China Significantly Boosts Size of Navy and Air Force, Downsizes Army

An airman of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force operates an aircraft during a drill on the second flight training day of the New Year at Liaodong Peninsula on January 3, in Liaoning province, China. (Getty Images)

 

‘Transformational changes’ in military priorities are enhancing Beijing’s ability to flex its muscles far beyond China’s borders.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (pla) is undergoing “transformational changes” to greatly boost the size of its navy and air force and to downsize its land-based army by nearly half, the nation’s official Xinhua news agency said on January 20.

“This new data is unprecedented in the history of the pla,” the agency wrote. As a result of the changes, it said, “the Army now accounts for less than 50 percent of the total number of pla troops; almost half of our noncombatant units have been made redundant.”

Report Details China’s ‘Informatized’ Military Expansion

Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops practice marching as they arrive at Tiananmen Gate for a military parade on Sept. 3, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Andy Wong/Getty Images)

 

China’s economic advancement is allowing it to develop a powerful, and threatening military force

China’s People Liberation Army (PLA) has expanded significantly under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who demands for the Chinese military to be “accelerating toward informatization.” The annual Department of Defense report regarding China detailed the PLA’s recent developments.

Xi says that now is a “period of strategic opportunity,” while military officials set the objective of winning “informatized local wars.” The word “informatize” is similar to the word “industrialize,” means that all aspects of warfare must be computerized.

Senior Chinese military official urges PLAN to attack US naval vessels in S. China Sea

This article brings us full circle to a quote, also found on our quotes page, from a Chinese official regarding war against America. The phony war over Taiwan is not about Taiwan, but war on America. Taiwan is a pawn.

“The central committee believes, as long as we resolve the United States problem at one blow, our domestic problems will all be readily solved. Therefore, our military battle preparation appears to aim at Taiwan, but in fact is aimed at the United States, and the preparation is far beyond the scope of attacking aircraft carriers or satellites.”

– Chi Haotian, Minster of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission

 

PLAAF Colonel Commandant Dai Xu (Image from Chinese media)

 

The Chinese tabloid Global Times hosted a conference in Beijing, Saturday, Dec. 8 which featured bellicose statements concerning Taiwan and the US

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – At a conference held in Beijing on Saturday, Chinese government and military officials discussed issues in the South China Sea and the current state of relations between the U.S. and China.

China To Unveil Next-Generation Stealth Bomber In 2019

 

Last week, the Global Times confirmed that the Hong-20, China’s newest long-range stealth bomber was ready for imminent trial flights.

Now, it seems Chinese media, as per Defense Blog, has indicated that the stealth bomber will be unveiled during a massive military parade in 2019.

While there is no official statement or confirmation from the Chinese government or military, the unveiling is expected to occurring during a period where JPMorgan expects a full-blown trade war between the US and China. 

China Unveils New ‘Dark Sword’ Drone

(Photo Credit: Chinese Social Media & Pakistan Defense Ministry)

 

This is a substantial leap forward for the People’s Liberation Army in aviation technology.

…

According to a report published over the weekend by the SouthFront website, the Chinese government has been experimenting on a number of designs to increase speed, maneuverability, and stealth. Dark Sword, however, is “qualitatively” different that previous People’s Liberation Army designs:

China ‘nearing mass production’ of J-20 stealth fighter after engine problems ironed out

China’s new J-20 stealth fighter could soon go into mass production as earlier problems with its engine have now been resolved, sources say. Photo: EPA

 

Improved power train will give Chinese jet ability to fly undetected at supersonic speeds, on par with United States’ F-35

A new and improved engine designed to make China’s J-20 stealth fighter a world-class combat jet should be ready for mass production by the end of the year, military sources have said.

The WS-15 engine features cutting-edge single-crystal turbine blades and has been in development for several years, but Chinese technicians have struggled to get it into mass production.

Russia, China Could Soon Outmatch U.S. in Combat Aviation

R-37M / Photo by Reuben F. Johnson

 

New Russian air-to-air missile has advantage in speed and reach

KIEV, Ukraine—Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that a new weapon is very near completion of its test validation trials and will soon be placed into service.

If reports of its operational performance are accurate, it will threaten the survivability of every U.S. combat aircraft currently in service—particularly the newest U.S. fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-35.

Beijing Warns New Stealth Fighters Will Conduct Patrols In Taiwan’s Airspace

 

Beijing has once again hinted that its new J-20 stealth fighter jets will conduct patrols around, or above, Taiwan’s airspace to pressure the island nation to reunify with China.

The warning message recently announced by Wang Mingliang, a Chinese military strategist with the China National Defense University during special programming on China Central Television program about Taiwan.

