PLA RealTalk: Blitzo's new PLA watching website

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Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
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Hello fellow SDFers, in the last couple of months I've been working on a PLA watching website, which I've named
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, and I feel like I've got down enough posts to feel confident posting it here, and also to acknowledge the role of SDF in helping provide much of the information and pictures (either directly or indirectly) which ultimately makes up the content that I'm writing for the site.
Hosting is done out of my own pocket and I earn no revenue off the site.
I merely hope it will be a useful resource for old and new PLA watchers limited to the English language, to help complement English language resources forums like SDF and CDF, as well as contribute to information provided by sites/blogs such as Huitong's site, Sinodefence.com (especially the old Sinodefence.com), China Defence Blog, and others.... and also to directly address and counter less reliable websites who write inaccurate statements about the Chinese military.

At present I have about a dozen posts under my belt, but many of them are "profiles" and quite long and exhaustive with a lot of pictures. These posts are meant to be informative and exhaustive (though not excessively technical), and to address nuances that may exist. These are not "skim in three minutes on the bus" type blog posts.
Current posts are mostly navy related, but I will gradually expand them to air force, and once I have "caught up" with current Chinese military developments I hope to begin to post regular weekly updates that may emerge.

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I also have a few posts on "how to follow the Chinese military," based on the experiences that I (and likely others) have gone through in following the PLA over the years.
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The site at this point is still in its early stages, and it'll take me a while to be able to post regularly on my schedule (especially once the year gets in full swing again).
But hopefully the site will still be useful for members here (especially new members) and PLA watchers in general. I am also open to any corrections or additions that anyone wishes to provide, or guest write ups from members on SDF if they so desire.

Cheers.
 
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Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Hello fellow SDFers, in the last couple of months I've been working on a PLA watching website, which I've named
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, and I feel like I've got down enough posts to feel confident posting it here, and also to acknowledge the role of SDF in helping provide much of the information and pictures.

I have "caught up" with current Chinese military developments I hope to begin to post regular weekly updates that may emerge.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


I also have a few posts on "how to follow the Chinese military," based on the experiences that I (and likely others) have gone through in following the PLA over the years.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!



I am also open to any corrections or additions that anyone wishes to provide, or guest write ups from members on SDF if they so desire.

Cheers.
That's a very nice site, Bltizo!

Congrats, very well done and very good looking.

Best of luck with I!
 

Brumby

Major
Hello fellow SDFers, in the last couple of months I've been working on a PLA watching website, which I've named
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, and I feel like I've got down enough posts to feel confident posting it here, and also to acknowledge the role of SDF in helping provide much of the information and pictures (either directly or indirectly) which ultimately makes up the content that I'm writing for the site.
Hosting is done out of my own pocket and I earn no revenue off the site.
I merely hope it will be a useful resource for old and new PLA watchers limited to the English language, to help complement English language resources forums like SDF and CDF, as well as contribute to information provided by sites/blogs such as Huitong's site, Sinodefence.com (especially the old Sinodefence.com), China Defence Blog, and others.... and also to directly address and counter less reliable websites who write inaccurate statements about the Chinese military.

At present I have about a dozen posts under my belt, but many of them are "profiles" and quite long and exhaustive with a lot of pictures. These posts are meant to be informative and exhaustive (though not excessively technical), and to address nuances that may exist. These are not "skim in three minutes on the bus" type blog posts.
Current posts are mostly navy related, but I will gradually expand them to air force, and once I have "caught up" with current Chinese military developments I hope to begin to post regular weekly updates that may emerge.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


I also have a few posts on "how to follow the Chinese military," based on the experiences that I (and likely others) have gone through in following the PLA over the years.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!



The site at this point is still in its early stages, and it'll take me a while to be able to post regularly on my schedule (especially once the year gets in full swing again).
But hopefully the site will still be useful for members here (especially new members) and PLA watchers in general. I am also open to any corrections or additions that anyone wishes to provide, or guest write ups from members on SDF if they so desire.

Cheers.
Bltizo,
Very well done, organised and the contents are really informative. I am sure it will be successful given the standard and work you have put in. Congratulations.
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Bltizo,
Very well done, organised and the contents are really informative. I am sure it will be successful given the standard and work you have put in. Congratulations.

Thanks, I appreciate it.


Bltizo, your site kind of reminds me of the Chinese version of my:


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Kudos!

Yep, I was definitely influenced somewhat by your site on the USN, Chinese Navy, and worldwide carriers and aegis ships... and also the old Sinodefence.com and of course Huitong's site. I did end up choosing a more blog like wordpress.org site, for the ease of use, and I also realize my site will probably be less comprehensive in some ways. For instance, I deliberately do not have a "specs" part for any of the ships and aircraft I list, given many specs are somewhat difficult to come by.

