PLAN Commission of the day: The 24th Type 054A FFG " Xuchang" FFG536

Photos of the day: Fancy formation flying

Not sure who the PLAAF is trying to impress here but they just did a fancy formation flying with five J-20, seven J-11 and a bunch AWACs.  

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Photos of the day: PLAAF 126th Air Brigade's in-service J-20A, serial numbers 78271 and 78274

PLAN launch of the day: The fifth Type 071 YUZHAO Class Amphibious Transport Dock LPD at HDZH

Where is the PLAN?

Currently there are 12 PLAN surface ships dispatching abroad from their home bases (2 DDG, 6 FFG and 4 tankers). 

Chinese naval escort taskforce visits New Zealand
http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2017-06/16/content_7642495.htm

Chinese naval fleet visits Iran
http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2017-06/16/content_7642344.htm

Chinese naval fleet visits Pakistan
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2017-06/11/content_41005515.htm

And of course, Gulf of Aden.  

Monday, January 03, 2011

it's not just a job it's an adventure

Want to join the PLA Navy? To see the world, perhaps fight off a pirate or two around the Gulf of Aden? Be careful what you wish for you might end up defending Fairy Bay (神仙湾) in Xinjiang, the highest PLAN outpost, 5100 meters above sea level (here).

Sr Col 赵兴德 Zhao XingDe, commander of the Naval Boarder Defense Regiment.

Professional PLA article of the day: Waiting in the Wings: PLAAF General Yi Xiaoguang

Another good read from Kenneth Allen and Jana Allen.  This article will surely shed some light on the recent PLA/PLAAF re-org, especially on how they would put together a “strategic air force”. 


To read the article in its entirety, please visit James Town Foundation (here)

Waiting in the Wings: PLAAF General Yi Xiaoguang

By: Kenneth Allen, Jana Allen

June 9, 2017 09:39 AM Age: 1 day
General Yi Xiaoguang (乙晓光) is an experienced pilot and strategic thinker in the Chinese Air Force who is likely to be tapped as its next Commander

Central Military Commission (CMC) Member and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force (PLAAF) Commander, General Ma Xiaotian (马晓天), will reach his mandatory retirement age later this year and will likely retire in conjunction with the 19th Party Congress. While much of the PLA’s promotion process remains opaque, transition of the top PLAAF leadership may be becoming more predictable. Ma’s most likely successor is General Yi Xiaoguang (乙晓光), who currently serves as a Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff (formerly General Staff) Department. If appointed, Yi would become the 12th Commander of the PLAAF since it was created in November 1949. If recent precedent is followed, he would likely also receive a grade promotion from Theater Command Leader to CMC Member and serve concurrently as the Deputy Secretary of the PLAAF’s Party Standing Committee. [1]

A review of his background and career progression in comparison with previous PLAAF commanders strongly suggests that Yi is the most logical successor to Ma. Yi has extensive operational and leadership experience and professional military education. He has rapidly risen in grade and rank since 2001 and since 2014 has held key positions that qualify him to serve at the next higher grade. Since 2012, he has also been an alternate member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 18th Party Congress. Additionally, it has already been established that top PLAAF leadership are expected to represent the service to foreign counterparts. [2] Yi is well prepared to fill this role. He is a strategic thinker who has published on a range of technology-related issues, and in contrast with most of his peers, he has broad experience representing the PLAAF overseas as well as hosting foreign military delegations in China. While his career has followed a similar trajectory to other top PLAAF leaders, Yi is representative of the generational and educational change that is occurring within the PLAAF and being pushed to help build a “strategic air force”.

General Yi Xiaoguang (乙晓光) is an experienced pilot and strategic thinker in the Chinese Air Force who is likely to be tapped as its next Commander

The customer is Sudan, by the way

China's FTC-2000 aircraft export-version rolls off production line

GUIYANG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The export version of the China-developed light versatile FTC-2000 aircraft rolled off the production line of the state-owned aircraft developer in Anshun in southwest China's Guizhou Province Monday.

With its desert-camouflage paint appearance, the FTC-2000 was developed by the Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
As one of the first batch of its model in the global-military trade market, it will be delivered to overseas clients after necessary procedures and tests, according to AVIC.

