Defense/Military - 64. page

According to an article in Voice of America on October 08, 2011, China is continuing to purchase large numbers of Russian fighter engines. So far this year, China and Russia have signed two fighter engine sales contracts and recently have been negotiating to sign a 3rd one. Up until now, China has bought 1,000 fighter engines. Analysts say that China is still heavily dependent on Russia for fighter engines because China’s domestic made engines have a shorter life span and less power.

Source: Voice of America, October 08, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20111008-China-Russia-Fighter-Engines-131381388.html

China Review News (CRN) recently reported that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has developed night vision maps. Last year, the PLA started searching for practical night vision technology for maps. The University of Lanzhou, the Map Institute of Gansu Province, and the Surveying and Mapping Institute of the PLA General Staff Department jointly worked on the project. The night vision maps emit “cold light” which can only be seen by people nearby; remote enemies cannot see them, even with today’s military night vision equipment. The technology used to print the maps enables them to preserve energy in daylight. They are waterproof, radiation-free, and have good luminous intensity. The material is suitable for mass production.

Source: China Review News, September 12, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1018/3/2/7/101832706.html?coluid=4&kindid=16&docid=101832706&mdate=0912131552

Xinhua reported on the newly formed cyber war alliance between the U.S. and Australia, pointing out that this is the first time the U.S. has included cyber defense in a bilateral treaty, the intention being to increase its military presence in the Asia Pacific region.

The report highlighted U.S. Defense Secretary Panetta’s view that “The Internet is the future battlefield." It quoted Panetta’s statement that, “We not only need to defend against a cyber attack; we also need to be proactive. We not only need to depend on ourselves; we also need to cooperate with our partners. This is the best way to achieve the goal.”

The article also quoted Australia Defense Secretary Smith’s statement, “Cyber security is becoming a big transnational threat. It will be a major topic in the secretary level discussions between Australia and the U.S.”

Source: Xinhua, September 16, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-09/16/c_122041466.htm

Global Times, which is under the state’s People’s Daily, recently published an article which referred to a report from the HK newspaper Ming Pao. The report included information that the Chinese Navy is planning to establish the Fourth Fleet, which will be headquartered in Sanya, Hainan Province. It also said that the Fourth Fleet will include at least two aircraft carrier combat groups, that the future aircraft carriers will be placed directly under the Central Military Committee, and that the carriers will have their own independent Command Headquarters. The Chinese Naval fleets’ command structure is similar to Russia’s. The extent to which this information may change in the future remains unclear.

Source: Global Times, September 10, 2011
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Exclusive/2011-09/1993689.html

Study Times, a newspaper of the CCP Central Party School, published an article that discussed transforming weapons and equipment to increase power on the battlefield. The transformation model is very important because the correct use of weapons and equipment directly determines their effectiveness in combat. The author believes the direction for changing the model for today’s military is to merge weapons into information systems. A key approach in doing that is to integrate military technology with the civil market to ensure both low cost and sustainability. To speed up the model’s transformation, full system engineering must be introduced into all layers of society, which includes designing top level strategy, establishing operational systems and rules, as well as managing the industrial structure.

Source: Study Times, August 29, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/08/29/07/07_52.htm

Xinhua recently published a report referring to the Indian newspaper Economic Times, which reported on a speech U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta delivered. According to the report, Mr. Panetta suggested in his speech that the United States will not allow the emerging countries, namely China, India and Brazil, to “disrupt the world order.” He promised to cooperate with the emerging countries, but he also asserted that the United States will ensure that these countries won’t become a threat to world stability, will ensure U.S. world leadership status, and will ensure the world’s acknowledgement of the U.S. as the guardian of world stability.  

Source: Xinhua, August 27, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2011-08/27/c_121919045.htm

Colonel Major Qian Lihua, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Defense Ministry, published an article after Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited China on July 10-13, 2011. In commenting on the transparency of China’s military, Qian said, “It must be pointed out that the openness of China’s military is an orderly openness, one that is equal, reciprocal, and in accordance with China’s security and interests. We will gradually increase the extent of openness based on the level of China’s military development and the need for military diplomacy; we will oppose blind openness that does not consider the realities. We advocate equal treatment and oppose forced and involuntary openness. We advocate mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and oppose unilateral openness seeking self interest. We insist on gradual openness on the premise of ensuring national military security, appropriately handling the relationship between openness and confidentiality. There is no such thing as ‘absolute transparency.”

Source: People’s Daily, July 16, 2011
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/1076/115150/15179956.html

On August 11, 2011, PLA Daily published an article suggesting China should “dare to” use its aircraft carrier to solve territorial disputes. The article is no longer available on the official web site, but several other sites have picked it up. The article pointed out that China made a large investment in building the aircraft carrier, and it was not built “just for display.” The author expressed that putting a military warship into a field of combat is the logical next step when China’s territorial seas are under threat or attack. The article also suggested that China is ready to fight the challenging countries even without the aircraft carrier. However the new aircraft carrier “only reinforces and enhances the confidence and the determination” of defending China’s territory. The article did acknowledge that there might be a long way to go before the new aircraft carrier can obtain actual combat capability; it has more political value that military value at the moment.

Source: DWNews, August, 12, 2011
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2011-08-12/58006109.html