Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Missiles launched from Bushmaster vehicles could soon be operated by the Australian army

I wonder if this might have the same implications as the sale of manufacturing equipment by Toshiba to the Soviet Union? It gave them huge advances in the quieting of their SSNs. Chinese Nationals Held in Alleged Scheme By GILLIAN FLACCUS The Associated Press Monday, November 7, 2005; 10:57 PM WashingtonPost SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A federal judge on Monday denied bail for two Chinese nationals accused of conspiring to steal sensitive documents on U.S. Navy warship technology and smuggle them to China. Tai Wang Mak, a broadcast and engineering director for the Phoenix North American Chinese Channel, and his wife, Fuk Heung Li, were arrested Oct. 28 in …

Excerpt from: Naval War College CHINA’S MATURING NAVY Rear Admiral Eric A. McVadon, U.S. Navy (Retired) Naval War College Review, Spring 2006, Vol. 59, No. 2 STARTING WITH QUESTIONS The following questions and answers may be an unusual way to begin probing the specific naval aspects of the issue, but they focus on an often neglected, but arguably the most surprising, single PLAN acquisition program—its bold move to build quickly a modern nuclear submarine force despite its troubled past in this arena. These incisive questions—posed to the author in 2005 by experts on the Chinese submarine force—are especially useful in that they take the PLA’s Ta…

Dud frigates are an inherited nightmare: Fitzgibbon By Alexandra Kirk and staff Posted Wed Jan 2, 2008 4:31pm AEDT ABC News A Navy whistleblower says the frigates' anti-missile and anti-torpedo systems could not be integrated. (Department of Defence) Australia's front line guided missile frigates are still not able to be sent into battle, despite a $1.5 billion upgrade. The project to modernise the 1970's ships is running four years late, and according to News Limited papers this morning, sailors are quitting because their ships can not be deployed in the Middle East or any other conflict zone. In the report a Navy whistleblower says the frigates'…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

Indonesia selects Su-35 to meet air combat requirement (Jane's)

From DefenseNews Chinese Delegates At Shangri-La Express Frustration With N. Korea By WENDELL MINNICK Published: 6 Jun 2010 15:45 SINGAPORE - Members of a Chinese delegation attending the 9th Asia Security Summit earlier this month indicated Beijing officials are flustered by North Korean hijinks. Also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue the summit, held annually in Singapore, is run by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). North Korean issues shared the spotlight at Shangri-La with difficulties over China's refusal to continue military exchanges with the U.S. A Chinese government official at Shangri-La said he "was puzz…

http://alert5.com/2012/08/27/photo-china-unveils-j-8f-tactical-reconnaissance-fighter/ Another one for the DBs...

From Air Force Times U.S. gauges China’s anti-satellite plan By Vago Muradian - Staff writer Posted : Friday Feb 2, 2007 11:10:30 EST As worldwide attention focuses on China’s first successful anti-satellite missile test, U.S. officials are questioning why some Chinese spacecraft are in orbits that bring them close to key U.S. satellites, according to military sources. The big question is the scale and progress of the Chinese anti-satellite program, including whether the Chinese spacecraft are benign or time bombs that can someday be used to threaten the space assets on which the U.S. military and economy depend for everything from reconnaissance and droppin…

Japan To Vote On Modifying Pacifist Charter Written By U.S. By Norimitsu Onishi TOKYO, May 14 — The Japanese Parliament passed a bill on Monday calling for a national referendum on amendments to the country’s pacifist Constitution. The government will be able to hold the referendum as early as 2010, but experts say it may take far longer than three years to persuade voters and opposition lawmakers to back constitutional change. Polls show that Japanese remain split, especially on the Constitution’s Article 9, which renounces war and forbids Japan to have a full-fledged military. But Parliament’s action was an important preliminary step toward rewriting the…

The PLA Navy: New Capabilities and Missions for the 21st Century (pdf, ONI)

This Is Not The ICBM You Are Looking For; Detailed Analysis Of North Korean Missile (Breaking Defense)

From Flight International DATE: 04/01/08 SOURCE: Flight International Australia to review Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet purchase By Emma Kelly Australia's newly elected Labor government is to review the country's air power capability, in a controversial move that could see the previous administration's A$6.6 billion ($5.8 billion) order for 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets dumped, and the planned purchase of up to 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters also face a fresh assessment. Australia became the first export customer for the Super Hornet (US Navy F/A-18F pictured below) last March, with its two-seat fighters scheduled for delivery from 2010 a…

From Center for a New American Security: Cooperation from Strength: The United States, China and the South China Sea (PDF) One excerpt that stood out to me:

Deterring the Dragon ... From (Under) the Sea (Proceedings, February 2014)

A great and detailed article in the US amphibious air wing, centered on the its current and future use as "Lightning Carriers" with F-35B (many ideas for scenarios): https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/27253/u-s-amphibious-assault-ship-in-south-china-sea-with-unprecedentedly-large-load-of-f-35bs

maybe useful for a model of a PRC Carrier Group

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-30/aukus-announcement-to-develop-undersea-vehicles/106741398?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

CV32: Or, is it that Okinawa is needed to defend Taiwan? From DefenseNews U.S. Says Okinawa Base Needed To Defend Japan By SHAUN TANDON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 17 Mar 2010 21:37 WASHINGTON - The United States said March 17 that it needs to maintain a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to defend the region, as the new government in Tokyo considers scrapping a previous plan. Senior U.S. officials told Congress that while they respected the decisions of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's six-month-old government, they hoped to go ahead with a plan to move the Futenma air base within Okinawa. Michael Schiffer, a senior Pentagon official, told a…

A Player, but No Superpower (Foreign Policy, Argument) Once again, Andrew Erickson nails it, imho.