New corvette will boost PLA’s anti-submarine capability

Although China possesses the world’s second-largest submarine fleet, the PLA Navy has had inadequate anti-submarine warfare capability since its establishment in 1949. China has launched advanced surface combat ships in massive numbers in recent years and the PLA Navy has devoted more resources to the development of vessels with the ability to take on enemy subs. The Huangshi, the 20th Type 056 corvette, was designed to meet the demands of the new combat environment.

Is Germany Still in the Race for Australia’s Biggest Arms Deal of the Century?

Angela Merkel is aggressively pushing for Germany to win a contract to build 12 submarines.

Tomorrow’s issue of Der Spiegelfeatures a story on Angela Merkel’s efforts to secure one of the largest arms deals in Germany’s history. The article discusses the, according to a German government source, “outstanding” opportunity for the German arms industry should the German manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) be awarded the contract to build up to twelve new submarines for the Australian Royal Navy.  TKMS’s offer, the 4,000 tons HDW class 216 is a submarine, specifically designed to meet Canberra’s needs, which is looking to replace its aging Collins-class submarine fleet.

Navy should shift warships to West Coast in response to China’s aggressive military buildup, defence analysts say

Canada should get out of is cold war mindset and move the majority of its warships from Halifax to the B.C. coast in response to the Chinese navy’s aggressive military buildup, say defence analysts.

The U.S. government has already announced its plan to put 60 per cent of its naval assets on its west coast by 2020 as part of its plan to make the 21st century “America’s Pacific Century” — a term coined by former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

The Canadian military’s tiny fleet of warships is split up on a 60-40 basis favouring the Atlantic coast, with seven frigates and two destroyers in Halifax compared to five frigates and one destroyer in Esquimalt.

The Submarine Race in the Malaccan Strait

Along with the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf near Iran and Oman, the Strait of Malacca is the world’s most important shipping chokepoint.

Linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, the Malacca Strait is by far the shortest maritime route connecting Persian Gulf energy producers to their largest consumers in countries like China, Japan, and South Korea.

Russian Nuclear Submarine as Omen — Will U.S. Continue to Disarm?

The Yury Dolgoruky is the first of the new Borei (North Wind) class of ballistic submarines replacing earlier Soviet-era subs. Although the United States still has the edge in nuclear submarine numbers and effectiveness, Moscow and its allies are demonstrating the will to challenge the United States, but America seems unaware of this multi-national assertion of new-found strength.

For the United States, the period from initial design to implementation of a new major weapons system can take decades. A new model nuclear submarine, for instance, will take about 20 years from drawing board to acceptance into the active fleet, according to Rick Norris, a former U.S. intelligence analyst with over two decades of experience.

Norris, however, is more alarmed at the small and ageing number of individuals who can design nuclear weapons systems for America’s future needs. Norris informed International News Analysis Today that the shrinking and ageing number of U.S. nuclear weapons designers “is of significant concern to our strategic planners and is a current topic under discussion, if not at the highest levels, at least at intermediate military strategic planning levels.”

It is at the “intermediate military strategic planning” levels where scientific development meets military requirements and realities.

American weapons design is increasingly dependent on foreign scientists working in the U.S., in large part because mathematics, physics, and related sciences are deemphasized in the American educational system, Norris stated.

While Moscow has its problems in design and implementation, governmental commitment at the highest levels is not one of them. But, for many in the U.S. government, and those influencing the mass media – liberal and conservative — Moscow remains a post-Cold War stereotype: a weak nation and an insignificant player on the world scene.

Full article: Russian Nuclear Submarine as Omen — Will U.S. Continue to Disarm? (International News Analysis Today)