De Chinese expansie(drift)

[Elzenga]

Taiwan test 'vliegdekschipdoder'
12/11/12, 11:13  − bron: ANP

Taiwan heeft een test uitgevoerd met een nieuw type raket tegen schepen. De raket heeft al de bijnaam 'vliegdekschipdoder' gekregen. Dat hebben de Taiwanese media maandag bericht.

De raket heeft een bereik van 400 kilometer en heeft een snelheid van drie keer de snelheid van het geluid, aldus de United Daily News. Taiwan had al raketten op zijn fregatten geïnstalleerd die twee keer de snelheid van het geluid kunnen bereiken en een bereik hebben van 130 kilometer. Volgens de krant kan geen enkel schip de inslag van een dergelijke snelle raket weerstaan.

China, dat Taiwan als een afvallige provincie beschouwt, bracht onlangs zijn eerste vliegdekschip, de Liaoning, in de vaart. China wil zijn marine uitbreiden en meer vliegdekschepen om onder meer zijn aanvoerroutes van grondstoffen veilig te stellen.

De relatie tussen China en Taiwan is sinds 2008 sterk verbeterd. Maar Peking beschouwt het eiland sinds het einde van de burgeroorlog in 1949 nog steeds als een afvallige provincie en is nog altijd uit op hereniging. Desnoods met geweld, menen sommige waarnemers.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

U.S. Navy Take Notice: China is Becoming a World-Class Military Shipbuilder

November 01, 2012

By Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson

The engine of China's naval rise has flown under the radar - until now.

China's military shipyards now are surpassing Western European, Japanese, and Korean military shipbuilders in terms of both the types and numbers of ships they can build. If Beijing prioritizes progress, China's military shipbuilding technical capabilities can likely become as good as Russia's are now by 2020 and will near current U.S. shipbuilding technical proficiency levels by 2030. China is now mass producing at least six classes of modern diesel-electric submarines and surface warships, including the new Type 052C "Luyang II" and Type 052D "Luyang III" destroyers now in series production.

Eight key themes, listed sequentially below, characterize China's rise as a world-class military shipbuilder. For reference, the companies building the warships are China State Shipbuilding Corporation ("CSSC") and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation ("CSIC").

1. China's warship buildout thus far supports modernization and replacement, not rapid expansion

Over the past six years, China's overall fleet of frontline combatants has expanded, but slowly, growing from 172 ships in 2005 to an estimated 221 vessels in 2012. However, the fleet has improved substantially in qualitative terms as newer ships and subs replace older ones. For instance, as Type 052 C/D Luyang-series destroyers, Type 054A Jiangkai II-series frigates, and Type 041 Yuan diesel-electric submarines have come into the fleet, they are allowing the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to steadily retire obsolete platforms like Luda destroyers and Ming submarines.

2. Chinese military shipbuilders are catching up to Russian and U.S. Yards

China's large state-backed military shipbuilders are approaching their Russian and U.S. peers in terms of the number of warships built. China's large submarine and surface warship buildout will, in a decade, likely have it become second only to the U.S. in terms of total warships produced since 1990. More importantly, the ramp-up of China's construction of large warships in recent years will mean the PLA Navy will likely be taking delivery of larger numbers of modern surface combatants and submarines annually than the U.S. Navy.

Measured in terms of warships commissioned since 1990, China is now number three globally and is rapidly gaining on Russia, the number two country. Most of Russia's post-1990 military ship deliveries simply reflected yards "finishing up" Soviet-era projects.

Chinese yards, in contrast, have come on strong over the past decade, with a big push in submarine construction that began in 2002-03 and a strong pipeline of surface warship deliveries that continues to gain steam to this very day. Chinese military shipyards—in particular the Changxing Island and Hudong Zhonghua yards near Shanghai—are humming with activity, and over the next 2-3 years, China is likely to commission enough large warships to put it second only to the U.S. in terms of large warships built and delivered since 1990.

3. China's military shipbuilders are using modular mass production techniques

CSSC's Jiangnan Shipyard is using modular construction methods to build Type 052-series destroyers. Modular construction involves building the ship in "blocks." This maximizes a shipyard's productive potential and also provides greater latitude for modifying designs and customizing ships. Modular construction also gives yards the flexibility to either build centers of expertise within the yard or outsource the production of certain components and then import them to the yard for final assembly.

CSSC's Hudong Zhonghua shipyard also appears to be using modular construction techniques for the Type 071 LPD. The yard has now constructed four of the vessels, two of which are in service and two of which are in the trial/outfitting stage. They have also been able to fabricate the Type 071 hulls faster, with a time gap of nearly four years between the first and second vessels, but only 10 months between vessels two and three, and four months between vessels three and four.

