PLAAF Breaking News (including articles with Pictures or videos)

China is actively developing its fleet of long-range bombers and "likely" training its pilots for missions targeting the US, according to a new Pentagon report.
"Over the last three years, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against US and allied targets," the report said.

The "Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" is a US government report mandated by Congress, which details Chinese military developments over the previous year.

This year's report also claims that China is pursuing a nuclear capability on its long-range bombers, saying the Chinese air force "has been re-assigned a nuclear mission."
"The deployment and integration of nuclear capable bombers would, for the first time, provide China with a nuclear 'triad' of delivery systems dispersed across land, sea, and air," the report said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made no secret of his desire to

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

including weeding out widespread corruption in the ranks and updating the country's military hardware.

As Thursday's report notes, the PLA is undergoing "the most comprehensive restructure in its history to become a force capable of fighting joint operations."
The United States released a new Defense Strategy at the beginning of 2018 where it proclaimed "long-term strategic competitions with China" as one of the US military's top challenges.

According to Thursday's report, China is working on a "stealthy, long-range strategic bomber with a nuclear delivery capability that could be operational within the next 10 years," in addition to the bombers it already operates.

In a show of the expanding reach of Beijing's power, the Chinese military landed nuclear-capable H-6K bombers on one of their artificial islands in the South China Sea

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Cold War mentality
This year's report comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and China, amid an escalating trade war and disagreements over Beijing's actions in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Even before the new report's release, Washington was feeling the full brunt of the Chinese military's fury over a new $717 billion US defense bill which encourages closer cooperation with Taiwan to counter Beijing.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Chinese Ministry of Defense spokesman Wu Qian said the United States was"full of Cold War mentality."
"A man cannot prosper without honesty, the same is true for a country," Wu said. "We urge the US to stick to its promises to China regarding Taiwan question, and uphold the one-China policy."

The new US report released on Thursday said China was deploying

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

in a bid to prevent the island from declaring independence.

Despite Taiwan being self-governed for almost 70 years, the mainland Chinese government continues to view the island as an integral part of its territory.

The US report didn't just highlight threats to the United States or its allies -- there was also a broader discussion of the spread of Chinese influence around the world.

The document notes China has established its first overseas base in Djibouti and that it "will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries."

China formally established its Djibouti military base in July last year, followed several months later by the country's controversial acquisition of the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka.

Around the time of the Djbouti base opening, an

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

stressed its importance to Beijing's plans. "Certainly this is the People's Liberation Army's first overseas base and we will base troops there. It's not a commercial resupply point... This base can support Chinese Navy to go farther, so it means a lot," said the paper.

The Pentagon report said Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature infrastructure policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), served to encourage countries to fall into line with China's ambitions.

"China intends to use the BRI to develop strong economic ties with other countries, shape their interests to align with China's, and deter confrontation or criticism of China's approach to sensitive issues," the report said.

China also continues to develop

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

, "including kinetic-kill missiles, ground-based lasers and orbiting space robots," the report said, a time when US President Donald Trump plans to establish

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Beijing is also working "to expand space surveillance capabilities that can monitor objects across the globe and in space and enable counterspace actions."

Click to expand...

Jura said:

noticed
China 'likely' training pilots to target US, Pentagon report says

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Dfangsaur said:

"likely" indeed. Good job CNN, really observing. I like the mention of H-20 though, really hoping for more info on it this year.

Click to expand...

Jura said:

noticed
China 'likely' training pilots to target US, Pentagon report says

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

The Pentagon, for the first time, has publicly reported what commanders in the Pacific have known about, and kept a wary eye on, for some time: China is practicing long-range bombing runs against U.S. targets.

While the Defense Department annually reports on the rapid growth in capabilities of China’s air, land and sea forces, the 2018 report is the first to acknowledge the direct threat to U.S. territory.

Recent developments on China’s H-6K variant of its Badger bomber give the bomber “the capability to carry six land-attack cruise missiles, giving the PLA a long-range standoff precision strike capability that can range Guam,” the report said. It also acknowledged frequent bombing practice runs that U.S. commanders at the newly renamed U.S. INDOPACOM in Hawaii have watched expand in numbers and distance.

