DoD 2011 annual military report on china is out

kroko

Senior Member
DoD 2011 annual military report on china is out:

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first impressions:

they no longer discriminate betwen the different types of ICBM. We dont know how many DF-31A china has, but they say its growing. No mention of DF-41, as expected.

They wrote this report before varyag´s first sea trial. They are NOT aware of any domestic aircraft carrier being built right now. Could start this year, but they dont know.


There may be more new things, but dont have the time to read the rest
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
DoD 2011 annual military report on china is out:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


first impressions:

they no longer discriminate betwen the different types of ICBM. We dont know how many DF-31A china has, but they say its growing. No mention of DF-41, as expected.

They wrote this report before varyag´s first sea trial. They are NOT aware of any domestic aircraft carrier being built right now. Could start this year, but they dont know.


There may be more new things, but dont have the time to read the rest

China's military catching up to West, Pentagon says
The Defense Department assessment says Beijing appears on track to achieve its goal of building a modern, regionally focused military by 2020.


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Chinese military strength

A soldier walks past a Chinese flag in Shanghai. (Philippe Lopez, AFP/Getty Images / October 31, 2010)

By David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times

August 24, 2011, 4:20 p.m.
Reporting from Washington—
China's military is closing technical gaps that long have given the United States and its allies a military edge in Asia, although several ambitious new weapons systems and platforms appear years from completion, according to a new Pentagon assessment.

China is developing a new stealth fighter, recently conducted sea trials on its first aircraft carrier and carried out a record number of satellite and other space launches in the last year, the report notes. It says China appears on track to achieve its goal of building a modern, regionally focused military by 2020.

The pace and scope of China's drive has "allowed it to pursue capabilities that we believe are potentially destabilizing" and "may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties," Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of Defense, said in a Pentagon briefing Wednesday

But China's People's Liberation Army may face difficulties trying to integrate new and complex weapons systems and capabilities into a military that has always relied on manpower, not technology, for national defense, the report adds.

The Obama administration has maintained high-level contacts with China. Vice President Joe Biden completed a visit there this week, and Chinese President Hu Jintao came to Washington in January.

The report comes amid growing concern at the Pentagon over deep cuts in the U.S. defense budget. Defense officials have agreed to cut roughly $400 billion in spending over the next decade, but they worry that the Pentagon will be targeted for deeper cuts to help reduce the federal deficit.

The Pentagon's defenders in Congress have long cited China's military modernization as a potential threat to American interests and a reason not to cut the Pentagon budget.

The Defense Department spends more than $500 billion a year, not including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That dwarfs the estimated $160 billion that China spent on its military last year.

The report warns that China's growing capabilities could allow it to project power in the Western Pacific in an effort to deny access to U.S. and allied naval vessels someday.

But China's first aircraft carrier is a decades-old former Soviet vessel, and the navy won't be able to fly fighter jets from its deck for years, the report says.

Schiffer said he believes Beijing is working toward building its own aircraft carriers, but the report notes that no domestically produced Chinese aircraft carrier could be operational before 2015, assuming construction began this year.

"Whether or not this proves to be a net plus for the region or for the globe, or proves to be something that has destabilizing effects and raises blood pressure in various regional capitals, I think remains to be seen," he added.

The new stealth fighter Beijing is developing, along with longer-range missiles, could give China the ability to strike air bases and other facilities in the region, but the advanced aircraft is still years away from completion, the report says.
 

LesAdieux

Junior Member
this is the report on cnn

Pentagon warns of potential problems with militarily strong China

Washington (CNN) -- The Pentagon issued fresh warnings Wednesday that China's military expansion could stir up new tensions and provoke dangerous misunderstandings

"The pace and scope of China's sustained military investment have allowed China to pursue capabilities we believe are potentially destabilizing to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Michael Schiffer said.

"Such capabilities could increase Beijing's options to use military force to gain diplomatic advantage, advance its interests or resolve military disputes in its favor."

The annual survey of defense and security issues involving China has produced a litany of short-term and ongoing concerns in recent years. Past reports have focused on increased overall spending on the military; the enhanced range of ballistic and anti-ship missiles; the military's lack of transparency and expanded power-projection capability; and increased spending on efforts to break into U.S. military computers.

A consistent theme in the reports has been the potential threat the Communist nation's military growth poses to regional stability, and to Taiwan in particular.

A classified report was presented to Congress and an 83-page version was made public.