4. China's military shipyards appear to be sharing design and production information across company lines

Historically, CSIC built all Chinese submarines, but the current production run of Type 041 Yuan-class advanced diesel electric subs has seen at least two boats being built in CSSC's Jiangnan yard. This suggests submarine construction expertise is growing outside of CSIC. However, there are no indications thus far that CSSC is doing submarine design work, which could mean that Beijing is making the companies and their design institutes share submarine design and construction information. Likewise, the new Type 056 corvette is being built in both CSSC and CSIC shipyards, suggesting that a standardized design and production approach is being shared by both companies.

5. China's military shipbuilders will be able to indigenously build aircraft carriers

China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, which entered service on  September 25th of this year, started as an empty hull and gave CSIC valuable experience in effectively creating an aircraft carrier from the keel up. China has a total of seven shipyards with sufficiently large berths to assemble a carrier hull (three hundred meters or more), and the yards are basically equally dispersed between CSSC and CSIC. These yards are located in Dalian (CSIC), Qingdao (CSIC), Huludao (CSIC), Shanghai (CSSC), and Guangzhou (CSSC).

CSIC Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry complex near Huludao (where China builds its nuclear submarines) is a top candidate due to its large, covered building sheds where carrier parts could be fabricated in modular fashion and out of the view of satellite surveillance. The company says it has the "largest indoor seven-step" ship construction facilities in China. This facility, together with CSSC's large new Changxing Island yard, and CSIC's Dalian yard—which fitted out the carrier Liaoning that just entered PLAN service—are the three leading candidates to build China's indigenous carriers.

6. China will retain a military shipbuilding cost advantage

We project that for at least the next five years, Chinese shipbuilders will have a substantial labor cost advantage over their counterparts in South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. CSSC's Jiangnan shipyard can likely deliver a Type 052C destroyer for 24% less than it costs Korea's Hyundai heavy Industries to produce a KDX-III destroyer. Likewise, according to disclosures in the July 2011 issue of Shipborne Weapons, Wuchang shipyard can produce a late model diesel electric sub such as the Type 041 for roughly 47% less than it would cost South Korea's DSME to make a Type 209 submarine. The lower labor cost in China likely serves as a core driver. This may help explain the larger Chinese cost advantage in building submarines, since advanced submarines can require substantially larger number of man-hours to build than surface ships do.

7. China's neighbors feel increasingly compelled to augment their naval forces in response to Chinese warship production

South Korea has decided to expand its procurement of advanced diesel-electric submarines to include nine KSS-III 3,000-ton submarines by 2020 and nine 1,800-ton subs by 2018. This acquisition will basically double the size of the country's current sub force and substantially enhance its capabilities, since the biggest boats in the fleet are currently 1,800-ton vessels. South Korea has also elected to double its Aegis destroyer purchases over the next decade.

Similarly, Vietnam's maritime friction with China and fear of the PLAN's growing power is making Hanoi into one of the Russian defense industry's star customers. Vietnam has ordered six Kilo-class diesel submarines from Russia and is likely to take delivery of its first Kilo by the end of 2012. Hanoi is also adding advanced Russian anti-ship missiles and stealthy Gepard-class missile armed patrol boats to its naval force.

8. China now has the potential to become a significant exporter of diesel submarines and smaller surface warships

China's shipbuilders are becoming increasingly competitive in terms of the ratio of cost to combat power they can deliver. For instance, the July 2011 issue of Shipborne Weapons reports that China will supply 6 potentially Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP)-equipped submarines to Pakistan for as little as 1/3 the unit price at which European shipyards would be able to supply comparable boats.

With the advent of the Type 041 Yuan-class diesel sub and Type 056 corvette, China now has two platforms for which it is already capable of series production and for which the unit costs are likely to drop significantly in coming years. The export version of Russia's Steregushiy-class corvette, called Tigr, currently stands at around U.S. $150 million per vessel. As China's Type 056 production run continues to expand, it would not be a surprise to eventually see the PLAN's unit cost end up in the U.S. $110-120 million per vessel cost range, which would make the Type 056 a serious export competitor to the Tigr and other smaller Russian warships.

Conclusion

China's naval shipbuilding industry has advanced to the point that it can series produce modern diesel submarines, landing platform docks (LPDs), destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and fast attack craft, albeit with some imported components for a number of key systems. The ongoing series production of Type 041 SSKs, Type 071 LPDs, Type 052 destroyers, and Type 056 corvettes strongly suggests that China's military shipbuilders have rapidly assimilated commercial innovations such as modular construction.

