Rentaka - Rentaka Defence Portal

Warplanes: Chinese Engines Travel A Trail Of Tears

16/9/2014

Chinese made WS-10 engines are suppose to replace the Russian AL-31FN engines in powering China's front line fighters. ( Photo: Indian Defence Forum)

By: Strategypage (www.strategypage.com)

China continues to have problems with its locally produced military jet engines. The biggest problems are with the WS-10 series, which was designed and produced in China and the government has been pressuring the aircraft manufacturers to use Chinese made engines like this instead of Russian imports. This has not been working out as the government wants. For example, the new Chinese carrier fighter, the J-15, is supposed to have a more powerful Chinese made engine so that it can carry more weight using the ski jump deck on the new Chinese carrier. The ski jump is a cheaper and less complex take off alternative to the steam catapult. One disadvantage of the ski jump deck is that it cannot launch aircraft as heavy as a catapult can.

Fishing Vessels in China Serve as Proxy Enforcers

18/8/2014

By: Wendell Minnick (www.defensenews.com)

China’s use of swarming tactics with fishing vessels to project and protect Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea appears unstoppable, experts say.

China asked SoKor to cancel Pohang-class corvette donation to PH – report

10/8/2014

South Korean government's decision to donate a 1,200-ton patrol boat and a landing vessel to the Philippines has irked China. (Photo: Globalsecurity.net)

By: Grace Gonzales (www.angmalaya.net)

“China has strongly protested against the [South Korean] government’s decision to donate a 1,200-ton patrol boat and a landing vessel to the Philippines, it emerged Monday,” reported August 5 by The Chosun Ilbo, one of major news providers in South Korea.

China Developing Capability To Kill Satellites, Experts Say

4/8/2014

By: Wendell Minnick (www.defesenews.com)

US defense experts and the US State Department are describing China’s successful July 23 so-called “anti-missile test” as another anti-satellite test (ASAT). It is the third such kinetic strike ASAT launch by China and raises fears the US will be unable to protect its spy, navigation and communications satellites.

China military bases threatened by luxury villas, fake tourists

3/7/2014

By: Ben Blanchard (www.reuters.com)

The security of Chinese military bases is being threatened by illegally built high-rise buildings, and in one case villas built inside a base, and fake tourists seeking access to sensitive sites to spy, state media said on Wednesday.

Only a tiny fraction of the 4,800 local government and military bodies which are supposed to protect such facilities are currently doing their jobs properly, the official China Daily cited senior military officers as saying.

HISTORIC SHIFT AS JAPAN EXPANDS SCOPE OF ITS MILITARY

2/7/2014

JASDF F-4EJ taking off. JSDF although potent, is structured purely for Japan's self defence only. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

By: Agence France Presse (www.afp.com)

Japan, on Tueusday loosened the bonds on its powerful military, proclaiming the right to go into battle in defence of allies, in a highly controversial shift in the nation’s pacifist stance.

After months of political horsetrading and browbeating of opponents, conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his cabinet had formally endorsed a reinterpretation of rules that have banned the use of armed force except in very narrowly-defined circumstances.

June 27th, 2014

26/6/2014

China has published a new map that includes territories claimed. (Photo: China Daily/ ANN)

By: Matikas Santos (inquirer.net)

China has published a new map of the entire country including the islands in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) in order to “better show” its territorial claim over the region.

The government-run Xinhua news agency of China published photos of the map made by Hunan Map Publishing House and said in the caption “Islands in South China Sea share the same scale with mainland and are better shown than traditional maps.”

Why Malaysia, unlike Philippines, keeps quiet on sea row

25/6/2014

By: Camille Diola (www.philstar.com)

Malaysia also has overlapping claims with China on several coastal territories in the South China Sea, but it has a "broad consensus" with the Asian power.

This is what the Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed in its statement to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, answering queries on why Malaysia has been downplaying the sea row when its Southeast Asian neighbors like the Philippines and Vietnam have been outspoken against China's show of force in the maritime region.

China Threat: Air-Sea Battle vs. Offshore Control?

23/6/2014

Looking to China: A sailor stands watch aboard the US cruiser Shiloh as it sails in the South China Sea. (MCSN Abby Rader/ / US Navy)

By WENDELL MINNICK (http://www.defensenews.com)

TAIPEI — There are doubts in Washington that a US president would ever approve the bombing of China. This notion demonstrates that the Pentagon’s Air-Sea Battle operational concept is seriously flawed, said T.X. Hammes, a senior researcher in strategy and future conflict at the department’s National Defense University.

Hammes told Defense News that no president has ever authorized the bombing of China, including during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Yet one of Air-Sea Battle’s basic tenets is aerial bombing of command-and-control hubs, mobile missile launchers, air bases, and port facilities.

