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H2O

Junior Member
Registered Member
I see two pathways the PLA-navy can evolve for the foreseeable future, between now and the next 15 years.
option 1: develop global power projection capabilities
option 2: project power up to the 3rd island chain

Option 1, would favor investing heavily into nuclear propulsion. There would be more nuclear powered warships like carriers and submarines being built. Diplomatic relations with distant foreign nations would have to be established for the creation of over seas naval bases, especially on other continents. A lot more at sea replenishment ships would need to be built.

Option 2, would favor investing in diesel power over nuclear propulsion. The 3rd island chain is at most 8,000km from mainland China. Diesel powered warships are capable of coving this distance and they are cheaper to build than nuclear therefore more can be built with the same budget. Long distant oversea military bases would be less important. Fewer at sea replenishment ships would need to be built.

Question: is there any indication as to which path the PLA-navy is choosing or are they being completely silent on this issue?

IMHO, for the near future, Option 2 would be their target simply because of their unresolved civil war. The time to reunification and how it is achieved will determine how soon they'll be in the position to transition towards Option 1. And when China finds itself in that position, it'll be nothing like what the US have right now. In other words, their power projection will be only to certain regions such as Northeastern Africa and SouthEast Asia, not Europe or South America. As of now, what they've been doing is protecting their trade routes from piracy (See their Gulf of Aden missions), evacuating citizens from trouble spots and providing humanitarian aid. Don't expect them to act unilaterally and given their efforts at the UN and this "multi-polar order," any military solution would most likely be under the UN banner or coalition.
 

Buncheong

New Member
Registered Member
Is there a dedicated thread for PLA Naval Air Force aircraft photos? I am chiefly interested in the J-11BH/BSH, and can't summon the eenergy to sift through 9,000 posts about Flankers when most of them are PLAAF. Is there a single subject PLANAF thread I missed in my search? Thanks in advance for any help!
 

Tupolev16

Just Hatched
Registered Member
Good evening guys! Could you kindly help me to find the following info: how many "Whiskey" class submarines did PLAN get? Most of Chinese sources say that 21 boats of 6603 type were built: until 1964, Jiangnan Shipyard built 13 boats, and from 1956 to 1962, Wuhan Shipyard built a total of 8 boats. All those boats were completed in China in full industrial circle. However, some Russian sources say that 3 boats were supplied for Semi Knocked Down production and were assembled in Jiangnan. This makes then 3+21. Conway's cited it was 5+21. So, where is the truth? I understand that I am somewhat 50 years late with the question, but still.... Any data will be much appreciated!!!:)
P.S. Also read that one boat was presumably lost in accident, is it true?
 

gelgoog

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Those long range cruise missiles have not been mass produced yet. And the B-1 is supposed to be retired. The USAF cut the funding to refurbish and modernize the B-1. This is a similar concept to the Russian naval Tu-22M3 bombers and it does make sense, but for that they need to fund it properly instead of just treating it as a boogeyman and making token use of the B-1.
 

james smith esq

Senior Member
Registered Member
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someone point out the problems with this scenario. surely it's not so simple.
My response was that this same potential obtains for the PLAAF H-6 and its variety of long-ranged anti-ship missiles. And, being that the U. S. has far more carriers, and is far more dependent on carriers for their operations in the west-Pac, this potential should be much more concerning to them than to the PLA. Although the H-6 is not quite the missile-truck that the B-1 is, it’s still in production; so, it will, inevitably, outnumber the B-1, significantly.
 

Dante80

Junior Member
Registered Member
A quick question. Why do chinese nuclear submarine classes/models use latin numerals for their third number in their designation? For example, Jin class is Type 094, or to be more precise Type 09-IV.

Is it just a way to differentiate them from non nuclear units? And if yes, could this carry over to other ship types, like nuclear carriers in the future?
 

lcloo

Captain
A quick question. Why do chinese nuclear submarine classes/models use latin numerals for their third number in their designation? For example, Jin class is Type 094, or to be more precise Type 09-IV.

Is it just a way to differentiate them from non nuclear units? And if yes, could this carry over to other ship types, like nuclear carriers in the future?
There is no type 094 submarine. They are all type 09 with different "version?/generation?/sub-type?" of I, II, II, IV, V, VI etc. Thus you have type 09-I, type 09-II and so on.
 
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