinese espionage, including cybertheft, targeted investment in foreign companies with crucial technologies and its exploitation of access that Chinese nationals may have to U.S. technology. “In 2018, we saw specific efforts targeting such areas as aviation technologies and anti-submarine warfare technologies,” Schriver said.

DOD officials have said they expect China will increase its military footprint, both in and out of the Indo-Pacific region. “We believe China will seek to establish additional bases overseas as well as points for access,” Schriver said. He cited Chinese desires to establish military bases in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Western Pacific.


International Status-Seeking
China has been working seriously to bulk up its worldwide status for more than 20 years. China’s economy is expanding and the Chinese Communist Party can mandate a strategy unchecked by democratic forces in the nation. Two programs — the “Made in China 2025” and “One Belt, One Road” initiatives — point to the path China would like to take to ensure it is the preeminent power in the region.

Schriver said the initiatives have caused concern in many nations that following them would mean a loss of sovereignty if the nations by into the Chinese strategy. “Chinese leaders have softened their rhetoric and sought to rebrand [the initiatives], however the fundamental goals of these programs have not changed,” he said.



The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis transits the South China Sea at sunset, Feb. 25, 2019. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan D. McLearnon
The report covers Chinese efforts in “influence operations” — Chinese efforts to influence media, culture, business, academia in other countries to accept the Chinese way.

China continues efforts to claim the South China Sea and East China Sea. They continue to claim land on its borders with India and Bhutan.

China’s attitude toward Taiwan continues to be threatening as they use elements of persuasion and coercion against the island,” Schriver said. He said this is destabilizing to the entire region.

The U.S. National Defense Strategy says the United States is in competition with China, but that does not preclude the United States and China from working together when the interests align, Schriver said. “We continue to pursue a constructive results-oriented relationship between our countries, and it is an important part of our regional strategy to have stable, constructive relations with China and a relationship which mitigates the risk of incidents or accidents.”

DOD Official Details Continuing Chinese Military Buildup

China continues to build up its military to challenge and supplant the United States as the preeminent power in the Indo-Pacific region, the assistant defense secretary for Indo-Pacific security

dod.defense.gov

 

[Khafee]

Defense Intelligence Agency Releases Report on China Military Power
By DIA Public Affairs
Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 2019 —

Contact:
James Kudla, [email protected], 202-231-0818
CDR Pam Rawe, [email protected], 202-231-0808

Washington, D.C. – (January 15, 2019) The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) today released China Military Power, a product that examines the core capabilities of China’s military.

This volume in DIA’s series of Military Power reports provides details on China’s defense and military goals, strategy, plans, and intentions. It examines the organization, structure and capability of the military supporting those goals, as well as the enabling infrastructure and industrial base.

“This report offers insights into the modernization of Chinese military power as it reforms from a defensive, inflexible ground-based force charged with domestic and peripheral security responsibilities to a joint, highly agile, expeditionary, and power-projecting arm of Chinese foreign policy that engages in military diplomacy and operations across the globe,” said Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley, Jr., DIA director.

Since Mao Zedong’s Communist Revolution in October 1949 brought the Chinese Communist Party to power, China has struggled to identify and align itself with its desired place in the world. Early factional struggles for control of party leadership, decades of negotiations to define territorial boundaries, and continued claims to territories not yet recovered have at times seemed at odds with the self-described nature of the Chinese as peace-loving and oriented only toward their own defense.

Chinese leaders historically have been willing to use military force against threats to their regime, whether foreign or domestic, at times preemptively. Lack of significant involvement in military operations during the last several decades has led to a sense of insecurity within the People's Liberation Army as it seeks to modernize into a great power military.

“As China continues to grow in strength and confidence, our nation's leaders will face a China insistent on having a greater voice in global interactions, which at times may be antithetical to U.S. interests," said Lt. Gen. Ashley. "With a deeper understanding of the military might behind China's economic and diplomatic efforts, we can provide our own national political, economic, and military leaders the widest range of options for choosing when to counter, when to encourage, and when to join with China in actions around the world.”

The Military Power series of unclassified overviews is designed to help the public achieve a deeper understanding of key challenges and threats to U.S. national security. It focuses on our near-peer competitors, and challengers such as Iran, North Korea, and terrorism.

“This product and other reports in this series are intended to inform our public, our leaders, the national security community, and partner nations about the challenges we face in the 21st century,” Lt. Gen. Ashley said.

DIA has a long history of producing comprehensive and authoritative defense intelligence overviews. In 1981, DIA published the first unclassified Soviet Military Power report, which was translated into eight languages and distributed around the world.

Two years ago, in the spirit of Soviet Military Power, DIA decided to once again produce and publish unclassified defense intelligence overviews of the major foreign military challenges we face. DIA published the first in the new series, Russia Military Power, in June 2017.


LINK to report: Military Power Publications

DIA officers are united in a common vision – to be the indispensable source of defense intelligence expertise for the nation. For more than 57 years, DIA has met the full range of security challenges faced by the United States. DIA intelligence officers operate across the globe, supporting customers from forward-deployed warfighters to national policymakers.

Defense Intelligence Agency Releases Report on China Military Power

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) today released China Military Power, a product that examines the core capabilities of China’s military.

www.dia.mil

 

[Khafee]

China is laying the groundwork for war with Taiwan
By: Mike Yeo  
03.May.2019

Airmen walk in formation prior to a combat drill with H-6K bombers. (Yang Ruikang/People's Republic of China)

MELBOURNE, Australia – China is improving and increasing its options for a possible future invasion of Taiwan, with military reforms and investments in multi-domain military capabilities offering a range of options to defeat the self-governing island, according to a Pentagon report.

These options range from an air and sea blockade of Taiwan to a full-scale invasion, although the latter option would require a significant increase in the number of amphibious ships, according to the latest annual China Military Power Report released Thursday by the Department of Defense.

Nevertheless, the report cautioned that the People’s Liberation Army or PLA’s efforts to convert the bulk of its maneuver units to combined arms brigades, “should eventually create more capable, modular brigades and battalions,” while the “expansion of army aviation and the creation of two new air assault brigades also provides more attack, air assault and close air support options for a Taiwan invasion.”

China’s PLA has also made efforts to improve its ability to insert forces by air, by restructuring its airborne corps and establishing air assault units, which would be charged with aerial insertion and seizing key terrain. This restructure saw it reorganizing its previous units into airborne infantry brigades, a special operations brigade, an aviation brigade, and a support brigade, with the corps conducting training exercises in 2018 that involved long-range raid and airborne operations based on actual war plans.

The service has also established a joint logistics support force in late 2016, with the primary goal of supporting a strategic campaign such as a Taiwan invasion. This would be accomplished through command and control of joint logistics, delivering of materiel, and managing various civil-military integration support mechanisms. It’s strategic support force would then be responsible for the use of electronic warfare and cyber operations during a Taiwan contingency, by “seizing and maintaining battlefield information control in contemporary informatized warfare.”

The report added that the PLA is likely still exploring how to reform its joint command processes to integrate information operations and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities more fully at the theater-level, but noted that the structural reforms have removed the biggest barriers to integrating these strategic capabilities.

Nonetheless, the report raises questions about China’s current ability to conduct a full-scale invasion. Despite advances in the quality and quantity of its surface combatants and submarines, the PLA Navy has in recent years only acquired a small number of landing platform docks “indicating a near term focus on smaller scale expeditionary missions rather than a large number of [Landing Ship Tanks] and medium landing craft that would be necessary for a large-scale direct beach assault.”

The preparedness of the recently expanded PLA Marine Corps was also in doubt, with exercises rarely going beyond battalion level events, and its newly raised brigades yet to receive “their full complement of required equipment and not fully mission capable.” As a consequence, the report noted that the scope of training for these units was “rudimentary and the new brigades remain unequipped to perform amphibious assault operations," concluding that an invasion of Taiwan, besides being fraught with significant political risk, “would likely strain China’s armed forces.”

China is laying the groundwork for war with Taiwan

China is improving and increasing its options for a possible future invasion of Taiwan, with military reforms and investments in multi-domain military capabilities offering a range of options to defeat the self-governing island.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Khafee]

New report explains how China thinks about information warfare
By: Mark Pomerleau  
03.May.2019

The Chinese military has established a Network Systems Department, responsible for information warfare. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

The Department of Defense’s annual report on China’s military and security developments provides new details about how China’s military organizes its information warfare enterprise, an area that has been of particular interest to U.S. military leaders.

