051C 石家庄 Shijiazhuang destroyer, 901 呼伦湖号 Hulunhu supply ship with the Liaoning...
PLA Navy news, pics and videos
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
051C: It's my honor to escort an aircraft carrier when I'm old...
It's a special version based on the AK-630. The refitted 053H3 has two sets (but sharing the same set of sensors, not like the original 630).
It uses a similar Type 730 body case with the split arrangement and the gun in between but with the gatling barrels of the H/PJ-13 aka AK-630.
China, Russia and Iran will hold a maritime joint exercise, media reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian navy's Pacific Fleet, without releasing a specific time for the drill.
It is not the first time for the three countries to hold similar joint exercises. , the Chinese Navy, together with its Russian and Iranian counterparts, conducted a four-day military drill on the Gulf of Oman to deepen cooperation between the navies of the three countries. The drill also conveys a goodwill gesture and exhibits China's ability to maintain world peace and maritime security, according to Chinese military officials.
"The three sides need to enhance cooperation in non-traditional security areas, especially in maritime security, as currently some countries continue to cause trouble in the sea, which is apparently a violation of international law," Song Zhongping, a Chinese military commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
It is vital for China, Russia and Iran to ensure the safety of international shipping. Most of Russia's international trade is carried by ship. Iran also relies on shipping for its oil exports. China's imports of oil, gas and foreign trade depend on shipping as well, Song explained.
To ensure the safety of shipping is to safeguard the economic security of the three countries. Therefore, it is normal to see China, Russia and Iran cooperate with their navies, and especially in their joint efforts against regional hegemony and sea pirates, Song noted.
When reporting the joint drill by the three countries in 2019, some US media said it was conducted by "three of America's biggest adversaries." Others speculated that the exercise indicated that Beijing was roping in Tehran and Moscow to form a threesome of "autocracies" and "rally against democracy."
Cooperation among China, Russia and Iran is centered on mutual benefits and win-win relations, rather than forming an alliance and engaging in confrontation. For example, Iran can provide China with much-needed oil, and hopes to increase its economic strength by expanding its energy exports, experts noted.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) expelled a US warship that trespassed Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea on Thursday, a move experts said displays the PLA's capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity amid several other recent US muscle-flexing moves in the region.
On Thursday, the USS Benfold guided missile destroyer illegally entered the Chinese territorial waters of Xisha Islands without authorization from the Chinese government, Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson at the PLA Southern Theater Command, said in a statement on the day.
The PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces who tracked, monitored and warned the US warship away, Tian said.
This is the first time a US warship has trespassed Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea in 2022.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday that the PLA Southern Theater Command's move shows that it is fully capable of dealing with challenges brought by the US in the South China Sea.
Expelling the US warship that rudely intruded Chinese territorial waters is a necessary and powerful move, Song said. "We will do this whenever necessary."
The US move severely violated China's sovereignty and security, and is yet another solid proof of the US' navigational hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea, as facts prove that the US is the non-debatable maker of security risks in the South China Sea, as well as the biggest destroyer of peace and stability in the region, Tian said.
"We sternly demand the US to stop such provocation immediately, or it will face the serious consequences led by accidents caused by this," Tian said, noting that the command troops are always on high alert and will take resolute actions to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and peace and stability in the South China Sea.
USS Benfold's trespassing into China's territorial and internal waters of Xisha Islands on Thursday is not "freedom of navigation," but a violation of Chinese sovereignty, and a provocation which harms the peace and stability in the South China Sea, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson at the Chinese Defense Ministry , said in a statement on the day.
The latest trespassing incident comes amid the US' recent, highly concentrated military moves near China, including those by aircraft carriers and a ballistic nuclear missile submarine.
According to the fleet and marine tracker by the news website of the US Naval Institute, three US aircraft carrier strike groups, an expeditionary strike group, and an amphibious ready group, were deployed in the West Pacific as of Tuesday.
A US ballistic nuclear missile submarine made a rare port visit to Guam on Saturday, "sending a message amid increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region," CNN reported on Monday.
Chinese analysts pointed out that while these moves looked as if the US is applying huge pressure on China, it shows that the US has no more cards to play, as the US is forced to use nuclear deterrence in addition to regular forces.
The deployment of a large number of US military vessels near China is not only an attempt of deterrence, but also making practical exercises, as the US military seems to be determined to interfere in China's internal affairs in the Taiwan question, as well as in the South China Sea, Song said.
But the PLA is also making preparations for those challenges and will definitely safeguard China's core interests, Song said.