Chinese naval shipbuilding faces several challenges moving forward. Most notably, six major questions remain:

1. Does Beijing have the political will to continue devoting substantial and growing resources to naval modernization?

2. Can China achieve requisite technical advances in weapons systems, propulsion, and military electronics?

3. Can China master the technologies needed to build nuclear submarines capable of surviving in a conflict with U.S. and Russian boats?

4. Can it build an aircraft carrier with catapults that would allow it to maximize the strike and air combat capabilities of the J-15 fighter it is likely to carry?

5. Will the Chinese leadership be willing to invest political and financial capital in establishing intensive and realistic training for the PLAN and provide diplomatic support for establishment of sustained access to facilities in key areas such as the Indian Ocean region?

6. Will continued weakness in the global ship market prompt Beijing to capitalize on the availability of shipyard space to further increase the pace of military shipbuilding?

China's military shipbuilders are showing that they can meet Beijing's current call for warships and could produce more if given the mandate and the resources. The U.S. strategic rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific will need more than rhetoric if it is to remain credible in the face of China's potential to rapidly produce modern warships.

The Pentagon should consider adjusting the U.S. Navy's ship acquisition programs in response. As Chinese warships become better, the numbers ratio between the PLAN and U.S. Navy combatants will become increasingly important.  Given that shipbuilding is an industry where lead times can be many years, now is the time for Washington to begin responding to China's warship production improvements and prepare strategically for further naval advances that Beijing is likely to unveil over the next 2-3 years.

http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/01/u-s-navy-take-notice-china-is-becoming-a-world-class-military-shipbuilder/?all=true

[Harald]

Chinese Ground Vehicles Stress Mechanization

China is now manufacturing two families of 8x8 wheeled medium-weight armored vehicles, the China North Industries (Norinco) ZSL09 (ZBD09 or VN-1 export designator), being rapidly acquired by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the Poly Industries Type-07, which so far is only offered for export. The 20-ton ZSL09 family offers greater firepower and, since its emergence in 2007, has been developed into about the same group of 10 variants as the General Dynamics Land Systems Stryker, its U.S. counterpart.

It is the PLA's preference for greater firepower that marks a key difference in the U.S. and Chinese operational concepts for this class of vehicle. The Stryker vehicle family was originally intended as an interim main platform for the U.S. Army's Stryker Brigade, which emerged from then-Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki's recognition of the need for an independent, medium-weight (and less expensive) brigade-size force for contingencies short of full-scale Cold War-level armored conflict.

The Stryker Brigade has stressed deployability and maneuverability while seeking to leverage superior information, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and command and control (C2) capabilities to produce more rapid and decisive battlefield effects. The most heavily armed Stryker, the M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS), armed with a low-recoil 105-mm gun, is intended to provide infantry fire support, not to fight tanks. The Army has considered but so far declined to acquire artillery and anti-aircraft versions of the Stryker, as they have not been required for counterterrorism and insurgency conflicts of the last decade.

The PLA's new medium wheeled vehicle is consistent with its key objectives of "mechanization," the improvement of mobility and combat capability while reducing manpower, plus the potentially more important goal of "informatization," the exploitation of new information technologies that are easier to build into new platforms. New 8x8 and 6x6 vehicles feature digital command and communication systems that allow for sharing of imagery and data. There are dedicated C2 versions of both, and a new version of the ZSL09 apparently is dedicated to supporting digital communication at the regimental level.

For the PLA, superior firepower remains a key objective even for its new medium-weight formations, largely because of its regional situation; historic rivals Russia and India have long stressed heavy armor capabilities that would overcome medium vehicles. This has likely dictated another PLA preference that contrasts with the independent Stryker Brigade: PLA medium infantry and artillery regiments built around new wheeled vehicles usually have a tracked vehicle company, often for anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). These regiments remain wedded to larger division or brigade structures that include heavier tracked armored regiments, plus supporting artillery and anti-aircraft units.

