Posted on 07/08/2005 10:27:26 AM PDT by spetznaz
Big a$$ target? If you sink 2 you get egg rolls.
Congress Demands Pentagon Report on China
By GOPAL RATNAM, Defense News, 7/08/2005
Ten U.S. lawmakers are demanding that the Pentagon submit its annual report on Chinese military capabilities to Congress as soon as possible.
In a July 1 letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Rep. Randy Forbes, R-VA, and nine other members of the House of Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, complain that the report — due to Congress on March 1 every year — hasn’t been delivered yet.
“Congress requires the annual report on the military power of the People’s Republic of China to execute its constitutional responsibilities,” the lawmakers wrote. “Additional delay will impair Congress’ ability to perform those oversight duties.”
Forbes is the co-chairman of the newly formed China caucus, created to focus Congress’ attention on China’s rise as an economic and military power. Seven other signatories of the July 1 letter are also members of the caucus.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2000 requires the Pentagon to submit an annual report of its assessment of Chinese military capabilities.
"The annual DoD China Military Power report required by Congress is not yet ready for release, but we expect to be completed with it soon,” one defense official said July 7.
The official said a team of intelligence experts within the Pentagon is preparing the report by drawing on several in-house and outside resources.
In recent weeks, senior Bush administration officials, including Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, have raised questions about China’s military modernization.
"Since no nation threatens China, one must wonder: Why this growing investment? Why these continuing large and expanding arms purchases?" Rumsfeld said in a June 4 address to a security conference in Singapore, organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
A Navy Cross waiting to happen.
Thank goodness we now have a conservative President with the backbone to stand-up to the Chicoms...
Oh... um.... that's right...
$h*t...
nevermind.
The Arleigh Burke class destroyers are equipped with the Aegis Combat System which integrates the ship's sensors and weapons systems to engage anti-ship missile threats. The Aegis system has a federated architecture with four subsystems – AN/SPY-1 multifunction radar, Command and Decision System (CDS), Aegis Display System (ADS) and the Weapon Control System (WCS). The CDS receives data from ship and external sensors via satellite communications and provides command, control and threat assessment. The WCS receives engagement instruction from the CDS, selects weapons and interfaces with the weapon fire control systems. http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/burke/
Should we actually build them, the DD(X) will have the Raytheon AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar system. These wil;l not have the AEGIS command and control system.
On the other hand, there are foreign analogues of the AEGIS/SPY-1 pairing. The British Type 45 Daring destroyers will pair the BAE/Marconi Combat Management System with the BAE Systems Sampson multi-function, dual-face active array radar operating at E/F bands.
The German Sachsen and the Dutch De Zeven Provincien all use the Thales Nederland (formerly Signaal) Sewaco FD combat system.
The Sachsen radar systems "include two Atlas Elektronik 9600-M I/J-band muti-function ARPA radars, Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance and target indication radar, and Thales Nederland APAR Active Phased Array Radar. APAR is a multi-function radar operating at X-band which provides target search and tracking and guidance for the Standard Missile 2."
The Italian and French Horizon class frigates will have Senit 8 combat data system for command and control and pair it with the NICCO Communications SAS integrated communications system. The primary radar will be the AMS EMPAR multi-function phased array operating at G-band (4GHz to 6GHz).
I doubt that the ChiComs have developed a system this sophisticated.
Yes, Western militaries generally don't have unified command structures. Which is better? We'll see when the balloon goes up.
I think ours is better. Our services can fight for their unique doctrines and weapon systems, but they all practice joint forces operations. It is not unusual for some operations where all three services is under an admiral or theater commander (air or ground). If one looks at the PRC navy, its chain of command and programs is under Army control. Their navy is subservient to Army needs. That is good for local area power projection (i.e Taiwan invasion) but can hinder naval weapon system or projects that support an independent fleet doctrine, especially if these systems must compete against PLA ground priorities. Example would be long range rocket artillery or missile (Army force projection) versus naval offensive weapons such as all weather carrier based aircraft, missiles and etc. If they have the money for both, not a problem, but if they do not, the navy projects will be delayed in deference to Army needs because they dominate the higher ranks of the bureacracy.
If they're looking to colonize then they need an advanced a space program. I don't think any nation on Earth is ready to give up their land.
Didn't the Phillipines just recently legally surrender their claim to some Islands of theirs (the Paracels, and some of the Spratleys) that China seized under everyone's nose? And they seem to be tooling up for some more land-grabbing action...
China Restructures Its Military
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING
China is reforming its military by adding new battle units and eliminating outdated ones to increase its effectiveness in combat, state media reported July 13.
According to the Headquarters of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a program is currently underway to cut the military’s divisions while increasing its brigades, the Xinhua news agency said.
The reform program, said the headquarters, will increase the number of land army corps.
The army corps will also have a three-level command system, namely corps, brigadier and battalion levels, which will mark the first time Chinese forces have adopted such a system, the report said, citing the Liberation Army Daily.
At the same time, the command levels of the air force and the navy will be reduced, said the paper, which gave no further details.
The total number of officers serving at headquarters or functional branches at different command levels will be cut to a new low and some grassroots posts previously held by officers will be handed over to skilled soldiers or non-service civil servants, according to the report.
Citing the reform as one of the most wide-ranging and extensive ones the country has ever witnessed, the PLA headquarters said it would intensify the combat command capability of Chinese troops.
The reform is expected to be completed before the end of 2005, it said.
The proportion of officers to soldiers in the Chinese military will also be increased, according to the report.
China has been trying to downsize its military in recent years -- reducing the number of soldiers but better training the ones remaining to increase the quality of its armed forces and prepare for what it sees as a new age of high-tech warfare that relies more on technology than manpower.
It is also ambitiously acquiring new weaponry.
Last month, the Washington Times said a highly classified report found U.S. intelligence agencies had failed to recognize more than a dozen key military developments in China in the past decade, including:
- The development of a new long-range cruise missile, and of a new warship equipped with a stolen Chinese version of the U.S. Aegis battle management technology.
- The deployment of a new attack submarine known as the Yuan class; of precision-guided munitions, including new air-to-ground missiles and new, more accurate warheads; of surface-to-surface missiles.
We may be seeing a 'New Asia' in the near future.
One word : TARGETS
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