– Congressional Research Service – Ronald O’Rourke’s latest analysis of the Chinese Navy.

– War is Boring – China’s first aircraft carrier—the refurbished Ukrainian-built flattop Liaoning—entered testing in 2011. The People’s Liberation Army Navy is building a second carrier itself—a conventionally-powered vessel like Liaoning. A third carrier currently in the planning stage could be bigger than her two predecessors—as big as an American Nimitz-class supercarrier, in fact—plus nuclear-powered, just like U.S. flattops.

– USNI News – While the report seldom contains any earthshattering revelations on China’s military advancement, it does — in very broad strokes — give insight to the developments in China that give the Department of Defense the most concern. The following is a selection of Chinese weapons that were highlighted in the report…

– AP – Chinese ships headed for waters near Hawaii on Tuesday to participate for the first time in RIMPAC, the world’s largest naval exercises – a rare opportunity to build trust with the US and regional rivals including the Philippines and Japan.

– Navy Times – Saturation strikes from Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles could become the biggest threat to Navy carrier strike groups (CSG), according to a paper issued by the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at the National Defense University.

– US Department of Defense – Read the US government’s latest official view on the Chinese Navy.

– The Diplomat – New research suggests China is deploying a fixed ocean-floor acoustic arrays system for anti-submarine warfare.

– USNI News – Can China’s new Type 052D Luyang III destroyers successfully see through the stealth of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter?

– AP – The Philippine government said it released on Thursday military surveillance pictures of Chinese land reclamation on a reef claimed by Manila in the South China Sea that show Beijing violated a regional agreement not to escalate territorial disputes.

– National Interest – The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) numerous, increasingly advanced cruise missiles have attracted far less attention than its ballistic missiles—yet their impact on regional security, deterrence, and potential military operations may be similar in magnitude. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has limited itself severely in both the type and quantity of its own anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs). It is therefore simply amazing that such a formidable set of weapons has generated so little open source analysis; indeed that may be precisely part of its appeal for China. This article attempts to rectify this surprising foreign neglect by surveying PRC cruise missile programs and their implications for broader People’s Liberation Army (PLA) capabilities, especially in a Taiwan scenario—although they can also have significant impact elsewhere on China’s increasingly contested maritime periphery.

– USNI News – Chinese officials are claiming the U.S. is stoking international discord over a disputed drilling operation in an area of the South China Sea in territory claimed by both China and Vietnam, according to a Tuesday statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

– War is Boring – One photo at a time, Beijing’s military-industrial-media complex is slowly showing the world the Chinese navy’s giant future warship, the Type 055.

– Real Clear Defense – China’s carrier plans target US alliances, not the US Navy.

– War is Boring – China has begin installing sensitive hydrophones on the floor of the China Seas in an effort to detect and track submarines belonging to the U.S. and its allies.

– War is Boring – Beijing prepares its fifth missile submarine.

– Reuters – Chinese patrols enforcing disputed new fishing rules in the South China Sea are apprehending foreign boats on a weekly basis.

– War is Boring – In late January, Chinese Internet forums highlighted what appeared to be the latest addition to China’s burgeoning carrier air wing. Although conspicuously watermarked, the photo clearly showed a sub-hunting version of the Changhe Z-8 helicopter.

– Washington Times – The U.S. is leading the largest multinational military exercise in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese media are hailing Beijing’s first-time participation in the annual drill as proof that the communist nation’s “regional military impact” cannot be ignored.

– The Diplomat – A lot of Chinese hardware could challenge US primacy in the Pacific. Carriers are not among them.

– War is Boring – The bad news first. The People’s Republic of China now believes it can successfully prevent the United States from intervening in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or some other military assault by Beijing. Now the good news. China is wrong—and for one major reason. It apparently disregards the decisive power of America’s nuclear-powered submarines.

– USNI News – China is set to deploy submarines sometime this year armed with nuclear tipped missiles capable of striking Alaska or Hawaii, according to a January assessment from the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI).

– Defense News – Experts on China’s Navy are sounding cautionary tones after news surfaced last week that China is reportedly constructing a second aircraft carrier.

– USNI News – China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has designs on a force of four aircraft carriers, according to statements from Chinese officials in Chinese state media that were later deleted.

– Reuters – China will base a 5,000-tonne civilian patrol ship on one of the main islands it controls in the disputed South China Sea and begin regular patrols, a move likely to add fuel to territorial disputes with neighbors.

– Defense Week – China will retake the Diaoyu Islands along with the Ryukyu island chain from Japan in the East China Sea and seize the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea within the next 30 to 40 years, according to an editorial published in July by the Chinese-language Wen Wei Po newspaper. “Six Wars China is Sure to Fight in the Next 50 Years” suggests China fight a war with Vietnam over the South China Sea, place troops on the Spratly Islands and build ports, and intimidate others who “dare to challenge Chinese domination.”