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Global Times: The U.S. May Have Lost Hope Counting on Indian Aircraft Carriers

Global Times recently reported that, after visiting India’s first domestically constructed Vikrant-class aircraft carrier, top U.S. Naval engineers may have lost hope in expecting India’s cooperation to contain the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean. To the surprise of the Americans, the supposedly combat-ready carrier, launched three years ago, may take up to another ten years to obtain real battleground operational capabilities. The Americans found the Indian carrier doesn’t even have a small-scale missile system for self-defense. The Pentagon was very much concerned that India insisted on producing aircraft carriers entirely on its own, which significantly delayed the combat readiness of the ship. According to India’s own audit report released in September, the first India-made carrier suffered significant flaws in both design and construction quality, such as the aircraft launch system and the air conditioning system, due to the shipbuilder’s lack of experience. The three-billion-dollar project has been delayed for five years now. The Indian-made Tejas fighter jets suffered a troublesome record in practice on and off the deck, while Russian jets had absolutely no issue in using the same deck. The U.S. experts expressed their belief that the first Indian carrier can only operate within the range of India’s land-based air force coverage. However, the United States confirmed its willingness to continue its cooperation with the Indian Navy but will put its the faith in India’s second domestically built carrier.

Source: Global Times, December 2, 2016
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2016-12/9761091.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

China Will Implement a New Military Ranking System in 2017

According to Bowen Press, the Chinese military will implement a new ranking system on August 1, 2017. The main changes include the abolition of senior colonel, grading the Generals, and the addition of the level of Brigadier General. In the reform of the military structure, the division and the regiment will be abolished. The division will be replaced by the brigade; under brigade will be the battalion. The ranking reform is to be in line with international standards and to broaden the avenue for the promotion of military officers.

After the reform, the new military ranking system will include three ranks and 12 levels, i.e., Lieutenants (Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain); Colonel Officers (Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel); Generals (Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General. General is also divided into General, General tier II and General tier I).

Source: Bowen Press, November 23, 2016
http:// bowenpress.com/news/bowen_147908.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Chinese Army Ground Forces to Be Cut Further, Reducing One Army Group in Each of the Five Combat Regions

The Chinese media Bowen Press reported that, in addition to its disarmament reform program of 300,000 layoffs, the Chinese army will further reduce the scale of its ground forces, substantially cutting one army group in each of the five combat regions. The current 300,000 army layoffs mainly involve non-combat troops, including administrative organs, logistics, schools, hospitals and other functions. However, structurally, the ground forces among the five military entities are still too large as there are 18 army groups of 800,000 members, which accounts for one third of the total of all PLA troops.

Source: Bowen Press, November 24, 2016
http:// bowenpress.com/news/bowen_148168.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Duowei: Military Fiscal Power Quietly Changed Hands in China

In mid-November, China‘s top leader Xi Jinping attended the logistics support conference of the Central Military Commission.

According to public reports, in the two-day meeting that the Central Military Commission members and their major regional-level senior officials attended, Xi Jinping rolled out his plans to resolve the two major problems of the PLA logistics support system. One was the establishment of a modern logistics organizational model and mode of operation, in order to strengthen the centralized management of financial resources and to strengthen the centralized deployment of military assets. The other was to continue the anti-corruption campaign to the finish line, further cleaning up the Guo [Boxiong] and Xu [Caohou] remnants.

Neither Xi nor Xinhua explained the content of the so-called Joint Logistic Support System Reform. Xi did, however, reveal a clear signal – to break the monopoly on financial power that the General Logistics Department had, while establishing a clear unified deployment.

On September 13 of this year, the Communist Party of China suddenly announced the establishment of a logistics support unit under the Central Military Commission. This force does not belong to any military entity, but it will provide support for every military entity.

Source: Duowei, November 17, 2016
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2016-11-16/59782358.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Global Times: Construction of Fully-China-Made Aircraft Carrier is Faster than the U.S.

