New ZBD04A reconnaissance IFV variant revealed

As part of the press release (here) covering 40th Group Army's trek to the "Stride 2015• Zhurihe A" Red vs Blue confrontational drill, they are head-lining a new  ZBD04A reconnaissance variant vanguarding an armored recon unit ahead of the main body.

Judging by large number of ZBD04A variants currently in service,  the PLA seems to be happy with this design. The original ZDB04... well not so much, only 500 copies were commissioned.

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Zhuhai Surprise: ZBD04A/WZ502G export variant.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Photo of the day: ZBD04A/WZ502G of Chengdu Military Region

According to this PLAdaily article (here) an armored regiment of Chengdu Military Region (MR) is now upgunned with the latest ZBD04A/WZ502G, this marks the fourth China Army MR to be equipped with this latest Norinco IFV.  The first three MRs with ZBD04A/WZ502G equipped units are Beijing, Shanyang and Lanzhou.    The challenge now for this Chengdu MR unit is to adopt ZBD04A/WZ502G properly for operations in the mountainous terrain, over the primitive road network and to trailblazer a new highland war-fighting doctrine for other units to follow. 

Lanzhou MR's ZBD04A/WZ502G on maneuver, photo taken March 2013.

Monday, February 06, 2012

Photo of the day: New tracked IFV with bolted armor

Since not having enough armor protection is one of the loudest complaint against the ZDB04 tracked IFV, it was not popular with overseas customers.   it appears that Norinco took the complaint to heart and address that deficiency with some bolted armor slap on its new family of IFV.

Monday, June 06, 2011

A new Chinese tracked vehicle family emerges

Little is known about this new IFV but thus far it seems to have developed a complete family of variants in various stages of testing or field deployments. Some unconfirmed claims pointing to a heavy Type 89/ZSD89/YW534 mod, but without a closer inspection or an official acknowledgement from Norinco, they are still speculations.

At any rate, the PLA is long over due for a modern tracked vehicle,  this is especially true consider the weak armor protection the old Type89 and 86 families have to offer. 

 Engineering variant

 APC variant from the official Xinhua News

 Command variant

 Recon variant

 

SP 120mm turreted mortar variant

Photo from the PLAdaily

Friday, August 03, 2012

Photo of the day PLZ05A Tracked 120mm Gun-Mortar.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Photo of the day: ZBD08 ATGM carrier variant

Not sure what new ATGM it will carry but rumor has it, it will be the new the "Sino-Spike" we have seen previously.

ZBD 05 amphibious vehicles in Russia

Here comes the PLAN Marine


The "Caspian Derby" individual race, which was one of the events of the Russian International Army Games 2015, kicked off at the Adanak Range in Kaspiysk, Russia on August 3. China's three participating crews ranked the first, fourth, and fifth respectively. Russia's three crews ranked the second, third and seventh respectively, and Kazakhstan's three crews ranked the sixth, eighth and ninth respectively.

Non-headline news of the day: 21st Chinese naval escort taskforce leaves for Gulf of Aden

21st Chinese naval escort taskforce leaves for Gulf of Aden

(Source: China Military Online)   2015-08-05


The guided-missile frigate Sanya sets sail from a naval port in Sanya of the Hainan province on the morning of August 4, 2015.

　　SANYA, August 5 (ChinaMil) -- The 21st Chinese naval escort taskforce departed on Tuesday morning from Sanya, a port city in south China's Hainan province, and headed for the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast. It will replace the 20th escort taskforce to continue the escort mission.

　　Chief of Staff of the PLA Navy Vice Adm. Qiu Yanpeng attended the send-off ceremony at the wharf. He said that since December 26, 2008, the navy has successively dispatched 20 taskforces to fulfill the escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast, fully demonstrating the image of China as a responsible country.

　　The 21st escort taskforce of the PLA navy is composed of three ships from the South China Sea Fleet. They are the guided-missile frigate Liuzhou (hull number 573), the guided-missile frigate Sanya (hull number 574) and the comprehensive supply ship Qianghaihu (hull number 885). The taskforce carries two ship-borne helicopters, dozens of commandos and more than 700 officers and men.

　　It is the maiden escort voyage to the Gulf of Aden for the two frigates while it is the fourth time for the supply ship Qinghaihu to join the escort taskforce.

　　Rear Adm. Yu Manjiang, deputy chief of staff of the South China Sea Fleet, acts as the commanding officer of the taskforce.

Editor:Yao Jianing

Photos of the day: 921 and 922 of the Algerian C28A corvette program

Friday, February 06, 2015

Second Algerian C28A corvette launched by the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Company today

Sunday, September 21, 2014

C28A for the Algerian Navy

This Jiangwei/F22P mod might not be state-of-the-art by today's standards but the design has been provided easy to operate and inexpensive to maintain.  Judging from comments posted on defense sites,  C28A must been a disappointment to many fanboys out there -- it is just  not "as good as the" a Daring class Type45 DDG! 

 pennant number 920

Two new 072A LST under construction.

Back in May 2014, the PLAN transferred all three (927, 928, and 929) of its Type 072-class Landing Ship Tank (LST) to the China Coast Guard. Now, it appears that they have ordered three new similar sized 072A to make good on those lost.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

China Coast Guard's Type 072-class landing ship.

Not sure how many Coast Guards could boost their own amphibious asset but the China Coast Guard certainly does -- it now commands an old Type072 Landing Ship, Tank from the PLAN and calls it  "Tow 25".

Monday, May 25, 2015

PLAN commission of the day: LST 981 Dabieshan

This Yuting III mod is commissioned as the latest member of the 5th Landing Ship Flotilla, East Sea Fleet. It is the second PLAN LST to bear the name "Dabieshan", the first Dabieshan, a Shan class (ex USN LST) currently serving as a museum ship in Shandong. 

It is interesting to note that the PLAN is assigning all three of her 071 LPDs to the 6th Landing Ship Flotilla, South Sea Fleet, while the "Taiwan facing" 5th Landing Ship Flotilla soldiering on with smaller LSTs.  I suppose Taiwan is closer to the Chinese mainland then some of those South China Sea islands.   

Old Shan Class Dabieshan

Monday, March 02, 2015

Time to check in with our friends at Wuhan's Wuchang Shipyard.

First of all,  another Yuting III-class class LST under construction.  Consider the 3 Yukan-class class LSTs already have 30 years of service under their belts,  this new boat could be a Yukan replacement.  Otherwise, one would expect a much bigger hull or a more modern design.

Photos of the day: 200th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, 67th Group Army on the move.

Leading the charge is the Satellite Communications APC, based on the ZBD89 Chassis, an increasingly common sign of today's PLA orbat.

China, Russia plan joint naval drill

China, Russia plan joint naval drill

(Source: Xinhua)   2015-07-30

　　BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia will hold joint naval drills next month, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun announced on Thursday.

　　Yang said the drills, the second such China-Russia exercise this year,will be held from August 20 to 28 in Peter the Great Bay, off the coastal line of the Clerk Cape and in and above the Sea of Japan.

　　They will "aim to improve China and Russia's capacity in coping with maritime security threats," he said. "Navies of the two countries will join forces to simulate anti-submarine combat, air defense and other relevant missions."

　　China and Russia's other drills this year lasted for 11 days in the Mediterranean in May.

Editor:Yao Jianing