Reclamation by China makes Hughes Reef 200 times former size

Hughes Reef in the Spratly Islands is now 200 times its former size thanks to China’s land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, reports the UK-based Jane’s Defence Weekly.

China may overtake Japan in naval power this year: report

Since Xi Jinping became China’s top leader, there has been a noticeable change in the country’s foreign policy, according to Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

Beijing has implemented a shift in the geopolitical focus of its global strategy, which has seen the relationship with the US and with the European Union displaced as first priority ties for the country. At the same time, China has strengthened its sea power, with many speculating that the power of the PLA Navy is set to overtake that of Japan in 2015.

At the end of November, as the US was scrambling to find a way to contain Russia, a low-profile but important meeting was being held in Beijing — the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs. At the meeting several leaders made key speeches that indicated a change in China’s external geopolitical strategy.

PLA to buy 700 stealth fighters, says Jane’s

The PLA Air Force and Navy Air Force are likely to purchase 700 new stealth fighters, said Edward Hunt, a senior defense consultant at IHS Aerospace, Defense & Security in an article written for the UK-based Jane’s Defence Weekly.

U.S. publishes details of missile base Israel wanted kept secret

If you thought the Obama adminstration was Israel-friendly, you might want to give that a second thought. From the beginning it was fairly obvious the direction the relationship was going.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.

The Obama administration had promised to build Israel a state-of-the-art facility to house a new ballistic-missile defense system, the Arrow 3. As with all Defense Department projects, detailed specifications were made public so that contractors could bid on the $25 million project. The specifications included more than 1,000 pages of details on the facility, ranging from the heating and cooling systems to the thickness of the walls.

“If an enemy of Israel wanted to launch an attack against a facility, this would give him an easy how-to guide. This type of information is closely guarded and its release can jeopardize the entire facility,” said an Israeli military official who commented on the publication of the proposal but declined to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the facility. He declined to say whether plans for the facility have been altered as a result of the disclosure.

China could penetrate US with new huge missile

It might be time to sweep the cobwebs out of that old nuclear bunker at the bottom of the garden after reports in state-run Chinese media confirmed that the People’s Liberation Army is actively developing an intercontinental missile capable of penetrating US defences.

News first emerged of the planned ‘super missile’ from defence industry bible Jane’s Defence Weekly last week, according to South China Morning Post.

It apparently claimed that a Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), had been fired in testing last month by the PLA’s Second Artillery Corps.

This third-generation missile, US military sources told Jane’s, contain multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) – effectively multiple warheads – meaning they would be almost impossible for current US defences to take down.

A report in Global Times, the populist sister title of Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, apparently confirmed such a rocket was in development, quoting local military expert Wei Guoan.

Full article: China could penetrate US with new huge missile (The Register)