Global Times recently reported that the Ministry of Defense announced at a press conference that China has completed all of the design work on the first aircraft carrier that China has made in its entirety and the main ship hull has also been closed at the dock. It is very rare that the Chinese military reports to the public on the status of an aircraft carrier construction project. Experts estimated that, at the current speed, construction of the entire carrier can be completed in 2016. However, it may take another half year to one year after the launch to get the carrier into active military service. Typically, the United States takes four to five years to build an aircraft carrier. This first Chinese-made carrier is expected to take less time to build. Those doing the construction learned a lot from building the previous Chinese carrier, which had been built on top of an old soviet carrier bought from Ukraine. That experience significantly sped up the building process of the new ship. The article also mentioned the Dongfeng-21C mid-range missile being tested for combat scenarios. It is China’s strategic missile model that is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Source: Global Times, October 28, 2016
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2016-10/9611376.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China to Showcase its Domestically Made Rainbow Unmanned Aircraft at the Aviation & Aerospace Exhibit

According to an article that Duowei News published, the 11th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibit will be held in Zhu Hai City from November 1 through 6. The domestically made “Rainbow Series” unmanned aircraft will be on exhibit. It will include the Rainbow 3, Rainbow 4, and Rainbow 5, which are unmanned solar powered aircraft and have a ground effect in aircraft, as well as the Rainbow 805 high speed invisible drone aircraft. The article reported that the Rainbow 5 has a technical capability that is superior to the Predator B unmanned aircraft of the United States. The article also stated that the future development of the domestically made unmanned aircraft is to have the capability of being carrier based.

Source: Duowei News, October 27, 2016
http://military.dwnews.com/news/2016-10-27/59778145.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

BBC Chinese: Former General Proposed Reunification of Taiwan by Force

BBC Chinese recently reported that Wang Hongguang, former Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region, wrote a strategy paper proposing that the Mainland military initiate preparations for an armed invasion for the reunification of Taiwan. Wang stated that, after she took office, newly elected Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen refused to mention the “One China Principle.” Instead, she repeatedly said things like, “Taiwan will not yield to China’s pressure.” According to China’s Anti-Secession Law, one of the conditions for an armed invasion is “the disappearance of the possibility of a peaceful reunification.” Wang declared that the Mainland will never “swallow the bitter fruit” of an independent Taiwan. However, analysts in Taiwan expressed their belief that it’s very unlikely the Mainland will conduct any meaningful military attacks any time soon, since China just started its military reforms at the beginning of the year, changing seven “military regions” to five “military theaters.” Major changes like this will require significant readjustments in organization, tactical strategy, and equipment. Given the size of the Mainland military, the adjustments will not be completed and the military will not be ready for war until after 2020.

Source: BBC Chinese, October 21, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2016/10/161021_taiwan_china_military

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: China’s and Russia’s Militaries Join Forces to Oppose U.S. Deployment of “THAAD” in South Korea

At an October 11 China and Russia joint briefing on the anti-missile issue, the military representatives of both countries agreed that the United States unilaterally developing a multi-level missile defense plan would undermine the global strategic balance and regional security and stability. Both countries agreed to deepen anti-missile cooperation.

Military expert Meng Xiangqing pointed out that China and Russia have repeatedly issued joint statements on the issue of the United States’ deployment of anti-missile systems. However, this is the first time that both countries held a joint briefing to show their stance. Meng Xiangqing believes that this briefing releases three signals: First, it shows that China and Russia’s position in opposing the U.S. deployment of the “THAAD” anti-missile system in South Korea is consistent. Second, it is an opportunity to urge the United States and South Korea, in a strong statement, to change their decision. At the same time it is to warn the international community and urge the international community to pay more attention to the damage and instability that “THAAD” has brought to the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. Third, both countries issued contents about further cooperation in opposing the “THAAD” anti-missile system, including that the two armed forces will conduct a second anti-missile exercise in 2017.

Source: People’s Daily, October 14, 2016
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/1014/c1011-28777828.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend