PLA Navy news, pics and videos
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Chinese, Russian warships approach Diaoyu Islands as Russia ‘sends warning to Japan’
By Guo Yuandan and Published: Jul 04, 2022 09:48 PM
File photo taken on a marine surveillance plane B-3837 shows the Diaoyu Islands and nearby islands.Photo:Xinhua
Japan's Ministry of Defense hyped on Monday that Chinese and Russian warships were spotted near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea almost at the same time earlier in the day. Chinese and Russian vessels have the right, albeit different, to freely navigate in the contiguous zone of the Diaoyu Islands of China, experts pointed out, saying that the Russian Navy's recent military activities in the West Pacific is a warning to Japan amid Japanese sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
A Russian frigate entered the Diaoyu Islands' contiguous zone from 7:05 am to 8:16 am on Monday, and a Chinese frigate sailed in the same area for about six minutes from 7:44 am, Kyodo News reported on Monday, citing the Japanese Defense Ministry.
The Chinese frigate involved is a Type 053H3 frigate, equipped with YJ-83 anti-ship missiles, HHQ-7 air defense missiles and 37-millimeter-caliber guns, according to a press release by the Japanese Defense Ministry.
Japan has "lodged a protest" with China after the incident, which was the first time since June 2016 when Chinese and Russian naval vessels had been spotted entering the contiguous zone at around the same time, Kyodo News said.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at Monday's regular press conference that the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands are China's inherent territories. Chinese vessels' maritime activities in waters off the islands are fully legitimate, and Japan has no right to make irresponsible accusations, he said.
Tian Shichen, founder of the Global Governance Institution and director of the International Center for the Law of Military Operations, told the Global Times on Monday that a contiguous zone overlaps with an exclusive economic zone, which means foreign warships have the right to navigate freely in any country's contiguous zones as long as they abide by the domestic laws set by the coastal country in accordance with international law.
Chinese and Russian warships can freely navigate in the Diaoyu Islands' contiguous zone, but on different legal bases, Tian said.
The Chinese vessel navigated in the Chinese contiguous zone over which China has sovereign rights and jurisdiction, while the Russian vessel navigated in the area freely because of the right of free navigation in any contiguous zone in accordance with international law, Tian explained.
It is an act of safeguarding national sovereignty that Chinese warships patrol and monitor the Diaoyu Islands, Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday.
According to press releases by Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff, a number of Russian warships circumnavigated Japan in June.
Zhou said that Russia, which is having a military operation against Ukraine, has island disputes with Japan, and Russian naval activities in the West Pacific aim at deterring Japan from taking reckless moves.
Russia's recent moves serve as a warning to Japan amid Japanese sanctions on Russia, and aim to ease Western pressure on Russia because of the Ukraine crisis, analysts said.
PLAN donuts are now routine...
PLA naval activities around Japan intensify, ‘to become routine’
By Published: Jul 06, 2022 09:13 PM
Two Type 055 large destroyers, the Nanchang and the Lhasa, are moored at a naval port in 2021. File photo: Courtesy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy
Over the past month, the Japanese Defense Ministry has posted more than a dozen reports on Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval activities around the island country, as the last ship in the PLA Navy task force led by the Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa reportedly returned to the East China Sea on Tuesday, wrapping up its voyage that went round Japan almost entirely.
The growing capabilities of the PLA Navy will mean that such activities become routine, and their significance goes beyond just sending Japan warnings amid its right-wing provocations, as the PLA Navy aims to become a blue-water navy that will operate farther in distant waters to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, experts said on Wednesday.
The PLA Navy Type 815 electronic surveillance ship with the hull number 794 sailed from the Pacific Ocean through the Miyako Strait into the East China Sea on Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff said in a press release on the day.
The ship is a part of a four-ship flotilla which also includes the Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa, the Type 052D destroyer Chengdu and the Type 903A replenishment ship Dongpinghu, which sailed through the Tsushima Strait from the East China Sea on June 12. The other three ships returned to the East China Sea on June 29, according to a separate Japanese press release on June 30. It means that the flotilla circumnavigated almost the entirety of Japan in its voyage.
Japan has been reporting intensified PLA warship activities around it over the past month, posting some 15 reports on different Chinese warships' transits of strategic sea lanes near Japan including the Miyako Strait, Tsushima Strait, Osumi Strait, Tsugaru Strait and Soya Strait. In May, it also reported intensive training activities of the aircraft carrier Liaoning outside of the Miyako Strait.
