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Saturday, August 23, 2014

America, Take Notice: China's Five Military Game Changers

America, Take Notice: China's Five Military Game Changers

08/23/14
Robert Farley
Military Strategy, State of the Military, Defense, Security, China, United States

Beijing's military prowess grows with each passing day. Should Washington be concerned?

For decades, China has played catch-up with the world’s most advanced military powers. Starting from a very low technological base, and without the benefit of access to foreign technology markets, the defense base of the People’s Republic of China struggled to develop innovative technologies that could compete with Russian, European, and American systems.  China compensated for this deficiency by importing advanced foreign weapons and tech, and by orienting its military strategy around defense.
To some extent, China continues to play catch-up today.  However, new advances are bringing the Chinese defense-industrial base ever closer to its counterparts (indeed, in some ways Chinese technology has surpassed Russian).  This article examines five pieces of future Chinese military technology that could become “game changers.” These five systems each threaten to contribute to the transformation of China’s security environment, and by extension to revolutionize the politics of East Asia.
Aircraft Carriers:
China’s intentions with respect to its carrier fleet have remained mysterious for decades.  The completion of the Liaoning made clear that China does intend to develop a carrier force, but questions remain about the size of the force, and about its eventual capabilities.  The lack of transparency with respect to China’s carrier plans means that we don’t yet have a sense of what new ships will look like, although they may carry the stealth-style fighters and could possibly launch AEW (airborne early warning) aircraft.
To be sure, Chinese naval aviation still has a very long way to go before the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) can challenge the U.S. Navy (USN).  The planes and the carriers, while impressive, will lack the capabilities of a U.S. super-carrier air wing. While the Chinese are working out deck operation procedures on Liaoning, future carriers will undoubtedly demand different kinds of expertise.
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/america-take-notice-chinas-five-military-game-changers-11138

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