I also don't think I'll have the time to offer comprehensive updates of each "profile" of each ship or aircraft that I would optimally like, and I definitely won't be able to provide anything near the kind of detailed and accurate information that a USN or RN following site can do for their navies (simply due to the opacity of the Chinese military overall).
But the site should hopefully still provide a bedrock of accurate information and solid logic to help inform new Chinese military watchers on the general characteristics and background of certain ships, aircraft, and weapons systems, as well as the potential nuances and operational context they'd be used in... even if we may not have access to accurate specs.


This page has all the topics that I eventually intend on writing about:
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Most of the entries will be profiles about current ships or aircraft or capabilities, some will be basic history, and some will be regarding specific subsystems of a ship or aircraft, and some will also be more direct commentary on issues (such as J-20's role) or even comparisons (I intend on looking at 055 vs various international ships like Zumwalt, Sejong, Slava, Type 45 etc once the information is there).

Once I get a greater proportion of those entries "caught up," I will probably be more willing to do regular weekly or biweekly "updates" of new developments in the Chinese military sphere to try and become continuously relevant.


And yes, I definitely am interested on emphasizing the importance of "how to" do PLA watching and the various sources that are most optimal for following them (for English readers). Given how unique the Chinese military is in that regard, I think there aren't enough (or any) open source outlets which can help new Chinese military watchers get on the band wagon.
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Thanks, I appreciate it.




Yep, I was definitely influenced somewhat by your site on the USN, Chinese Navy, and worldwide carriers and aegis ships... and also the old Sinodefence.com and of course Huitong's site. I did end up choosing a more blog like wordpress.org site, for the ease of use, and I also realize my site will probably be less comprehensive in some ways.

I also don't think I'll have the time to offer comprehensive updates of each "profile" of each ship or aircraft that I would optimally like, and I definitely won't be able to provide anything near the kind of detailed and accurate information that a USN or RN following site can do for their navies (simply due to the opacity of the Chinese military overall).
.
This page has all the topics that I eventually intend on writing about:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Once I get a greater proportion of those entries "caught up," I will probably be more willing to do regular weekly or biweekly "updates" of new developments in the Chinese military sphere to try and become continuously relevant.
Wow! That is an ambitious set of topics/pages/blogs.

I am sure it will be very informative....and also know it will be a lot of work.

I will be adding your site to my favorite links and going through the ones you have, and the new ones as the come pout.

Again, congrats...I know it will give you a lot of satisfaction and be very interesting.
 

steve_rolfe

Junior Member
Just been over to your site 'Bltizo'. Very informative and professional.
I look forward to visiting the site regularly.

Just one thing, in regards to where we get info on Chinese military developments,
the site 'PDF' is very useful as well, as they have a Chinese section there, and there are many Chinese posters there, that post photo's from the official Chinese military sites.
I mention this because many members here, use PDF to get hold of the latest photos, and subsequently post them here at 'SDF'.

Plus, the French site 'forum marine' is a good source, as it is where Henri K resides, and he posts some very upto date info on Chinese military developments, together with a great deal of new photo's.:)
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Wow! That is an ambitious set of topics/pages/blogs.

I am sure it will be very informative....and also know it will be a lot of work.

Hehe, it's definitely going to be a long term project...
I probably won't be able to be 100% thorough in many of the topics, but they should provide a solid preliminary background for anyone wanting to get more info on them.
For instance, for the Y-8Q/GX6 ASW MPA post, I made a number of what I believed to be reasonable inferences and assumptions (clearly described as such) to try and project how it may stack up and what its roles and capabilities might be, and should hopefully allow people unfamiliar with the Y-8Q ASW MPA to understand the kind of aircraft it will be in context.


I will be adding your site to my favorite links and going through the ones you have, and the new ones as the come pout.

Again, congrats...I know it will give you a lot of satisfaction and be very interesting.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I might post links to new write ups either in this thread or in the relevant threads (e.g.: I might post a link to a profile on Chinese Navy AORs in the replenishment thread), for anyone who is interested.

And of course, I'm always open to critique, suggestions, or pointing out typos if anyone sees them (as well as anyone if they want to make a guest post on a topic they feel knowledgeable about). The site's content is very much reflective of communities like SDF and CDF, and I'd like it to be as practically inclusive as possible while also having content legitimacy.


Just been over to your site 'Bltizo'. Very informative and professional.
I look forward to visiting the site regularly.

Just one thing, in regards to where we get info on Chinese military developments,
the site 'PDF' is very useful as well, as they have a Chinese section there, and there are many Chinese posters there, that post photo's from the official Chinese military sites.
I mention this because many members here, use PDF to get hold of the latest photos, and subsequently post them here at 'SDF'.

Plus, the French site 'forum marine' is a good source, as it is where Henri K resides, and he posts some very upto date info on Chinese military developments, together with a great deal of new photo's.:)

Cheers, thanks.

Regarding PDF and Forum Marine -- I did consider adding both of them there.
However no disrespect to PDF, but I feel like that forum can be a bit too vitriolic at times and embattled by nationalistic discussions and some fanboyism a bit much for my taste. Forum Marine I left out because it's not English language, and I tried to keep most of the sources I linked to as English language ones with a few Chinese ones.
I do have a link to Henri K's youtube channel, however.
 
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