Chinese Air Force Gets More H-6K Strategic Bombers

H6K In flight. Internet photo

Variants of the CJ-10 anti-ship/land attack cruise missile can be launched from different platforms. Six are carried by Xian H-6K strategic bomber, The missile is also carried on board the Type 095 and 052D destroyers and on land-based mobile launchers.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) recently received 15 Xian H-6K bombers with nuclear capabilities, according to Jane’s Defence Weekly.
The H-6K, an updated version of the H-6 bomber (originally, a locally built version of the 1960s vintage Russian Tupolev Tu-16 bomber), is a medium-sized craft designed for long-range attacks, stand-off attacks and large-area air patrol. Unlike its predecessor, the H-6K can carry cruise missiles under its wings. The H6-K also
maneuvers more deftly than the H-6 and requires a smaller crew to operate. H-6K reportedly has a combat radius of 3,500 km. It can carry weapons in the internal weapon bay and on four underwing pylons. The nuclear-capable Changjian-10 (long sword) CJ-10A cruise missiles it carries have a range of 1,500-2,000 km, effectively extending the bomber’s combat range to 4,000-5,000 km – long enough to reach Okinawa, Guam and even Hawaii from China’s mainland.

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US leads in arming world; but China, Russia defense business rising

TOM REYNOLDS / Lockheed Martin via EPA file

An undated Lockheed Martin Aeronautics image showing F-35 AF-1 and AF-2 planes over Edwards Air Force Base, California.Lockheed is one of the companies that has given the United States dominance in the global defense business

The United States remains by far the largest arms and military equipment provider in the world, but that dominance is expected to wane over the next eight years, with China and Russia boosting their defense industries, an analysis said on Wednesday.
"Two things are happening: budgets are shifting east, and global arms trade is [seeing] increasing competition," said Paul Burton, senior manager of IHS Jane's Defence, publisher of an authoritative weekly on defense issues.

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Report: Chinese military seeks downgrading of ’61 defense pact with N. Korea

SEOUL — Senior Chinese military officials have begun calling for the downgrading of military ties with North Korea arguing that Pyongyang should be seen more as a “burden” than an ally, officials here said.

China is said to have shifted priorities in some areas from North to South Korea over the past two decades. /Reuters

According to South Korea’s leading newspaper Chosun Ilbo, some Chinese military leaders have called for the revision of the 1961 military pact with North Korea to reflect a new Northeast Asia security landscape.
The officers have suggested that Beijing distance itself from North Korea and seek closer military ties with South Korea so as to foster equidistance in the strategic triangle, Chosun said, citing an unidentified source in Seoul.

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China's aggressive tactics turning off Asian neighbors

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Not long ago, China was the darling of its less powerful Asian neighbors with its growing economic importance and a policy of non-interference in external affairs that contrasted with bellicose U.S. foreign policy after 9/11.

However, a series of clashes over territorial disputes and Beijing’s tendency to economically punish those who get in its way have encouraged many Asian nations to reassess their choices — an increasingly aggressive Chinese dragon or a more distant and relatively benign America.

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China Said to Have Made Call to Let Leaker Depart

BEIJING — The Chinese government made the final decision to allow Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, a move that Beijing believed resolved a tough diplomatic problem even as it reaped a publicity windfall from Mr. Snowden’s disclosures, according to people familiar with the situation.
Hong Kong authorities have insisted that their judicial process remained independent of China, but these observers — who like many in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about confidential discussions — said that matters of foreign policy are the domain of the Chinese government, and Beijing exercised that authority in allowing Mr. Snowden to go. 

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A U.S. Naval Blockade of China?

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was much debate about whether war between major powers in Asia was even imaginable. It is a disturbing sign of how much the strategic environment has deteriorated that analysts are now starting to write publicly about how such a war might be fought.
There is a growing literature on the U.S. concept of Air-Sea Battle,  including the question of whether its use of conventional strikes against targets on the Chinese mainland would lead to wider escalation.  Presumably this has struck a chord in the Chinese security debate – raising questions about the efficacy of an anti-access strategy against U.S. maritime forces – and perhaps that was the point.
Now there's another emerging theme in American open-source speculation about how a U.S.-China conflict could unfold – a naval blockade.

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China's Drone Swarms Rise to Challenge US Power

CREDIT: Project 2049 Institute View full size image

China is building one of the world's largest drone fleets aimed at expanding its military reach in the Pacific and swarming U.S. Navy carriers in the unlikely event of a war, according to a new report.
The Chinese military — known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) — envisions its drone swarms scouting out battlefields, guiding missile strikes and overwhelming opponents through sheer numbers. China's military-industrial complex has created a wide array of homegrown drones to accomplish those goals over the past decade, according to the report released by the Project 2049 Institute on March 11.