In 2015, the People’s Liberation Army created the Strategic Support Force, which centralizes space, cyber, electronic warfare and psychological warfare missions under a single organization. The Chinese have taken the view, according to the DoD and other outside national security experts, that information dominance is key to winning conflicts. This could be done by denying or disrupting the use of communications equipment of its competitors.

The 2019 edition of report, released May 2, expands on last year’s version and outlines the Chinese Network Systems Department, one of two deputy theater command level departments within the Strategic Support Force responsible for information operations.

“The SSF Network Systems Department is responsible for information warfare with a mission set that includes cyberwarfare, technical reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and psychological warfare,” the report read. “By placing these missions under the same organizational umbrella, China seeks to remedy the operational coordination challenges that hindered information sharing under the pre-reform organizational structure.”

As described in previous Pentagon assessments, Chinese military leaders hope to use these so-called non-kinetic weapons in concert with kinetic weapons to push adversaries farther away from its shores and assets.

“In addition to strike, air and missile defense, anti-surface, and anti-submarine capabilities improvements, China is focusing on information, cyber, and space and counterspace operations,” the report said of China’s anti-access/area denial efforts. This concept aims to keep enemies at bay by extending defenses through long range missiles and advanced detection measures, which in turn make it difficult for enemies to penetrate territorial zones.

Cyber theft and collective strategic importance
This year’s report includes two subtle changes from last year’s edition regarding China’s cyber activities directed at the Department of Defense.
While last year’s report documents China’s continued targeting of U.S. diplomatic, economic, academic, and defense industrial base sectors to support intelligence collection, the latest edition points out that China’s exfiltration of sensitive military information from the defense industrial base could allow it to gain a military advantage.

In recent years, China has been accused of leading major hacks on defense contractors and the U.S. Navy, leading an internal review by the Navy to assert that both groups are "under cyber siege,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Additionally, this year’s report points out that taken together, the cyber-enabled campaigns threatened to erode military advantages, a trope often heralded by top leaders.

New strategies and approaches from the U.S. military seek to be more assertive in the defense of U.S. interests from such cyber probes.

New report explains how China thinks about information warfare

The Chinese military has established a Network Systems Department, which is responsible for information warfare.

www.c4isrnet.com

 

[Khafee]

Taiwan official pledges boost in defense capabilities won’t be deterred by Chinese ‘coercion’
By: Martin Banks  
02.May.2019

Members of Taiwan's special forces rappel from a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter during a military drill in Taoyuan city, Nothern Taiwan. (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

BRUSSELS — Taiwan will step up efforts to become more “self-reliant” in its defense capabilities in the face of “increasing threats” from China, according to a senior Taiwanese official.

Taiwan recently accused China of "reckless and provocative" action after two Chinese air force jets crossed a maritime border separating the island from the mainland on March 31.

Chinese bombers and warships have also recently conducted drills close to Taiwan, the latest military maneuvers near the self-ruled island that the Taiwanese official denounced as “coercion” and a threat to stability in the region.

The official is based at Taiwan’s representative office to the European Union and Belgium, and spoke to Defense News on condition of anonymity.
The official said the recent incidents highlight the need for Taiwan to become more “self-sufficient” by developing a more independent defense industry. The diplomat noted the country is already building supersonic training jets to boost air capabilities, and that the government allocated more than 21 percent of its defense budget this year for the development of indigenous weapons.

Under pressure from China, Taiwan has had difficulty since the 1980s in buying weapons and other defense equipment from anyone but the United States, and in upgrading its existing arsenal.
The official said the aim is to locally produce “advanced” defense and military equipment.

“This is necessary in order to be able to defend ourselves. This does not mean that we will stop relying on support of others in the international community, notably the U.S., for major defense equipment, but that we will more and more develop our own defense systems.”

This includes the Indigenous Defense Submarine program and new advanced training jets, he said. Proposals to build a fleet of eight diesel-electric submarines were introduced as early as 2001. In August 2016, Taiwan opened a submarine development center for production of the island’s first locally made subs.

