Global Times – China and Russia’s third joint naval patrol that allegedly reached international waters near Alaska last week has touched the nerves of US media, which hyped the voyage as “highly provocative,” ignoring the fact that the US constantly sends warships and warplanes to China’s doorsteps for close-in reconnaissance and military exercises under the so-called freedom of navigation.

War Zone – China’s long-awaited new Type 054B frigate is nearing completion and it’s larger and more capable than its predecessor.

Naval News – The lead ship of a new type of frigate for the Chinese Navy (PLAN), informally designated Type 054B, has been launched at Hudong-Zhonghua, Shanghai.

War on the Rocks – If China attacks Taiwan, its ability to move the requisite levels of troops and supplies in a contested environment will be critical in determining its success. This makes logistics interdiction is an important, yet understudied, consideration. The good news for Western military planners is that whether the People’s Liberation Army launches a joint firepower strike campaign, a joint blockade campaign, or joint island landing campaign, its logistics capabilities would likely constitute a major weakness. This, at least, is the conclusion we drew from examining Chinese and Western military doctrine, studying similar historical campaigns, and conducting supply chain simulations.

War Zone – Triton is the westernmost island in the South China Sea’s strategic Paracel archipelago and added militarization of it has big implications.

China Maritime Studies Institute – After nearly 50 years since the first Type 091 SSN was commissioned, China is finally on the verge of producing world-class nuclear-powered submarines. This report argues that the propulsion, quieting, sensors, and weapons capabilities of the Type 095 SSGN could approach Russia’s Improved Akula I class SSN. The Type 095 will likely be equipped with a pump jet propulsor, a freefloating horizontal raft, a hybrid propulsion system, and 12-18 vertical launch system tubes able to accommodate anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles. China’s newest SSBN, the Type 096, will likewise see significant improvements over its predecessor, with the potential to compare favorably to Russia’s Dolgorukiy class SSBN in the areas of propulsion, sensors, and weapons, but more like the Improved Akula I in terms of quieting. If this analysis is correct, the introduction of the Type 095 and Type 096 would have profound implications for U.S. undersea security.

Barents Observer – In cooperation with researchers from Russia and Thailand, Arctic experts from the Chinese Polar Institute are sailing 15,500 nautical miles on an expedition to the top of the world.

USNI News – A team of researchers have identified likely locations of future Chinese naval bases not only in the Indo-Pacific but as far away as the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Breaking Defense – The US may have the most advanced navy in the world — but as Pentagon officials have openly warned, China’s strategy to counter it has been to load up on land-based anti-ship missiles. Below, Albert Palazzo of the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia, warns that the threat will only continue to grow.

USNI News – The material two alleged spies for China provided to their handlers point to a sustained interest from the People’s Liberation Army in amphibious operations as threats to Taiwan grow.

China Aerospace Studies Institute – In early 2023, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began transferring PLA Navy Aviation units to the PLA Air Force. By mid-2023, the PLA transferred the majority of PLAN fighter, bomber, radar, air defense, and airfield units to the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). In total, the PLA transferred at least three fighter brigades, two bomber regiments, three radar brigades, three air defense brigades, and numerous airfield stations.

Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently conducted a cross sea troop transport exercise using a large ferry ship, which could play a vital role in large-scale amphibious landing missions.

Global Times – China has begun to build a dedicated port to support deep sea research in the South China Sea, a move experts said on Sunday will serve many ocean-related activities as well as national defense.

China Maritime Studies Institute – The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has made incremental progress in its mine countermeasures (MCM) program in recent years. The PLAN’s current inventory of about 60 MCM ships and craft includes classes of minehunters and minesweepers mostly commissioned in the past decade as well as unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and remotely operated vehicles with demonstrated explosive neutralization capability. Despite the addition of these advanced MCM platforms and equipment, experts affiliated with the PLAN and China’s mine warfare development laboratory have serious reservations about the PLAN’s current ability to respond to the full range of likely threats posed by naval mines in future contingencies. The PLAN’s MCM forces are currently organized for operations near China’s coastline, but writings by Chinese military and civilian experts contend that to safeguard Beijing’s expanding overseas interests, the PLAN must develop MCM capabilities for operations far beyond the First Island Chain. PLAN and civilian mine warfare experts have proposed various solutions for offsetting perceived shortcomings in the PLAN’s MCM program, including the development of autonomous USVs and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), deployment of modularized MCM mission packages on ships such as destroyers and frigates, and mobilization of civilian assets such as ships and helicopters in support of MCM operations. Although there appears to have been little to no adoption of these proposed solutions to date, the PLAN recognizes MCM as one of its biggest challenges, and one can expect the PLAN to continue making measured progress in its MCM program in the years ahead.

Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s Type 055 10,000 ton-class large destroyers will likely participate in far sea escort missions, experts said on Wednesday, after reports came out confirming that one of the eight powerful warships recently conducted a mock mission for the evacuation of Chinese nationals in a foreign country in conflict.

Breaking Defense – With the fast approach of the Davidson Window, which sets the date for a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan as soon as 2027, much attention has been focused on Beijing’s aircraft carriers and how they could come into play. In the following analysis, Ben Ho of IISS looks at two prevailing theories about how effective the carriers may be in an invasion, before raising a new way of looking at the issue.

Naval News – New imagery confirms that production of the next generation frigate for the Chinese Navy is now underway at both Hudong in Shanghai and Huangpu Wenchong in Guangzhou.

War Zone – The Office of Naval Intelligence is sounding the alarm about the huge gap in U.S. and Chinese shipbuilding capacity and its implications.

Naval News – Production of further Zubr-class amphibious assault hovercraft appears to be underway for the Chinese Navy.

Global Times – China has made significant breakthroughs in the development of unmanned ships, as drone vessels are now not only undergoing testing but also seeing practical deployment, the country’s national broadcaster said in a recent report, with experts saying on Monday that China is in the first tier in unmanned ship technologies.

Ghana Business News – The long-standing relationship between Ghana and China has been strengthened with the visit of the 43rd Chinese Naval Escort Task Group to Tema Port, Ghana.

(Thanks to Alain)

Aljazeera – The arrival of Chinese naval fleet in Nigeria comes amid speculation that the Gulf of Guinea could offer a base for Beijing.

(Thanks to Alain)

1945 – Do all of this, writes James Holmes, and we might blunt the worst excesses of China’s imperial foreign policy—and spoil the Chinese Dream. 

Barents Observer – The icebreaking multifunctional research ship is expected to be delivered in 2025 and will sail both Arctic and Antarctica

Council on Geostrategy – This article, the second of a series on underwater warfare, explores how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is evolving as an underwater power. Specifically, it will identify how the PLAN’s submarine capabilities will affect the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific and how British interests might be challenged as the PLAN becomes more able to assert itself regionally and beyond.