China Military Watch - August 9, 2014

[VinodTK]

PLA carried out further test of JL-2 SLBM last month

The People's Liberation Army Navy conducted another test flight of its JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile again last month, Bill Gertz, senior editor of the Washington Free Beacon writes in an article published Feb. 18.

US military sources said that the JL-2 test was carried out on the same day North Korea tested its KN-11 submarine-launched ballistic missile. No direct link between the two tests has been established, nor have any further details regarding the test of the JL-2 been revealed. Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Pool refused to comment on the JL-2 test, though he said the SLBM was discussed in the Pentagon's most recent annual report.

Pool said the JL-2 was described in the report as a weapons system which enables the PLA Navy its "first credible long-range sea-based nuclear deterrent." The congressional US-China Economic Security and Review Commission in its own annual report also said the SLBM has reached initial operating capability as part of the PLA's expanding strategic nuclear forces. With an attack range of approximately 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers), the JL-2 gives China the ability to conduct nuclear strikes against the US.

Both Alaska and Hawaii would be in range if the missile were fired from waters south of Japan. From waters west of Hawaii, the missile could reach the west of the continental United States. From waters east of Hawaii, all 50 US states would be in range, according to the report.

"It is clear China's nuclear forces over the next three to five years will expand considerably and become more lethal and survivable with the fielding of additional road-mobile nuclear missiles," the report said. China was expected to launch more routine patrol missions with its Type 094 Jin-class ballistic submarine last year. Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the first submarine patrol mission is likely to take place this year.

Stewart admitted that China has on two occasions deployed submarines to the Indian Ocean, though these were characterized as plans for boosting Chinese power projection rather than routine submarine patrols. Though President Barack Obama and Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of US naval operations, have downplayed the threat to the United States from PLA submarines, Stewart said China is continuing to expand its fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and stock of submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

[member_28756]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/ ... NE20150225

China submarines outnumber U.S. fleet: U.S. admiral

WASHINGTON Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:18pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China is building some "fairly amazing submarines" and now has more diesel- and nuclear-powered vessels than the United States, a top U.S. Navy admiral told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, although he said their quality was inferior.

Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy, deputy chief of naval operations for capabilities and resources, told the House Armed Services Committee's seapower subcommittee that China was also expanding the geographic areas of operation for its submarines, and their length of deployment.

For instance, China had carried out three deployments in the Indian Ocean, and had kept vessels out at sea for 95 days, Mulloy said

.

In its last annual report to Congress about China's military and security developments, the Pentagon said China had 77 principal surface combatant ships, more than 60 submarines, 55 large and medium amphibious ships, and about 85 missile-equipped small combatants.

[member_28756]

Can you please tell Ivan this is a bad idea ? What the hell are they doing !


http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/ ... W420150227

UPDATE 1-Russia may accept majority Chinese control of big oil and gas fields
Fri Feb 27, 2015 6:20am EST By Olesya Astakhova

* Russian U-turn reflects pressure of Western sanctions
* Foreign know-now needed to tap inaccessible reserves
* "Now we know China better," deputy PM says (Changes dateline, writes through)

KRASNOYARSK, Russia, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Russia may consider allowing Chinese investors more than 50 percent stakes in its strategic oil and gas fields, an official said on Friday, an about-face by Moscow that underlines its need for foreign help to develop energy reserves.

While closely guarding control of the oil and gas fields that supply the lifeblood of its economy, Russia has forged alliances with some Western companies to obtain the know-how it needs to tap hard-to-reach deposits.

But now that Western sanctions over Moscow's role in Ukraine have all but halted that cooperation, Russia has overcome a "psychological barrier" and is ready to deepen its economic ties with China, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.

"We have a strategic partnership with China and now decisions are made much faster than before. In particular, we have a gas contract, a second one will be signed soon. Now we know China better: their motives and intentions are understood," he told a conference in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

"There used to be a psychological barrier. Now it doesn't exist any more. We are interested in maximum investments in new industries. China is an obvious investor for us."

President Vladimir Putin has pushed for closer ties with Asia since the European Union and United States imposed sanctions on Russia last year over its role in the Ukraine conflict, plunging relations to lows not seen since the Cold War.

Last year, he oversaw the signing of a deal, valued by Russian state-owned gas firm Gazprom at $400 billion, to supply China with 38 billion cubic metres of gas per year by pipeline from 2019. So far, Russia sells pipeline gas only to Europe.

