– Real Clear Defense – On 19 August 2014 a U.S. Navy (USN) P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft was flying in international airspace above the Chinese exclusive economic zone (EEZ) ~135 miles east of Hainan Island in the South China Sea when a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) armed J-11 fighter intercepted it. In a series of maneuvers that came within 30 feet of the P-8, the J-11 exposed its weapons load out and conducted a barrel roll over the U.S. aircraft, passing within 45 feet of the U.S. aircraft. While the incident ended without a collision or harm to the aircrew, it invoked memories of another that did not end as well—the April 2001 collision between a USN EP-3 and a PLAN J-8 in which the Chinese pilot perished.

– The Diplomat – The most striking revelation of the 2015 ONI report is that the PLAN has apparently already equipped a class of guided missile destroyers with China’s most advanced supersonic anti-ship missile. “[T]he newest class, the LUYANG III destroyer is fitted with the new vertically-launched YJ-18 ASCM,” the report says.

– Office of Naval Intelligence – The ONI’s review of the state of the Chinese Navy.

– DefenseTech – The Chinese Navy is preparing to commission three new, nuclear-powered attack submarines with a vertical launching system able to fire supersonic anti-ship missiles.

– National Interest – Fire from all directions awaits the U.S. Navy in a conflict with Beijing.

– Wall Street Journal – China’s territorial ambitions in the East and South China seas are by now well-documented. Much less understood is one of the key factors in the country’s ability to realize those ambitions: an increasingly well-funded and capable maritime militia.

– USNI News – China’s latest nuclear submarine design appear to include a shelter capable of holding a miniature submarine for special operations forces (SOF) not unlike vehicles used to deliver Navy SEALs to shore from U.S. nuclear attack boats.

– Foxtrot Alpha – China isn’t just expanding its military reach into the South China Sea, it’s rapidly building completely new islands, and as you’d expect, that’s generating plenty of anxiety from the other nations in the neighborhood.

– Aviation Week – The general feeling among many of China’s naval neighbors and in U.S. military circles is that China has been turning into a bit of a bully in (re)staking territorial claims in the seas off its coasts, and there’s been an onslaught recently of material on how to deal with the Asian giant on that front.

– World Politics Review – After years of invitations that Beijing did not accept, coupled with last year’s cancellation of the event due to sequestration, the head of China’s navy, Adm. Wu Shengli, led a nine-officer delegation to this year’s International Seapower Symposium. Participants in the plenary and regional breakout sessions no doubt wondered who exactly Wu is, what mandate he has, what sort of navy he leads, where it is heading and how it will be interacting with the U.S. Navy. This article addresses these timely questions.

– War is Boring – Crunch the numbers on the location and number of PLAN visits and it becomes apparent that a desire for prestige and expertise outpaces the alternative explanations.

– War on the Rocks – The introduction of new weapons and platforms into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has captured the attention of much of the world for well over a decade. However, new equipment is only one element of the PLA’s long-term, multi-dimensional modernization process. There is much to be done and no one understands this better than the Chinese themselves. Based on what PLA commanders and staff officers write in their internal newspapers and journals, the force faces a multitude of challenges in order to close the perceived gaps between its capabilities and those of advanced militaries.

– Washington Times – China carried out a flight test of its new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile last month, highlighting Beijing’s nuclear buildup of missile submarines.

– War is Boring – Beijing is constructing islands—with air bases—in the South China Sea.

– Read the whole report here: Rand – Assessing the Weaknesses of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

Read reviews of it at Breaking Defense, Free Beacon, Defense News and Bloomberg.

– US Naval War College Review – This article explores the soft-power dimension of China’s far-seas anti piracy operations. It addresses the extent to which Gulf of Aden deployments might increase the PLAN’s prospects for cooperation with other navies and also the impact of these missions on the role the navy plays within China’s larger diplo- macy. Finally, it assesses how these deployments might shape future Chinese naval development.

– Jane’s – The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will deploy a range of naval vessels into the Indian Ocean region in the future.

– DefenseTech – China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to a new report.

– USNI News – China has made several additions to its so-called carrier-on-land facility, including a mock-up of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) planned next generation guided missile destroyer.

– National Interest – “Air-Sea Battle” with Chinese Characteristics: a large fleet of land-based aircraft armed with some of the world’s most advanced anti-ship cruise missiles.

– National Interest – Why Tokyo should be concerned over Beijing’s rising military might.

– National Interest – China’s grand strategy in the South China Sea seems pretty clear—change facts in the water.

– National Interest – Russia is back in vogue among Chinese strategists, at least for now.

– USNI News – China is building airstrips on islands less than 200 miles from the contested Japanese Senkaku Islands, according to a report in Kyodo News.

– USNI News – China’s ambiguous claim to the South China Sea, approximately demarcated by a series of hash marks known as the “nine-dashed line,” faced objections from an expanding number of parties over the past two weeks. While a challenge from the United States came from an unsurprising source, actions by Indonesia and Vietnam were unexpected in their tone and timing.