Naval News – China’s large fleet of air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines is set to become significantly more lethal. The introduction of the next-generation YJ-19 hypersonic missile dramatically elevates their already serious anti-ship punch. China is currently the only nation known to have armed non-nuclear submarines with hypersonic strike weapons.

Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – At the close of 2024, the first of China’s next-generation Type 076 amphibious assault ships was launched at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai. Named the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Sichuan with hull number 51, this milestone concluded the PLAN’s major combat equipment development for the year.

China’s navy only began to develop and construct modern amphibious assault ships around 2017. While the first generation of Type 075 ships (an initial batch of four vessels) was still being rapidly constructed, work commenced on the second-generation Type 076 in less than six years. This demonstrated the Chinese navy’s urgent need for large-scale amphibious operations equipment and the high priority placed on it. More significantly, compared to the Type 075, the Type 076 represents a qualitative leap in design concepts, technological sophistication, combat capabilities, and mission functionality. It will serve as a crucial component of the Chinese navy’s future long-range strike and deterrence capabilities.

Naval News – Submarine yard Bohai Shipbuilding earlier this week moved the first Chinese Type 09V (or 095) nuclear powered attack submarine (SSN) into the launch bay at the yards facilities in Huludao. Naval News has received a number of detailed satellite photos showing the new design in the flooded drydock.

USNI News – The mainstay of Chinese carrier air wings was seen with a new anti-ship missile potentially capable of striking targets more than 1,000 kilometers away at supersonic speeds.

War on the Rocks – China’s recent actions point toward a theory of success that does not rely on decisive battle or territorial conquest, but on sustained pressure, ambiguity, and delay. Rather than seeking victory through destruction, Beijing appears increasingly focused on achieving political outcomes through paralysis: exhausting decision-making processes, fracturing alliances, and reshaping perceptions of risk and inevitability. This approach does not reject deterrence theory. It exploits its blind spots.

CIMSEC – The ongoing coercion by the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) aims to erode the ROC’s sovereignty by sending a message to the international community that the CCP has both the capability and the will to exert control over the waters near Taiwan, but this activity also threatens the United States’ national security interests.

Breaking Defense – Dean Cheng writes that the Chinese PLA has gone through wide-scale restructuring in recent years, leading to questions as to why and what the effects may be.

The Space Review – In the fall of 2025, China commissioned its first indigenously-designed and built aircraft carrier, Fujian, named after a Chinese province. The commissioning ceremony was photographed from overhead by Western commercial reconnaissance satellites, but of course China proudly released their own photographs of the ceremony. The conventionally powered aircraft carrier is large and impressive. Although not quite as big as the US Navy’s Nimitz-class or Ford-class carriers, Fujian sports modern equipment, such as electromagnetic catapults and arresting gear.

But even as Fujian was formally entering service after an extended period of sea trials, another large carrier was taking shape in China. It too has been photographed by commercial reconnaissance satellites, and Western amateur analysts have been keeping tabs on the progress, trying to assess its size and capabilities. They soon saw indications that this ship, unlike its predecessors, will be nuclear-powered. Satellites are a primary source of information on China’s latest naval developments.

China Maritime Studies Institute – Today, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) owns the world’s largest fleet of blue-water marine scientific research vessels. While their operations are largely concentrated in the Western Pacific, an increasing number are reaching across the globe—from the Indian Ocean to the Arctic, and even the Western Hemisphere. 

Center for Maritime Strategy – While containerized weapons systems have been around for years, it is startling to see pictures of them combined in a way that a small cargo ship can easily be transitioned into a lethal naval vessel.  Such a transition can be temporary, allowing a return to commercial service in what is the ultimate example of a dual use vessel that results in superior overall cost economics.  That China completely outfitted such a vessel in a public area where pictures would emerge indicates a desire for this capability to be seen.

Business Insider – Thousands of Chinese fishing boats sailed into coordinated lines in the East China Sea twice in recent weeks. The vessels could be seen in both shipping data and satellite imagery. The anomalous behavior, experts said, is more likely aligned with activities related to China’s Maritime Militia.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that there is much we still do not know about the DF-27 missile—but it is worth examining the consequences for the US Navy if the Pentagon’s claims are taken at face value.

