Miscalculation: China Building More Nuclear Subs Than Pentagon Estimated, Report

 

Some of America’s most influential think tanks and the Pentagon have likely underestimated the number of Chinese nuclear submarines under construction, a new report suggests. 

Satellite imagery of the Bohai Shipyard and Longpo Naval Facility taken by Planet Labs shows that “China does not yet have a credible sea-based deterrent,” Catherine Dill of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey told Defense One. Two of China’s four Jin-class submarines “appear to not be in operation and are undergoing maintenance or repairs at the Bohai shipyard, suggesting to us that credibility is still in question.”

China’s Getting Ready to Turn on Asia’s Biggest Warship

By April 2015, about a year after its public debut, the Type 055 cruiser mockup in Wuhan has a new coat of PLAN gray, as well as installation of the ESM mast. Scaffolding on the farside of the bridge module suggests that progress is being made on installing the Type 346 radar.

 

 

A landlocked test rig for the Type 055 Cruiser nears completion

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The Type 055 cruiser test rig made its Internet debut in March 2014 on Chinese websites. With a projected length of 160 to 180 meters, judging from the test rig’s 140 to 150 meter length (which does not include the entire helicopter landing pad nor bow forward of the turret), and a width of about 21 to 23 meters, it would displace about 12,000 to 14,000 tons. That would make the Type 055 cruiser the largest Asian surface warship since World War II’s Japanese Tone class heavy cruisers.

Pentagon considers underwater recharging stations for sub drones

 

The US Navy is aiming within the next 10 years to be able deploy unmanned, underwater pods where robotic mini-subs can recharge undetected and securely upload intelligence to Navy networks. “It’s a 7-Eleven underwater,” for robots, programmer manager Mike Wardlaw, of the Navy’s Forward-Deployed Energy and Communications Outpost (FDECO), told Breaking Defense.

The pods will allow the unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to dock, recharge, upload data and download new orders before shoving off again. FDECO will be designed to overcome the two main limitations on UUVs: power and communications.

PLA Navy will have 415 warships in near future: US expert

Meanwhile, the U.S. will have only a bit over 300 ships by 2020. The balance of power is shifting before our eyes and a new chapter in world history will open up, especially as China strengthens its alliance with Russia to form One Clenched Fist.

 

James Fanell, the former director of the US Pacific Fleet’s intelligence and information, predicted China will eventually have about 415 warships including four aircraft carriers and 100 submarines in the near future while attending a two-day conference held by the US Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute in Newport, Rhode Island last week, reports the Defense News.

‘Peres and Rabin knew Pollard was planted in US armed forces’

Spy’s handler admits for the first time Israeli leaders were aware of his activities, says he doesn’t regret turning Pollard in

The former head of the allegedly rogue clandestine organization that ran Jonathan Pollard confirmed Sunday for the first time that the prime minister and defense minister at the time knew full well that Israel had a spy within the US armed forces.

Rafi Eitan, the head of the Bureau of Scientific Relations in November 1985, told Channel 2’s Uvda investigative news program that he did not want to address the matter of who knew about Pollard because he did not want to make “headlines,” but, when asked whether then-prime minister Shimon Peres and -defense minister Yitzhak Rabin were aware of the spy’s actions, he said, after some deliberation, “Of course.”

Russia Forces US Submarine Out of Boundary Waters

From the state-run (KGB/FSB) propaganda outlet, RIA Novisti:

MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Northern Fleet’s anti-submarine forces have detected and forced out a US submarine from Russian boundary waters, a high-ranking source in Russia’s Navy told RIA Novosti Saturday.

Secret Deal for Mid-East Company to Operate Port Terminal in Florida

 

Sharjah, a UAE Port Operator, has acquired a 35-year concession at Port Canaveral, Florida, pictured above, near one of our naval bases. They will operate a container and multi-purpose cargo terminal. The administration did not conduct a full national security review as a condition of the deal.