Waters around Japan should not even be considered far sea to China as they are on China's doorstep, and circumnavigating Japan has never been the PLA Navy's ultimate goal, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Japan has been hyping PLA naval activities to raise rhetoric on the "China threat" theory, but it is Japan that has been repeatedly provoking China over Taiwan and other questions in the first place amid its right-wing, militaristic ambitions, analysts said.
Chinese warships' activities are more than about deterring Japan, as China is aiming to build a blue-water navy that goes farther into distant waters for alert patrols, exercises and missions to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, Song said, noting that Japan only feels it is special because of its location, as Chinese vessels that want to enter the Pacific Ocean need to make transits through these straits near Japan.
The PLA Navy's first Type 055 large destroyer, the Nanchang, led a Chinese-Russian joint naval flotilla and circumnavigated Japan in a joint maritime patrol in October 2021. Now the second Type 055, the Lhasa, circumnavigated . Two additional Type 055s, the Anshan and the Wuxi, have also entered service with the PLA North Sea Fleet, the PLA Navy announced .
The Anshan and the Wuxi are expected to achieve operational capability within 2022. With more powerful Type 055s active, the PLA Navy's circumnavigations around Japan could become routine, and Japan should get used to it, observers said.
PLA naval activities around Japan intensify, ‘to become routine’
By Published: Jul 06, 2022 09:13 PM
Two Type 055 large destroyers, the Nanchang and the Lhasa, are moored at a naval port in 2021. File photo: Courtesy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy
Over the past month, the Japanese Defense Ministry has posted more than a dozen reports on Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval activities around the island country, as the last ship in the PLA Navy task force led by the Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa reportedly returned to the East China Sea on Tuesday, wrapping up its voyage that went round Japan almost entirely.
The growing capabilities of the PLA Navy will mean that such activities become routine, and their significance goes beyond just sending Japan warnings amid its right-wing provocations, as the PLA Navy aims to become a blue-water navy that will operate farther in distant waters to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, experts said on Wednesday.
The PLA Navy Type 815 electronic surveillance ship with the hull number 794 sailed from the Pacific Ocean through the Miyako Strait into the East China Sea on Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff said in a press release on the day.
The ship is a part of a four-ship flotilla which also includes the Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa, the Type 052D destroyer Chengdu and the Type 903A replenishment ship Dongpinghu, which sailed through the Tsushima Strait from the East China Sea on June 12. The other three ships returned to the East China Sea on June 29, according to a separate Japanese press release on June 30. It means that the flotilla circumnavigated almost the entirety of Japan in its voyage.
Japan has been reporting intensified PLA warship activities around it over the past month, posting some 15 reports on different Chinese warships' transits of strategic sea lanes near Japan including the Miyako Strait, Tsushima Strait, Osumi Strait, Tsugaru Strait and Soya Strait. In May, it also reported intensive training activities of the aircraft carrier Liaoning outside of the Miyako Strait.
Waters around Japan should not even be considered far sea to China as they are on China's doorstep, and circumnavigating Japan has never been the PLA Navy's ultimate goal, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Japan has been hyping PLA naval activities to raise rhetoric on the "China threat" theory, but it is Japan that has been repeatedly provoking China over Taiwan and other questions in the first place amid its right-wing, militaristic ambitions, analysts said.
Chinese warships' activities are more than about deterring Japan, as China is aiming to build a blue-water navy that goes farther into distant waters for alert patrols, exercises and missions to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, Song said, noting that Japan only feels it is special because of its location, as Chinese vessels that want to enter the Pacific Ocean need to make transits through these straits near Japan.
The PLA Navy's first Type 055 large destroyer, the Nanchang, led a Chinese-Russian joint naval flotilla and circumnavigated Japan in a joint maritime patrol in October 2021. Now the second Type 055, the Lhasa, circumnavigated . Two additional Type 055s, the Anshan and the Wuxi, have also entered service with the PLA North Sea Fleet, the PLA Navy announced .
The Anshan and the Wuxi are expected to achieve operational capability within 2022. With more powerful Type 055s active, the PLA Navy's circumnavigations around Japan could become routine, and Japan should get used to it, observers said.
PLAN donuts are now routine...
PLA naval activities around Japan intensify, ‘to become routine’
By Published: Jul 06, 2022 09:13 PM
Two Type 055 large destroyers, the Nanchang and the Lhasa, are moored at a naval port in 2021. File photo: Courtesy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy
Over the past month, the Japanese Defense Ministry has posted more than a dozen reports on Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval activities around the island country, as the last ship in the PLA Navy task force led by the Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa reportedly returned to the East China Sea on Tuesday, wrapping up its voyage that went round Japan almost entirely.
