Current Events in Asia-Pacific

India Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile India Test Fires New Nuclear-Capable Missile Agni III, State Government Official Says By MUNEEZA NAQVI The Associated Press NEW DELHI - India test fired a new missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads across much of Asia and the Middle East, a state government official said Thursday. An earlier test firing of the Agni III missile had failed when it plunged into the Bay of Bengal short of its target in July last year. There was no immediate comment whether the current test was successful. The missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa, the state government official said on condition o…

From Defense Aerospace Korea to Buy 20 Foreign Fighter Jets Next Year (Source: Korea Overseas Information Service; dated Jan. 18, web-posted Jan. 17, 2007) Korea has decided to choose a foreign contractor through open bidding to supply 20 "next-generation" fighter jets in the coming years, a project to cost around 2.3 trillion won ($2.4 billion), defense officials said Wednesday (Jan. 17). The project follows Seoul's contract with the U.S. company Boeing Co. in 2002 to buy 40 F-15K jets for $4.6 billion. Eighteen jets have been delivered so far, with the remainder to be introduced by next year. "We plan to draw up a detailed plan for the procurement p…

From Defence Aerospace Seoul to Buy 20 More F-15Ks (Source: Korean Overseas Information Service; dated May 19, 2006) The Air Force will purchase 20 more F-15K multi-role aircraft beginning in 2009, following the scheduled introduction of 40 F-15s by 2008, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday (May 18). The $2 billion plan was approved during a meeting on Wednesday as part of the ministry's mid-term arms acquisition project between 2007 and 2011, ministry officials said. Final endorsement of the plan is to be made by President Roh Moo-hyun, they said. AND From DefenseNews S. Korea Cuts Back on U.S. F-15s: Report By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

Chinese attack sub encounter puts Taiwan's navy on alert Mainichi Daily News TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's military was investigating a news report Saturday that a nuclear submarine from rival China surfaced and nearly collided with a patrol of navy vessels off a Taiwanese-held island. The Chinese attack sub -- a Han-class nuclear-powered vessel -- suddenly surfaced and appeared to be heading for five Taiwanese ships near Kinmen island on July 25, according to Saturday's edition of the Apple Daily, which didn't cite any sources. The Taiwanese ships spotted the submarine and prepared for a confrontation. Three speedboats equipped with missiles were called in to a…

China Daily

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

From Aviation Week At Matsushima: 18x F-2B fighter trainers, only 6-9 of which might be capable of being repaired 5x UH-60J helicopters 5x T-4 jet trainers 2x Hawker 800XPs

From DefenseNews Posted 12/07/06 11:37 North Korea Says U.S. Has Nuclear Bomb in South: Tass By REUTERS, MOSCOW North Korea believes Washington has atomic weapons deployed in South Korea and it will not halt its nuclear program as long as this threat persists, Itar-Tass news agency quoted a North Korean source as saying on Dec. 7. "(North Korea) has practically no doubts that there are U.S. nuclear weapons in the south of the Korean Peninsula," the source told Tass. "North Korea is forced, in the interests of self-defense, to enhance its nuclear capability." "Without eliminating the threat from the United States and without relevant guarantees being offered, P…

Last night during the Zoom meeting there was talk about the PLAN super carrier and that they were going to use the same cats that we're using. Maybe not....to this old shipfitters eyes it looks like a standard Kuznetov design with a ski ramp and no angle...which means they can't launch and recover at the same time....oops.... Byron

From DefenseNews N. Korea Says No Point in Nuclear Talks with U.S. By JON HERSKOVITZ, REUTERS, SEOUL North Korea said Jan. 17 it was unthinkable for it to return to nuclear disarmament talks that include the United States because it believes Washington wants to bring down its communist rulers with financial sanctions. Pyongyang has already threatened to boycott the talks until the sanctions are lifted, but the fresh remark from the official KCNA news agency came as media reports suggested North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was in Beijing for discussions with Chinese leaders about the stalled six-way talks. Talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and…

International Herald Tribune January 31, 2006 An Aircraft Carrier For China? By David Lague BEIJING--As China builds a military to match its growing economic power, its neighbors and potential rivals including the United States have puzzled over a key question: When will the Chinese Navy launch an aircraft carrier? For decades, senior Chinese military and political officials have argued that for the country to become a great power, the People's Liberation Army Navy needs to add these potent warships to its fleet. However, the major obstacle to this ambition is that aircraft carriers are hugely expensive. The two 50,000-metric-ton conventionally p…

From DefenseNews U.S. Should Butt out of China’s Bilateral Relations By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING On June 30, China blasted interference by the United States in its relations with other countries and urged the European Union and Israel to ignore Washington’s concerns over arms sales. ”We believe that the United States should not point fingers, make irresponsible remarks and place obstacles in the way. We are firmly against it,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. ”The U.S. should discard its Cold War mentality and stop obstructing normal cooperation between China and other countries ... we ask relevant parties and sides to adhere to the prin…

China’s First Domestic Aircraft Carrier Almost Certainly Under Construction (USNI News) With commentary from our man Chris Carlson.

Washington Times April 6, 2007 Pg. 9 China Mum On Pace Query On Anti-Satellite System By Bill Gertz, The Washington Times China's senior military leaders refused to disclose any details about a recent test of a new anti-satellite weapon system or other aspects of a secret space-arms program, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters yesterday. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, who recently returned from a four-day visit to China, also said NATO forces have launched a spring offensive in Afghanistan against ousted Taliban militia. On China's Jan. 11 test, Gen. Pace said he asked Chinese leaders during several meetings about the use of a mi…

N. Korea missile could hit Guam, report says The Associated Press Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 13:27:31 EDT North Korea displayed a newly developed ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam during a massive military parade last week, a news report said Sunday. The parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday featured three new models, including the medium-range missile that can travel 2,500km to 4,000km, the Chosun Ilbo reported. The report cited an unidentified South Korean government official familiar with an analysis of U.S. satellite images. “All three [new] models are ground-to-ground missiles,” the official was quoted as saying. “Of them, t…

China's Navy Forms First Carrier-Borne Jet Force (Defense Aerospace)

Global Security

From Defense Aerospace Seoul to Purchase US Spy Aircraft (Source: Korean Ministry of National Defence; dated July 13, web-posted July 12, 2005) The Defense Ministry has officially requested the United States sell its high-altitude, long-range surveillance aircraft as part of its mid to long-term arms acquisition plan, ministry officials said on Tuesday (July 12). The request was made at a sub-panel session of an annual defense ministerial meeting between South Korea and the U.S., called the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), in Hawaii last month, officials said. The two allies are scheduled to hold the SCM in October. The South Korean delegates aske…

I am working on creating a new scenario and was wondering, how does China group its surface ships? Do they have groups similar to US destroyer squadron? Or carrier battle groups? I understand they just commissioned their first carrier so they probably have not completely established their naval strategy, but with other surface ships, is there any methodology the PLAN uses? Thanks for any help, this site and forum has been such a blessing