China to conduct military drills in South China Sea amid tensions with U.S.

[Bogeyman]

China said on Tuesday it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after Beijing bristled at a U.S. aircraft carrier group’s entry into the disputed waters.

A notice issued by the country’s Maritime Safety Administration prohibited entry into a portion of waters in the Gulf of Tonkin to the west of the Leizhou peninsula in southwestern China from Jan. 27 to Jan. 30, but it did not offer details on when the drills would take place or at what scale.


A U.S. carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea on Saturday to promote “freedom of the seas,” the U.S. military said, days after Joe Biden began his term as president.

The contested waters have become another flashpoint in the increasingly testy bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington. The U.S. military has steadily increased its activities there in recent years as China asserts its territorial claims in the area in conflict with neighbouring countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan.


The announcement of the drills in the Gulf of Tonkin, just east of Vietnam, came as the Southeast Asian country opened a key Communist Party congress in Hanoi.

China on Monday complained that the United States frequently sends aircraft and vessels into the South China Sea, through which trillion dollars in trade flow every year, to “flex its muscles” and said such actions are not conducive to peace and stability in the region.

China to conduct military drills in South China Sea amid tensions with U.S.

China said on Tuesday it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after Beijing bristled at a U.S. aircraft carrier group's entry into the disputed waters.

www.reuters.com

 

[ekemenirtu]

Maritime warfare: Firepower data - Lowy Institute Asia Power Index

Maritime warfare: Firepower – proxy: Missile vertical launching cells on board surface combatants and submarines.

power.lowyinstitute.org

There are many possible metrics that may be used to measure various dimensions of national power, including military power.

One proxy used by the researchers at Lowy Institute in Australia for measuring firepower for maritime warfare is the number of VLS cells on surface combatants and submarines of related navies.

As readers may have noticed, the lead enjoyed by the US Navy over any other navy is so massive as to be ridiculous.

Even if the navies of China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and New Zealand were to join hands, they would be outgunned by the US Navy in this single metric.

There are many other metrics of interest that may be used for the purpose of comparison.

Not only is the US Navy far more powerful in aggregate than any other navy in the Asia Pacific region, but also in per capita terms, the country operates more VLS cells on board its naval vessels than any other country.

Except tiny Singapore, which is of course, no bigger than a medium sized city and also considered a city state.

This is not usual. The gap between the Chinese Navy or PLA Navy and the US Navy is so huge as to be ridiculous.

 

[Bogeyman]

Maritime warfare: Firepower data - Lowy Institute Asia Power Index

Maritime warfare: Firepower – proxy: Missile vertical launching cells on board surface combatants and submarines.

power.lowyinstitute.org

There are many possible metrics that may be used to measure various dimensions of national power, including military power.

One proxy used by the researchers at Lowy Institute in Australia for measuring firepower for maritime warfare is the number of VLS cells on surface combatants and submarines of related navies.

View attachment 12928


As readers may have noticed, the lead enjoyed by the US Navy over any other navy is so massive as to be ridiculous.

Even if the navies of China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and New Zealand were to join hands, they would be outgunned by the US Navy in this single metric.

There are many other metrics of interest that may be used for the purpose of comparison.

Not only is the US Navy far more powerful in aggregate than any other navy in the Asia Pacific region, but also in per capita terms, the country operates more VLS cells on board its naval vessels than any other country.

Except tiny Singapore, which is of course, no bigger than a medium sized city and also considered a city state.

This is not usual. The gap between the Chinese Navy or PLA Navy and the US Navy is so huge as to be ridiculous.

This data alone has no meaning. Because the US navy cannot deploy all of its assets in the Pacific. Moreover, VLS cells have to carry anti-ship missiles, air defense and missile defense systems, cruise missiles at the same time. The spectrum of threats facing the US navy and the counter-attack options it should have put them in a powerless position. They have to make a choice. And these preferences have to be balanced.

The situation is so serious that some former generals are now suggesting that homeland defense should be provided by land-based missile defense systems. They think the navy should now focus entirely on transoceanic operations for missile defense.

