Short of War, China Now Controls South China Sea

Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships and fighter jets take part in a military display in the South China Sea, April 12, 2018. Photo: Reuters/Stringer

 

Tensions in the South China Sea are on the boil again amid new reports that China has deployed advanced missiles to land features in the disputed maritime area.

According to new reports, China has installed several Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) and Anti-Cruise Ballistic Missiles (ACBMs) systems across the Paracel and Spratly island chains, parts of which are claimed by multiple regional states including the Philippines and Vietnam.

Weeks earlier, China also deployed electronic jamming equipment to the maritime area, giving it the ability to disrupt the command-and-control communications of rival states’ military assets operating in the South China Sea.

China ‘crosses threshold’ with missiles at South China Sea outposts

PLA soldiers march near a sign on the Spratly Islands. China lays claim to almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which about US$5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. Photo: Reuters

 

Anti-ship missiles reportedly allow China to strike vessels within a 295 nautical mile radius of man-made islands

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The news comes less than a month after The Wall Street Journal reported that “military jamming equipment” had been installed on the Spratly Islands, one of the locations also identified in the report this week.

Report: U.S. aircraft carriers’ ‘unchallenged primacy may be coming to a close’

A report published Monday by the Center for a New American Security, a D.C.-based think tank that focuses on national security, claims that the Navy’s carrier operations are at an inflection point. Faced with growing threats abroad, the United States can either “operate its carriers at ever-increasing ranges … or assume high levels of risk in both blood and treasure.”

China Puts Advanced Missiles on Disputed Southeast Asian Island

President Obama defended U.S. naval and aircraft operations near disputed South China Sea islands claimed by China on Tuesday as new intelligence revealed Beijing recently placed advanced air defense missiles in the Paracels.

“Freedom of navigation must be upheld,” Obama said, adding “the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, and we will support the right of all countries to do the same.”

Thirty countries building BALLISTIC missiles capable of carrying NUCLEAR bomb, warns Nato

The military alliance’s latest review of security threats, released today, highlights the “proliferation of ballistic missiles” as a “threat to Allied populations, territory and forces”.

General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, author of the report, said: “Over 30 countries around the world have, or are acquiring, ballistic missile technology that could eventually be used to carry not just conventional warheads, but also weapons of mass destruction.”

China Tests its Largest Airship

This concept art shows China’s 18,000 cubic meter Yuanmeng airship 20km above the ground (and for some reason, off the coast of the Mid Atlantic U.S.). One of the highest flying airships, the Yuanmeng can provide wide area surveillance and communications capability.

 

On October 13, 2015, China started the 24 hour test flight of its largest airship yet in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. The Yuanmeng has a volume of 18,000 cubic meters, length of 75 meters and 22 meters height. It will fly to 20,000 meters to test its control systems and near space flight performance. With solar panels installed on its top, the Yuanmeng will be one of the largest solar powered airships in existence, using solar power to drive its rotors will save additional weight in order to increase payload. Solar power also gives it a total flight endurance of six months. The Yuanmeng’s 5-7 ton payload of data relays, datalinks, cameras and other sensors would also be powered by the sun.

China sets up more listening stations against Taiwan: report

China’s army has set up at least three new large aerial listening stations in coastal Fujian province to monitor radio signals from Taiwan, according to a report by Canada-based monthly Kanwa Information Center.

The magazine’s latest issue reported that the People’s Liberation Army has been increasing its snooping stations in the province, the closest to Taiwan, over the past five years.

S-400 can wipe out Taiwan’s air defense: Defense News

In his recent article written for the Defense News, Wendell Minnick, an American military analyst, said on Dec. 6 that the People’s Liberation Army’s new S-400 purchased from Russia has the ability to completely wipe out Taiwan’s air defense.

Reports from Russia indicated that China signed a US$3 billion contract to purchase enough S-400 surface-to-air missiles to equip its six air defense battalions based near its major eastern cities. Those missiles will be scattered along the coast facing Taiwan and Japan. With a range of 400 km, the missile can cover the entire air space of Taiwan, according to Vasiliy Kashin from the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies based in Moscow.

Russia tests surface-to-air missiles in military exercises: RIA

 

(Reuters) – Russia on Tuesday tested surface-to-air missiles during army exercises in the southern Russian province of Astrakhan, a defense ministry spokesman was quoted as saying, in a move to show its military might as fighting rages in neighboring Ukraine.

Russian Surface-to-Air Missiles Flow To Middle East

The Middle East is rich with all sorts of Russian-made anti-aircraft systems. Most of them were delivered to the Arab countries opposing Israel and, in the time of the Soviet Union, to other clients on a political pretext.

The flow of modern anti-aircraft systems to the area continues, although in lesser quantities. Russia is often viewed as a preferable supplier for that sort of weaponry due to the long story of success of its anti-aircraft systems. It has been estimated that anti-aircraft missiles made in the Soviet Union and now Russia have seen more launches than such weapons made in all other countries combined.

Russia’s ‘carrier-killer’ Moskva enters Mediterranean

 

Russia’s Moskva missile cruiser, dubbed a “carrier-killer” by NATO, has passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and is now heading toward the eastern Mediterranean to assume command of the Russian naval force there.

The Russian Navy said in a statement that the Moskva cruiser passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on September 10.

Interfax news agency added that the Moskva cruiser, “commanded by Sergey Tronev, Captain 1st Rank of the Guards… has enough room for maneuver now.”

“The Black Sea flagship entered the Russian Navy’s area of responsibility in the Mediterranean at 11:00 pm Moscow time yesterday,” the agency reported a military source as saying.

Report: Syria Moved Missiles Before Israeli Airstrike

American intelligence analysts have concluded that a recent alleged Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in Syria did not succeed in destroying all of the Russian-made anti-ship cruise missiles that were its target, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

American officials who spoke to the newspaper on the matter predicted that further Israeli strikes are likely since some of the missiles hadn’t been destroyed.

South Korea to Purchase Bunker-Buster Missile

South Korea is purchasing bunker-busting long-range missiles from a European company, allowing it to hold at risk nuclear and missile sites in North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday.

According to the report, the ROK’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) approved the purchase of Taurus bunker-busting, air-to-ground missiles for the military’s F-15K fighter jets. The missiles are equipped with GPS-guidance and have a range of 500 km while carrying a 480-kg warhead that can penetrate 6 meters of concrete. Its Circular Error Probable (CEP) is 2-3 meters.

Saudi Arabia wants missiles for Syrian rebels: report

AFP – Saudi Arabia plans to supply the Syrian opposition with anti-aircraft missiles to counter President Bashar al-Assad’s air force, German news weekly Der Spiegel reported Sunday.

The article, citing a classified report received by the German foreign intelligence service and the German government last week, said Riyadh was looking at sending European-made Mistral-class MANPADS, or man-portable air-defence systems.

Germany Is the New America

As Germany’s presence in the Middle East continues to grow, have they emerged as the “new America” over the region?

Give Germany credit. As America unwisely abdicates its leadership role in the Middle East, Berlin is quietly and steadily positioning itself to play a decisive role in the future of this important region. Right now, German foreign policy in the Middle East isn’t controversial, dramatic or eye-catching. Especially not compared to recent events in Egypt, Gaza, Syria and Iran.

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The New America

Germany’s presence there, politically, commercially and militarily, is already more significant than most people realize.