Chinese Navy (PLAN) News & Discussions

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From 逆襲 @horobeyo on 2020.08.30:

新湛江舰是052DL
新珠海舰也已命名，可能也是052DL。
图自微博不研究军事的蓝海踏浪

The new Zhanjiang ship is a Type 052DL
The new Zhuhai ship has also been named and may be a Type 052DL as well.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1299760698390532098

Here's the related footage:

China Retires Last Two Type 051 Guided Missile Destroyers - Posted by CCTV Video News Agency on 2020.08.31

China has recently retired its last two Type 051 guided-missile destroyers Zhanjiang (Hull number 165) and Zhuhai (Hull number 166) at a port in Zhanjiang City of south China's Guangdong Province.

 

[Daniel808]

 

[samsara]

View attachment 666119

Three surface assets from the SSF:

• Hull No 998: Type 071 LPD - Kunlunshan 昆仑山
• Hull No 964: Type 903A replenishment ship - Luomahu 骆马湖
• Hull No 536: Type 054A FFG - Xuchang 许昌

 

[samsara]

From Henri Kenhmann at East Pendulum on 2020.09.03:

The Chinese Naval Aviation Rescue and Recovery Regiment, which according to the Chinese Navy is now capable of performing missions at all times.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1301211268007759872

 

[LKJ86]

 

[LKJ86]

 

[Grandy]

American Submarines Are in the Crosshairs of China

China will deploy a force of aerial drones to stalk American submarines in the Western Pacific.

by Lyle J. Goldstein
Nov 17, 2019

China has been steadily improving its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities to cope with a perceived, major asymmetry in undersea warfare capabilities. Additionally, when Beijing began filling out its navy with major surface combatants, including aircraft carriers, cruisers and now large amphibious attack ships, there has been a rather visible and understandable uptick in Chinese attempts to protect these new investments from submarine attack.

Some of these developments in Chinese ASW over the last decade have included building a formidable force of light frigates that are equipped with towed sonar arrays, fielding a vertically launched “rocket torpedo” as a standard weapon in its fleet, deploying a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) that is optimized for ASW and developing ocean bottom sensor networks in and around its key naval bases. Some coming attractions in this area will include a new generation of Chinese ASW helicopters (both Z-18 and Z-20), as well as a system of unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) that will perform various missions, including especially surveillance and laying sea-mines, at least at the outset.

Now, a new threat to the dominance of the U.S. submarine force in the Western Pacific lies over the horizon. A series of recent articles published in China implies that the PLA Navy is hard at work on developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that will take up the ASW mission. That could eventually pose a major problem for the undersea forces of the United States and also for the forces of its allies.

One article, published in the Chinese journal Fire Control & Command [火力与指挥控制] in mid-July, is a collaborative research project between the Naval Command College in Nanjing and the Naval Aeronautical University in Yantai. The research focuses on the potential for UAVs to support an MPA in the “cooperative use of sono-buoys for the purposes of conducting a submarine search.” The article explains that sono-buoys are one of the main tools for hunting submarines, especially over a large sea area. These authors project that “Given the wide array of possibilities to employ UAVs, it’s quite possible that they will play a large role in the future of anti-submarine warfare [随着无人机的广泛运用在未来反潜作战中很可能发挥重要角色].”

This analysis begins by discussing various advantages and disadvantages of manned MPAs for ASW, such as the U.S. Navy’s vaunted P-8 Poseidon. Not only can that aircraft carry 120 sono-buoys, but it is capable of monitoring 60 of these buoys simultaneously, according to this Chinese rendering. Such aircraft are capable of “independent” missions against submarines, as they can conduct search, track, and attack functions. However, there is a fly in the ointment, of course, and this analysis emphasizes that such lumbering aircraft themselves have minimal self-defense capability and thus “may very easily become targets of attack [很容易被作为攻击目标]” by enemy interceptors. Another problem is that the length of the missions can be exceedingly taxing for the crews, so that the overall submarine search efficiency of the aircraft may decrease.

