– Defense Technology International – U.S. analysts are already suggesting that the new Chinese UAV design — with its 60,000-ft. cruising altitude, 300-mi. radar surveillance range and, possibly, lower radar reflectivity if made from the right composites — could serve as the targeting node for China’s anti-ship ballistic missiles.

– Wall Street Journal – Tensions in the disputed waters of the South China Sea threaten to distract Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a visit to China intended to build on a recent thaw in bilateral military ties.

– BBC – A maritime arms race is under way in the South China Sea. Beijing is rapidly developing a host of military capabilities that will enable it to project power well beyond its own shores.

– Foreign Policy – Not yet.

– Daily Telegraph – China will boost offshore surveillance by adding ships and 6,000 personnel by 2020 in a move likely to raise tensions with South China Sea neighbours staking rival claims to waters thought to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.

– Chinese Navy – China stages military drills in South China Sea – China said Friday that its maritime defense forces recently staged three days and nights of exercises in the South China Sea, a disputed, resource-rich region where tensions are rising.

– BBC – China is to expand its ocean monitoring agency to protect its maritime interests, a senior official has said.

– Aviation Week – Defense analysts and U.S. Navy brass agree—China’s recent successes in developing an anti-ship ballistic missile and a more robust navy have made the powerhouse Asian nation a much greater military force to reckon with.

– Defense Technology International – Beijing is revealing pictures of its indigenously built J-15 Flying Shark design that is intended to populate the decks of its first aircraft carrier.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Aside from a strong national defense, world peace is now part of China’s official military mission. Serving both, its fleet could eventually resemble the U.S. Navy.

– AsiaEye – From late 2009 to late 2010, as attention on East Asia was consumed by high tensions on the Korean Peninsula and at the edges of the East China Sea, China’s powerful military space establishment quietly deployed a record number of spy satellites into lower earth orbit.

– US Naval Institute Proceeding – The United States should closely watch China’s supposed peaceful rise, but especially its increasing aggression and capabilities in the western Pacific.

– The Diplomat – The PLA’s expeditionary capabilities will grow significantly in coming years. What are the greater implications?

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Modern amphibious assault vessels grant China an opportunity to project multimission forces into the littoral and beyond, with real potential to destabilize the region.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – While the powers in Beijing emerge from the “century of humiliation” and focus their gaze on the Indian Ocean, history could inform how China may be weighing its near-term strategic options in South Asia.

– BBC – The US navy says the Chinese navy has been less aggressive in contested waters in the Asia-Pacific region.

– New York Times – The Chinese state news agency has posted photographs of an aircraft carrier under reconstruction that appears to show the warship near completion. Captions with the photos said that the work would end soon and that the carrier was expected to sail later this year.

– Harvard Asia Quarterly – A historical look at Chinese naval aspirations.

– Aerospace America – China’s surging military space program is poised to challenge U.S. aircraft carrier operations in the Pacific, as Chinese military spacecraft already gather significant new radar, electrooptical
imaging, and signal intelligence data globally.

– Associated Press – When China launched threatening war games off Taiwan 15 years ago on the eve of an election on the self-governing island, the U.S. deployed two aircraft carriers, and China quickly backed down. Things don’t seem so one-sided any more.

– Canadian Press – China is taking the unprecedented step of dispatching a navy ship to protect its citizens being evacuated from conflict-ridden Libya — underscoring the navy’s growing capabilities and Beijing’s need to protect its citizens abroad.

– Economist – China’s ocean scientists will soon start exploring a controversial patch of sea.

– Washington Post – China has taken a major step toward commissioning its first aircraft carrier by largely completing the restoration of a derelict ship purchased from Ukraine.

– Defense Technology International – Nice article by Bill Sweetman on how the real purpose of the new Chinese J-20 stealth fighter may be to serve as an anti-access area-denial weapon against the US Navy.

– Associated Press – Liu Huaqing, the father of the modern Chinese navy, has died at age 95.