The strategy of the Chinese Navy, in the near future, is aimed at winning a hypothetical localized war on the sea, strengthening national coastal defense and preserving the sovereignty of the territorial waters of the state, so as to protect the rights of navigation and national interests.
All this is not configured in the maintenance of the status quo but it is aimed at the constant attempt to reach the goal of the expansion of the maritime power.
This is evidenced by the maritime thought of Beijing, according to which: China's maritime environment is occupied by hostile forces and the island chain closest to the continent exerts tremendous pressure on the country's overall security.
Significant, as an incentive to channel resources towards a total control of the surrounding waters, appears the crisis with the US of 1996 - when two groups of aircraft carriers blocked the straits with the purpose of protecting Taiwan - which demonstrated the inability of the Chinese Navy in countering effectively the naval device deployed by the US Navy.
In fact, Beijing bought four Russian destroyers Sovremenny (photos) equipped with SS-N-22 cruise missiles, twelve class conventional submarines Kilo but above all by putting in place the project for an aircraft carrier.
China has planned a historical evolution in three phases that is leading to the strategic development of the Navy.
The first phase coincided with coastal defense and coastal defense; the second postulated the principle of a defense of territorial waters; finally, the third phase focuses on ocean defense.
The goal is to have strategic depth, not only in the Indian Ocean through the South China Sea but also in the eastern Pacific.
To this end, satellite programs progress and those for SIGINT (Signal Intelligence), oceanographic research and observation are implemented. It is likely that, within the 2020, thanks to twenty or so reconnaissance satellites in the series yaogan, Beijing will have an integrated information system at regional level.
Some sources even speak of the development of a quantum radar with aircraft detection capabilities stealth.
The Chinese technological developments have been possible thanks to the initiative of Admiral Liu Huaqing, former commander of the Chinese fleet and, in the 1994, also number one of the Central Military Commission. He started a profound reform of the defense industry, with the intention of launching a clear political message to Washington: the Chinese Navy would never have accepted a possible declaration of independence by the Taiwanese government.
Liu's military thinking is based on the notion that the development of war science is not a technological issue, but a strategic business.
A teaching received by the current president Xi Jinping, who is paying close attention to the maritime dimension of the defense of China, with the introduction of ever more modern ships.
Since 2003 the Chinese Navy has begun to acquire over 70 units, including an aircraft carrier, four nuclear missile launchers, twelve conventional submarines, ten high tonnage destroyers, twenty-five frigates and team suppliers.
Currently there are other programs under development, like another aircraft carrier, the Type-055 fighters (image) and the large Type-901 rapid fuels, second in the world in their category only to the Supply US.
Returning to the coastal defense, the 2004 has witnessed a further technological advancement with the introduction of the first Type-022 patrol in service. Conceived with the help of Australian technicians, this class of patrollers is characterized by an elusive shape and a catamaran fringe-float structure, therefore able to take the sea even with adverse weather conditions, allowing it a speed equal to 36 nodes, in special way in the seas closed.
The Type-022 - currently 80 number - can carry X-NXX to 4 C-8 anti-ship cruise missiles and are equipped with an 803 mm AK-630 cannon.
In case of operational use they would be joined by Type-056 corvettes. Armed with a 76 mm piece, an eight-cell launcher for FL-3000N short-range anti-aircraft missiles and two dual launchers for YJ-83 anti-ship missiles. The Type-056A version instead of the missiles is armed with 87 Type antisom-type torpedo rockets, similar to the ASROC (Anti Submarine ROCket), specialized in the antisom fight - they are equipped with a towed stern sonar and light torpedoes - they play a role important in the three Chinese fleets, in particular the one in the South where the ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) corvettes are more numerous than the standard ones.
The adoption of this class of corvettes is aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the Chinese Navy to operate permanently off the coasts, particularly in the seas of the south and near the disputed islands to Japan, the Senkaku / Diaoyutai.
In this part of the Pacific, the implementation of the Chinese submarine fleet should be seen. Particularly in the conventional component, with modern 15 Yuan (photo), 13 Song, 12 Kilo, and about fifteen old men Ming. Thus, a potential aggressor would face a unique defense barrier in the world. Furthermore, the replacement of 30% of the most obsolete vessels with units of the class is in place Yuan equipped with Stirling AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) independent air propulsion, and by successors derived from Amur Russians. Almost all submarine units have anti-ship missile armaments. New-generation YJ-093 cruise missiles - similar to the 18M3s are installed on the latest Type-54 nuclear attack submarines Kalibr Russian - with supersonic speed up to mach 3, with a range of 540 km and a warhead from 300 kg of explosive with high potential, enough to seriously damage an American nuclear propelled aircraft carrier.
The YJ-18B is set up for naval attack, while the YJ-18 is used to beat land targets. However there are two other versions, the YJ-18A that equips the new Type 052D and Type 055 destroyers, and the YJ-18C, a version used for coastal defense.
The potential of PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy) is therefore constantly increasing. It is a proof of what happened on the 10 January 2018, when a submarine class Shang it passed very close to Taiwan, pointing towards the islands of Miyako and Yonaguni, an obligatory passage to the Japanese territorial waters. On January 11 the submarine appeared in the Senkaku / Diaoyutai archipelago. A way to show the flag again and reaffirm the Chinese Navy's dissuasive capabilities.
(photo: Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China / web)