The growing capabilities of the PLA Navy will mean that such activities become routine, and their significance goes beyond just sending Japan warnings amid its right-wing provocations, as the PLA Navy aims to become a blue-water navy that will operate farther in distant waters to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, experts said on Wednesday.
The PLA Navy Type 815 electronic surveillance ship with the hull number 794 sailed from the Pacific Ocean through the Miyako Strait into the East China Sea on Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff said in a press release on the day.
The ship is a part of a four-ship flotilla which also includes the Type 055 large destroyer Lhasa, the Type 052D destroyer Chengdu and the Type 903A replenishment ship Dongpinghu, which sailed through the Tsushima Strait from the East China Sea on June 12. The other three ships returned to the East China Sea on June 29, according to a separate Japanese press release on June 30. It means that the flotilla circumnavigated almost the entirety of Japan in its voyage.
Japan has been reporting intensified PLA warship activities around it over the past month, posting some 15 reports on different Chinese warships' transits of strategic sea lanes near Japan including the Miyako Strait, Tsushima Strait, Osumi Strait, Tsugaru Strait and Soya Strait. In May, it also reported intensive training activities of the aircraft carrier Liaoning outside of the Miyako Strait.
Waters around Japan should not even be considered far sea to China as they are on China's doorstep, and circumnavigating Japan has never been the PLA Navy's ultimate goal, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Japan has been hyping PLA naval activities to raise rhetoric on the "China threat" theory, but it is Japan that has been repeatedly provoking China over Taiwan and other questions in the first place amid its right-wing, militaristic ambitions, analysts said.
Chinese warships' activities are more than about deterring Japan, as China is aiming to build a blue-water navy that goes farther into distant waters for alert patrols, exercises and missions to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, Song said, noting that Japan only feels it is special because of its location, as Chinese vessels that want to enter the Pacific Ocean need to make transits through these straits near Japan.
The PLA Navy's first Type 055 large destroyer, the Nanchang, led a Chinese-Russian joint naval flotilla and circumnavigated Japan in a joint maritime patrol in October 2021. Now the second Type 055, the Lhasa, circumnavigated . Two additional Type 055s, the Anshan and the Wuxi, have also entered service with the PLA North Sea Fleet, the PLA Navy announced .
The Anshan and the Wuxi are expected to achieve operational capability within 2022. With more powerful Type 055s active, the PLA Navy's circumnavigations around Japan could become routine, and Japan should get used to it, observers said.
China: "Our national interests go beyond the mere waters around your little archipelago and your little strait. Stop acting so surprised every time we take a stroll through this alleyway to get to the next block just because your house is next to it".
Ouch.
I think it makes a lot of sense for them to be sending these new ships out on long trips to see how well they do, but it might not be a good idea to be seen just continually surrounding Japan. Spurring Japan to spend more on military is not really in their interest either.
I would expect them to be sending large group of ships and occasional spy ships on more deployments to close to Guam and eventually Wake Island also. It would also make sense for them to send larger group of ships including 071/075 to do port calls through southeast Asia and into Indian Ocean and to African countries. I know they already send 054A and 052D on these trips. But 055 and 075 should be designed for more longer deployments. It would be wise to do more of that.
Also, I think you will see them doing more frequent carrier exercises off the coast of Japan. And you will see larger group of aircraft getting to Japanese ADIZ. After all, Taiwan isn't the only place they can get experience with high tempo deployment of aircraft.
I would expect them to be sending large group of ships and occasional spy ships on more deployments to close to Guam and eventually Wake Island also. It would also make sense for them to send larger group of ships including 071/075 to do port calls through southeast Asia and into Indian Ocean and to African countries. I know they already send 054A and 052D on these trips. But 055 and 075 should be designed for more longer deployments. It would be wise to do more of that.
Also, I think you will see them doing more frequent carrier exercises off the coast of Japan. And you will see larger group of aircraft getting to Japanese ADIZ. After all, Taiwan isn't the only place they can get experience with high tempo deployment of aircraft.
First time watching a stern-first ship launching with actual audio. Damn my ears almost bleed the first time with that metal scraping the launch pad.
With this counted in, how many Type 072A-class LST does China have right now?
MwRYum
Major
I thought LST has long gone out of fashion these days?
Not really. They remain in production in various countries, especially where shorter ranged amphibious transport is required. I consider this pretty significant if the footage is current (which it seems to be). The Type 072A has a stern hangar too and overall it would be IMO a design required in large numbers for certain large scale amphibious operations PLAN has on the radar.
Of course it could also just be a move to replace older 072 series hulls 1:1.