However, all-wheeled regiments capable of independent operations still appear to be a possible trend for the PLA. For example, an early unit to develop medium wheeled regiments has been the 112th Div. of the 38th Group Army in the Beijing Military Region. Its 335th Regiment is estimated to have 93 ZSL09 8x8 vehicles in three companies. So far, these companies have the infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) version of the ZSL09, armed with a 30-mm cannon turret that also carries the 3,000-meter (9,842-ft.)-range HJ-73 anti-tank missile. The companies also use the command/communication and recovery versions of the ZSL09. The regiment gets fire support from a company of 18 PLL09s, the 122-mm howitzer-armed version of the ZSL09 and a company of 18 PLL05s, a version of the WZ551 6x6 with a 120-mm automatic mortar. Rounding out the regiment is a unit of six new PGZ07 tracked twin-barrel 35-mm cannon AAA, firing a copy of the Rheinmetall Ahead time-fuzed "shotgun" shell.

What could make these regiments more independent is the emergence of two new prototypes of the ZSL09 since last year, one armed with the 105-mm gun turret first seen on the ZTD05 tracked amphibious fighting vehicle, and the other with a single-barrel 35-mm cannon turret combined with a radar/optical targeting system.

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_10_15_2012_p26-500755.xml

[Ros]

Het is mij nu duidelijk dat de chinezen niet zelfstandig iets kunnen ontwerpen

Waarom het wiel uitvinden.............?. Slimme rakkers die Chinezen, altijd al geweest.

Knap om ons een bakje gebakken deeg, kostprijs € 0,85, voor € 12,50 te verkopen, maar dit even terzijde 

[Flyguy]

Ze moeten het toch ook leren? Het westen heeft sinds WO1 gehad om te komen waar we nu zijn, China begint net.

[Ace1]

Het is mij nu duidelijk dat de chinezen niet zelfstandig iets kunnen ontwerpen en vaak tekeningen of prototypes kopen  of kopieren of stelen, qa vliegdekschepen bouwen en een AEW toestel zijn ze volgens mij verder dan men in het westen denken en het  AEW toestel  is niet  geschikt voor de Liaoning (ex Varyag).

[Flyguy]

Dat is een forse jongen zeg. Ondertussen in Nederland...

[Ace1]

Nog een foto gevonden van Ulyanovsk in aanbouw, zodat men een idee heeft van de grote. nogmaals dit schip is nooit voltooid.

[Ace1]

even verder gezocht op internet en kwam dit tegen.



Overigens plaatste ik een tijdje terug wat foto´s van een Chinese versie van de E-2 Hawkeye, ik heb het vermoeden dat China de tekeningen of kopieen van de Yak 44  heeft. De Yak 44 was de Sovet tegenhanger van de E-2 Hawkeye maar door de instorting van Sovjet-Unie werd dit programma in de ijskast gezet.

http://paralay.net/44.html

[Ace1]

China has already started construction of a Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier according to report

According to china.org.cn, the United States recently acquired satellite imagery showing an aircraft carrier currently being assembled in military shipyard of Shanghai.

China's current and only aircraft carrier was recently delivered to the Chinese navy and training in air operations has just started.

The new aircraft carrier supposedly in construction would be the first home made carrier for the nation. However according to other reports, China would have acquired blue prints from Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk. Ulyanovsk was the first of a class of never completed Soviet nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

The vessel would have been 85,000 tons in displacement and would have been able to carry up to 70 fixed-wing carrier aircraft. Ulyanovsk had a unique design: It would have been fitted with both steam catapults and ski-ramp in order to launch those aircraft.

According to china.org.cn, the new aircraft carrier currently in construction in Shanghai could be based on the Ulyanovsk.

http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/year-2012-news/october/691--china-has-already-started-construction-of-a-nuclear-powered-aircraft-carrier-according-to-report.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

US carrier force supports Asean

Published: 21/10/2012 at 08:38 AM Online news: Asia 

The United States has sent an aircraft carrier and support ships through the South China Sea in a show of support for Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam in their territorial disputes with China.

Voor plaatjes zie; link

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/317817/us-carrier-force-supports-asean

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

US shows its maritime resolve in disputed South China Sea, sending signal to Beijing

Published October 20, 2012 Associated Press

ON BOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON –  A U.S. aircraft carrier group cruised through the disputed South China Sea on Saturday in a show of American power in waters that are fast becoming a focal point of Washington's strategic rivalry with Beijing.

Vietnamese security and government officials were flown onto the nuclear-powered USS George Washington ship, underlining the burgeoning military relationship between the former enemies. A small number of journalists were also invited to witness the display of maritime might in the oil-rich waters, which are home to islands disputed between China and the other smaller Asian nations facing the sea.

The visit will likely reassure Vietnam and the Philippines of American support but could annoy China, whose growing economic and naval strength is leading to a greater assertiveness in pressing its claims there. The United States is building closer economic and military alliances with Vietnam and other nations in the region as part of a "pivot" away from the Middle East to Asia, a shift in large part meant to counter rising Chinese influence.