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Success of Chinese Missiles in Syria To Boost Image of Country’s Weapons, Paper Says

BEIJING — Chinese-made missiles have been used to shoot down two Syrian army helicopters, state media reported Thursday, adding that their performance could boost the international sales appeal of Chinese weapons.
The Global Times, a tabloid with close links to the ruling Communist Party, said a pair of videos posted on the Internet by Free Syrian Army rebels showed two Mi-8/17 helicopters being shot down by Chinese shoulder-launched missiles. The paper said it was not known how the rebels, who have been fighting to topple the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for the past two years, obtained the missiles.
But it said the success of the FN-6 weapons, which it said were developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, could lift the overall image of China’s defense products.
“In regards to export prospects, Chinese weapons need to engage in more conflicts to prove their value,” Daniel Tong, identified as the founder of the Chinese Military Aviation website, told the newspaper. “The kills are proof that the FN-6 is reliable and user-friendly, because rebel fighters are generally not well-trained in operating missile systems,” he added.

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China’s defense spending mystery

Editor’s note: Scott Harold is an associate political scientist for the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. The views expressed are his own.
China has once again announced a major expansion in its defense spending, leaving outside observers to again debate what this all could mean. Unfortunately, the planned 10.7 percent increase for 2013 posed more questions than it answered: Is it a sign of a more assertive China that wants to pursue regional dominance? Is it an indication of a country seeking to redress long-term weaknesses in its military? Or is it a sign of a domestic leadership that can’t say no to the military at a time of political transition?
The fact is that it’s a bit of all of these.
In absolute terms, the official Chinese defense budget is slated to rise from approximately $106.4 billion in 2012 to $119 billion this year. (The White House, meanwhile, proposed a $553 billion budget for the U.S. Defense department in fiscal 2012). This means that, after subtracting out expected inflationary costs, the People’s Liberation Army will have approximately $12 billion more in budget this year than last.

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U.S., China Take Part in Pakistan Naval Drills

ISLAMABAD — The United States and China began naval drills in the Arabian Sea with Pakistan and other countries on Thursday, the Pakistani navy said, in a show of strength against terrorism and piracy.
The AMAN-13 exercise involves ships from 13 countries and observers from 20 others and comes two weeks after China took control of a strategic Pakistani Arabian Sea port from Singapore’s PSA International. The five-day exercise, which began earlier this week with meetings and maneuvers in port, will end on Friday and is aimed at “information sharing, mutual understanding and identifying areas of common interest,” the navy said in a statement.


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China's Cutting-Edge Attack Helicopter Is Actually A Russian Design

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A recent post on Aviation Week revealed that China's cutting edge Z-10 helicopter is actually Russian. That's right, China's premier attack helicopter, a first for the fledgling super power, was a product of the Russian company Kamov, Guy Norris of Aviation Week reports.
"Sergei Mikheyev, General Designer of the Kamov Design Bureau ... dropped the proverbial bombshell at Heli-Expo here in Las Vegas this afternoon," Norris writes, "Mikheyev told an astonished crowd that China’s Z-10/WZ-10 attack helicopter was actually designed in great secrecy under contract for China by Kamov."

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India without aircraft carrier as China takes huge strides

India's solitary aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is out of action for several months once again for a major refit to ensure it can soldier on for another three to four years.

 

NEW DELHI: India may fancy itself as a regional superpower but does not have an aircraft carrier prowling on the high seas. Its solitary carrier, the 54-year-old INS Viraat, is out of action for several months once again for a major refit to ensure it can soldier on for another three to four years.

Despite the Indian Ocean having emerged as the new strategic theatre between India and China, the Indian politico-military establishment's lack of long-term planning and timely decision-making has all but dashed the Navy's long-standing ambition to deploy two potent carrier battle groups (CBGs).

China, in contrast, is taking huge strides in the arena. After last year's commissioning of its first carrier, the 65,000-tonne Liaoning, Beijing is furiously engaged in building more to further expand its "blue-water operations''.

 

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J-31 may become China's next generation carrier-borne fighter jet

China’s second stealth fighter, dubbed J-31, makes its maiden flight Wednesday in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Photo: Pan Bin

Sun Cong, chief designer of the J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, accepted a special interview with Xinhua News Agency on March 2.

