South China Sea

Watch: China reveals footage with its version of the ‘Mother of All Bombs’

The Chinese military has released footage showing the successful testing of the country’s version to the U.S. GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB). According to the state-owned news agency Global Times, earlier this week, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the Chinese defense giant North Industries Group Corporation Limited (NORINCO) successfully tested a powerful […]

New images surface of rail gun mounted aboard Chinese warship

Images have recently surfaced on social media suggesting that China may be preparing to test a ship-mounted electromagnetic rail gun. The weapon system was first tested some three years ago, and reports of it being mounted on the deck of a People’s Liberation Army-Navy warship first surfaced late last year. Electromagnetic rail guns can fire projectiles […]

War with China could mean ‘hot loading’ F-35Bs in the field without returning to a carrier

Diplomatic tensions between the United States and China have risen throughout the developing trade predicament between leaders, but in the nearby South China Sea, American and Chinese forces have long been staring one another down from either side of the horizon. The People’s Liberation Army’s massive modernization and reorganization effort, which has included the launch […]

With eye toward China, US Navy adds anti-ship missiles to their submarine load outs

For decades now, the U.S. Navy‘s submarine force has served as an addition to the nation’s already formidable ability to project power onto foreign shores, serving as a submersible launch platform for the Navy‘s workhorse Tomahawk cruise missiles. These submarines weren’t toothless when it came to other ships, of course, relying on torpedoes to serve […]

Fisherman catches what appears to be a Chinese sub-launched torpedo off the coast of Vietnam

A Vietnamese fisherman caught a bit more than he bargained for earlier this week, when he hooked what appears to be a Chinese torpedo about four miles off the Vietnamese coast. Although the fisherman, Tran Minh Thanh, snagged the torpedo only about four miles from shore, it remains likely that if it is indeed a Chinese […]

China’s military is inexperienced and riddle with issues… so why are we so worried about them?

Analyzing threats to national security requires a geopolitically and chronologically macro-perspective. That’s increasingly difficult to adopt for an American public that is so deeply entrenched in a political system that chases daily headlines and that considers national policy to be in its twilight every three to six years as the nation prepares for a shift […]

Last year, a Chinese fighter went inverted over an Air Force surveillance plane during intercept

Culture, particularly through movies and television, could be considered the United States’ most influential export. Our movies and shows find their way into just about every market and go on to shape the perceptions the world has of our nation and of themselves. It would seem that, at least in the case of one Chinese […]

America is at a disadvantage to China, Russia in the era of “Grey Zone” combat operations

The United States military recently began transitioning its training and operational practices away from the past two decades worth of anti-terror and counter-insurgency warfare, placing a larger emphasis on the resurgence of near-peer level threats posed by the likes of Russia and China. This sort of power competition is something the United States may be a […]

Senior Chinese defense official calls for ramming US ships that enter the South China Sea

Tensions in the South China Sea have been rising steadily in recent years, thanks to China’s declared sovereignty over the entirety of the massive waterway, despite competing claims from no fewer than five other nations with established international norms on their side. The United States, in particular, has taken issue with China’s claimed ownership of […]

China will soon have 3 aircraft carriers and lots of pilots, but no fighters for them to fly

China’s long-serving aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, boasts a small fleet of troubled J-15s and, as of 2016, only 25 qualified pilots. Now, as the Chinese test and expedite production of two new domestically developed aircraft carriers, they face a number of significant challenges. Their goal is to become a true “blue water” Navy. But they […]

Japan wants to combine America’s two best fighters into one air dominance platform – here’s why America might let them

Sometimes it can be tough to appreciate the logic behind which defense technologies the United States Government deems suitable for export. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, for instance, is regularly touted as the most advanced aircraft ever developed, but Uncle Sam is happy to distribute them willingly to paying nations with friendly relations to help […]

Listen to the Chinese Navy demand US Navy recon plane leave international airspace over South China Sea

The South China Sea is among both the most heavily traversed and heavily contested waterways on the planet. With an estimated one-third of all global commerce crossing the expansive body of water at some point and significant natural resources beneath the surface, it’s no small wonder then that a nation like China, eager to exercise […]