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China’s military modernization in numbers
A look at the key figures that tell the tale of China’s increasing military power:
Malcolm Moore, Shanghai
* +12.6 per cent – the rise in China’s official military budget to around £56.2 billion, still a fraction of the £351 billion that the US has allocated for its core defence budget. (The UK spends £37 billion)
* £96 billion – What the US believes that China is actually spending on defence, rather than the stated figures.
* -22pc – the fall in the number of standing troops in the People’s Liberation Army as China pushes through its modernization programme. The army will shrink from 2.3 million soldiers to 1.8 million, still the largest standing Read more…
China’s ‘eye-in-the-sky’ nears par with US
China has launched reconnaissance satellites that can monitor targets up to six hours a day, a think-tanks says
China’s rapidly expanding satellite programme could alter power dynamics in Asia and reduce the US military’s scope for operations in the region, according to new research.
Chinese reconnaissance satellites can now monitor targets for up to six hours a day, the World Security Institute, a Washington think-tank, has concluded in a new report. The People’s Liberation Army, which could only manage three hours of daily coverage just 18 months ago, is now nearly on a par with the US military in its ability to monitor fixed targets, according to the findings.
“Starting from almost no live surveillance capability 10 years ago, today the PLA has likely equalled the US’s ability to observe targets from space for some real-time operations,” two of the institute’s China researchers, Eric Hagt and Matthew Durnin, write in the Journal of Strategic Studies.
China’s army develops ‘online war game’
BEIJING — After setting up its own cyber-warfare team, China’s military has now developed its first online war game aimed at improving combat skills and battle awareness, state press said Wednesday.
“Glorious Mission” is a first-person shooter game that sends players on solo or team missions armed with high-tech weapons, the China Daily reported.
Weapons used in the game are part of the actual arsenal of China’s People’s Liberation Army, it added.
The final version of the game, which took nearly three years to develop and test, was launched on June 20.
“I think it is possible the game will be made open online for Chinese military fans to download and play,” an unnamed PLA press officer was quoted as saying.
China has the world’s biggest online population at more than 477 million users, according to official data.
The launch of the game comes after the military announced earlier this year that it had set up an elite Internet security task force to fend off cyber attacks.
Despite numerous allegations from around the world pointing at China as a source of cyber attacks, the state press, citing military officials, denied that the elite task force was set up as a “hacker army”.
Iran to launch military exercise, test long-range missiles
Photo by: Ho New / Reuters
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was scheduled to launch a large-scale military exercise entitled the “Great Prophet Mohammad War Games 6” on Monday, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Revolutionary Guard Brig-Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that the purpose of the drill was to test the IRGC forces defensive preparedness as well as to practice the use of advanced equipment.
Hajizadeh added that Iran’s arsenal of missiles, including the country’s long range missiles, would be tested during the exercise. Among Iran’s arsenal of missiles is the Sajjil, with a range of nearly 2,000 km, which would allow it to Read more…
Japan’s Stealth Fighter Gambit
Tokyo seems poised to spend billions developing the country’s first homegrown stealth warplane. But is the Shinshin really meant for military service?
China’s Growing Military Muscle: A Looming Threat?
Stonecutters Island army base in Hong Kong opens to the public once a year as a goodwill gesture. Displays include kung fu demonstrations and shows of knife-fighting skills.
This month, NPR is examining the many ways China is expanding its reach in the world — through investments, infrastructure, military power and more.
At the Stonecutters Island army base in Hong Kong, camouflage-clad Chinese soldiers lunge forward with fierce yells, making stabbing motions with their daggers. There’s a communal shout of admiration from the crowd watching the display on the army’s home territory, which is opened up once a year to the public as a goodwill gesture.
Evolving Military Technology
China is pouring money into its military forces — retrofitting ships, building stealth airplanes and developing advanced weapons technology. Below Read more…
China aircraft carrier confirmed by general
The 300m (990ft) carrier, under construction in Dalian, is thought to be nearly finishedThe head of China’s General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has confirmed that China’s first aircraft carrier is under construction.
Gen Chen Bingde refused to say when the carrier – a remodelled Soviet-era vessel, the Varyag – would be ready.
A member of his staff said the carrier would pose no threat to other nations.
The 300m (990ft) carrier, which is being built in the north-east port of Dalian, has been one of China’s worst-kept secrets, analysts say.
Gen Chen made his comments to the Chinese-language Hong Kong Commercial Daily newspaper.
The PLA – the largest army in the world – is hugely secretive about its defence programme.
The carrier was constructed in the 1980s for the Soviet navy but was Read more…
India approves $4bn Boeing military deal
Photo: Reuters
A Boeing C-17 transport aircraft, known as the Globemaster, shown here at the Papa Air Base in Papa, Hungary, July 27, 2009.
NEW DELHI — India on Monday cleared a more than $4.0-billion deal to buy military transport planes from Boeing in the biggest ever defence deal between New Delhi and an American firm, officials said.
The agreement for the C-17 Globemaster III planes, used for transporting heavy equipment, was cleared at a meeting of the government’s cabinet committee on security affairs, a senior government official said.
The Indian defence ministry declined to comment but the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the cabinet gave its clearance to buy 10 C-17 aircraft.
He said the procurement would be done as Read more…
Gates: Cutting Defense Means More ‘Risk,’ Fewer Missions
Robert Gates’ final defense policy speech in Washington turned out to be a challenge to his boss. President Obama has a goal of cutting $400 billion out of the Pentagon budget over the next 12 years. To do that, Gates says, the armed forces are going to have to stop taking on certain roles — and the country is going to have to accept the “additional risk” that comes from a pared-back military.
You see, Gates already killed the Army’s gazillion-dollar Future Combat Systems and the Marines’ “swimming tank” troop transporter. He stopped the production lines for the F-22 Raptor stealth jets. Then he and the services wrang out another $78 billion over four years for future spending.
The result? All the “low hanging fruit” in the defense budget have “not only been plucked, they Read more…
India’s Army Could Receive WMD-Resistant Gear
Russia announced that it would provide its military with these suits earlier this month.
India’s army could receive new gear designed to provide protection against chemical, biological or nuclear materials, the Press Trust of India reported on Wednesday (see GSN, April 26).
Kanpur’s Defense Material and Stores Research Development Establishment “has developed a new NBC or nuclear-biological-chemical suit that would be proved effective against any kind of dangerous weapons or chemicals and protect soldiers from any sort of attack,” agency head Arvind Kumar Saxena said.
“The organization [has] developed the chemical attack-resistant suit, but the suits necessary for the nuclear and biological war situation has not been prepared,” the official said. “The work on the biological suit is likely to be completed by 2013, whereas the preparation for the Read more…
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