– Defense News – New details have emerged on the aircraft lineup for the new carrier Liaoning, which analysts say is a “plausible” mix of foreign-designed fighter jets and various helicopters, yet limited due to its lack of other necessary aircraft.

– Weekly Standard – The Obama administration very much wants a diplomatic success somewhere in the world. So when the president orders the head of the U.S. Navy to meet with his Chinese counterpart and find areas of cooperation, it is neither surprising nor inappropriate. But the possibility that the Chinese Navy will gain real insight into how our aircraft carriers operate is worrying our Pacific allies and could compromise our security.

– USNI News – At least two People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilots have died in testing jets slated to operate from the Chinese carrier Liaoning.

– Chinese Navy – China Seeks to Protect South China Sea Submarine Gateway – China’s efforts to protect its submarine gateway to the South China Sea could broaden from standoffs with U.S. military planes to announcing an air defense identification zone, according to two retired army officers.

– The National Interest – Washington and Beijing have found themselves engaged in a “range war” in the western Pacific—a competition over the distances at which their missiles and aircraft can attack targets.

– Washington Post – In the annals of vehicular locomotion, the submarine is the equivalent of the Walkman. It dazzled the masses when it hit, flexing nuclear-tipped missiles that completed the so-called “nuclear triad” of deterrence. But other technologies soon surpassed it in terms of speed and agility. Now, years later, the submarine may be making a comeback — at least theoretically. Researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology in northeast China tell the South China Morning Post that they’re hard at work on a submarine that the newspaper claims could travel the 6,100 miles from “Shanghai to San Francisco in 100 minutes.”

– Aviation Week – According to some who were aboard the CVN 76 USS Ronald Reagan at the time, at first they thought they must be mistaken: the Chinese would not have sent a spy ship to gather intelligence on a maritime exercise in which their country was actually participating…But they did.

– USNI Proceedings – A strategic solution to the troubled waters of the Western Pacific is perimeter defense—but what kind? History offers options.

– US Naval War College Review – This article investigates Mahan’s methodology; applies it to maritime Southeast Asia, examining the sea and its islands, the South China Sea rim, ingress and egress points, the capacity of local sea powers, the underwater dimension, and crucial differences separating the South China Sea from other marginal seas; and urges those who do business in great waters to embrace this instrument for general use.

– USNI Proceedings – Despite Western skepticism, all signs point to a Chinese navy that is skillfully tackling surface-force maintenance challenges.

– War is Boring – ‘Peace Ark’ is Beijing’s goodwill ambassador.

– USNI News – China slipped an uninvited guest into the world’s largest naval exercise.

– US Naval War College Review – China historically has been a continental rather than a maritime power, despite its more than eleven thousand miles of coastline and more than six thousand islands. It has more often viewed the sea as a potential invasion route for foreign aggressors rather than as a medium for achieving national goals, a tendency that has contributed to the weakness of the Chinese maritime tradition. This attitude had changed by the beginning of the twenty-first century. The remarkable growth of China’s economy beginning in the last two decades of the twentieth century, the broadening of Beijing’s global political and economic interests, and resolution of almost all border disputes with its many contiguous neighbors have contributed to increased attention to threats to the vital sea lines of communication (SLOCs) on which China increasingly depends.

– 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.

– Air Force – 10 things Americans need to know about the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

– The Diplomat – Reports suggest China will have an indigenous carrier battle group within three years. Don’t bet on it.

– 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.