The argument is made in this Chinese analysis that unmanned aircraft can be of considerable assistance in such circumstances. It is said that UAVs frequently fly for more than forty hours but are capable of flights that last over days or even weeks. While generally not fast moving, they are still considerably faster than surface ships that are also employed for the ASW mission. It is projected, moreover, that they may sometimes be able to fly over air defenses. But the biggest selling point for UAVs in this role is that they are so much cheaper than both submarine-hunting large MPAs, and quite obviously also their quarry, the submarines. In other words, such economical approaches to the undersea rivalry in the Western Pacific could put Beijing on the right end of a “cost-imposition” strategy. This Chinese analysis, moreover, implies that unmanned aircraft need not accomplish all aspects of the ASW mission. They could play the reasonably simple role of information relay platforms. They could also help to reduce the complexity of the daunting tasks that currently confront MPA crews. Of course, they could also take greater risks by entering “situations of contested airspace [敌空中威胁情况].” Lower costs, naturally enough, also mean that many airframes, coordinating together, could be deployed for any given search operation. Mathematical modeling of ASW operations in this piece yields the conclusion that UAVs do significantly increase the efficiency of submarine hunting.

A second article, from a late 2018 edition of Chinese Journal of Ship Research [中国舰船研究], endeavors to explore the “search/attack submarine integration [搜攻潜一体化]” functions of a fixed-wing UAV for ASW by studying the issue of optimizing payloads. This author, from the Jiangsu Automation Research Institute, asserts that “all navies are reforming ASW models.” He contends that there is an “urgent need for greater range, larger search areas, longer search periods, as well as cheaper methods of sensing, detection, tracking, and prosecuting submarines.” The paper discusses some foreign designs, including the U.S military’s MQ-9 UAV.

Owing mostly to the cost issue, this analysis also holds that UAVs for ASW have “obvious advantages” over manned aircraft. Interestingly, this Chinese study asserts that “weaponization is the basic trend for fixed-wing unmanned ASW aircraft [武器化是固定翼反潜无人机的基本特点].” But the most remarkable part of this particular discussion is the recognition that these UAVs might well operate from Chinese aircraft carriers. That is a rather bold call given that China has yet to demonstrate success in operating UAVs from aircraft carriers, but it does neatly illustrate Beijing’s priority on protecting its new capital ships, as noted in this paper’s introduction. Reviewing sample flight profiles, this analysis sees an ASW UAV that is capable of a patrol radius of six hundred kilometers for its land-based variant and perhaps three hundred kilometers for its carrier-based variant.

The above articles offer a glimpse of yet more coming attractions from the Chinese Navy. Indeed, the naval air arm of the PLA Navy is now starting to make rapid progress in line with its subsurface and surface forces. This news is quite disturbing as it fits a developing pattern of Beijing employing its new prowess in artificial intelligence to solve difficult battlefield dilemmas. What’s still more troubling is that if Chinese missiles and aircraft succeed in destroying U.S. and allied airbases in the Western Pacific during the initial phase of any military contingency, whether over Taiwan or the South China Sea, that might well leave myriad Chinese drone aircraft the freedom to roam and aggressively stalk previously nearly invulnerable American submarines.

Source: National Interest “American Submarines Are in the Crosshairs of China”

 

[LKJ86]

By 孙宏韬

 

[LKJ86]

 

[LKJ86]

Chinese navy conducts underwater anti-mine warfare drill

 

[LKJ86]

Video:https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4555002396737548?from=old_pc_videoshow

 

[LKJ86]

Via CCTV and @沉默的山羊 from Weibo

 

[LKJ86]

 

[Grandy]

.
GJ-11 stealth attack drone

Stealth is not inferior to the F-20, the domestic aircraft carrier ushered in a new generation of carrier-based aircraft, the combat power of the Liaoning ship will double

2020-10-07 09:53:28

Recently, China’s first stealth carrier-based aircraft is about to appear. This carrier-based aircraft is an attack 11 UAV. Its stealth performance is not inferior to that of the J-20 fighter, and its key performance is almost equal to that of the J-20.
It has strong ground-to-sea attack capabilities. After the domestic aircraft carrier ushered in a new generation of carrier-based aircraft, it can double the combat effectiveness of the Liaoning ship. At the same time, this drone is small in size, and the Liaoning ship can carry dozens of aircraft. , So that this fighter becomes the main model of the aircraft carrier.

UAV has undoubtedly become a very important weapon and equipment of the air force of various countries, and plays a key role in the implementation of reconnaissance and strike missions. China is also a major UAV country, and the UAVs developed have been exported to Many countries, and the Attack 11 UAV is an advanced attack UAV developed by China.