The J-15, nicknamed "lying shark", is China's first generation of carrier-borne fighter jet. When the piloted J-15 fighter landed on the Liaoning aircraft carrier for the first time and successfully took off, Sun was filled with excitement.
J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet has filled the technological gap in the related fields. Compared with land-based aircraft, the carrier-borne aircraft raised more and higher requirements in technological aspects.
Sun said the carrier-borne fighters must have the same combat capability as the land-based fighters in terms of bomb load, combat radius, and maneuverability; it must have good low-speed performance. It also raised higher requirements in terms of blocking landing in the sea and ski-jump takeoff.

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Red Alert: China’s defense spending increases while U.S. cuts back

China’s Communist Party leaders Tuesday announced their spending plans for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) this year, repeating last year’s double-digit growth in Beijing’s military budget, just as their only effective rival, the United States, is slashing defense spending across the board.
China’s annual defense spending will rise by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan ($114.3 billion) in 2013, according to the official newspaper China Daily.
Last year, China’s military budget grew by 11.6 percent, the paper reported, citing budget documents published Tuesday at the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC). The NPC is China’s rubber-stamp parliament which is meeting in one of its infrequent sessions to endorse the once in a decade generational transfer of power within China’s gerontocratic leadership.

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China frets over India's atomic subs

WASHINGTON – India recently test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead – something that is of serious concern not only to New Delhi’s arch-rival Pakistan, but also to China, according to report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

China recently has been concerned about India’s efforts to expand its influence in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has asserted exclusive jurisdiction especially over maritime resources. Beijing is upset with India over its assistance to Vietnam in off-shore oil exploration.

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Anti-aircraft missiles Iran was trying to ship to Yemeni proxy were made at factory of state-owned Chinese corp.

It has been confirmed that the anti-aircraft missiles that Iran, according to American and Yemeni officials, was trying to send to its proxy, Houthi, in northwestern Yemen, in January were made at a factory represented by a state-owned Chinese corporation. The Iranian shipment was seized in Jan. by the United States Navy and Yemen’s security forces. It should be noted here that Iran has been accused of supplying weapons to its Middle Eastern proxies several times before also, but has always denied the charges, saying the United States and its Western allies have been doing false propaganda against the country. This time, however, there has been no comment by Iran so far.
Iran is a Shiite-led theocracy and believed to be a strong supporter of the Shiite community-dominated Middle Eastern states, including Syria, where the Shiite minority has been ruling the Sunni majority for decades. In a number of other Muslim countries as well, Iran is considered supportive of the Shiite community and like-minded groups.

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War between Japan, China over isles called unlikely

A senior adviser to the Taiwanese government on Wednesday downplayed the likelihood that a war will erupt in the festering dispute between Taiwan, China and Japan over a chain of tiny islands in the East China Sea.
“Nobody’s going to war over this few rocks, over these tracts of barren land,” said Stephen S.F. Chen, a former top Taiwanese diplomat in Washington, to editors and reporters at The Washington Times.
China and Taiwan agree that the islands are Chinese, though they differ on exactly what that means, said Mr. Chen, who is a senior adviser to Taiwan’s Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou.

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Japan navy showcases warships amid spat with China

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ship "Kurama" leads other vessels during a fleet review in water off Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo, on Oct. 14, 2012.

ABOARD THE JS YUDACHI (AP) -- Japan's navy marked its 60th anniversary with a major exercise intended to show off its maritime strength. The display comes amid a tense territorial dispute with China.
About 40 ships - including state-of-the-art destroyers, hovercraft able to launch assaults on rough coastlines and new conventionally powered submarines - took part in Fleet Review 2012, the maritime equivalent of a military parade. About 30 naval aircraft, mostly helicopters, also participated Sunday.

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China's aircraft carrier air operations have started on "Liaoning" (ex-Varyag)

A Chinese Navy Shenyang J-15 carrier based fighter aircraft performs a "touch and go" on Liaoning aircraft carrier (ex-Varyag)

Shortly after its official delivery and commissioning to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy last month, China's first aircraft carrier has already started training for air operations with helicopters and naval jets.

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Japanese React With Fear, Anger Over China Islands Dispute

TOKYO — The dispute between Japan and China over the ownership of a chain of islands in the East China Sea continues to escalate, with China boycotting a meeting of the IMF being held in Tokyo. A growing sense of fear over China's increasing strength is being reported in the Japanese capital.

In August a fleet of Japanese boats headed for the disputed islands, called the Senkaku by Japan, and the Diaoyu by China. After a journey of several hours, some of the activists - including Japanese lawmakers - swim out to the uninhabited rocks.


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