– China Maritime Studies Institute – The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ambitious goals for its power projection capabilities. Aside from preparing for the possibility of using force to resolve Beijing’s territorial claims in East Asia, it is also charged with protecting China’s expanding “overseas interests.” These national objectives require the PLA to be able to project significant combat power beyond China’s borders. To meet these needs, the PLA is building organic logistics support capabilities such as large naval auxiliaries and transport aircraft. But it is also turning to civilian enterprises to supply its transportation needs.

– National Interest – As a new generation of “whiz-kids” takes up the challenge in the post-INF world of confronting Beijing in the Western Pacific, the Chinese are busy assessing possible countermeasures.

– Global Times – China’s latest 10,000 ton-class guided missile destroyer, the Type 055, is capable of launching long-range land-attack cruise missiles.

– Global Times – China’s latest domestically developed comprehensive supply ship conducted its first aircraft carrier battle group supplement mission during a high sea exercise, prompting experts to say that Chinese aircraft carriers are ready to sail farther into deep blue waters.

– Global Times – China’s third aircraft carrier could be launched within the next two years, be combat ready by 2025 and feature an electromagnetic catapult and stealth fighter jets, a professional Chinese military magazine predicted.

– South China Morning Post – The first home-built Chinese carrier will deploy a range of aircraft from J-15 ‘Flying Shark’ fighter planes to anti-submarine ‘Sea Eagle’ helicopters.

– South China Morning Post – Warship is named after the province where it will be based, but it also carries a message aimed at reminding the PLA Navy to learn from past humiliations

– BMPD – Beautiful images and video of the Shandong conducting flight operations. (In Russian)

(Thanks to Alain)

– Global Times – A naval aviation division of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command wrapped up an aerial early warning and reconnaissance training exercise recently, which experts said will boost China’s defense capability in the South China Sea as US warships and aircraft have trespassed frequently into Chinese territorial waters and airspace.

– Congressional Research Service – The following is the Dec. 20, 2019 Congressional Research Service, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress.

– National Interest – Is this a problem for Washington?

– National Interest – This is not Mao’s China, but…

– South China Morning Post – China’s new aircraft carrier is likely to team up with its sister ship to form a dual-carrier battle group to cut off foreign military access to Taiwan during a war, according to a military magazine and defence specialists.

– South China Morning Post – China’s first home-built aircraft carrier, the Shandong, will focus its mission on the disputed South China Sea and having face-to-face encounters with foreign vessels, state media said on Wednesday.

– South China Morning Post – China’s first home-built aircraft carrier was officially commissioned by President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as Beijing flexed its military muscles.

– Forbes – While the U.S. Navy launches a handful of AEGIS destroyers each year, the single image below of a Shanghai shipyard shows nine newly constructed Chinese warships. China’s Navy, known as the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy), is modernizing at an impressive rate. And on a vast scale.

– Global Times – China is mass-producing special mission aircraft, including anti-submarine aircraft, early warning aircraft, surveillance aircraft and electronic warfare aircraft, a genre of warplanes that Chinese experts said on Sunday will help create a full information system that allows the Chinese military to recognize every hostile movement and even sabotage enemy communications.

– South China Morning Post – The Chinese navy is training fighter pilots experienced in carrier-borne operations to command and manage its warships as it seeks to expand its global naval power.

– South China Morning Post – The Chinese navy is moving ahead with plans to build another aircraft carrier, but plans for a fifth have been put on hold for now, according to military insiders.

– Global Times – The Taihu, a military supply ship, conducted a replenishment docking with civilian container ship Fuzhou in an offshore area in mid-November amid the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) exploration of new ways to replenish ships at sea.

– War Zone – Tethered sensor-laden aerostats are a low-cost way for China to expand its situational awareness in the region and to help defend its island outposts.

– National Interest – James Holmes writes that China is rushing ahead with preparations to ensure it would gain the upper hand in any armed conflict over its territorial claims.

– National Interest – James Holmes writes that in a day’s fighting, then, the Imperial Japanese Navy upended the region’s Sinocentric pecking order. In turn, the Sino-Japanese War set in motion a maritime strategic contest—sometimes peaceful, sometimes not—that persists to this day.

– South China Morning Post – The Chinese navy has joined its Russian and South African counterparts in a joint exercise near Cape Town, expanding its reach to the southern tip of Africa for the first time.

– National Interest – China will deploy a force of aerial drones to stalk American submarines in the Western Pacific.