PLAN 055 ship models just outside Wuhan, China

PLA may build 3 more carriers amid territorial disputes: Kanwa

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy may build three Liaoning-class aircraft carriers to prepare for a potential conflict with Japan in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review operated by Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov.Light aircraft carriers such as the Liaoning and Japan's Izumo have become vital for the PLA Navy and Japan Maritme Self-Defense Force amid territorial disputes between the two countries, the article said. It added that Japan may become an even greater threat to China if the country successfully introduces a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship from the United States and deploys its F-35B fighters with vertical take-off and landing ability aboard the ship.

To face Japan in a potential combat situation, the PLA Navy needs to construct at least three aircraft carriers based on the Liaoning — which was refitted from the Soviet-era carrier Varyag purchased from Ukraine Kanwa said.Meanwhile, if Japan is unable to purchase the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship, the Izumo alone can carry at least 24 F-38B fighters after the vessel's fuel supply facility is removed, while Tokyo will likely choose to purchase cheaper but older AV-8 fighters.

Japan's F-35B fighter is designed mostly for surface attack missions and it is thus unable to compete against China's J-15 carrier-based fighters. But neither China nor Japan is likely to deploy aircraft carriers against each other over a narrow battlefield like the disputed East China Sea, Kanwa said, adding that if the local conflict escalated into a full scale war, it would be up to the United States to decide whether or not to fight for Japan.

F-35 is Liaoning's worst nightmare, says Global Times

The US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is capable of combating China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, reports Huanqiu, the website of China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid.In a hypothetical aircraft carrier battle between China and the United States, the main fighter jets would include the United States' F-35C fifth-generation multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin and China's J-15 carrier-based jet developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

The F-35 is equipped with extremely powerful offensive capabilities for both land and sea combat, with a weapons load of eight tonnes and the capacity to carry four AIM20C and AIM-9X mid-range and short-range air-to-air missiles.In an attack on the Liaoning the F-35 could carry joint strike missiles developed in Norway, which have a range of 290 kilometers. The J-15, on the other hand, could carry two YJ8-3 anti-missiles with a range of only 180 km.

In terms of radar technology, the US has the clear upper hand with its AN/APG-81 AESA radar developed by Northrop Grumman, which has a thousand transceivers with the ability to simultaneously search for 23 moving targets, including 19 targets in just 2.4 seconds, after which it would turn to tracking mode.Even against China's J-20, the stealth, twin-engine fifth-generation fighter aircraft prototype being developed by Chengdu Aerospace Corporation, the F-35 would still be the first to detect its opponent due to its superior radar.

Observers are asking whether the Japan Air Self-Defense Force will make modifications to its F-35A jets to use the domestically developed AAM-4 and AAM-5 medium-range active radar-guided air-to-air missiles or if they will use US missiles given the differences in dimensions.
The problem for Japan is the cost of the F-35A, which could mean fewer aircraft if the price continues to rise. The price of the F-35A was US$111.6 million back in 2010, while the F-35B cost US$109.4 million and the F-35C was priced at US$142.9 million; since then the average price of one F-35 has risen to as high as US$228 million, according to some sources.


http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140429000104&cid=1101&MainCatID=11

China to bring 4 ships to RIMPAC naval exercise

China plans to bring four ships to Hawaii this summer as its vessels participate in the world’s largest naval exercises for the first time.China is expected to bring the Peace Ark, a navy hospital ship, as well as an oiler, a frigate and a destroyer, said Lt. Lenaya Rotklein, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Third Fleet, which is organizing the Rim of the Pacific exercises.

The drills are scheduled to begin on June 26 and last through Aug. 1.The U.S. hosts the exercises, which are also known as RIMPAC, every other year. They began in 1971 and have since grown to become the world’s largest maritime exercises.Twenty-three countries are expected to participate this year, including Canada, India, Japan and South Korea.The Peace Ark will participate in medical exchanges with other participants, Rotklein said. The oiler, the frigate and the destroyer are expected to join a maritime interdiction operations task force.The scenario for the exercise involves four fictitious countries — one of which is an aggressor — in an island region, she said.Most of the drills will take place in and around the Hawaiian Islands. As in 2012, a small part of it will take place off Southern California, Rotklein said.

China sent military observers to watch the drills in 1998, but it has never sent ships before.Chinese and U.S. naval vessels have only rarely exercised together in the past. Last year, China sent a guided missile cruiser, a frigate and a supply ship to Hawaii for a search-and-rescue exercise with the U.S.The U.S. values such opportunities in part so the Navy and China’s fast-growing naval forces will learn to understand each other better and avert misunderstandings.Last December, a U.S. Navy cruiser, the USS Cowpens, nearly collided with a ship accompanying China’s sole aircraft carrier in international waters of the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy said the Cowpens maneuvered to avoid crashing into the Chinese ship, in the two nations’ most serious sea confrontation in years.

Earlier this month, the U.S., China and two dozen Asia-Pacific nations adopted an agreement to improve communication at sea to reduce the possibility of incidents like that one and misunderstandings that could lead to conflict in the heavily trafficked sea lanes surrounding China, Japan and Southeast Asia.


http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140429/NEWS08/304290074/China-bring-4-ships-RIMPAC-naval-exercise

PLAN Chinese Navy catamaran under construction at Huangpu Shipyard

Power in numbers: China surpasses Japan with surface combat ships

China has surpassed Japan in the construction and purchasing of new surface combat vessels, according to an Apr. 25 article on the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review operated by military analyst Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov.China's surface combat vessels may not be as good as their Japanese counterparts in terms of quality, the article said, but the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has a greater number of destroyers and frigates equipped with active electronically scanned array radar. The PLA Navy currently has six Type 052C guided-missile destroyers, each carrying up to 49 HQ9 air defense missiles. In addition, the vessel can fire YJ-62 anti-ship cruise missiles, which have a range of 280 kilometers.