The FTC-2000, also named Mountain Eagle, or Shanying in Chinese, is a supersonic advanced fighter trainer. The single-engine light versatile aircraft is a new generation of advanced-fighter trainer designed for advanced training and lead-in fighter training for modern fighters. It is also capable of performing combat missions.

The supersonic aircraft has a mach number of 1.5, and a maximum service ceiling of 16,000 meters.
"It can be used for senior training, elementary combat training and tactical countermeasure training for fighter pilots. And it also has the ability to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground combat," according to Hu Jianxing, deputy manager and chief designer with the AVIC Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation.

"It completed the 'Stall and Spin Flight Test' within two seconds at the research stage. The FTC-2000 has high safety characteristics," said Hu, adding the model was highly efficient and reliable.
The FTC-2000 maiden flight was on December 13, 2003. And the model has made two public aerobatic flight displays, at the 2006 and 2016 China Airshow in Zhuhai.
In China, the FTC-2000 is the the main advanced trainer used by the PLA Air Force and the PLA Navy.

"The domestic version and export version have the same flying platform. And both are installed with China's home-developed WP-13 turbojet engine, which has been tested for high performance," Hu said. "The export version will be installed with various avionics systems, navigation guidance systems or external stores tailored for overseas client's demand for multiple missions."

Meet China's latest 50 km/hour amphibious wheeled AFV prototype

This latest North China Institute of Vehicle Research prototype achieved 50km/hour during a calm water speed test.. If verified, it will place it at the forefront of the high speed amphibious expeditionary fighting vehicle race. 

The prototype weights in 5.5 tons. Its four wheels can retrace to the chassis at 70 degrees thus reducing resistance during a high speed sprint .  This retracing mechanism is controlled via a digital stabilizer integrated into the suspension.  Since this is still a prototype/POC, the light armor on its chassis is not unexpected.

What's unknown at this point are its range (land and sea), cruise speed, development status and buoyancy

Monday, June 27, 2016

PR photo of the day: ZTD05 Amphibious Assault Gun on AAAV Chassis in Ramming Speed

But who cares, those "million-man swim" PR photos are the real gem here!

Saturday, June 11, 2016

14th Amphibious Armored Brigade, 31st Group Army, East Theater Command

The 14th conducted a brigade size, live fire, amphibious assault drill last week.  No big deal, that is what they do.  Besides, according to United States Army war College's 2015 study "The Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2025"  (link here)

"Strategic sealift beyond Taiwan is quite limited. China has never possessed a robust capability to transport and land troops under combat  conditions"  (page 217)

Global Security also chimed in on the sealift question  (link here)

First among these limitations is the capability to transport and sustain more than one division of ground troops and equipment by sea or air, according to the US DOD report to Congress on China's military [down from three four decades earlier]. The PLA Navy’s total amphibious lift capacity was estimated in 2009 to be one infantry division of approximately 10,000 troops and equipment at one time.

Or as Patrick Tyler correctly pointed out in his NYT article (link here)

If China has learned anything in decades of conflict with Taiwan, it is that an all-out invasion of Taiwan is well beyond its capabilities. The joke commonly heard among Western military experts is that a Chinese assault on Taiwan would have to be called ''the million man swim.'' 

To perform this historic "million man swim"  the PLA could call up their two Marine Brigades, two Amphibious Mech Infantry Divisions (the 1st of the 1st Group Army, and the 124th of the 42nd Group Army) and every unit of the 1st, 12th, 31st, 41st and 42nd Group Army of the East Theater Command.  No worries, they will be dressed up but with no boat to go.

Click on the vid below to see the amphibious assault drill

Newspaper scan of the day: Mobile Landing Platform + Zubr

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

China just launched its 98,000t DWT Mobile Landing Platform (MLP).

COSCOL’s 98,000t DWT newbuilding semi-submersible vessel “Guang Hua Kou” was successfully launched on April 28th at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI). The “Guang Hua Kou” will be one of the largest vessels of its type when delivered end of this year.