Diane Sori has an article on the Dryer Report titled, “Selling off control of America one piece at a time”, about the recent $100 million concession awarded to Gulftainer with more details.

U.S. Navy Warns It Can’t Meet 30-Year Funding Needs

The U.S. Navy can’t meet its funding needs for surface warships and a new class of nuclear attack submarines from 2025 to 2034, according to the service’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan.

The congressionally required blueprint, submitted late last week and obtained by Bloomberg News, says the Navy’s plan “requires funding at an unsustainable level” unless spending on shipbuilding is increased.

PLA makes debut at RIMPAC 2014 with 4 warships

The People’s Liberation Army Navy will send four warships to Hawaii to participate for the first time in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, also known as RIMPAC, held by the United States Navy every two years, according to the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao on Jun. 5.

United States Navy selling its Oliver Hazard Perry FFG class frigates — ‘no reasonable offer refused’

EVER wanted to own your own warship? Now’s your chance to light the fires and kick the … erm, lifesavers. The US Navy has several up for grabs, “no reasonable offer refused”.

The cold-war era guided missile frigates may be difficult to find a mooring for, but one would certainly turn heads.

And the prices are rock bottom, supplier-direct, bargain basement great-big deals. Yes, used warship salesman US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is literally giving them away.

Russia-China alliance could resist US in Asia: expert

As Russia looks to strengthen ties with China, the country can profit from selling weapons while also helping China to resist US influence in the Asia-Pacific region, writes Huanqiu, the website of China’s nationalistic tabloid Global Times, citing a Russian military expert.

The expert, who works for a military institution in Russia and wished to remain anonymous, suggested that Moscow would side with China in a potential conflict with the US. Russia may also look to help China build a powerful naval force with five to six aircraft carriers.

Nuclear reactor sysadmin accused of hacking 220,000 US Navy sailors’ details

A former US Navy sysadmin who worked in an aircraft carrier’s nuclear reactor department has been charged with hacking into government networks using the USN’s own computers.

Prosecutors have alleged that Nicholas Paul Knight, 27, of Chantilly, Virginia, and his co-accused, 20-year-old Daniel Trenton of Salem, Illinois, were leading members of a blackhat group called Team Digi7al.

The Nightmare of a Defenseless America

Ironically, the blizzard of YJ-82X cruise missiles launched from the Chinese subs lying off the coast of Baja California crossed the beach directly over the SEAL training complex on Coronado. America had decided that its special forces were a cheap substitute for the less glamorous hardware and formations that had traditionally been the foundation of American military power. Now, those elite warriors watched helplessly as the missiles roared overhead north toward the two carriers berthed at North Island.

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Only the people lining the downtown San Diego waterfront saw what was happening, though local TV camera crews were filming the carnage live. Their stations tried to upload the footage to the network satellites but they could not connect. The satellites were gone, knocked out by Russian ASAT missiles.

The rest of America was oblivious to the catastrophe in San Diego, and the similar disaster in Norfolk.

Iranian navy chief: We aim to destroy the US Navy

American warships are easy target, brags Ali Fadavi, claiming his forces could sink a US aircraft carrier in less than a minute

The naval commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said Monday that the destruction of the US Navy is a major operational goal of his forces, an Iranian news agency reported. In an unusually aggressive interview, he was said to have declared that Iran’s navy had been conducting drills on how to sink US vessels in any potential combat, that Iran “naturally” wants to sink these vessels, and that it could sink a US aircraft carrier in less than a minute.

Obama’s pivot to Asia will lack firepower

President Obama’s pivot to Asia will lack a crucial military underpinning next year, when for four months, the Navy will not have an aircraft carrier in the region.

Defense cuts have helped shrink the number of available carriers, alarming GOP lawmakers who are fighting the Pentagon’s plan to permanently cut the number of U.S. carriers to 10.

They argue not having a carrier in the region for months at a time will send a signal of U.S. weakness, as China seeks to make territorial claims against several U.S. allies over the South China Sea.