Local shipbuilding company CSBC Corp. was contracted to produce eight submarines, the specifications of which are not yet finalized. Sources estimate a displacement between 1,200-2,400 tons, a top speed of 17 knots underwater and an operating range of 6,000 nautical miles. CSBC reportedly hopes to deliver the first submarine by 2024.

Additionally, Taiwan plans to produce 66 training jets at a cost of NT$68.6 billion (U.S. $2.2 billion), to replace the aging, locally made AT-3 trainers and American-made F-5 fighters that rookie fighter jet pilots in Taiwan’s Air Force have used for more than 30 years.

The design of the new supersonic trainer aircraft is based on F-CK-1, including the same Honeywell engine, but it will reportedly carry additional fuel. The Ministry of National Defense adopted the Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.'s XT-5 Blue Magpie design for the trainers.

Taiwan is heavily dependent on the U.S. for defense capabilities, a reliance recently reinforced when the U.S. State Department approved sale to Taiwan of a pilot training program as well as maintenance and logistics support for F-16 aircraft based on Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The $500 million package covers program costs such as flight training, participation in approved training exercises, training munitions, supply and maintenance support, and spare and repair parts. The sale must be cleared by Congress before entering final negotiations, during which quantities, services and prices can change.

China’s recent efforts at modernizing its military is slowly but surely eroding Taiwanese local superiority, and its economic and diplomatic clout is making countries wary of selling arms to Taiwan for fear of angering China, essentially placing the self-governing island under an arms embargo.
Speaking recently at a video conference, Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, accused China of “breaking a tacit agreement that has served the interests of peace and stability over the past two decades.”

In an attempt to counter such fears, a Chinese diplomat in Brussels pointed to a speech at the start of the year by Chinese President Xi Jinping which, the official said, “contained nothing” that suggested China sees conflict with Taiwan as imminent. However, Xi’s comments about support for peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan included a warning that “we do not promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option to use all necessary measures” to prevent Taiwan’s independence.

For its part, the United States’ national security adviser, John Bolton, tweeted April 1: “Chinese military provocations won’t win any hearts or minds in Taiwan, but they will strengthen the resolve of people everywhere who value democracy. The Taiwan Relations Act and our commitment are clear."
Replied Tsai: “We could not agree more.”

Fraser Cameron, the director of the Brussels-based EU/Asia Centre, noted that “while there were sound reasons for Taiwan to build up its indigenous defense capacity, it would have to be careful in maneuvering between its main protector (U.S.) and claimant (China).”

The U.S. is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to “make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”

“Any attempt to influence Taiwan through threats or coercion, we believe, destabilizes the region and threatens stability in the Taiwan Strait," the senior Taiwanese official said. "It hurts stability. It damages the cross-strait relationship. It damages any attempt by China to win the hearts and minds of Taiwan people. We urge Beijing to choose the path of peace, respect and civility by resuming dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected administration.”

Mike Yeo contributed to this report.

Taiwan official pledges boost in defense capabilities won’t be deterred by Chinese ‘coercion’

Under pressure from China, Taiwan has had difficulty since the 1980s in buying weapons and other defense equipment from anyone but the United States, and in upgrading its existing arsenal.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Khafee]

China grows marine corps’ ranks but brigades not fully equipped, US says
Ashley Roque, Washington, DC - Jane's Defence Weekly
03 May 2019


Beijing is rapidly growing the ranks of its marine corps, but most of the brigades are not yet "fully mission-capable", the Pentagon told Congress.
In the recent 'Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2019' report, the US Department of Defense (DoD) outlines its observations about Chinese military might. For its marine corps, the Pentagon said the service grew from two to six brigades, with plans to add a seventh by 2020, and although they will "ultimately … be capable of operating from land, sea, and air", that is unlikely to happen before next year.

"There is no evidence to indicate the [four] new brigades are manned, trained, and equipped to perform expeditionary missions yet," the DoD wrote, noting that plans may be in the works to establish an aviation brigade but there is no evidence that one currently exists.

Janes | Latest defence and security news

Janes | The latest defence and security news from Janes - the trusted source for defence intelligence

www.janes.com

 

[Khafee]

Pentagon: Chinese military growing fast to challenge U.S. military superiority
By Nicholas Sakelaris
MAY 3, 2019

The Chinese military is growing rapidly to counter U.S. superiority, a new report from the Pentagon said. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

May 3 (UPI) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched icebreakers and civilian research stations in Iceland and Norway that could be precursors for a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines to the Arctic region, the Pentagon said in its annual report on China.

