By: JAMES C. BUSSERT
Published: July 31, 2011
Published: July 31, 2011
The modernization and recent blue water operations of the Chinese navy are altering the naval power balance in the Pacific.
China feels surrounded by hostile navies and remembers the unequal treaties by colonial nations, such as the occupation of five treaty ports by Britain after the 1839-1842 Opium War and the occupation by other European nations of 10 more open ports after the 1860 Opium War.
The first significant warships designed and built in China after 1949 were 10 Luda class destroyers from 1971 until 1993, which are still active. These were followed by several generations of frigates and diesel submarines, based initially on USSR designs.
Warship technology advances have been bought, stolen or copied from France, Britain, Germany and the USSR or former Soviet bloc nations — as well as the United States. Even modern Chinese naval designs, such as AEGIS radar, Gatling guns or vertical weapon launch systems use features from other nations. Five new high-technology missile destroyer designs, totaling ten ships, began with the 5,000-ton Luhu in 1991 and ended with the 10,000-ton Type 051D DDG in 2004.
* * * * * China seized the Paracel Islands in 1974 and Spratley Islands in 1988 from Vietnam in the South China Sea. China is claiming sovereignty on disputed waters out to 200 miles and enforcing it with aggressive acts from fishing boats up to many new "maritime protection" vessels.
The confrontations extend from Japanese waters in the East China Sea, the disputed Diaoyu Islands and the Chunxiao oil fields to the ramming of Korean, Vietnamese, Philippine fishing boats or coast guard vessels in the South China Sea.
In 2001 and 2002, U.S. Navy unarmed surveillance vessels, the USNS Bowditch and Victorious were harassed in the Yellow Sea. In the South China Sea in March 2009, the USNS Impeccable — 75 miles south of Hainan — was threatened and rammed. Three months later, the USS John McCain DDG 56 had her towed array sonar damaged by a Chinese submarine.
On the other hand, Chinese coast guard participation in international rescue exercises and aid to Japanese tsunami victims are positive results.
An exception to use of low-key vessels was when China sent a five-ship task group, including its most formidable Sovremennyy DDG (missile destroyer) into Japanese water in August 2005. Like the warships, Chinese diesel and nuclear submarines operate primarily in coastal waters. But this is changing, as a Han SSN (nuclear submarine) in 1994 and SONG-class diesel sub in 2006 stalked the carrier USS Kitty Hawk — and intruded into Japanese waters in 2004.
* * * * * The most important Chinese fleet was initially the Northern Fleet, facing the USSR, later replaced by the Eastern Fleet, facing Taiwan, and most recently by the South Sea Fleet, facing the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.
Although founded in 1949, the Chinese Navy did not have a foreign cruise until 1985 or a global cruise until 2002. The Chinese navy's operational milestone was the deployment of three warships to join the UN's anti-piracy operations off of Somalia in December 2008, which have continued in rotation to the current time. The Chinese learned about replenishment, refueling and on-station duties of months duration — for the first time.
Some China analysts may believe Taiwan is the highest Chinese naval priority, but locating the newest submarines and surface warships in recently built sheltered bases near Sanya in southern Hainan suggests otherwise. It is certain that the new Chinese carriers being built in Shanghai will be based there as well. Obviously, the oil-rich South China Sea and Indian Ocean sea lanes to the Mid-East oil are China's top priorities now.
* * * * * The U.S. Navy's main threats to the Chinese navy are its AEGIS radar and aircraft carriers, which are targets of the most ambitious Chinese counter efforts.
China's radiation homing missiles, on aircraft and other platforms, are intended to nullify AEGIS, and its land-based intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) are attempting to target aircraft carriers at sea. Long range anti-ship missiles from aircraft, fast catamaran boats, submarines and other platforms threaten all U.S. Navy warships.
Chinese leaders have always criticized American aircraft carriers as imperialist symbols. Now they claim that as a great nation, China needs carriers as a symbol of its status — and for the multimission benefits of carrier task groups.
The term "soft power" refers to using warships for humanitarian purposes, such disaster relief, which had not been a Chinese capability . Now it has recently built a 10,000-ton hospital ship and 20,000-ton Landing Platform Dock helicopter landing ship — both of which deployed to Middle East nations in 2010.