Asia Martime Transparency Initiative – China’s deployments of buoys in the Yellow Sea add yet another layer to its approach toward managing disputes with South Korea while furthering its own maritime interests. Like many of China’s maritime activities, the buoys accomplish several things simultaneously: they increase China’s monitoring and sensing capabilities in an important maritime area; they assert control over a less sensitive but still disputed portion of overlapping maritime claims; and, importantly in the Yellow Sea context, they test South Korean reactions to inform future deployments. 

Naval News – In this second instalment of this annual Naval News review for the Chinese Navy (PLAN) in 2025 we will cover relevant events for submarines, fleet auxiliaries, infrastructure modernisation and, finally, experimental efforts.

USNI News – Beijing’s newest variant of its J-20 fifth-generation fighter aircraft has the ability to conduct precision strikes on maritime targets, according to Chinese state media.

China Military Online – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s hospital ship Silk Road Ark (Hull 867), which is on the Mission Harmony 2025, recently held open ship day activities at the Port of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The vessel’s advanced medical equipment and distinctive traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments were warmly received by the local residents.

War on the Rocks – Simultaneous disruption and progress, with a relentless Taiwan-focused capability development deadline.

That’s the overriding theme of the 25th edition of the Department of Defense’s China Military Power Report, released on Dec. 23, 2025. Despite extensive leadership purges and ongoing disciplinary investigations across China’s military and defense industry, the 2025 report concludes that China continues to make progress toward General Secretary Xi Jinping’s 2027 “Centennial Military Building Goal” and associated warfighting capabilities against Taiwan.

China Maritime Studies Institute – In July and August 2025, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) employed a unique type of civilian deck cargo ship known as a Landing Craft Tank (LCT) to transport military vehicles directly to shore as part of an amphibious landing exercise. While civilian deck cargo ships of this type have been observed in previous PLA over-the-shore logistics exercises, they had only been used to transport vehicles and equipment from port-to-port—simulating the transport of forces into a captured port—not directly to an unimproved beachhead. If the PLA develops the ability to coordinate and employ significant numbers of civilian LCTs to transport forces directly onto Taiwan beaches, it could significantly improve its over the-shore assault capacities and logistics capabilities.

War on the Rocks – In any war over Taiwan, American commanders will face a problem that barely existed a decade ago: China can hide lethal military systems inside standard commercial shipping containers. These “containerized” missile launchers are modern renditions of an old U.S. Navy concept first marketed in the Russian Club-K and are now reportedly fielded in Chinese variants. They ride on the decks of merchant ships, blend into global commerce, and give Beijing the ability to forward-deploy precision weapons without visibly deploying a single warship.

Covert Shores – Putting weapons onto a merchant vessel is nothing new of course, and the concept of containerized missiles in standard ISO 40ft (12m) is very much in vogue. Iran, Israel, Turkey and Russia are among the countries to have already done this, or at least proposed it. Yet it remains novel and the latest Chinese vessel stands out in several important ways.

Naval News – As the year 2025 has come to its conclusion, Naval News provides the usual annual review on notable developments for the Chinese Navy. This first part will outline relevant additions to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surface fleet and also takes a brief look at operational trends. A second part to follow will look at submarines, auxiliaries and experimental efforts.

The War Zone – China has reconfigured its medium cargo ship-turned improvised warship into a drone carrier, but just how realistic is what we are seeing?

China Daily – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Monday started joint drills involving its Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force troops in five areas surrounding Taiwan Island.

Codenamed “Justice Mission 2025,” the drills were conducted in the Taiwan Strait and waters to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of the island, to combat “Taiwan independence” separatist activities and external interference.

Military experts summarized three key takeaways of the drills.

1945 – Earlier today, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) launched its latest military exercise around Taiwan and nearby areas: “Justice Mission 2025” (正义使命-2025). Combat readiness patrols are already underway, with sea and air exclusion zones designated for live-fire exercises tomorrow. This makes it all the more urgent to consider the most important revelations from the Pentagon’s China Military Power Report, released on December 23, 2025.

The War Zone – The People’s Liberation Army Navy claims the ship-killing missile capable of hypersonic speeds has completed its “finalization test.”