Expert: Chinese Navy needs bigger semi-submersible ships for open sea operations

Source: China Military OnlineEditor: Yao Jianing

2016-03-28 17:400

BEIJING, March 28 (ChinaMil) – China needs semi-submersible ships with greater tonnage in the future as the country constantly updates its naval equipment, according to Cao Weidong, a military expert, in an interview with CCTV’s Asia Today.

The USNS Montford Point, the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) of the United States, acted as a mobile offshore port and performed all the material transfer tasks at sea during the Exercise Ssang Yong 16 concluded on March 18, a biennial military exercise focused on strengthening the amphibious landing capabilities of the U.S. and its allies.

Cao Weidong said in the interview that China has similar equipment known as semi-submersible ship, but its tonnage is much smaller than that of the USNS Montford Point.

Cao said that as China constantly updates its naval equipment, semi-submersible ships with greater tonnage are needed in the future.

The Exercise Ssang Yong 16 was held from March 7 to 18, 2016. Yonhap News Agency reported that the U.S. sent more than 9,200 marines and 3,000 sailors in the exercise while the ROK sent more than 5,000 marines and sailors. In addition, Australia and New Zealand also sent army soldiers to the exercise.

In the exercise, the U.S. first dispatched a large cargo ship loaded with supplies and logistics equipment to the designated sea area, and then the USNS Montford Point approached the cargo ship and connected to the cargo ship with ropes.

Part of the deck of the USNS Montford Point can be wrapped into the water and therefore large air-cushioned landing craft can directly reach the deck of the ship. Then supplies were lifted from the cargo ship to air-cushioned landing craft and finally transported ashore.

Throughout the entire process, it can be concluded that with the help of the USNS Montford Point, the U.S. military will no longer need ports when transporting heavy equipment and logistics materials from the sea to the front as the whole transportation work can be completed at sea. That is, the MLP acts as a mobile offshore port or base at sea.

The U.S. military officials said that the U.S. military logistics support can only last 15 days after the landing of its Marines in the past but now the mobile port provides logistics support for the troops on land at any time.

U.S. media disclosed that the U.S. had been brewing the strategic vision of sea bases at least for one decade, but didn’t find the right equipment. The construction of the USNS Montford Point started in 2012 and the ship was delivered to the U.S. military in 2013.

Its full load displacement is 78,000 tons and the range exceeds 9,000 sea miles. The U.S. Navy is scheduled to purchase at least two such ships.

Logistics and equipment support are essential for a force that conducts operations at open sea. It is undoubtedly a piece of good news if this supply does not rely on ports.

In fact, the Chinese Navy has similar equipment. The semi-submersible ship Donghaidao officially joined the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy on July 10, 2015. This is China’s first semi-submersible ship.

According to the website of the Chinese Navy, Donghaidao is a new semi-submersible ship developed and manufactured independently by China. The ship is 175.5 meters in length and 32.4 meters in width. Its full load displacement exceeds 20,000 tons.

The ship looks similar to the USNS Montford Point and the U.S. has paid great attention to Donghaidao. The U.S. Navy Institute published an article on the official website, saying the Donghaidao ship will significantly improve the amphibious combat capability of the Chinese Navy.

Cao Weidong said that China has its own semi-submersible ship and it looks similar to the USNS Montford Point because they have to perform similar task, the logistics support.

He said that China’s semi-submersible ship can transport logistical supplies and conduct tasks such as maintenance for combat ships and submarines.

Though China’s semi-submersible ship is essentially a logistical support base, its usage is different compared with that of the United States.

First, China will not send its semi-submersible ship to territories of other countries. Instead, China’s semi-submersible ship is for the maintenance and logistics support for its own ships during open sea tasks.

Second, the tonnage of China’s semi-submersible ship is much smaller than the USNS Montford Point, in accordance with China’s naval defense needs and the overall capacity.

Cao concluded that China needs semi-submersible ships with greater tonnage in the future as the country constantly updates its naval equipment.

The author is Huang Zijuan, reporter from the People’s Daily Online. The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of the China Military Online website.

Saturday, July 04, 2015

Photos of the day: On board PLAN's Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) 868

Since PLAN's Yuzhao class LPD is not large enough to house Zubr LCAC,  it makes sense for the PLAN to utilize the MLP to launch those "European bison".