FEW DEALS

Despite overtures to China as part of Russia's "pivot east", Moscow has failed to complete a large number of deals and there has been a wariness in Asia about providing financing for Russian companies and banks.

China's CNPC and Sinopec Group have made upstream investments in Russia but only in quite small projects. CNPC has an exploration block but no production as yet.

"Putin is currently in a tough situation. We all know this. One of the ways to help him get out of the mess is trying to improve ties with China," said a senior Chinese oil industry official familiar with CNPC's strategy and Sino-Russian energy cooperation.

"It has been very difficult for CNPC to do upstream cooperation in Russia under Putin. We have tried numerous times before, to no avail. Now the situation has changed, the chance of doing that is higher."

Current restrictions allow foreign investors to own up to 50 percent of oil fields with reserves of more than 70 million tonnes and gas fields with more than 50 billion cubic metres.

Dvorkovich said that 50-50 ownership was "comfortable" for now but added that "if there is a request (for control), we will consider it." He said Russia had not yet decided whether to let Chinese investors take stakes in offshore oil and gas deposits.

As rival Communist powers, Moscow and Beijing endured a long rift in relations during the Soviet period, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told students of the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow that ties were now on "an unprecedented level".

"This has never happened before in history. They are not based on ... a desire to unite against someone but on the matching deep national interests of two neighbouring countries with a huge joint border," he said in comments broadcast live on television on Friday.

Lavrov said he saw "nothing dangerous here, though some are trying to warn against over-dependence" on China.

Most of Russia's oil production is based in western Siberia, where fields are running out. Any new areas for discovery, such as east Siberia and the Arctic, and hard-to-recover resources, would require foreign assistance.

According to BP, Russia's proven oil reserves, the world's 8th largest, stood at 93 billion barrels at the end of 2013. Its gas reserves were at 31.3 trillion cubic metres, second only to Iran's 33.8 trillion. (Reporting by Olesya Astakhova, Katya Golubkova and Timothy Heritage; additional reporting by Charlie Zhu in Beijing; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Elizabeth Piper and Mark Trevelyan

[NRao]

Does not bode well for info-Russian relations. This was Modi's number one concern.

Let us see. Two months to go. FGFA on the line.

[kit]

Russia is trying to get Chinese investment in its energy sector ...a risky gambit ..but it could make china interested in the bears well being ..risky too ..putin putting a lot of faith into his nuclear arsenal for an american and by far Chinese threat

[Austin]

Can you please tell Ivan this is a bad idea ? What the hell are they doing !


http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/ ... W420150227

UPDATE 1-Russia may accept majority Chinese control of big oil and gas fields
Fri Feb 27, 2015 6:20am EST By Olesya Astakhova

* Russian U-turn reflects pressure of Western sanctions
* Foreign know-now needed to tap inaccessible reserves
* "Now we know China better," deputy PM says (Changes dateline, writes through)

KRASNOYARSK, Russia, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Russia may consider allowing Chinese investors more than 50 percent stakes in its strategic oil and gas fields, an official said on Friday, an about-face by Moscow that underlines its need for foreign help to develop energy reserves.

While closely guarding control of the oil and gas fields that supply the lifeblood of its economy, Russia has forged alliances with some Western companies to obtain the know-how it needs to tap hard-to-reach deposits.

But now that Western sanctions over Moscow's role in Ukraine have all but halted that cooperation, Russia has overcome a "psychological barrier" and is ready to deepen its economic ties with China, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.

"We have a strategic partnership with China and now decisions are made much faster than before. In particular, we have a gas contract, a second one will be signed soon. Now we know China better: their motives and intentions are understood," he told a conference in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

"There used to be a psychological barrier. Now it doesn't exist any more. We are interested in maximum investments in new industries. China is an obvious investor for us."

President Vladimir Putin has pushed for closer ties with Asia since the European Union and United States imposed sanctions on Russia last year over its role in the Ukraine conflict, plunging relations to lows not seen since the Cold War.

Last year, he oversaw the signing of a deal, valued by Russian state-owned gas firm Gazprom at $400 billion, to supply China with 38 billion cubic metres of gas per year by pipeline from 2019. So far, Russia sells pipeline gas only to Europe.