“J-20s can come and go at will above Taiwan,” said Mingliang, adding that Taiwan was frightened about “precision strikes on the leadership or key targets.”

A war footing emerges in the South China Sea

Navy personnel of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea April 12, 2018. Picture taken April 12, 2018. Photo: Reuters/Stringer

 

China’s recent deployment of nuclear-capable bombers, missiles and jamming devices has drastically shifted the contested area’s strategic calculus

China’s deployment of H-6k bombers to disputed land features in the South China Sea has provoked an uproar across the region and beyond while raising considerably the potential for armed conflict.

China’s bombers are capable of conducting nuclear strikes and have an operational range of more than 1,000 nautical miles. This places practically all other claimant states in the contested maritime area within their crosshairs.

China Unveiling Next-Generation Stealth Bomber

To answer the question at the end of the article, and citing documented proof here, the Chinese are not catching up with the United States. China is now either on par or ahead of the United States in terms of military technology. The only factor not yet in play is deployment.

 

China’s aviation giant, Aviation Industry Corporation, revealed a model jet, believed to be the US B2 stealth bomber-like model “H20”, in a 9-second Easter egg in a video commemorating 60 years of its subsidy Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation. https://t.co/yD5k0Ecc0O pic.twitter.com/kLWJkxSaXh

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) May 9, 2018

 

Earlier this month, the magazine cover for Chinese aerospace magazine Aviation Knowledge highlighted an artist’s rendition of the next-generation strategic stealth bomber Xian H-20, which Beijing is currently developing.

According to The Diplomat, a small number of English-language newspapers in the region have commented on this secret stealth bomber, “speculating whether its presence on the cover of Aviation Knowledge may indicate some subtle official Chinese military backing.” Development of the stealth bomber was officially confirmed in 2016, although limited details have been provided since.

China has Militarized South China Sea

 

Countries Who Have Lost Islands To China Say There Needs To Be Checks Put In Place To Avoid An Unintended Regional War.

According to the South China Morning Post, the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are clamoring for a more formal “code of conduct” in the South China Sea following a spate of aerial “incidents” that had the potential of triggering an unintended regional war.

World War 3: Taiwan ‘ready for war’ with China after quick military response to threats

Chinese jets carried out “island encirclement patrols” around Taiwan

 

TAIWAN is “confident” in its defences and responded quickly to Chinese air force “island encirclement” drills, the self-ruled island’s government said.

On Monday, Chinese jets carried out “island encirclement patrols” around Taiwan, with state media showing pictures of bombers armed with cruise missiles.

Taiwan presidential spokesman Alex Huang said the defence ministry kept a close watch on the patrols and responded immediately and properly.

Chinese air force holds drills in ‘new routes and areas’ near Korean peninsula

The exercise involved aircraft including reconnaissance planes in areas they have “never flown before” over the Yellow and East seas near the Korean peninsula. Photo: PLA

 

Date and exact location of exercise isn’t revealed but announcement said to be aimed at sending a message to Washington and Seoul

China’s air force recently staged drills involving various aircraft through “routes and areas it has never flown before” over the Yellow and East seas near the Korean peninsula.

Air force spokesman Shen Jinke made the announcement at an airport in northern China on Monday – the same day the United States and South Korea began their biggest joint air force exercise, and days after Pyongyang launched its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile to date.

Beijing warplanes resume ‘patrols’ over Taiwan airspace

A Taiwan Air Force fighter AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo intercepts a PLA H-6 bomber above the Taiwan Strait. Photo: Taiwan Defense Ministry.

 

Six Chinese warplanes, including four H-6 strategic bombers, two electronic intelligence jets, one Tu-154MD and the other Y-8, flew past the Miyako Strait between Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa prefecture on November 19, until the Japanese Self-defence Force scrambled jet fighters to monitor and intercept the flyover, Japan’s Ministry of Defence said.

Taiwan authorities confirmed that the Chinese warplanes crossed deep into the island’s airspace – above the waters off Eastern Taiwan – before following the same route back.

China’s Great Leap in space warfare creates huge new threat

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force fighter pilots pose at the Jiuquan space base, in Gansu province. Photo: China Out / AFP

 

China is building an array of high-technology space arms – anti-satellite missiles, lasers, GPS jammers and killer satellites – that Beijing says will give its military strategic advantage in a future conflict with the United States.

The People’s Liberation Army now has the capability of attacking, destroying or disrupting the 500 US satellites circling the earth at heights of between 1,200 miles and 22,000 miles, according to a new study by a US think tank, the National Institute for Public Policy.

The report, on “Foreign Space Capabilities,” also reveals that China’s military has discussed plans for using space detonations of nuclear weapons to create electronics-killing Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attacks against orbiting satellites used by militaries for precision weapons targeting, navigation and communications.