USNI News – According to Toshi Yoshihara, China surpassed every American security planners’ expectations in its successful building and deploying of the world’s largest maritime fleet in just 20 years. The question now is what Beijing’s military and paramilitary forces will look like in the future.

The Hill – James Holmes writes that the Pentagon’s latest annual report on Chinese military power serves a reminder that the world has embarked on a second nuclear age, following the first one that began at Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago.

War on the Rocks – Chinese operational behavior in the waters around the small group of islands under Japanese administrative control known as Senkaku, and claimed by Beijing under the name Diaoyu, has entered a new, dangerous phase. In an unprecedented move, Chinese coast guard cutters in early July started to operate inside the islands’ territorial waters in a fashion that would suggest Beijing is there to exercise law-enforcement powers. It appears China no longer seeks to just showcase its “presence” in the waters around the islands. It is now starting to actively challenge Japanese control.

South China Morning Post – As the Chinese navy speeds ahead with completion of the final piece in its modernised warship portfolio, experts say it will be years before the Type 075 amphibious helicopter landing craft is operating at full capacity.

Global Times – A latest variation of China’s KJ-500 airborne early warning and control system (AWACS), equipped with a probe that can allow the plane to receive aerial refueling and greatly extend its range and endurance, was recently spotted at a naval aviation regiment base under the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command.

South China Morning Post – The Chinese navy has launched unprecedented double aircraft carrier missions as it seeks to improve combat readiness, and amid worsening tensions between Beijing and Washington.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that reports on the missile tests indicated that the DF-26 launch came out of Qinghai, deep in the backcountry of northwestern China. This is significant. It puts Washington and the region on notice that the PLA can target hostile shipping with rocket forces that are virtually invulnerable to counterattack. And, while important, that’s just for starters. 

South China Morning Post – When China flexed its military muscle in the South China Sea on Wednesday, it put the PLA’s most advanced land-based anti-ship ballistic missile to the test: the “aircraft-carrier killer”.The DF-26B was fired into the northern area of the disputed waterway from Qinghai province in China’s northwest, a source close to the military said, in a move seen as a warning to the United States.

Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Wednesday launched multiple anti-ship ballistic missiles into the South China Sea in a military exercise, overseas media reported. The missile launches, if true, demonstrated the PLA’s ability to hit maritime targets with powerful ballistic missiles from multiple directions in coordinated, saturated attacks against which there is no defense.

Global Times – China reportedly launched its eighth Type 055 and 25th Type 052D destroyers on Sunday, only two days after the decommissioning of two Type 051 destroyers attached to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, which marked the retirement of China’s all first generation of indigenous destroyers. 

Global Times – China’s first aircraft carrier-based, fixed-wing early warning aircraft, reportedly called the KJ-600, successfully made its maiden flight in late August. This type of plane will become far-reaching eyes and significantly boost the comprehensive combat capability of Chinese aircraft carriers, which currently only have helicopters for early warning purposes.