FEW DEALS

Despite overtures to China as part of Russia's "pivot east", Moscow has failed to complete a large number of deals and there has been a wariness in Asia about providing financing for Russian companies and banks.

China's CNPC and Sinopec Group have made upstream investments in Russia but only in quite small projects. CNPC has an exploration block but no production as yet.

"Putin is currently in a tough situation. We all know this. One of the ways to help him get out of the mess is trying to improve ties with China," said a senior Chinese oil industry official familiar with CNPC's strategy and Sino-Russian energy cooperation.

"It has been very difficult for CNPC to do upstream cooperation in Russia under Putin. We have tried numerous times before, to no avail. Now the situation has changed, the chance of doing that is higher."

Current restrictions allow foreign investors to own up to 50 percent of oil fields with reserves of more than 70 million tonnes and gas fields with more than 50 billion cubic metres.

Dvorkovich said that 50-50 ownership was "comfortable" for now but added that "if there is a request (for control), we will consider it." He said Russia had not yet decided whether to let Chinese investors take stakes in offshore oil and gas deposits.

As rival Communist powers, Moscow and Beijing endured a long rift in relations during the Soviet period, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told students of the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow that ties were now on "an unprecedented level".

"This has never happened before in history. They are not based on ... a desire to unite against someone but on the matching deep national interests of two neighbouring countries with a huge joint border," he said in comments broadcast live on television on Friday.

Lavrov said he saw "nothing dangerous here, though some are trying to warn against over-dependence" on China.

Most of Russia's oil production is based in western Siberia, where fields are running out. Any new areas for discovery, such as east Siberia and the Arctic, and hard-to-recover resources, would require foreign assistance.

According to BP, Russia's proven oil reserves, the world's 8th largest, stood at 93 billion barrels at the end of 2013. Its gas reserves were at 31.3 trillion cubic metres, second only to Iran's 33.8 trillion. (Reporting by Olesya Astakhova, Katya Golubkova and Timothy Heritage; additional reporting by Charlie Zhu in Beijing; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Elizabeth Piper and Mark Trevelyan

No different compared to what West is getting now be it Exxon or BP or TOTAL.

Though so far the same was informally denied to Chinese or India or other Asian countries , Now China gets the same facility and India too for eg Sankhlin Ofshore facility.

Makes Sense as India and China are the two countries who energy demand is going to grow till 2040 as per EIA projection and BRICS Energy initivative is being done check Economic Dhaga for EIA Data

[member_28756]

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/new- ... 21747.html

New China defence hike set to overshadow India's budget

Ananth Krishnan Beijing, March 2, 2015 | UPDATED 12:19 IST

China is this week set to unveil a new hike in defence spending that is set to dwarf the increase announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Saturday's budget.

China is likely to continue with the trend of the past few years by announcing a double-digit hike in defence spending on Thursday, which could take China's military spending past $ 140 billion - more than three and a half times India's amount.

Jaitley announced that defence spending will rise to Rs. 2.47 lakh crore (around $ 40 billion) in 2015-16.

16x9 This marked a less than expected 10.8 per cent rise from the revised estimates for last year's spending, which amounted to Rs. 2.22 lakh crore, and only a 7.4 per cent rise from last year's stated allocation.

China, by contrast, hiked its defence spending by 12.2 per cent last year, taking its budget to around $132 billion.

India's modest hike surprised some defence analysts, especially considering the massive modernisation plan that the Modi government has pledged to undertake.

China's new defence budget is expected to be unveiled on Thursday on the first day of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), or Parliament, when Premier Li Keqiang delivers the government work report.

China has announced double-digit increases in recent years, with last year's 12.2 per cent hike the highest in three years. China had hiked spending by 10.7 per cent the previous year.

India's modest hike means the asymmetry in defence spending across the Himalayas is set to widen even further.

While China's budget is already three times larger, experts say Beijing has the added advantage of relying on a sizeable indigenous defence manufacturing base, which India lacks.

Considering the often blurred lines between China's vast domestic aerospace manufacturing sector and its defence production requirements, analysts who study Chinese military accounting say the actual budget is likely far higher than stated.

With India's continued reliance on imports, India has, in recent years, also had to grapple with the added problem of its depreciating currency which has offset recent budget hikes - for instance, India's defence budget last year actually fell, in dollar terms.