Hammes has written about an alternative strategy, Offshore Control, in several articles and papers since 2012. In his latest article, co-authored with Richard Hooker, National Defense University’s director for research and strategic support in the Institute for National Strategic Studies, they argue that Offshore Control offers a less provocative military option.

Japan's military is back — and open for business

2/6/2014

Japan Self-Defense Forces are hardly toothless. Their Kongo classs destroyer have the capability to shoot down ballistic missiles. (Photo: US Navy)

By: Kyle Mizokami (www.theweek.com)

Every two years in Paris, the Eurosatory Defense Trade Show boasts the most advanced weapons systems on the market. Defense contractors from dozens of countries hawk the latest military equipment to delegations from around the world, hoping to seal orders and bring home business.

This year, names such as Mitsubishi, Toshiba, and Kawasaki will make an appearance, markingthe first time ever that Japanese defense contractors will appear at an international arms show. It's yet another example of Japan's swiftly changing attitudes towards issues of war and peace.

Russian Fighters for China Still On Hold

1/6/2014

The 400-kilometer range S-400 will give China effective control of Taiwan’s airspace during a war. (Photo: Military Technology.com)

By: Wendell Minnick (www.defensenews.com)

Russian industry officials are denying media reports that Beijing and Moscow are finalizing a deal on the sale of advanced Russian fighters and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to China.

Widely reported by other media outlets, Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV announced that the head of Sukhoi, Mikhail Pogosyan, confirmed that a deal with China to procure Su-35S fighters and S-400 SAMs was close to concluding.

Boeing, Saab See Surveillance Plane Demand Rising Across Asia

1/6/2014

Saab 2000 MPA is the latest maritime patrol aircraft offering from Saab. (Photo: Saab)

By: Kyunghee Park (www.bloomberg.com)

Boeing Co. (BA), the second-biggest defense contractor in the U.S., and Saab AB (SAABB)expect demand for maritime and aerial surveillance systems to grow in Asia as territorial disputes intensify.

Demand for maritime patrol craft and affiliated equipment in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow steadily for the foreseeable future, Chris Chadwick, head of Boeing’s defense business, said yesterday in Singapore. Boeing and Stockholm, Sweden-based Saab both manufacture aircraft used for maritime patrol and surveillance.

China-Vietnam Sea Spat Heats Up

26/5/2014

By: Wendell Minnick (www.defensenews.com)

Thucydides, the Greek historian who penned the story of the Peloponnesian War, wrote that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

The quote might be an appropriate description of what Vietnam is suffering after the placement of a Chinese mega oil rig off its coast this month.

Philippines Releases Photos Showing China Reef 'Reclamation'

15/5/2014

A photo released by the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs shows the alleged reclamation by China on what is internationally recognized as the Johnson South Reef in the South China Sea, otherwise known as the Mabini Reef by the Philippines and Chigua Reef by China. The Philippines warned on May 14 that China may be building an airstrip on the reef, boosting the superpower's claim to most of the strategic Asian waters. (Department Of Foreign Affairs / AFP)

By: Agence France Presse (www.afp.com)

The Philippines released photographs Thursday to back its claim that China was reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the South China Sea in an apparent effort to build an airstrip.

Artillery Systems 'Boom' in Asia

15/5/2014

By: Gordon Arthur (www.isn.ethz.ch)

Local Production
We shall begin our regional survey by looking at indigenous capabilities. There are currently four countries self-sufficient in artillery system production - China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, and we shall look at their offerings in turn.

As the world's largest armed force, and one that continues to rise at a stunning rate - for the coming year China announced a 12.2% hike in its defence budget to US $132 billion - the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is enamoured with SPH systems. In total, China owns 6,000+ towed artillery pieces and 1,700 SPHs. The PLA has traditionally operated Soviet 122mm, 130mm and 152mm artillery calibres, although its newest SPH is notable for being of 155mm calibre. This signals that China is switching over to 155mm for future designs. The system in question is the 35-tonne PLZ05 (Type 05) from NORINCO, which features an U52 gun. It can fire laser-guided munitions based on the Russian Krasnopol design, with the WS-35 round reputedly having a 1OOkm range.

Also new for the PLA is the 22.5-ton PLZ07 (Type 07) 122mm SPH introduced by NORINCO in 2007. China has also brought the PLL05 120mm mortar howitzer into service, this being based on a WZ551 6x6 chassis; it was first noticed deployed in 2008. China also has systems available for export, primarily through the state-owned firm NORINCO. China has sold PLZ45 155mm SPHs to Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, this type being a forerunner to the PLA's own PLZ05.