The country has also completed the construction of two Type 052D destroyers based on the Type 052C, and the new vessel can carry 64 HQ9 air defense missiles. Four more Type 052Ds are under construction at the Dalian and Jiangnan shipyards.The PLA Navy will likely operate between 10-12 Type 052C and Type 052D destroyers by 2015, but China will still lag behind the United States and Japan in building quality vessels, according to Kanwa.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) currently has four Kongo-class and two Atago-class destroyers. Equipped with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, all six destroyers are twice as powerful as their Chinese counterparts in intercepting enemy aircraft and missiles. The JMSDF destroyers are also better than the PLA Navy destroyers in anti-submarine, electronic and cyber warfare, the article said.Despite a disparity in quality, China has numerical superiority over Japan. The PLA Navy has 18 Type 054A frigates, while the JMSDF only has nine Murasame-class and five Takanami-class frigates.

China splurging on military as U.S. pulls back

China’s navy commissioned 17 new warships last year, the most of any nation. In a little more than a decade, it’s expected to have three aircraft carriers, giving it more clout than ever in a region of contested seas and festering territorial disputes.

Those numbers testify to huge increases in defense spending that have endowed China with the largest military budget behind the United States and fueled an increasingly large and sophisticated defense industry. While Beijing still lags far behind the U.S. in both funding and technology, its spending boom is attracting new scrutiny at a time of severe cuts in U.S. defense budgets that have some questioning Washington’s commitments to its Asian allies, including some who have lingering disputes with China.

Beijing’s newfound military clout is one of many issues confronting President Barack Obama as he visits the region this week. Washington is faced with the daunting task of fulfilling its treaty obligations to allies such as Japan and the Philippines, while also maintaining cordial relation with key economic partner and rising regional power China.

China’s boosted defense spending this year grew 12.2 percent to $132 billion, continuing more than two decades of nearly unbroken double-digit percentage increases that have afforded Beijing the means to potentially alter the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific. Outside observers put China’s actual defense spending significantly higher, although estimates vary widely.

Increases in spending signal “strength and resolve to China’s neighbors,” requiring other countries to pay close attention to where Beijing is assigning its resources, said China defense expert Abraham Denmark, vice president for political and security affairs at the U.S-based National Bureau of Asian Research.

At the same time, the U.S. military is seeking to redirect resources to the Asia-Pacific as it draws down its defense commitment in Afghanistan, although officers warn that budget cuts could potentially threaten plans to base 60 percent of U.S. naval assets to the region. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert recently warned that U.S. capabilities to project power “would not stay ahead” of those of potential adversaries, given the fiscal restraints.

Meanwhile, China’s navy is rapidly developing into a force to contend with the U.S., long the dominant military player in the Asia-Pacific region.

China commissioned its first aircraft carrier — a refurbished Ukrainian hull — in 2012, and another two indigenous carriers are expected to enter service by 2025, significantly increasing Beijing’s ability to project power into the South China Sea that it claims virtually in its entirety.Analysts say China will have as many as 78 submarines by 2020, part of an expansion that has seen it leap past the U.S. and Russia in numbers of warships delivered annually, according to experts and available figures.


http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140424/NEWS08/304240036/China-splurging-military-U-S-pulls-back

Maritime Cooperation 2014 - Qingdao, China

Marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy, navies from eight Asian nations — Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Brunei — were invited to Qingdao in eastern China to take part in the Maritime Cooperation 2014 naval exercise on Apr. 23. Some 19 warships and seven helicopters took part in the exercise, aimed at testing the ability of the Chinese navy and its partners in rescue and anti-piracy operations.



See Below : Only Abu Bakar frigate of Bangladesh Navy (F15) and Singapore frigate
RSS Formidable (68) and the unnamed Chinese ship captured in the photo stream.



19 Warships stage War Games near Qingdao, China

Chinese replenishment ships after completion of Syrian chemical weapons maritime escort mission.

PLAN Huangshan ship commandos

 PLAN Huangshan ship commandos

Supply ships Chaohu take the form of lateral resupply ship, ship Changchun, Changzhou ship supplies of fuel 1

Supply ships Chaohu take the form of lateral resupply ship, ship Changchun, Changzhou ship supplies of fuel

Swedish firm sells UAVs to Chinese coast guard

Swedish firm CybAero recently sold a number of its APID 60 helicopter UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to the Chinese coast guard, which plans to use the unmanned aerial vehicle aboard customs vessels to combat smuggling, reports the Washington-based Strategy Page on Apr. 18.

Designed as a 180-kilogram unmanned helicopter, the APID 60 is capable of carrying a 75-kilogram payload for up to six hours per sortie. It has a max speed of 150 kilometers per hour, and a max altitude of 3,000 meters.

The APID 60 can also be operated up to 200 kilometers from the control station on a ship or land, and costs more than 75% less than a manned helicopter to operate, the report said, adding that it is just as effective for reconnaissance.

Chinese maritime cooperation Naval Exercises - 2014

Navies of seven countries Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh are expected to participate.

Following ships have arrived in Qingdao.

INS Shivalik (F47) - stealth frigate of Indian navy with identification number removed arrives in Qingdao

Abu Bakar frigate Bangladesh Navy

 (above and below)  Singapore frigate in Qingdao Port RSS Formidable (68)

Indonesia Navy KRI Banjarmasin  592  - Landing ship


Royal Brunei navy KBD DARULAMAN

Royal malaysian Navy Kasturi class frigate

Pakistan Navy F22P type Shamsheer Frigate