U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Congress "will review this assessment in greater detail" in the coming weeks, but noted two things that stood out in the report:

"First, Beijing's increasing assertiveness and military capabilities, particularly China's ability to deny access to the western Pacific, is of growing concern not only to the United States but to China's neighbors, leading to changes in the military posture of regional actors," the California Republican said in a statement. "This has significant consequences for the security and stability of the region.

"Second, China clearly believes that it can capitalize on the global financial crisis, using the United States' economic uncertainty as a window of opportunity to strengthen China's economic, diplomatic, and security interests," he said.

"Therefore, security in the Pacific could be further jeopardized if our regional allies also come to believe that the United States will sacrifice the presence and capability of the U.S. military in an attempt to control spending," McKeon said. "This is an unacceptable outcome in such a vital region of the globe."

The Pentagon report called for new efforts to share military information with Beijing, and it praised China for international involvement in such areas as humanitarian and disaster relief and countering pirates.

But the U.S. continues to voice its concerns about a steady Chinese military buildup, including testing of a stealth fighter jet, sea trials of an aircraft carrier it purchased and rebuilt and development of new capabilities under the seas, in space and online.

"There are very real questions, given the overall trends and trajectory in the scope and the scale of China's military modernization efforts," Schiffer said at the Pentagon. "I wouldn't put it on any one particular platform or any one particular system."

He predicted that China would continue to develop the aircraft carrier it bought from Ukraine in 1998 and its combat capability, as well as build new ships.

"We do think China is undertaking an effort to build its own indigenous aircraft carriers," Schiffer said. "I won't speculate on the number, but likely more than one, being developed in the future."

The report said China's economic development and expanding scientific and technology base "facilitated a comprehensive and ongoing military modernization program."

And that larger, newer military could change China's role. "China's modernized military could be put to use in ways that increase China's ability to gain diplomatic advantage to resolve disputes in its favor," the report said.

U.S. support for Taiwan continues to be a source of tension between the U.S. and China. "Beijing is developing capabilities intended to deter, delay or deny possible U.S. support for the island in the event of conflict," the report said. "The balance of cross-(Taiwan) Strait military forces and capabilities continues to shift in the Mainland's favor."

Schiffer would not say whether a copy of the report had been sent to Chinese leaders. He also would not comment on whether Pakistan had given Chinese officials access to wreckage of a super-secret helicopter left behind after the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound.
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
I think this thread should be renamed to "DoD 2011 report on the Chinese military is as useful as always"
 

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Do the people from Pentagon do actual research on their topics or do they just grab a bunch of facts from the internet and piece them together and call it a day. I recall them making embarrassing statements about China's "mini killer satellites" in one of their past reports after translating some text from a patriotic Chinese forum.
 

kwaigonegin

Colonel
Do the people from Pentagon do actual research on their topics or do they just grab a bunch of facts from the internet and piece them together and call it a day. I recall them making embarrassing statements about China's "mini killer satellites" in one of their past reports after translating some text from a patriotic Chinese forum.

No kidding. People in this forum are a lot more knowledgeble and can write a far more detailed, complete and accurate article on China's military capabilities at present and future than the analysts can even dream of doing working for the the DoD or Pentagon.
I thought the DoD recruit only the best and brightest from colleges across the US! :p

/serious
 

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
No kidding. People in this forum are a lot more knowledgeble and can write a far more detailed, complete and accurate article on China's military capabilities at present and future than the analysts can even dream of doing working for the the DoD or Pentagon.
I thought the DoD recruit only the best and brightest from colleges across the US! :p

/serious

What I think is that this report is only a facade. They only show the public what the public needs to know. The higher ups probably have a really good idea of what is going on.
 

kwaigonegin

Colonel
What I think is that this report is only a facade. They only show the public what the public needs to know. The higher ups probably have a really good idea of what is going on.

If that's the case then I think it's counterproductive and the DoD is very disingenous. While I don;t expect or even want them to reveal any Top Secret type material but to purposely distort some facts and hypothesize China's military prowess based on 'lesser' data is a terrible practice. Besides the public here is a relative term. The average 'Joe Q. Public' is never going to be interested in reading something like this anyway. Only people like us would.
 

Red Moon

Junior Member
If that's the case then I think it's counterproductive and the DoD is very disingenous. While I don;t expect or even want them to reveal any Top Secret type material but to purposely distort some facts and hypothesize China's military prowess based on 'lesser' data is a terrible practice. Besides the public here is a relative term. The average 'Joe Q. Public' is never going to be interested in reading something like this anyway. Only people like us would.

Counterproductive or not, I think it is the case. Whether it's an "intelligence estimate" or a "report to Congress", it will only contain what they want the public to hear (even if it is just "us").
 
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