Capitalism with Chinese characteristics of the day: Hawking cheap ATGM (AFT-11E/Red Arrow 11E/GTS9)

 The war in Ukraine offers many military lessons to the world, one of them being that using hard to produce, expensive weapons against, cheap, easy to deploy OpFor in a static war of attrition does not make a lot of economic sense.    Norinco, being a good communist as they are, actually listen to customer demand and the ever change marketing condition now offers.  They are now offering an lower cost variant    of the current in service Anti-tank Guided Missile, called AFT-11E/Red Arrow 11E/GTS9. 

This new missile model being offered to export prioritizes affordability, lightweight design, precision, and resistance to electronic countermeasures (quoting marketing here). Typically, it operates in two modes:  man-portable or vehicle-mounted. It is manned by a two-person crew. The entire weapon system features a launch tube, thermal/daylight sights, a laser designator, and a lightweight tripod for faster deployment time and foot mobility.  

The missile weighs approximately 14–15 kilograms and has a diameter of 140 millimeters; its effective engagement range from 100 to 5,000 meters. Utilizing laser beam-riding guidance for high hit probability. It is equipped with a tandem shaped-charge warhead designed to defeating explosive reactive armor, with a penetration depth of 1,000–1,200 millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA)

 

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Capitalism with Chinese characteristics of the day: Hawking fiber optic FPV

With the widespread deployment of fiber-optic FPV drones in Eastern Ukraine, Chinese entrepreneurs are keen to seize every available business opportunity. While direct drone sales in that region may not be viable, numerous opportunities exist elsewhere.

Descriptions indicate that models ranging from 3KM to 15KM per fiber-optic drum are being offered, including a mothership variant.

 

 

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Capitalism with Chinese characteristics of the day: Missile theme pillows

Chinese Capitalism: Because nothing says sweet dreams like spooning a missile-shaped pillow.

 

Friday, April 18, 2025

Capitalism with Chinese characteristics example of the Day: Warship billboard advertisements

Yesterday, a photo of a fourth batch Type052D DDG under construction at the Dalian Shipyard leaked on the "China Internet" together with a series of billboard advertising pushing Sinopec's "X-power" marketing campaign (link), acting as a great representation of today's Chinese capitalism. 

Here are some considerations for advertising (link) on a modern DDG as borrowed from City Bus (link)

 Why advertise on a bus errr I meant on a PLAN Naval Major Surface Combatant like a Destroyer? 

• The answer here is simple: Exposure. Based on the location of your advertisement, you’re appealing to a fixed audience for a longer period of time than other outdoor advertising media types. If your ads are inside a bus, you have a captive audience in the passengers for the duration of their ride

How to select your route? (now change to PLAN's ocean-going route to maximize the commercial impact)

• There are a few factors that can contribute to how you pick the bus route you’ll use for advertising and relying on the expertise of an outdoor media company like Effortless Outdoor Media is a great way to narrow your choices down. By conducting a needs analysis with each client, we help figure out the goal of your outdoor advertising campaign and then work to locate the right places to advertise. Having a partner in ad placement is crucial because it saves time and money while ensuring a higher level of success with your campaign, however, some additional things to consider when selecting a bus route are:

 

A new Type 054B frigate is now taking shape at Guangzhou’s Huangpu Shipyard.

Some of you will remember the classic era of China‑Navy watching when dedicated enthusiasts would literally camp outside the big shipyards in Dalian, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Guangzhou. Back then, blurry fence‑line photos were prized intel, and some of them ended up on this blog.

As Chinese milblogs and satellite imagery became more accessible, the community gradually shifted from on‑the‑ground snapshots to analyzing high‑resolution overhead imagery instead. 

Still, it’s always refreshing to see a genuine shipyard photo surface again. There’s something about that old‑school, boots‑on‑the‑ground perspective that satellite pictures just can’t replace.

 

Sunday, March 01, 2026

Third Type054B FFG spotted

After the first two Type 054B frigates entered PLAN service in early 2025, many wondered whether production would continue at the same pace. That concern now seems misplaced: a third Type 054B has been spotted under construction at the Pudong Changxingdao shipyard in Shanghai, a clear sign that the class remains firmly in the pipeline as a core “blue‑water” general‑purpose combatant moving forward.

Looking back at the broader Type 054 program, the pattern is familiar. China typically builds an initial pair of ships, conducts a period of intensive evaluation and refinement, and only then moves into full‑rate production for a larger batch. The emerging trajectory of the Type 054B appears to be following that same proven approach.

 

 

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

PLAN commissions first Type054B frigate

PLA Navy commissions first Type 054B frigate
By Global Times Published: Jan 22, 2025 10:12 AM

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202501/1327355.shtml


The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's first Type 054B frigate, the Luohe, is commissioned on Wednesday, given the hull number 545, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

With the hull number 545 and a displacement of about 5,000 tons, the Luohe is a new generation of frigate independently developed and built by China. It has made breakthroughs in vessel stealth technology, combat command systems, and firepower integrated control, among other aspects, significantly enhancing its performance.