[member_28756]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-fi ... zQA6AHwFAx

New Report Finds China's Space Plans Threaten U.S. Military Ability



(Bloomberg) -- China is developing space technologies aimed at blocking U.S. military communications and destroying its ability to win conflicts, according to a report commissioned by a panel created by the U.S. Congress.

“China’s improving space capabilities have negative-sum consequences for U.S. military security,” the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation said in the report. Its progress requires “the U.S. to prepare to confront an adversary possessing space and counter-space technologies.”


The report, released Monday in Washington, comes as Congress debates President Barack Obama’s request for a Defense Department budget increase of 7.7 percent to $534.3 billion and ways to align defense strategy and spending. The top U.S. intelligence official and the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command both warned last week that China’s space program threatens U.S. military communications.

The program is part of President Xi Jinping’s “China Dream” strategy of strengthening national power and reshaping the Asia-Pacific political environment into one in which its interests are given greater attention.


“China’s goal is to become a space power on par with the United States and to foster a space industry that is the equal of those in the United States, Europe, and Russia,” according to the report, which was prepared for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“With improved military capabilities, and the potential for growth in the commercial aerospace industry, China’s development” of space technologies will allow it to “more effectively wield international power,” the commission said in a press release on Monday.

More from Bloomberg.com: Treasuries Fall as Consumer Spending Increases Rate Speculation

Space-Based Information

Chinese military analysts consider that space-based information will become a deciding issue in future wars, that space will be a dominant battlefield, and that in order to achieve victory on Earth, one must first seize the initiative in space, the institute said.

“This will require China to achieve space supremacy, defined as the ability to freely use space and to deny the use of space to adversaries,” according to the report, titled “China Dream, Space Dream: China’s Progress in Space Technologies and Implications for the United States.”

The assessment that space is the dominant battlefield has led the People’s Liberation Army to conclude that war in space is inevitable, the institute said in the report led by Kevin Pollpeter, deputy director of the Study of Innovation and Technology in China at the IGCC.

Increasing Threat

James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that the threat to U.S. space systems and services will increase this year as potential adversaries pursue disruptive and destructive counter-space capabilities.

“Chinese and Russian military leaders understand the unique information advantages afforded by space systems and services and are developing capabilities to deny access in a conflict,” Clapper said. “Chinese military writing highlights the need to interfere with, damage and destroy reconnaissance, navigation and communication satellites.”

Clapper’s comments were included in his wide-ranging summary of a “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.”

Admiral Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told a House Armed Services subcommittee last week that China’s space capabilities threaten U.S. strategic satellite systems.

“We’ve seen very disturbing trends in space from particular nation-states like China, as well as Russia, who’ve been public about their counter-space endeavors and ambitions,” he said, referring to their space warfare capabilities.

Anti-Satellite Test

He cited China’s “non-destructive” anti-satellite test in July last year, which the Chinese said was a “land-based anti-missile technology experiment.”

“We’ve seen direct descent, anti-satellite kill vehicles launched just as most recently last summer from China,” he said. It shows “that they are not very transparent in sharing their intent with us.”

If the current trajectory of China’s space program continues, by 2030 China will have a new line of advanced launch vehicles, a robust, space-based command and control network and more capable electronic intelligence communication satellites, the report said.

“Although China is probably truthful when it says that it is not in a space race, such statements mask the true intent of its space program: to become militarily, diplomatically, commercially, and economically as competitive as the United States is in space,” the institute said in the report.

[Austin]

China’s defense spending to grow 10% in 2015

Last year, China’s defense spending was planned at around $130 billion, a 12.2% increase compared with 2013

BEIJING, March 4. /TASS/. China is planning to increase the country’s defense spending by around 10% this year, a spokesperson for China’s top legislature said on Wednesday.

"Such a big country as China needs significant military spending so that people feel secure," Fu Ying said on the eve of the 3rd session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).

The exact figure will be published after the parliamentary session opens on Thursday, she said. The session will last through March 15.

Last year, China’s defense spending was planned at 802.2 billion yuan (around $130 billion), a 12.2% increase compared with 2013. In comparison, the US military budget in 2014 was $575 billion, while the United Kingdom and Japan spent $57 billion and $55 billion on the defense, respectively.

[Austin]

Evidence emerges of possible DF-31 ICBM variant

[Shreeman]

shouldnt these all have been retired?

[tushar_m]

^^^^^^ Actually these are pics of retirement ceremony

[member_22539]

^A brief explanation of what the hell the pic is all about would be of great help. All of us here aren't gurus you know.

