Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

PLAN Type 52 B destroyer Guangzhou ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Boleslav1)  Source- The Diplomat Author- Michael Carl Hass In a recent article in The Washington Quarterly, two well-respected scholars of Chinese military affairs seek to debunk the idea that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been designing its modernization drive and strategic planning around the concept of “counter-intervention,” which refers to the ability to force an outside power to stand off from the Chinese mainland and its immediate periphery during a conflict. Their assessment is based on a meticulous review of Chinese military texts, which the great majority of Western defense analysts will find difficult to dispute and which imbues their work with an air of scholarly authority, even where their judgments stray beyond what is warranted by their careful review of the language involved. The article has made quite a splash, with The Diplomat’s Franz-Stefan Gady going so far as

PLAN Sailors ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady Today, Defense News ran a very interesting piece attacking the often repeated assertion that China will soon be adding one additional fleet to the three existing ones (the North Sea, East Sea, and South Sea Fleets) it currently operates. This new fleet will allegedly be headquartered in Sanya on Hainan Island and project Chinese naval power into the Indian Ocean. One expert noted in 2014: “There have been reports that China is already creating a fourth fleet that would eventually consist of two Carrier Battle Groups based at Hainan Island. This fleet might be placed directly under the Central Military Commission, the highest military decision-making body, making it a powerful instrument of geopolitical signaling.” Yet, Defense News quotes a Ching Chang, former Taiwan naval officer who now is a fellow at Taiwan’s ROC Society for Strategic Studies

United States Tomahawk Missile ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States DOD) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck A number of media outlets have reported in recent days that China has deployed a new missile defense system on many of its ships that has a 90 percent success rate against hypersonic missiles. The same reports also unwittingly highlight that this assertion is false. All the reports appear to originate from a story the Taiwan-based Want China Times carried last month. Citing a report in its “Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily,” which itself cited a story by an unnamed Russian media outlet, Want China Times reported last month that “that China's latest indigenous Type 1130 close-in weapon system can fire 10,000 rounds per minute and destroy 90% of hypersonic missiles traveling at a speed four times the speed of sound.” The Want China Times report has been picked up by numerous news outlets since— either directly or indire

PLAN Type 52 D Destroyer CNS Kunming ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Hiaphong Pioneer) Source- The National Interest Author- Kyle Mizokami Modern China has finally achieved a long-held dream: secure land borders. The Mongols, western colonial empires and the Japanese have all carved out significant portions of the country in the past. Although China could never be truly conquered, such disruptions caused considerable loss of life and property and halted Chinese political and economic progress. China is now free to develop however it wishes. Part of China’s new direction is the creation of a modern, world-class navy. The protection of Chinese interests, which are now global, the support of Chinese territorial claims and the ability, if necessary, to keep the Americans at bay are key goals. To support those goals, China is building everything from new patrol boats to aircraft carriers. With that in mind, here are three of China’s most lethal weapons of war o

Chinese soldiers ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons)  Source- The Defence News  Author- Darshil R. Patel China has witnessed double-digit economic growth for decades and has now becomes the world's second largest economy. It possesses a sophisticated military that's among the best in the world. Inspite of China bordering a number of small unstable countries, its borders are fully secure. China in the past has suffered many invasions and has been humiliated by foreign aggressors at many occasions. This is probably one of the reasons why China's defense spending has increased tenfold in the past 25 years. China has a long and extensive coastline and Beijing is leaving no stone unturned to build a powerful blue-water navy by developing stealth destroyers and frigates and a large fleet of nuclear submarines. The west especially the United States is alarmed at the pace at which China is modernising its military along with an aggressive foreign policy. A few policy m

J-31 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The Diplomat Author- Robert Farley Who’s  going to buy  the J-31? The recent appearance of the aircraft at the Zhuhai airshow, as well as the comments of a smattering of Chinese officials,  led to a spate of articles  suggesting that China was interested in the J-31 primarily  as an export model . Conceivably, the J-31 could occupy a low-end stealth fighter niche that currently has no other entrants. Some have billed the J-31 as China’s answer to the F-35, as if that represented some sort of compliment. It’s hardly a stretch to suggest Pakistan would be a  major customer, and perhaps Egypt  as well.  Beyond that?  The United States can offer the F-35 to a wide range of European and Asian countries, all of which have strong economies, big defense budgets, an appetite for high tech, and an interest in cementing the long-term technological and political relationship with the United States. Beijing doesn’t have the kind o

Ex Varyag ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author) Source- The Diplomat Author- James R. Homes Reports of Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning’s death — or debilitating wounds — are greatly exaggerated. The flattop suffered some sort of steam leak that prompted her crew to stop at sea and conduct repairs before resuming operations. The news comes from Robert Beckhusen of War Is Boring, who relays a Sina.com story that Liaoning suffered a “steam explosion” following “a leak in ‘the machine oven compartment to the water pipes.’” Beckhusen denies that PLA Navy leaders will decommission the flattop because of mechanical problems. (By raising the possibility, though, he seems to imply they might.) He does speculate that the accident will force the navy to relegate her to training duty. Would an engineering casualty represent a setback unseen in the annals of naval history? Hardly. All sea services have been there, done that, and will likely find themselves there again.

Type-52 C Destroyer of PLAN ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Took Ranch) Sources- The Want China Times The PLA's Type 052D guided missile destroyer, the most advanced class of China's destroyers, is capable of carrying supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles with capabilities similar to the Russian-built C-Club-N missile, according to the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review. The Type 052D has various disadvantages caused by the DN/DA80 gas-turbine introduced from Ukraine, however, which limits the speed of the hefty destroyer. The turbine is used in Russia and India to power merchant vessels rather than warships because it is a gas guzzler. Without proper support from Ukraine, China is unable to carry out maintenance and overhaul operations for the turbine. Like the Chinese fighters which still rely on the engines imported from Russia, PLA Navy warships need turbines from Russia and Ukraine but the conflict in the region has cut off access to Ukrainian personne

Image credits-Wikimedia Commons/ United States Department of Defence Chinese leader Xi Jinping was humiliated during his just-completed meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, turning the long-awaited summit into a “fiasco,” according to one observer. Sino-Indian relations, which were supposed to be propelled to new heights last week, now look troubled, at least in the short term. In mid-September, Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control, the demarcation of the disputed China-India border, in the Chumar section of eastern Ladakh, high in the Himalayas. Reinforcements brought their number up to battalion strength, about 1,000 soldiers, according to reports. Although the Sino-Indian boundary there is ill defined, it was clear China’s commanders intended to create a provocation as they advanced several kilometers on the Indian side of the temporary line. Last Wednesday, while meeting Modi in Ahmedabad, Xi said he had ordered his forces to return to the Chinese

J-20 ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author- Baiweiflight) Over the past month, China has showed how its approach to its own rising superpower status applies to its defense policy. The results aren't exactly reassuring. Outside of its borders, China has forged a wide-ranging policy of outreach and investment in Africa. China claims the offshore extractive resources, and even the offshore territories, of nearly all of its immediate geographical neighbors in the South China Sea (see  this Business Insider graphic  for more). The country holds substantial American debt, and commands an enormous trade surplus with the world's largest economy - a label that it hopes to seize from a wheezing U.S. In the military realm, China's ambitions have a tendency to manifest themselves through weapons technologies that skirt the boundaries of international legality. Over the past month, it's been proven to be working on two such capabilities. This is an asymmetrical ta