The ship possesses strong comprehensive combat capabilities and diversified military mission capabilities, which are of great significance for improving the overall combat effectiveness of naval warship formations. It is an important piece of equipment for the transformation and development of the Chinese navy, according to Xinhua. 

Monday, December 02, 2024

Type054B Dec 2nd 2024 Update

The first Type054B FFG has been assigned a ship penned number  of 545 and the name "Luohe" 漯河舰 built by the Hudong Zhonghua Changxing Shipyard, suggesting it will be organic to the Eastern Theater Fleet

 

 

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Checking into China's navy shipyards Jun 14th

 In Shanghai's Jiangnan-Changxing Shipbuilding Company Limited, a Type54Amod is being fitted out. Type H/JP87A 100mm Naval Gun and an enlarged hanger capable of supporting of Z-20 choppers are noticeable new features of the Type54Amod.

 

Near by are:  076 Sichuan, new batch of Type055 and Type052D DDGs, Type 089 Li Daoyuan Barrack /Nanny ship accompanying the aircraft carrier 003 Fujian.   It is one busy place for sure.

 

 

Saturday, August 03, 2024

A new batch of Type054Amod FFG under construction at Guangzhou

 While a new class of Type054B FFG is undergo sea trials, the PLAN surprised many by ordering a new batch of ten new Type54A FFG with the following medications: A larger hanger to better accommodate the Z-20F anti-submarine reconnaissance helicopter, an improved H/PJ-87A 100mm Main Gun over the previous batch's standard H/PJ-26 76mm, and a new rear mast active phased array low-altitude fast-scanning radar, most likely the Type368 rather than the Type364, found on other late batch Type54As.    

There were five batches of ten Type054A each; once the sixth batch is completed, the total number of Type054A will be 60.

 

Guangzhou Huangpu Shipyard

 

Saturday, August 04, 2012

The commissioning of 056 class covette 586 in Wuhan

How could we have missed this one?

While everyone is focusing on the four Type056 Class corvettes under construction in Guangzhou and Shanghai, a fifth type 056 corvette is now commissioned in Wuhan.  This unexpected development is suggesting that there are three known Chinese shipyards involved with the 056 class corvette project.

Expect a long and serial run of this new class of ship. 

Saturday, May 19, 2012

056 Class Corvette Project Update

According to folks from Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai, the lead boat of the 056 Class Corvette will be launched "within days".  Given Hudong's track record, this should come as no surprise.  

Second boat from Guangzhou HuangPu shipyard is not far behind

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Could this be the first photos of Type 056 light corvette under construction?

We will know soon enough.

MSA 74 to the left, Type 054A number 15 (17th overall) at the right,  Type056 in the middle?

  Guangzhou's Huangpu Shipyard

Photos taken from Shanghai 

Historical photo of the day: DDG 112 in San Diego.

  

On March 21, 1997, the Chinese Navy’s DDG 112 Ship made her first-ever visit to the continental United States. The photo showed the ship's arrival at the U.S. Navy base in San Diego, marking a historic port call on the American West Coast.

 

Good bye DDG‑112 Harbin?

 The PLAN destroyer Harbin (DDG‑112) is widely expected to be decommissioned. Since late 2025, multiple Chinese defense commentators (link) (link) and (link) have suggested that both its name and pennant number will be reassigned to the 12th Type 055 destroyer (link) now under construction at the Dalian Shipyard. Given the pace of the PLAN’s modernization, retiring a 30‑year‑old ship when once state‑of‑the‑art is unsurprising. Its experienced crew can be reassigned to the new vessel once launched, preserving valuable operational expertise.

Harbin is the lead ship of the Type 052 Luhu‑class, the first genuinely modern guided‑missile destroyer design in PLAN service. Commissioned in 1994 and built at Jiangnan Shipyard, it displaces roughly 4,800–5,000 tons, measures 144 meters, and carries YJ‑83 anti‑ship missiles, HQ‑7 SAMs, a 100 mm main gun, Type 730 CIWS, torpedoes, and two Z‑9C helicopters. As one of only two ships in its class, it marked China’s transition from Soviet‑influenced designs to more capable, multirole destroyers.

Throughout its service life, Harbin conducted long‑range patrols, training cruises, multinational exercises, goodwill visits, and early Gulf of Aden escort missions. It played an important role in expanding the PLAN’s blue‑water experience and refining modern naval tactics, though it has seen limited major deployments in recent years.

 

 

 

Monday, August 15, 2016

Photos of the day:24th Chinese naval escort taskforce leaves for mission

 QINGDAO, Aug. 11 (ChinaMil) -- The 24th Chinese naval escort taskforce set sail from Qingdao, a port city in east China's Shandong Province, for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somali coast on Aug. 10, 2016.

The taskforce consists of the guided-missile destroyer Harbin (Hull No. 112), the guided-missile frigate Handan (Hull No. 579) and the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu (Hull No. 960).

The North China Sea Fleet of the Chinese PLA Navy held a seeing-off ceremony for the taskforce at a naval port in Qingdao.

 

 

Monday, February 15, 2010

Latest "gutted" photos of the Type 052 Luhu class DDG 112 Harbin.

Funnel removed, Towed Array shielded, Electronics gone. Clearly, it is more than a standard mid-life refit.