Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From Defence Talk Taiwan To Test Fire Cruise Missile Capable Of Hitting China AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Fri, 7 Jul 2006, 01:19 Taipei: Taiwan plans to test-fire a cruise missile capable of hitting rival China despite concerns from the United States, a report here said Thursday. The cruise missile, with a range of 600 kilometers (360 miles), will be test-fired at a ceremony in September attended by President Chen Shui-bian in the south of the island, the ettoday.com online newspaper said. "The United States has voiced concerns to Taiwanese authorities as the missile has exceeded the 300-kilometer limit" under the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Chinese-la…

In Asia-Pacific, A New Alliance Of 4 By Richard Halloran NEW DELHI — By coincidence, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific, were in India at the same time last month and for the same reason — to entice India into closer security relations with their respective nations. Then President Bush, in Australia last week for an Asia-Pacific summit gathering, conferred at length with Prime Minister John Howard on Iraq and on wider issues of security in Asia. And even as they spoke, warships from Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S., plus Singapore, were training together in the Indian Ocean. …

Chinese Fighters Intercept US Spy Plane, Pentagon Confirms (DefenseTech)

Why North Korea Is Planning Long-Range Missile Flight Tests Over Japan and Toward Guam (The Diplomat)

By MARK THOMPSON / WASHINGTON Mark Thompson / Washington – 24 mins ago If China's satellites and spies were working properly, there would have been a flood of unsettling intelligence flowing into the Beijing headquarters of the Chinese navy last week. A new class of U.S. superweapon had suddenly surfaced nearby. It was an Ohio-class submarine, which for decades carried only nuclear missiles targeted against the Soviet Union, and then Russia. But this one was different: for nearly three years, the U.S. Navy has been dispatching modified "boomers" to who knows where (they do travel underwater, after all). Four of the 18 ballistic-missile subs no longer carry nuclear-tip…

Full Article Looks like the second Azmat class units was added, the Paks NOB.

Quantum Communications and Chinese SSBN Strategy (The Diplomat)

I found this episode of Wide Angle in the Notes of a wiki page linked from the HULL mailing list. There apparently is a Public Broadcasting System program called Wide Angle. Around July 2008, this episode aired, I viewed it in ints entirety this morning. Here is a link - Japan's About Face. It looks at the ongoing Japanese constitutional debate over the role of its Self Defense Forces. At the heart of the debate is Article 9 of their constitution - their "Constitutional Problem". It looks at cadets and instructors at their military academy, members of the powerful Japanese pacifist-peace movement, general citizens (many have no idea that they even have a self …

The Real Problem with Strikes on Mainland China (War on the Rocks blog)

From the australian ABC news service. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-05/australia-japan-navy-frigates/105613688?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Chinese Submariners Are Different StrategyPage Opinion June 9, 2005: Chinese submariners are different. In the United States, submarines have crews that stay with the boat, just like on any other warship. The only exception is the SSBNs (ballistic missile subs), which have two crews, so that the boat can spend the maximum amount of time at sea. The Chinese do it differently. Each class of subs has crews trained for different types of missions, and these crews are assigned to a sub in order to train in their specialty (mine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare). Another reason for the multiple crews (usually two per sub) is also to increase the nu…

dont know if this is the greatest idea in the world, why pull on the tigers tail. http://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-hails-missile...-084816584.html

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/09/28/navy-vessel-catches-fire-banyuwangi.html Their newest missile boat as well...

Chinese nuclear forces, 2013 (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, pdf)

How China Is Building the Biggest Commercial-Military Empire in History (Defense One) This one is chock full of scenario fodder.

China installs weapons systems on artificial islands: U.S. think tank (Reuters)

https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2025-03-07/peoples-liberation-army-navy-vessels-operating-near-australia

From Aviation Week DSP Satellites See Aggressive New Chinese Missile Testing By Craig Covault China is beginning an unprecedented surge in the flight test of new ballistic missiles at the same time that the U.S. is starting a lengthy transition of missile-warning satellite systems, critical for providing intelligence on this test activity. The current Defense Support Program (DSP) missile-warning spacecraft and new Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) spacecraft, just starting to be launched, have a primary job of attack warnings. But the powerful infrared telescopes on the DSPs are especially providing vital intelligence on new Chinese, as well as Iranian…

From Defence Talk India hopes to test ICBM in 2010: official Agence France-Presse | Feb 16, 2009 Bangalore, India: India hopes to test-fire a home-built inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the end of next year, a senior defence official said Friday. "Efforts are on to test the next longer range Agni-V missile before December 2010," M. Natarajan, the scientific adviser to India's defence minister told reporters on the sidelines of the Aero India international air show here. The Agni-V will have an ICBM range in excess of 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles). The shorter range Agni-I and Agni-II ballistic missiles are currently being introduced …

China Shows Off Futuristic Ships at IDEX (DefenseNews' Intercepts blog)