This UAV adopts a flying wing layout, allowing it to follow the American B2 stealth strategy The bombers are very similar. In order to maximize the stealth effect, the Attack 11 UAV has also designed an internal magazine, which can accommodate a variety of missiles and has very strong firepower.

With the aid of the Attack 11 UAV, it can attack the enemy's high-risk targets. Because of the lack of penetration capability, traditional fighters are often intercepted or shot down before they get close to the target. , But the Attack 11 UAV can go deep behind enemy lines with its good radar stealth and infrared stealth capabilities.

and project precision-guided weapons to attack, effectively destroy the enemy’s key facilities, and gain more advantages for oneself, even if the attacking 11 drones are exposed during the combat, because no pilot is needed Do not worry about the safety of the pilot while driving.

It is worth mentioning that the Attack 11 UAV can also assist the F-20 fighter and become the partner of the F-20. At present, the United States has proposed a loyal wingman combat plan, which is composed of a large number of drones. Combat formations launch offensives, while manned fighters are commanding them from behind. The J-20 has powerful information processing capabilities.

With the support of the data link, it can completely command and attack 11 UAVs for operations, becoming the command center and brain of the formation. Although its aerodynamics partially limits the air combat capability, it is beyond the visual range. In air combat, Attack 11 can take the lead in firing and become an extension platform for the F-20 firepower.

At present, the main carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese aircraft carrier is the J-15, but this carrier-based aircraft still lacks ground attack capabilities, but with the attack 11 drones, it will be able to greatly improve At the level of aircraft carrier strikes at sea, the U.S. military has put the MQ25 unmanned tanker on the aircraft carrier.

tried to use this method to increase the combat radius of carrier-based aircraft, but Attack 11 itself has a very long combat radius, and it can launch long-range without air refueling. The attack, it seems that this time, even the US military was left behind by China.

The most important thing is that the cost of the Attack 11 UAV is also very low. The money to buy a fifth-generation aircraft can be equipped with multiple Attack 11 fighters at the same time, so let China form an attack drone group It is entirely possible that with the blessing of this drone, the Navy can also develop a brand new anti-aircraft carrier method. Dozens or more drones can launch a wolf pack attack on enemy aircraft carrier formations. The combat effect is far superior to traditional guided missile speedboats, and it makes the aircraft carrier formation more difficult to defend. No wonder this drone can double the combat power of aircraft carriers.

Note :
F-20 = J 20
Attack 11 UAV = GJ 11 UAV
Hongdu GJ-11 Wikipedia
GJ-11 stealth attack drone

 

[samsara]

TO HONOUR NEARLY 30 YEARS IN SERVICE OF THE VERY FIRST-GEN CHINA'S DDG

Camera captures destroyers Zhanjiang and Zhuhai’s last voyage

Editor: Huang Panyue | China Military (2020-10-04)

The guided-missile destroyers Zhanjiang (Hull 165) and Zhuhai (Hull 166) attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command berth at a naval port in late July of 2020, prior to a maritime training exercise that will be the last voyage in their service period. On August 28, this naval flotilla held a decommissioning ceremony for the two destroyers, which had served in the PLA Navy for nearly 30 years. The ceremony marked the retirement of ALL the Type-051 destroyers, as the FIRST-generation guided-missile destroyers independently developed and built by China, from active service. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Wei)

The guided-missile destroyer Zhanjiang (Hull 165) attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command sets sail from a naval port for a maritime training exercise in late July, taking the last voyage in its service period. On August 28, this naval flotilla held a decommissioning ceremony for the two destroyers, which had served in the PLA Navy for nearly 30 years. The ceremony marked the retirement of all the Type-051 destroyers, as the first-generation guided-missile destroyers independently developed and built by China, from active service. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Wei)

The guided-missile destroyer Zhuhai (Hull 166) attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command sets sail from a naval port for a maritime training exercise in late July, taking the last voyage in its service period. On August 28, this naval flotilla held a decommissioning ceremony for the two destroyers, which had served in the PLA Navy for nearly 30 years. The ceremony marked the retirement of all the Type-051 destroyers, as the first-generation guided-missile destroyers independently developed and built by China, from active service. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Wei)