[Viv S]

^A brief explanation of what the hell the pic is all about would be of great help. All of us here aren't gurus you know.

Nanchang Q-5. Served in the PAF until replacement by the JF-17 in 2011. Now apparently being retired from the PLAAF.

[shiv]

^A brief explanation of what the hell the pic is all about would be of great help. All of us here aren't gurus you know.

Nanchang Q-5. Served in the PAF until replacement by the JF-17 in 2011. Now apparently being retired from the PLAAF.

Which is the one with the box intakes in the center?

[hnair]

looks like a JH-7

[member_28756]

looks like a JH-7

I don't think the JH-7 will replace Q 5 the two aircraft are very different and served different purpose. JH-7 is more of a strategic strike like a fencer or Tornado and Q-5 is more of close air support. That my two cents worth but not sure if the JF 17 will replace it either. They might go with JL 9 which is much cheaper afterall its only for CAS.

[hnair]

I said it looks like a JH-7, to shiv's post. Not what the chinese do with their maal

[shiv]

looks like a JH-7

Yup! That's what it is. I searched for f-7 knowing that that was a MiG 21 copy - but JH 7 is the one with droopy wings above box intakes like Jaguar

[DavidD]

It's a retirement ceremony for pilots, not for the planes. The planes are there to send them off, as part of the ceremony. The Q5's (the two planes on either side, the middle one is JH-7) are in the process of being retired, though some are still in service. It's true that JH-7's serve a different role, as in the JH-7 is more of a bomb truck for delivery of AGMs while the Q5 is more of a CAS plane, though Q5 units are largely the ones that are replaced by JH-7s. So what's gonna provide CAS for the PLA in the future? I suppose it's the same question the US faces as well seeing as how they're in the process of retiring A-10's. I suppose the answer will be rather similar too; i.e. it'll be a consortium of other platforms such as aircrafts and drones w/ PGMs or helicopters w/ guns and whatnot.

[DavidD]

China’s defense spending to grow 10% in 2015

Last year, China’s defense spending was planned at around $130 billion, a 12.2% increase compared with 2013

BEIJING, March 4. /TASS/. China is planning to increase the country’s defense spending by around 10% this year, a spokesperson for China’s top legislature said on Wednesday.

"Such a big country as China needs significant military spending so that people feel secure," Fu Ying said on the eve of the 3rd session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).

The exact figure will be published after the parliamentary session opens on Thursday, she said. The session will last through March 15.

Last year, China’s defense spending was planned at 802.2 billion yuan (around $130 billion), a 12.2% increase compared with 2013. In comparison, the US military budget in 2014 was $575 billion, while the United Kingdom and Japan spent $57 billion and $55 billion on the defense, respectively.

I think it's a bit disingenuous of western media to repeatedly report GDP growth figures in real terms while reporting defense spending figures in nominal terms. It makes it seem like the defense spending is always growing at a much faster rate than the GDP, even though when you take inflation into consideration (which the real GDP growth figures already do), the defense spending has been almost exactly in line w/ GDP growth, yielding a rather consistent defense spending (including the hidden budget) of ~2% of GDP.

[VinodTK]

China defends island building in South China sea, says not seeking new world order

:
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China has already undertaken reclamation work on six other reefs it occupies in the Spratlys, expanding land mass five-fold, aerial surveillance photos show. Images seen by Reuters last year appeared to show an airstrip and sea ports.
:
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[brar_w]

