PLA Navy news, pics and videos

Boarding exercise from the "Blue Sword 2023" Sino-Saudi joint naval special warfare training exercise.

101 Nanchang DDG, supply ship 903 was confirmed 60km west of Yokoto Island. 815A type electronic reconnaissance ship 795 Tengonxing 70km southwest of Yokoto Island

122 Tangshan DDG, 550 Weifang FFG, 815A type electronic reconnaissance ship 795 passing through the Miyako Strait to the Pacific Ocean.

The 44th anti-piracy task force leaves Abu Dhabi after a friendly port call and rendezvous with ships of the UAE Navy for joint maneuvers.

Article on PLANAF recruitment:


What's the deal with the high school kids? Do they have to join PLANAF after they graduate? If so, seems a bit harsh on 15 year olds. I assume not all will be pilots, they also look at ground crew?

Maikeru said:

What's the deal with the high school kids? Do they have to join PLANAF after they graduate? If so, seems a bit harsh on 15 year olds. I assume not all will be pilots, they also look at ground crew?

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Given this example where the person graduated from a PLAGF college but chose to join PLAAF to become a pilot, I think these highschool kids, at least some of them, will be allowed to make their own choices when they graduate.

IIUC, it all depends on the deals they have made with the armed forces for them to be enrolled in these kinds of colleges. For example, many, if not all, of them will need to finish services in the forces for certain amount of time.

A tender announcement for an "Iron Bird" test rig by Shenyang AC, which is meant for the development of a (potentially new) carrier-based aircraft.

Posted by @伏尔戈星图 on Weibo.



For those who doesn't know what "Iron Bird" test rig is, here's one from during the Gulfstream G600's development:

SanWenYu said:

Given this example where the person graduated from a PLAGF college but chose to join PLAAF to become a pilot, I think these highschool kids, at least some of them, will be allowed to make their own choices when they graduate.

IIUC, it all depends on the deals they have made with the armed forces for them to be enrolled in these kinds of colleges. For example, many, if not all, of them will need to finish services in the forces for certain amount of time.

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Well it's usual in the west that the military would pay for e.g. university degrees in exchange for a period of service, but high school education? Shouldn't that be free to all? Is a 15 year old competent to make such a commitment?

Maikeru said:

Well it's usual in the west that the military would pay for e.g. university degrees in exchange for a period of service, but high school education? Shouldn't that be free to all? Is a 15 year old competent to make such a commitment?

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Perhaps you were misreading the SCMP piece? I think this is the relevant part from it:

"Earlier this year, the PLA Navy enrolled about 4,500 junior high school students – aged 15 to 16 – in a three-year youth aviation school programme to prepare them to take part in a selection process for training at the Naval Aviation University in Shandong province."

In other words, these particular junior high school students are taking part of a 3-year pre-college selection course. If they pass, they will be joining the Naval Aviation University. For this kind of programs, it should be free of charge, i.e. tuition and living cost paid by the authority.

I think these kids can still decide whether they want to continue with it after this 3-year pre-college course. In China one can legally join the armed forces at the age of 18.

Maikeru said:

Well it's usual in the west that the military would pay for e.g. university degrees in exchange for a period of service, but high school education? Shouldn't that be free to all? Is a 15 year old competent to make such a commitment?

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There are plenty of military academies for high school students around the world, including those in the United States. Some are public schools, some are private schools.