China expands transport ‘workhorses’

Beijing launches stealth frigate amid ocean tensions

HONG KONG, Feb 26, (Agencies): China is expanding its long-neglected fleet of supply ships and heavy-lift aircraft, bolstering its military prowess in support of missions to enforce claims over disputed territory and to defend Chinese interests abroad.

These transport workhorses are unlikely to arouse the same regional unease as the steady rollout of high performance fighters, long-range missiles or potent warships, but they are a crucial element of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) threedecade military build-up, defence analysts say.

Over time, the air and sea support will give the world’s second-largest navy greater geographical reach and will enhance the PLA’s capacity to assist troops on distant battlefields, potentially including Taiwan if Beijing were to launch a military assault to take control of the selfgoverning island.

China’s state-owned shipyards last year launched two 23,000tonne type 903 replenishment ships, according to reports and photographs published on Chinese military affairs websites and blogs, with further orders in the pipeline.

Defence analysts say the stateof-the-art ships are undergoing sea trials and should be commissioned into the Chinese navy later this year.

Conducted

China also confirmed last month that the PLA had conducted the first test flight of its Y-20 heavy lift aircraft from the Yanliang airbase near Xi’an in Shaanxi Province.

State-run television showed footage of the four-engine Y-20, the biggest aircraft built in China, taking off and landing. The Y-20, built by AVIC Xi’an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd, would have a 66-tonne payload, according to official media reports.

The impending delivery of these support ships and aircraft is further evidence China intends to become a more ambitious global military power in a decisive break with its traditional security priorities of expanding or defending its extensive land borders. “They are beginning to develop their capacity for power projection, there is no question about that,” says Li Nan, an expert on the Chinese military and a professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Steep increases in military outlays over three decades have allowed China to build an advanced navy that now ranks second to the United States fleet in terms of raw numbers.

The Chinese navy now has about 80 major surface warships including its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. It also deploys more than 50 submarines, about 50 landing ships and more than 80 missile attack boats, according to Pentagon estimates of PLA military strength.

However, construction of support and replenishment vessels in Chinese shipyards has lagged far behind the output of combatants.

China has only five major supply ships to support a fleet that is conducting increasingly intense patrolling and exercises around disputed territory in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

These vessels are also called upon to support the Chinese navy on a growing number of deployments far into the Indian and Pacific oceans.

By comparison, the US navy has 34 big replenishment ships to support about 140 major surface warships, according to Pentagon figures.

The Chinese navy’s extended missions include regular deployments of naval task forces to the Gulf of Aden and waters off the horn of Africa as part of United Nations authorized anti-piracy operations.

Missile

China has launched the first ship in a new class of stealth missile frigates, state media reported Tuesday, amid ongoing tensions with neighboring countries over Beijing’s maritime claims.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy is building a total of 20 Type 056 Jiangdao class frigates to replace older models and bolster its ability to conduct patrols and escort ships and submarines in waters it claims in the South China and East China seas.

The first in the class, No. 582, was formally delivered to the navy on Monday in Shanghai, which is home to one of the country’s largest complexes of naval shipyards, according to the official Xinhua News Agency and the navy’s official website.

Newly promoted navy commander Wu Shengli attended the delivery ceremony, the reports said, an indication of the importance with which the service regards the new ships’ mission.

The helicopter-equipped ships feature a sleek design to reduce clutter and make them harder to spot by radar and are armed with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. They also need a crew of just 60, two-thirds fewer than older vessels, a major advantage that should boost efficiency and relieve burdens in training and recruitment. At 1,440 tons fully loaded, is considerably smaller than US Navy frigates, and is categorized by some observers as a member of the smaller class of ship known as corvettes.

China’s navy has so far stayed aloof from the island disputes in order to avoid further escalating tensions, with patrol ships from the Ministry of Transportation and other government agencies dispatched instead to assert China’s territorial claims.

However, China has made no secret of its desire to extend its navy’s global reach, and the service has received considerable attention in China’s military modernization. China’s first aircraft carrier, the overhauled Soviet-era Liaoning, entered service last year, while a growing array of nuclear submarines and ultra-modern surface ships are also joining the fleet.