This week’s visit by People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to the Russian port of Novorossiysk comes amid reports Russia is considering a purchase of PLAN Type 054A frigates. Unthinkable just ten years ago, it’s a reminder of how far China’s domestic arms industry has come since the West imposed an arms embargo. Read More
Chinese soldier near the Johnson South Reef. Xinhua Photo
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the U.S. is advising all sides of ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea against militarizing the region during a Wednesday press briefing in Tokyo with his Japanese counterpart. Read More
An illustration of China’s contested Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) from state run media. Xinhua Photo
China is building airstrips on islands less than 200 miles from the contested Japanese Senkaku Islands, according to a report in Kyodo News. Read More
An undated photo of the Shenyang-J-31
The Chinese Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter will use Russian-built engines when it enters production. The prototype was known use Klimov RD-93 engines, which were derived from the Soviet-era Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum’s RD-33 afterburning turbofans. Many observers had expected the new Chinese fifth-generation fighter to eventually sport domestically developed engines. Read More
People’s Liberation Army Navy officers with a U.S. officer on a Chinese warship in Hawaii, June 28, 2014. PLA Daily Photo
This post has been amended to include an additional comment from U.S. 3rd Fleet.
Ships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) have already been invited back for future Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday. Read More
Members of a special battle force stand on China’s missile destroyer Haikou at a naval port in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, June 9, 2014. Xinhua Photo
A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has called on the Navy and the Pentagon to have more open discussion about Chinese military capability and not grant, “Beijing a veto over what we can and cannot say.” Read More
A Japanese F-15J allegedly buzzing a Chinese Tu-154 on Wednesday.
China has asked Japan to stop “provocative actions and words,” following a Wednesday encounter over the East China Sea when a Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF) Mitsubishi F-15J allegedly buzzed a Chinese Tupolev Tu-154 (NATO reporting name: Careless) over the East China Sea. Read More
The Pentagon released its 2014 report to Congress, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China on Thursday. An annual requirement since 2010, the report outlines military technology advancements and the techniques and training the branches of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have undertaken in the last year. Read More
People’s Liberation Army special forces in June 2013. Xinhua Photo
The following is the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2014. The report was released on June 5, 2014. Read More