Rethink Navy Ballistic Missile Defense

The traditional ship-based ballistic-missile defense mission is too narrow.

www.usni.org

 

[Bogeyman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1354699192212439045

 

[Bogeyman]

Chinese warplanes simulated attacking US carrier near Taiwan​

Chinese military aircraft simulated missile attacks on a US aircraft carrier during an incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone three days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to intelligence from the US and its allies. The People’s Liberation Army sent 11 aircraft into the south-western corner of Taiwan’s air defence zone on January 23, and 15 aircraft into the same area the next day, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.

People familiar with intelligence said the bombers and some of the fighter aircraft involved were conducting an exercise that used the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. One person familiar with the incident said the Chinese aircraft remained more than 250 nautical miles from the US carrier and accompanying warships at all times. Pilots of H-6 bombers could be heard in cockpit conversations confirming orders for the simulated targeting and release of anti-ship missiles against the carrier, the people said. The revelations highlight that the intense military competition between the two superpowers around Taiwan and the South China Sea has not eased, posing a challenge to any attempts the Biden administration might make to improve US relations with Beijing.

China’s development of missiles capable of targeting US ships and aircraft in the region has helped counter America’s military dominance in Asia and the western Pacific. Although Chinese experts have said that Beijing remains unwilling to risk open conflict with the US, the PLA’s new muscle is forcing the US to adjust its posture and strategy in Asia. US Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees military operations in Asia, said the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group had closely monitored the Chinese manoeuvres which “at no time” posed a threat to the US ships. “However, the PLA activities highlighted here, are the latest in a string of aggressive and destabilising actions,” said Captain Mike Kafka, spokesperson for Indo-Pacific Command. “These actions reflect a continued PLA attempt to use its military as a tool to intimidate or coerce those operating in international waters and airspace, to include their neighbours and those with competing territorial claims.”

The area where Taipei reported the incursions last weekend is located between Pratas, a Taiwan-held atoll in the northern part of the South China Sea, and Taiwan proper, where the Taiwan Strait meets the Bashi Channel, a main passageway between the western Pacific and the South China Sea. “The Su-30 [fighters] can carry Kh-31 anti-ship missiles, and the H-6 bombers and J-16 fighters can both carry YJ anti-ship missiles,” said Su Tzu-yun, an analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a think-tank backed by Taiwan’s defence ministry. “All three aircraft are clearly a display of threat against surface ships.”

The US Indo-Pacific Command said on January 23 that the US carrier strike group had sailed into the South China Sea that day. According to ship-tracking data, it passed through the Bashi Channel. The Chinese aerial manoeuvres sparked a strong response from the new US administration, which warned Beijing to stop intimidating Taiwan. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan,” the US state department said, before adding that China should remember that Washington’s relationship with Taipei was “rock solid”.

Mr Biden sent another message to China reaffirming the US commitment to help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyu. China experts in Washington expect that Mr Biden will adopt a less chaotic approach than former president Donald Trump in setting policy. In an early sign that relations between Washington and Beijing would remain tense over Taiwan and a range of other issues, Antony Blinken, the new US secretary of state, this week said he agreed with the Trump administration, which had said the Chinese government’s repression of Uighur Muslims in detention camps in Xinjiang province was “genocide”.

In his confirmation hearing last week, Mr Blinken said that while he disagreed with how Mr Trump had implemented his policies towards China, he was “right in taking a tougher approach”. According to an announcement by China’s Maritime Safety Administration, the PLA is conducting another exercise in the South China Sea, which is due to wrap up on Saturday. Taiwan’s defence ministry has reported larger than average Chinese air incursions into its air defence zone since that latest exercise started on Wednesday.

Chinese warplanes simulated attacking US carrier near Taiwan

Revelation underscores Joe Biden’s difficulties in easing tensions with Beijing

www.ft.com

 

[Bogeyman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1357998107573841920

 

[Bogeyman]

A French Navy SSN Patrolled The South China Sea​

French minister calls it "a striking proof of the capacity of our French Navy to deploy far and for a long time in connection with our Australian, American and Japanese strategic partners".

On Monday night, Florence Parly shed some light on the current deployment of Rubis-class SSN Emeraude to the Pacific region. In a series of messages on Twitter, the minister said:


“Mission Marianne: since September, a nuclear attack submarine (SSN Émeraude) and a support vessel (BSAM Seine) have sailed up to 15,000 km from the coasts of mainland France in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. This extraordinary patrol has just completed a passage in the South China Sea. A striking proof of the capacity of our French Navy to deploy far and for a long time in connection with our Australian, American and Japanese strategic partners. Why such a mission? To enrich our knowledge of this area and to affirm that international law is the only rule that is valid, whatever the sea in which we sail. Nation of the Indo-Pacific (~ 2 million inhabitants), France has the 2nd largest exclusive economic zone in the world (11 million km2 of which 9 are in the Indo-Pacific). We intend to protect our sovereignty and our interests.”