The Vietnamese officials took photos of F-18 fighter jets taking off and landing on the ship's 1,000-foot- (305-meter-) long flight deck, met the captain and toured the hulking ship, which has more than 5,000 sailors on board.

The mission came a day after Beijing staged military exercises near islands in the nearby East China Sea it disputes with U.S ally Japan. Those tensions have flared in recent days.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, where the U.S. says it has a national interest in ensuring freedom of navigation in an area crossed by vital shipping lanes. Vietnam, the Philippines and several other Asian nations also claim parts of the sea. The disputes attracted little international interest until the late 1990s, when surveys indicated possible large oil reserves. American rivalry with China has given the disputes an extra dimension in recent years.

The U.S. Navy regularly patrols the Asia-Pacific region, conducting joint exercises with its allies and training in the strategic region. The trip by the George Washington off the coast of Vietnam is its third in as many years. A second aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, has also conducting operations in the western Pacific region recently, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Capt. Gregory Fenton said the mission was aimed in part at improving relations with Vietnam and ensuring the U.S. had free passage in the South China Sea.

China's military buildup, including the launch of its own carrier last year and rapid development of ballistic missiles and cyber warfare capabilities, could potentially crimp the U.S. forces' freedom to operate in the waters. The United States doesn't publicly take sides in the territorial disputes among China and its neighbors.

"It is our goal to see the region's nations figure out these tensions ... on their own, our role of that to date is to conduct freedom of navigation exercises within international waters," Fenton said in an interview on the bridge.

Although claimant countries have pledged to settle the territorial rifts peacefully, the disputes have erupted in violence in the past, including in 1988 when China and Vietnam clashed in the Spratly Islands in a confrontation that killed 64 Vietnamese soldiers. Many fear the disputes could become Asia's next flash point for armed conflict.

Vietnam is pleased to accept help from its one-time foe America as a hedge against its giant neighbor China, with which it also tries to maintain good relations.

Still, the Hanoi government reacted angrily to recent moves by Beijing to establish a garrison on one of the Paracel islands, which Vietnam claims. The United States also criticized the move by Beijing, earning it a rebuke from the government there.

"China will take this (cruise) as another expression by the United States of its desire to maintain regional domination," said Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii. "The U.S also wants to send a message to the region that it is here for the long haul ... and that it wants to back up international law."

While most analysts believe military confrontation in the waters is highly unlikely anytime soon, they say tensions are likely to increase as China continues pressing its claims and building its navy.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/19/us-shows-its-maritime-resolve-in-disputed-south-china-sea-sending-signal-to/#ixzz29uqRI6Xm

[Lex]

NE China to set up two drone bases for marine surveillance

SHENYANG, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two drone bases will be established in northeast China's Liaoning Province for real time surveillance on coastal waters, local authorities said Saturday.

One of the bases will be built on a land reclamation lot in the coastal city of Yingkou to cover the Bohai Sea area. The other will be constructed in Dalian city to cover parts of the Yellow Sea within the province's jurisdiction, according to the oceanic and fishing department of the provincial government.

The drones will feature high-definition remote-sensing in marine surveillance, especially in quick response to emergency situations. They can also be used to identify illegal land reclamation activities and sand dredging, and monitor marine environments along the coast and on islets.

A previous report said China was planning to build 11 drone bases for marine surveillance along the country's coastline by 2015 and at least one drone would be stationed at each base.

According to the State Oceanic Administration, the use of pilotless aircraft in remote-sensing marine surveillance is relatively flexible, low-cost and efficient compared with the performance of satellite remote sensing, aerial remote sensing and field monitoring.

Xinhua,
2012-10-20 20:45:34

[andré herc]

Een video van de nieuwe derde LPD voor China

[Lex]

Chinese schepen oefenen in Oost-Chinese Zee

PEKING - Chinese schepen en vliegtuigen houden vrijdag een grote oefening in de Oost-Chinese Zee, waar China met Japan ruziet om enkele eilandjes. Dat meldden Chinese staatsmedia.

In totaal doen 11 schepen van onder meer marine en visserij-autoriteiten en 8 vliegtuigen mee. De oefening is er onder meer op gericht de reactie te verbeteren op ,,noodsituaties tijdens missies die de territoriale soevereiniteit en maritieme belangen bewaken'', aldus staatspersbureau Xinhua.

Chinese schepen in het gebied zijn lastiggevallen en achtervolgd door buitenlandse mogendheden, stelt China.

ANP,
19 oktober 2012 9:55