China now No. 3 defense importer

The Chinese mainland was the world's third-largest defense importer in 2014, according to a report by global consultancy IHS.
The Chinese mainland surpassed the Taiwan region and United Arab Emirates last year, moving from fifth place, ranking only behind Saudi Arabia and India. Russia is currently the largest defense exporter to the Chinese mainland.
The Chinese mainland "continues to require military aerospace assistance from Russia, and its total defense procurement budget will continue to rise very quickly," said Paul Burton, director of defense industry and budgets at IHS Aerospace, Defense and Security, in a statement Sunday.
China is closing a deal to purchase SU-35 fighter jets from Russia, and pilots have arrived in Russia for training, the Global Times newspaper quoted Russian media as saying. China is also negotiating with Russia to purchase Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system, said the newspaper.
During a conference last November between the two countries' senior military officials, more agreements on military cooperation were reached, according to Xinhua.
"To tell the truth, there is still a gap between China's armed forces (and foreign counterparts) in terms of overall military equipment," said Fu Ying, spokesperson of China's National People's Congress.
China's defense budget will reach $141.65 billion in 2015, a 10.1 percent increase from last year, but the rate is the slowest in five years.
However, Craig Caffrey, senior defense budget analystwith IHS, in a March 4 report, said the current lower rate of inflation in China puts real growth "around 9 percent, in line with recent years".
"Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacks," said Fu. "That is a lesson we have learned from history."
Seven of the top 10 defense importers are within the Asia-Pacific region. The six others are: India (second), Taiwan province, Australia, Republic of Korea, Indonesia (fifth to eighth) and Pakistan (10th).
Among those, India was the world's largest defense importer and the largest defense market for US exports in 2012 and 2013, until it was replaced by Saudi Arabia last year. The IHS report also projects that South Korea will become a "regional leader" in terms of defense imports.
"I am not sure what level of defense purchase constitutes an arms race," said June Teufel Dreyer, professor of political science at the University of Miami. "However, a number of countries in the region have increased their arms purchases in recent years."
China's defense budget is lower than that of the US, Russia and the United Kingdom as a percentage of GDP. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2 percent of China's GDP went into military spending in 2013, the latest data available. The number for the US was 3.8 percent; Russia was 4.1 percent; and the UK was 2.3 percent.
Part of China's military budget increase was to improve wages and the welfare of the country's 2.3 million military personnel.
The IHS report also said China was the world's eighth-largest defense exporter in 2014. The world's five largest military exporters are the US, Russia, France, the UK and Germany.
In 2014, global defense trade increased for the sixth straight year to $64.4 billion, up from $56.8 billion..

[Austin]

China working on second carrier

[member_23370]

They need to, the first one is a dud.

[DavidD]

China working on second carrier

That model is probably inaccurate, I'd expect the 2nd carrier to have a significantly smaller island.

[Sid]

China working on second carrier

That model is probably inaccurate, I'd expect the 2nd carrier to have a significantly smaller island.

Can you enlighten us how you possess this information? You seems pretty confident about its inaccuracy.

[DavidD]

Can you enlighten us how you possess this information? You seems pretty confident about its inaccuracy.

Hah, not nearly as confident as I sounded, I suppose, it's just my own speculation. I suppose they could just as well shrink the island from the 3rd carrier onward. Jinshuai is usually a pretty good model-maker, and we know the 2nd carrier is under construction, so it's not unlikely that they would've seen the basic exterior designs.

[member_28756]

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... e-led-bank

US anger at Britain joining Chinese-led investment bank AIIB

In a rare public breach in the special relationship, the White House signalled its unease at Britain’s decision to become a founder member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) by raising concerns about whether the new body would meet the standards of the World Bank.

The $50bn (£33.5bn) bank, which is designed to provide infrastructure funds to the Asia-Pacific region, is viewed with great suspicion by Washington officials, who see it as a rival to the World Bank. They believe Beijing will use the bank to extend its soft power in the region

The US administration made clear in no uncertain terms its displeasure about Osborne’s decision to join the AIIB. A US official told the Financial Times: “We are wary about a trend toward constant accommodation of China, which is not the best way to engage a rising power.”

[VinodTK]

Myanmar warplane kills four in China's Yunnan province: Xinhua

Four Chinese people were killed in southwestern Yunnan province Friday by a bomb dropped from a Myanmar warplane, state media reported, days after Beijing warned of escalating violence across the border.

The official news agency Xinhua said the bomb hit a sugarcane field in Lincang city, killing the four workers and injuring nine others.

It came after China's foreign ministry said earlier this week that a house in Yunnan had been hit by shelling from across the border in Myanmar, where the military are fighting rebel forces.

Beijing has previously warned of a threat to border stability after the dramatic upsurge in ethnic conflict in the remote Kokang region in Myanmar's northeastern Shan state.

Last month, Myanmar declared a state of emergency in Kokang in response to the conflict, which began on February 9.

The unrest has virtually emptied the main Kokang town of Laukkai, the epicentre of the fighting, with streets in the once-bustling frontier community transformed into a battleground.

More than 30,000 people have fled from Myanmar into Yunnan province, according to Xinhua.