For the record, we first reported about Emeraude’s mission to the Pacific when it stopped over in Australia. The submarine then visited the U.S. naval base in Guam and participated in an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise with the U.S. Navy and JMSDF. Following it exercise with the Indoensian Navy (see below) Emeraude will likely be joining the French carrier strike group which is set to depart this week for the Indian Ocean and Persian/Arabian Gulf area.

Exercise with Indonesian Navy (TNI AL)​

On the same day as Parly’s message, the Indonesia Navy (TNI AL) announced that it has conducted a joint exercise with the French Navy in the Sunda Strait. Commander of Indonesian vessel KRI Barakuda-633, Marine Major (P) Faisal Yanova Tanjung, SE, M.Tr.Opsla said “the exercise involved 3 Indonesian and 2 French Warships, the ships namely KRI Barakuda (633), KRI Tenggiri (865), KRI Cakalang (852) and 2 French Warships, the frigate FS Vendemiaire and the submarine FS Emeraude “.


Chief of Fleet Command I Rear Admiral Abdul Rasyid said the naval exercise also serves as military diplomacy. “We hope it will strengthen our international relations,” said Rasyid.

The Indo-Pacific region: a priority for France​

This is not the first time a French SSN deploys to the Pacific Ocean but such events are rather rare. It has to be noted that this “Mission Marianne” was never publicly disclosed prior to the port of call in Australia. It shows that the ageing Rubis-class SSN is still capable of long distance and long duration deployments. The Rubis-class will be gradually replaced by the new Suffren-class SSN over the coming decade.

France is present in the region via its overseas territories (Mayotte and La Réunion islands, Scattered Islands and French Southern and Antarctic Territories, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and Clipperton) and 93% of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The region is home to 1.5 million French people, as well as 8,000 armed forces personnel stationed in the region. In addition to the French Navy has vessels based in the region and assets from mainland France do deploy to the region, including submarines as is currently the case with the submarine in Guam.

A French Navy SSN Patrolled the South China Sea - Naval News

A French Navy (Marine Nationale) Rubis-class nuclear powered submarine (SSN) patrolled the South China Sea, the French minister of armed forces announced in a series of tweets.

www.navalnews.com

 

[xizhimen]

US fleets are always there in south China sea, but when real battle occured, they just sat around and watched their allies burn. We know US so well.

South Vietnam requested assistance from the US Seventh Fleet, but the request was rejected.

Battle of the Paracel Islands

The Battle of the Paracel Islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of the People's Republic of China and Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974. The battle was an escalation of the Republic of Vietnam Navy's efforts to expel Chinese fishing...

military.wikia.org

 

[Bogeyman]

US Naval bases and installations along the "1st Island Chain" that hold the line . . .

 

[xizhimen]

US Naval bases and installations along the "1st Island Chain" that hold the line . . .

Those bases did nothing to stop China's growth in the past 70 years, they only suck the money and resources and contribute to US decline. Now it's coming to the point that even Trump knows they will become unsustainable with deteriorating US economy.
US is just doing what USSR did 30 years ago and result could be very similar too.

 

[Bogeyman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1363128843830091780

 

[Bogeyman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1363110102966927366

Sakhalin remains in the North East of North Korea.

 

[Saithan]

U.S. concerned China’s new coast guard law could escalate maritime disputes

WASHINGTON - The United States is concerned by China's recently enacted coast guard law and that it could escalate maritime disputes and be invoked to assert unlawful claims, the

newsinfo.inquirer.net

 

[Bogeyman]

South China Sea: Vietnam builds up defences against Beijing in Spratly Islands, report says​

Vietnam Shores Up Its Spratly Defenses | Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Vietnam continues to make modest improvements to its facilities in the Spratly Islands. In cooperation with Simularity, AMTI has reviewed satellite imagery from the last two years to catalog upgrades to Vietnam’s island outposts since the initiative last surveyed them. This exercise underscores...

amti.csis.org

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