News Report: China Intensely Investing in Creating Flexible and Capable Airborne Forces

Airborne forces are an important element of the Chinese military and Beijing will continue to invest in their development and upgrade their combat capabilities.

China is pursuing its global interests, including placing focus on expanding its international military presence, as part of its "active defense" doctrine.

Traditionally, Beijing used to rely on its ground forces, but over the recent years it has been heavily investing in the navy and the air force. Now, China is enhancing its airborne forces, a report by the American think-tank Stratfor read. 

According to the article, having capable airborne forces is of strategic importance for China. China is one of the largest countries in the world and has a number of remote places along its border. Moreover, China is surrounded by potential flashpoints, including at the border with India and North Korea. 

News Report: Russian Experts Say Chinese Air Power Will Soon Match Russian, US Capabilities

WS10A Taihang engine

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to strengthen the country's aviation industry, particularly the field of advanced engines. Commenting on Xi's remarks, Russian analysts told online newspaper Svobodnaya Pressa that the day when China comes to match the capabilities of Russian and US air power may be just around the corner.

Late last month, China Daily reported that President Xi hailed the establishment of a new company, Aero Engine Corp of China, which is set to research, develop, and manufacture aircraft engines for the Chinese aviation industry. The newspaper said that the decision was "a strategic move that will improve the aviation industry and boost the modernization of the Chinese military." 

The paper emphasized that at present, "aircraft engines remain one of the few fields in which the country still lags largely behind top players, especially the United States." China, the paper added, continues to rely on imported engines for its most advanced aircraft, including the J-10 fighter and the Y-20 transport, as well as the new-generation J-20 stealth fighter, which "used Russian-made engines for its test flight."

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (6-SEP-2016)

Antonov An-225 Mriya (Image: Wiki Commons)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

The South China Sea’s about to get more crowded, with the Russia–China naval exercise—fittingly named Joint Sea 2016—scheduled for 11–19 September. Russia has sent a task force of anti-submarine warfare destroyers, support ships and an amphibious landing ship to participate this year, in what’s seen as a signal of the burgeoning Sino–Russian security relationship. Russia’s increasing naval activity around the world has led to a renewed interest in Russian naval affairs in the US, with the US Naval War College opening a Russia Maritime Studies Institute earlier this week.

The US Navy continues to look at further diversifying the fuel supply for its fleet, with details emerging this week that the Navy had applied for a patent dubbed ‘Bacteria-Based Gas Generator’. This generator would supposedly harness methane and hydrogen gases emitted from microorganisms to power ships and unmanned naval systems. It’s not the first time the US Navy has looked to alternative energy sources to power its fleet. The ‘Great Green Fleet’ is a Carrier Strike Group that generates power using alternative fuel supplies: nuclear power on the aircraft carrier and a diesel-biofuel blend for the escort ships.