Early Saturday morning, the agency reported that Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin had summoned Myanmar ambassador Thit Linn Ohn on Friday night to protest the deaths.

Liu urged Myanmar to "thoroughly investigate" the case and "take immediate and effective measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents," said Xinhua.

He called on the Myanmar authorities to "safeguard the security and stability in the border areas between China and Myanmar," the agency added.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday that two days previously "some shells fell on Chinese territory, damaging a civilian home".

China sends fighter jets to Myanmar border after bomb kills four

[arun]

More X Posted on the above story from the “Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)” thread.

The People’s Republic of China bullying Myanmar.

The Kokang ethnic group that resides in Myanmar is a Han Chinese Mandarin speaking ethnic group and Myanmar has accused P.R.China of supporting the Kokang splittists.

India should provide help to Myanmar to mitigate bullying by the People's Republic of China:

Myanmar-China Border Conflict: Officials Call On Beijing To Stop Facilitating Rebel Groups

Looks like the Burman people of Myanmar have got fed up with the inaction of the People’s Republic of China regards their Han ethnic cousins, the Kokang, who are creating trouble in Myanmar.

India must give full diplomatic and moral support to Myanmar to withstand P.R.Chinese bullying, demand restraint from P.R.China and a reduction in bellicose rhetoric while pushing for talks between the two countries:

Chinese General Warns Myanmar Over Bombing ……………………..

“The top echelons in the Myanmar military must strictly control and restrain their forces, and there can be absolutely no repeat of such incidents,” General Fan told the commander in chief of Myanmar’s military, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in a telephone call, Xinhua said. “Otherwise, the Chinese military will take resolute and decisive measures to protect Chinese people’s lives and property.”

New York Times

[Ankit Desai]

More X Posted on the above story from the “Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)” thread.
.................

Chinese General Warns Myanmar Over Bombing ……………………..

“The top echelons in the Myanmar military must strictly control and restrain their forces, and there can be absolutely no repeat of such incidents,” General Fan told the commander in chief of Myanmar’s military, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in a telephone call, Xinhua said. “Otherwise, the Chinese military will take resolute and decisive measures to protect Chinese people’s lives and property.”

New York Times

Time to kick Chinese out of Coco islands.

-Ankit

[Liu]

http://cnpic.crntt.com/upload/201503/15/103665443.jpg

WS20, the engine for Y20 and other heavy transport/civilian jet, is being tested .

[Bade]

While India is discussing the next big import items, PRC is silently working the technology for a Make in China.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/03/confir ... hinas.html

"I think if we need carriers, the more the better. The key is how much funding do we have," he said.

The reports also cited Ma Weiming (馬偉明), an expert in electrical and electronics engineering, as saying that the new carrier's system to launch aircraft was proceeding smoothly.

He stressed that the system was no longer inferior to and might even be more advanced than that used by the United States, whose catapult takeoff service technology is currently the best in the world.

China's CCTV reported last week that the catapult being tested in China to help planes take off quickly is more efficient than the "ski-jump" ramp used to launch aircraft on China's first carrier.

Li Li (李莉), a military expert in China, has said both steam and electromagnetic catapults are used to launch aircraft, with the United States the first country to use the electromagnetic launch system.

[brar_w]

Images suggest upgrades to China's early series J-11s

Images have emerged on Chinese military web forums suggesting sensor upgrades to Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) J-11A combat aircraft, with reports noting that two regiments have received these modifications so far.

Upgraded J-11As appear to have four new missile approach warning systems (MAWS), two just aft the cockpit facing forward and two pointing aft on the vertical stabilisers. Similar systems have previously been fitted to the H-6M and H-6K strategic bombers.
Chinese reports also indicate that cockpit displays have been upgraded and that an upgraded fire control system allows the fighter to use Russian Vympel R-77 or Chinese Luoyang PL-10 medium-range air-to-air missiles. Available imagery cannot confirm these upgrades.
There is little to indicate that the J-11A's radar has also been upgraded. However, China's development of new active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the Chengdu J-10B and J-20 fighters indicates that radar upgrades are possible for older SAC J-11s.
A potential radar upgrade may also see the inclusion of new helmet mounted display (HMD) systems, mirroring a modification path undertaken by several Western fourth-generation fighters.

