War Zone – The ability to launch their ballistic missiles from the South China Sea or Bohai Sea would be a huge capability increase for China’s SSBN force.

Office of the Secretary of Defense – Annual Report to Congress.

The Aviationist – We interviewed Chinese military aviation expert Andreas Rupprecht to learn more about the progress of the PLAN Naval Aviation.

Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has long provided indications it will use civilian shipping in direct support of a cross-strait invasion of Taiwan. To date, however, there has been little effort to gauge the PLA’s actual ability to leverage China’s commercial fleet in the most challenging part of any such campaign—operations over-the-shore. Drawing from ship tracking data, satellite imagery, media reporting, and the writings of PLA experts, this report analyzes recent military-civil fusion exercises and training to assess current capabilities.

1945 – James Holmes writes that history has proved, time and again, that CCP commitments to lofty principles are perishable. The leadership honors them as long as it needs them, and discards them when it doesn’t.

Defense News – A semi-permanent marriage between Russia’s military design genius and China’s industrial production acumen on large projects may be the most concerning legacy of the AUKUS deal.

The Aviationist – China has flown the carrier variant of its FC-31 stealth fighter, possibly dubbed J-35 (and bearing some resemblance to the F-35C).

War Zone – The Haixun 09, which displaces more than 10,000 tons, is remarkably ornate for a patrol ship and has some puzzling features.

Centre for New American Security – A new report, which examines what might happen were China to seize outlying Taiwanese islands, whose results are based upon a wargame.

Naval News – Facing aircraft carriers from the U.S. Navy, Royal Navy, Indian Navy and Japanese, China is looking for a counter. The Chinese Navy (PLAN) has developed a unique ‘Carrier Killer’ weapon for its H-6 strategic bomber.

Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently held an integrated military-civilian cross-sea troop maneuvering exercise using a large civilian ferry with a displacement of 45,000 tons, much larger than similar vessels used in previous practices. The move aimed to enhance the troops’ transport efficiency in future battlefields.

International Business Times – In a bid to boost its maritime interest in the Indo-Pacific, China has been sending survey ships into the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of its neighbors.

CIMSEC – Understanding the direction towards which Chinese gray zone activities may evolve could give early warning about China’s likely next steps. Suitable responses could then be considered and implemented in a measured manner, without the time pressures induced by a sudden, unexpected crisis.

Reuters – What weeks of mass air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone say about China’s airpower.

1945 – James Holmes writes that there is no cause for panic. Let’s think strategically, allocate resources, and reply to the China challenge.

USNI News – A combination of 10 Russian Navy and Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ships sailed from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru Strait between Japanese home islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, Joint Staff of the Japan Self Defense Force said in a press statement.

Wavell Room – First considered by the US in the 1990s, China is reported to be evaluating potential arsenal ship concepts.

Global Times – With China’s advanced Type 055, a 10,000 ton-class large destroyer, for the first time joining an exercise with a foreign navy, China and Russia on Thursday kicked off a joint naval drill in the Sea of Japan, in a move that Chinese experts said not only displays the two sides’ high level of strategic mutual trust, but also will enhance their capability to jointly deal with maritime security threats and safeguard regional peace and stability, at a time when Western countries are building antagonistic regional security organizations like the Quad and AUKUS.

ChinaMilitary – China has preliminarily possessed the capability of full-time training of carrier-borne fighter pilots.

Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – Since 2017, the People’s Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC) has undergone significant expansion, growing from two brigades to eight. The major impetus behind these efforts is a desire to build the service arm into an expeditionary force capable of operating in most environments at short notice. However, PLANMC reform has also bolstered its ability to contribute to major campaigns along China’s periphery, including a Taiwan invasion scenario. This report examines the PLANMC’s role in a cross-strait amphibious campaign and analyzes how new additions to the force could be used against Taiwan.

USNI News – In front of scenic cliffs and an ornamental European-style windmill is a secret People’s Liberation Army Navy pier. Here, at a former tourist resort on China’s northern coast, is where the PLAN is developing some of its most secretive, and previously unreported, naval programs.

Clingendael Spectator – The odds of war between China and Taiwan seem to be growing by the day. In this first part of a trilogy on the China-Taiwan conflict, James Holmes (US Naval War College) examines the military options of both countries. Although “Beijing craves a short, sharp, decisive war should it decide to launch an assault”, Holmes argues that Taiwan can deny President Xi Jinping his short war, and manage to prosper amid turbulent times.

ChinaMil – In order to enhance the rescue capability on the battlefield, the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark recently conducted a comprehensive maritime rescue exercise for seven consecutive days and nights in the East China Sea. 

China Daily – The 39th fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy set out from the city of Qingdao, in East China’s Shandong Province, on Sunday to conduct an escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.

USNI News – Warships designs are increasingly taking their radar signature into account. Sharp angles that deflect radar waves and coatings that absorb radar energy have been standard features of warship designs for most new warships over the last 20 years. An extreme example is the class of the Chinese Navy’s (PLAN) Type-022 missile boat. Its lines are angled and sloped to deflect incoming radar waves, like a stealth fighter. Everything is carefully angled and even the window frames have saw-tooth edges, according to published photos of the class…However, when viewed from space using a radar-equipped satellite, they show up very well.