China's military is growing rapidly as part of its goal of becoming a "near-Arctic state" with control of the "Polar Silk Road," the Pentagon report said. The report mentions the word "Arctic" 21 times -- last year's report mentioned it one time.

The push to military modernization is expected to be complete by 2035 with a "world-class" force by 2049. That includes an aircraft carrier fleet that's built domestically and a hypersonic glide vehicle. The country has one aircraft carrier in operation, the Liaoning.

Chinese "ground, naval, air and missile forces are increasingly able to project power" and "contest U.S. military superiority" in the region, the report said.

China has improved its ability to conduct complex joint operations to counter the United States. Beijing's espionage against the United States and the defense industry has focused on aviation technology and antisubmarine warfare. China can also operate at longer ranges away from the mainland.

The report warns that Chinese citizens will use "coercion and blackmail" to advance China's interests while military units also "conduct clandestine and overt intelligence collection."

China placed anti-ship cruise missiles and long-range surface-to-air missiles on Spratly Island in the South China Sea, despite claims that it won't "pursue militarization" of that area. China was excluded from naval war exercises because of the deployment last year.

China is also increasing sales of its drones to countries like Burma, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. China has "little competition" for these sales.

This latest report comes as the Trump administration continues to push for a new trade deal with China. Right now, both sides have placed tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese goods.

Pentagon: Chinese military growing fast to challenge U.S. military superiority - UPI.com

Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched icebreakers and civilian research stations in Iceland and Norway that could be precursors for a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines to the Arctic region, a Pentagon report said.

www.upi.com

 

[Khafee]

China completing more ballistic missile subs, with plans for a new version
By: Mike Yeo  
06-May-2019

A Chinese Jin-class nuclear submarine participates in a naval parade in the sea near Qingdao, in eastern China's Shandong province, on April 23, 2019. (Mark Schiefelbein/AFP via Getty Images)

MELBOURNE, Australia — China has launched two more nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and might fit anti-ship ballistic missiles on a new cruiser class on the verge of entering service, according to a new Pentagon report.

The two new submarines will bring the number of Type 094s, or Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs, in Chinese service to six, according to the latest annual “China Military Power Report,” released May 2 by the U.S. Defense Department. The report also said China is planning a new class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs, or SSBN, with construction expected to begin in the early part of the next decade.

The report confirms earlier assessments based on open-source satellite imagery published in late 2018, which showed two Type 094s under construction at the submarine yard in Huludao in the northern Chinese province of Liaoning.

The Type 094 SSBN can carry up to 12 CSS-N-14 (JL-2) submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which constitute China’s “first viable sea-based nuclear deterrent.” The JL-2 reportedly as a range of about 4,500 miles.

The follow-on SSBN-class, which the report calls the Type 096, is expected to be armed with the JL-3 sub-launched ballistic missile. The Pentagon expects China will operate its Type 096 SSBNs alongside the Type 094 boats, based on the life of China’s first-generation nuclear-powered submarines, which were in service for about 40 years.

China is also taking steps to deploy sophisticated command-and-control systems and refine associated processes to safeguard the integrity of nuclear release authority for a larger, more dispersed nuclear force, which includes road mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine deterrence patrols. U.S. Navy officials have said since 2015 that China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, is conducting such patrols, although there has been no official confirmation.

The report also touched on the PLAN’s Type 055 cruiser capabilities, describing the type — which has been described by China as a “10,000-ton destroyer” — as “China’s premier carrier escort for bluewater operations.” It further suggested the Type 055 will be able to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles “once these weapons are available.”

As Defense News previously reported, China is about to commission its first Type 055 into PLAN service, with at least another seven in various states of construction at shipyards in Shanghai and Dalian, along with several more smaller Type 052D destroyers and two domestically built aircraft carriers. The effort is part of a continuing “robust surface combatant construction program” meant to “significantly upgrade the PLAN’s air defense, anti-ship, and anti-submarine capabilities,” the report said.

China completing more ballistic missile subs, with plans for a new version

The two new submarines will bring the number of Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs in Chinese service to six.

www.defensenews.com