Does China’s deep-sea tech upgrade point to submarine signals network under Pacific?

Analysts say PLA military chiefs might already be using their version of a network of sensors and communications technology deep under the sea to make contact with submarine commanders operating far from home. Photo: AFP

 

China has announced plans to upgrade a civilian network of ­sensors and communications technology deep in the Western Pacific that it says is used in scientific research.

But analysts said the PLA could already be using a military-grade version of the communications technology to contact submarines operating far from base.

Buoys anchored between 400 and 500 metres beneath the surface of the Western Pacific would be upgraded this year, state media quoted scientists involved in the project as saying.

China under-reported defense by 20 percent: Pentagon

China underestimated its growing defense budget by nearly 20 percent with its spending likely nearing $145 billion last year, the Pentagon said Thursday.

In an annual report required by Congress, the Pentagon said that China’s defense budget for 2013 was higher than the officially announced $119.5 billion.

“We think that if you start factoring in other considerations, other funding streams that go into the military, other investments that are not included in the defense budget, that it could be up to $145 billion,” a Pentagon official said of the report.

DF-21D missile could sink US aircraft carrier: report

The People’s Liberation Army Navy’s DF-21D anti-ship missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers and has the capability to sink a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to the Hindu, an English-language Indian newspaper on Mar. 5, citing a recently published report.

China’s Military Buildup Worrisome, Japan’s U.S. Ambassador Says

China’s “spectacularly active” naval posture and “massive” military buildup in Asia are part of a pattern of belligerent behavior toward Japan and other neighbors over maritime disputes, according to Japan’s ambassador to the U.S.

Speaking at a Bloomberg Government breakfast in Washington yesterday, Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae described China’s increasingly frequent forays to lodge territorial claims in the resource-rich East and South China Seas as “harassing” and “provocative.”