China's prototype of one- or two-ship new design production and its limited series production runs that were the rule for decades have now advanced to large series of launchings of its best designs for its future navy. These include new high-speed catamarans, Jiangkai frigates, AEGIS destroyers and modern diesel and nuclear submarines including the new Type 094 SSBN (a ballistic missile submarine) — which are major concerns for other Pacific navies.
James C. Bussert is a writer and a retired Navy master chief petty officer who lives in Montross. He is the co-author, with Bruce A. Elleman, of "People's Liberation Army Navy: Combat Systems Technology, 1949-2010," published this year by the Naval Institute Press. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy.
China feels surrounded by hostile navies and remembers the unequal treaties by colonial nations, such as the occupation of five treaty ports by Britain after the 1839-1842 Opium War and the occupation by other European nations of 10 more open ports after the 1860 Opium War.
The first significant warships designed and built in China after 1949 were 10 Luda class destroyers from 1971 until 1993, which are still active. These were followed by several generations of frigates and diesel submarines, based initially on USSR designs.
Warship technology advances have been bought, stolen or copied from France, Britain, Germany and the USSR or former Soviet bloc nations — as well as the United States. Even modern Chinese naval designs, such as AEGIS radar, Gatling guns or vertical weapon launch systems use features from other nations. Five new high-technology missile destroyer designs, totaling ten ships, began with the 5,000-ton Luhu in 1991 and ended with the 10,000-ton Type 051D DDG in 2004.
The confrontations extend from Japanese waters in the East China Sea, the disputed Diaoyu Islands and the Chunxiao oil fields to the ramming of Korean, Vietnamese, Philippine fishing boats or coast guard vessels in the South China Sea.
In 2001 and 2002, U.S. Navy unarmed surveillance vessels, the USNS Bowditch and Victorious were harassed in the Yellow Sea. In the South China Sea in March 2009, the USNS Impeccable — 75 miles south of Hainan — was threatened and rammed. Three months later, the USS John McCain DDG 56 had her towed array sonar damaged by a Chinese submarine.
On the other hand, Chinese coast guard participation in international rescue exercises and aid to Japanese tsunami victims are positive results.
An exception to use of low-key vessels was when China sent a five-ship task group, including its most formidable Sovremennyy DDG (missile destroyer) into Japanese water in August 2005. Like the warships, Chinese diesel and nuclear submarines operate primarily in coastal waters. But this is changing, as a Han SSN (nuclear submarine) in 1994 and SONG-class diesel sub in 2006 stalked the carrier USS Kitty Hawk — and intruded into Japanese waters in 2004.
Although founded in 1949, the Chinese Navy did not have a foreign cruise until 1985 or a global cruise until 2002. The Chinese navy's operational milestone was the deployment of three warships to join the UN's anti-piracy operations off of Somalia in December 2008, which have continued in rotation to the current time. The Chinese learned about replenishment, refueling and on-station duties of months duration — for the first time.
Some China analysts may believe Taiwan is the highest Chinese naval priority, but locating the newest submarines and surface warships in recently built sheltered bases near Sanya in southern Hainan suggests otherwise. It is certain that the new Chinese carriers being built in Shanghai will be based there as well. Obviously, the oil-rich South China Sea and Indian Ocean sea lanes to the Mid-East oil are China's top priorities now.
China's radiation homing missiles, on aircraft and other platforms, are intended to nullify AEGIS, and its land-based intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) are attempting to target aircraft carriers at sea. Long range anti-ship missiles from aircraft, fast catamaran boats, submarines and other platforms threaten all U.S. Navy warships.
Chinese leaders have always criticized American aircraft carriers as imperialist symbols. Now they claim that as a great nation, China needs carriers as a symbol of its status — and for the multimission benefits of carrier task groups.
The term "soft power" refers to using warships for humanitarian purposes, such disaster relief, which had not been a Chinese capability . Now it has recently built a 10,000-ton hospital ship and 20,000-ton Landing Platform Dock helicopter landing ship — both of which deployed to Middle East nations in 2010.
China's prototype of one- or two-ship new design production and its limited series production runs that were the rule for decades have now advanced to large series of launchings of its best designs for its future navy. These include new high-speed catamarans, Jiangkai frigates, AEGIS destroyers and modern diesel and nuclear submarines including the new Type 094 SSBN (a ballistic missile submarine) — which are major concerns for other Pacific navies.
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