SAC's J-11A fighters stem from its initial 1998 contract with Russia's Sukhoi Aircraft Corporation to co-produce 200 Su-27SK fighters from kits made at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO).
Initial co-produced units proved inadequate to the point of requiring Russian-assisted rebuilding, and Sukhoi officials later told IHS Jane's that SAC's production finish for J-11As exceeded that of Sukhoi's Su-27s.
However, in a move that damaged Sino-Russian military technology relations, SAC built only 104 kit-based J-11As before hijacking the design to make nearly entirely Chinese-produced J-11B and twin-seat J-11BS fighters, J-15 and J-15BS naval fighters, and twin-seat J-16 strike fighters.
In April 2014 an Asian government source told IHS Jane's that China had 230 J-11A/B fighters in 2014 and this was expected to increase to 390 by 2020, along with another 100 J-16 strike fighters.

COMMENT

A major upgrade programme for an older fighter is rare for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), which historically has spread incremental upgrades among a larger number of fighter sub-variants.
However, it is possible that the higher cost of fourth generation fighters has prompted the PLAAF to consider such for the J-11A, and possibly for older J-10A/BS fighters.
Should the J-11A undergo further upgrades to include a new AESA radar and HMD, it will be better able to exploit new aircraft weapons, such as the new thrust-vectored PL-10 AAM and the anticipated longer-range versions of the PL-12 AAM. It would also likely gain a better multirole capability via an ability to employ new precision-guided and long-range attack weapons.

[Liu]

While India is discussing the next big import items, PRC is silently working the technology for a Make in China.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/03/confir ... hinas.html

"I think if we need carriers, the more the better. The key is how much funding do we have," he said.

The reports also cited Ma Weiming (馬偉明), an expert in electrical and electronics engineering, as saying that the new carrier's system to launch aircraft was proceeding smoothly.

He stressed that the system was no longer inferior to and might even be more advanced than that used by the United States, whose catapult takeoff service technology is currently the best in the world.

China's CCTV reported last week that the catapult being tested in China to help planes take off quickly is more efficient than the "ski-jump" ramp used to launch aircraft on China's first carrier.

Li Li (李莉), a military expert in China, has said both steam and electromagnetic catapults are used to launch aircraft, with the United States the first country to use the electromagnetic launch system.

About 2-3 years ago,professor Ma was rewarded millions of $ for his contribution to electromagnetic catapult program，which was widely reported in China. It is supposed that professor Ma and his team had finished R&D of china-made electromagnetic catapult before he was rewarded. However,because PLA still think eletromagnetic catapult is a not as mature and proven as steam catapult, the next china~made AC is supposed to still adopt steam catapult.

[Hari Seldon]

China overtakes Germany as the world’s third-largest arms exporter

[NRao]

There is potential for further growth, but, unless they change politically they will plateau at some point. There are very few countries China can sell to and most, if not all, are 3rd world, economically challenged, nations - outside of some ME countries I would imagine who would be interested in them.

[member_28756]

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Argen ... a_999.html

Argentina welcomes first Chinese satellite tracking station outside China

Argentina is to become the location of the first Chinese satellite tracking station outside the country the newspaper La Manana De Cordoba reported on Thursday.

The Argentine National Congress has approved the bill ratifying economic and technological cooperation between Argentina and China, including the construction of a Chinese satellite tracking station in Argentina's Neuquen province, part of the Patagonia region.

The two nations will "work together on the development of space technology for peaceful uses and cooperate in the field of space activities for mutual benefit," the bill reads.

The expected Chinese station is the first based on domestic technology to be constructed on the territory of another state. Its key target is to help China expand its space program, including Chinese lunar exploration. Beijing also promised that Argentina would get access to strategic information relating to satellite tracking.

After its first manned space flight in 2003, China has organized regular journeys into space, developing the relevant technologies and international connections. Today, China is working on reusable space transportation systems for the next generation of space travel. To this end, a prototype of the spacecraft "Shenlong" is being tested.

[Liu]

There is potential for further growth, but, unless they change politically they will plateau at some point. There are very few countries China can sell to and most, if not all, are 3rd world, economically challenged, nations - outside of some ME countries I would imagine who would be interested in them.

well, weapons sale is usually a political leverage...so USA's ally or quasi allies can hardly buy CHina-made weapon, even if CHina-made ones have better cost-performance.....Turkey's air-defence missle sales is a good example...


unless CHina is so powerful that most 1rd world or 2rd world countries abandon USA and sides with CHina, their weapon market would not be open to CHina