During a trip to the command last October, defense officials described to

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

the frequent incursions to test Guam’s air-defense zone as one of the many changes in China’s behavior in the Pacific that create worry. Compared to North Korea, which officials said they still view as “a fight we can win,” with China they “worry about the way things are going."

The

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

on getting U.S. forces ready again for a great power fight, with investments in new fighters, bombers and ships to keep the U.S. at pace with — and ahead of — the Chinese investments.

“The PLA has been developing strike capabilities to engage targets as far away from China as possible. Over the last three years, the PLA has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against U.S. and allied targets,” the 2018 report found.

More worrisome, the report found, “the PLA Air Force has been re-assigned a nuclear mission. The deployment and integration of nuclear-capable bombers would, for the first time, provide China with a nuclear “triad” of delivery systems dispersed across land, sea and air.”

The

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

on China’s military and security developments was released Thursday; a separate classified version was also prepared for the Hill.

The Pentagon emphasized that even as it is monitoring and re-calibrating its own defense strategies and investment priorities to be prepared for a potential great power fight in the future with China, “the Department of Defense’s objective is to set the military relationship between our two countries on a path of transparency and non-aggression," the report said.

For years the U.S. has reported on the closing gap between U.S. and Chinese capabilities. The Chinese air force totaled more than 2,700 aircraft in 2018 and, of those, 2,000 were combat aircraft. More than 600 of those combat aircraft were 4th-generation fighters and the country is rapidly fielding its fifth generation J-20 and FC-31 jets, the report said.

Click to expand...

Jura said:

Today at 7:57 AM
now DefenseNews:
China, close to establishing its own ‘nuclear triad,’ has practiced targeting US

5 hours ago

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

A new Pentagon report highlights the strides Beijing is making with its bomber capabilities, as well as other airpower trends.

In its annual report to congress about military developments in China, the US Department of Defense highlights the capabilities of the Xian H-6K bomber. It dedicates a whole chapter to Beijing’s ratcheting up of long-range bomber patrols.

“Over the last three years, the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against U.S. and allied targets,” says the report.

“The PLA may continue to extend its operations beyond the first island chain, demonstrating the capability to strike U.S. and allied forces and military bases in the western Pacific Ocean, including Guam.”

It notes the H-6K, which has more range and endurance than the H-6G, can carry six land attack cruise missiles that offer an “offensive strike capability against Guam.”

It adds that future H-6 missions could target Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province.

“Depending on the weapons load, potential future H-6 missions could include anti-ship or shorter-range strikes targeting eastern Taiwan from all directions or supporting a blockade,” says the report. “Currently, such missions are vulnerable without defense counter-air support provided by fighters traveling along the route with the bombers.”

It lists 22 long-range bomber patrols from September 2013 to December 2017, mostly over the Western Pacific. Some have included fighters, airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft, and air-to-air refuelling.

Longer term, the report notes that China is developing a stealth bomber that is likely to be designated H-20. This aircraft could make its debut in the mid-2020s. It is likely to have an 8,500km (4,600nm) range, and a payload of 10t.

“A photograph of a possible H-20 prototype depicted a flying wing airframe akin to the [Northrop Grumman] B-2 bomber and X-47B stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV),” it says.

In addition, a separate air-refuellable bomber could reach initial operational capability before the H-20.

The report notes that Beijing continues to deploy the Y-20 strategic airlifter, more advanced fighter aircraft, such as the Chengdu J-20, and improve AEW&C assets.

It also notes challenges. These include Beijing’s well-publicised weakness in building advanced aircraft engines, as well as trouble with radars. The report says that both of these are problems for the J-20 and AVIC FC-31 programmes.

“The PLAAF continues to modernize and is closing the gap with the U.S. Air Force across a broad spectrum of capabilities, gradually eroding the United States’ longstanding significant technical advantage.”

Click to expand...