PLAN anti piracy deployment.

Any info on how many helos the task force is packing? The destroyers can house one apiece, and I think the supply ship also has a hanger, but the quest is, is it making use of it?

From the looks of the numbers and equipment, it would seem that the PLAN plan to deploy SF teams with heavy weapons on some merchant ships as they enter the danger zone to provide maximum coverage, while the helos would act as a rapid response force, with the destroyers and their embarked patrol craft doing a circuit patrol.

Two Ka-28 are deployed with the task force. I wouldn’t be surprised if both Helo’s will drop in to the supply ship to refuel.

Any info on how many helos the task force is packing? The destroyers can house one apiece, and I think the supply ship also has a hanger, but the quest is, is it making use of it?

From the looks of the numbers and equipment, it would seem that the PLAN plan to deploy SF teams with heavy weapons on some merchant ships as they enter the danger zone to provide maximum coverage, while the helos would act as a rapid response force, with the destroyers and their embarked patrol craft doing a circuit patrol.

Well the fleet creeps closer:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/29/content_10577299.htm

Some pictures of one of the embarked Kamov doing what appears to be duskers.

All pictures Xinhuanet

There is a very obvious trend as I have displayed and the dispatch of an 052C is in no way surprising. Shenzhen was for a very long time the most modern indigenous unit in the PLAN and she undertook the most foreign cruises. Now the new ships are undertaking such ships. The fact is that you can not disprove what I have identified, that is why the above quoted post was so short.

That does not explain why the Shenzhen keeps on going to cruises even when the 052C arrived, then the 052C arrived, then the 051C arrived, then the 054 arrived, then the 054A arrived. Or for that matter, why the 052 like the Harbin keeps going to cruises like to Australia and Korea in 2008.

Does not explain why the Sovs never went to any cruise at all, even though the PLAN first received them in 1998. The first Plan Sov that ever went to an overseas trip was only this year, and that was to a Russian naval base in the Far East. This was also the first trip for any of the Jiangkai frigates, the first came out in 2006.

For that matter, the 052B, which went into commission in 2003, never went into a cruise until this year to a trip to Russia and then Europe. The 052C, which went into commission in 2004, never engaged in any overseas cruise until this very moment.

They send the Shenzhen out, and even the older 052 because they’re only fairly modern, emphasis in fairly, decent, not too threatening, and yet at the same time, don’t expose the PLAN’s latest tricks. As a matter of fact, some in the JMSDF thought the PLAN didn’t reciprocate fairly during the exchange visits when the Shenzhen visited Japan and the Takanami visited China; they thought that they should have sent at least a 052B or 052C instead. I think the PLAN has overplayed the Shenzhen card and the PLAN knows it. Next time, we should be seeing more of the other ships getting their share of overseas cruises.

Beijing ends 500 years of tradition as it sends the navy out to attack pirates

Leo Lewis in China

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5400661.ece

From the dockside of the Yalong Bay base the three decorated vessels that weighed anchor and slipped off into the tropical seas yesterday afternoon might have been any normal coastal patrol.

For Beijing – and for governments watching across the globe – it was the beginning of a new era in world naval history. The interests of China now extend far beyond its borders but this was the first time in more than five centuries that it has travelled outside its territorial waters to defend them.

The last time a Chinese military fleet set sail for anywhere as far afield as Africa with the prospect of a fight at the other end, the ships were 400ft (122m) wooden junks and the commander was a Ming dynasty court eunuch called Zheng He.

The Chinese ships – two high-tech, heavily armed destroyers and a supply vessel – will spend the next ten days bound for the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, which has been the scene of more than 100 hijackings within the past year.

There have been seven attacks involving Chinese ships or crew since January and the pirate onslaught show few signs of abating – pirates have made an estimated $30 million (£20 million) this year. On Christmas Day a German military helicopter rescued an Egyptian ship from a violent hijacking.

The ships will spend three months patrolling the seas, protecting Chinese merchant ships and the flow of strategic cargo – chiefly crude oil and minerals – through the region. Critically, and in a significant and historic break with policy, the Chinese ships are travelling on the assumption that they will engage in combat with the enemy.

“It’s the first time we go abroad to protect our strategic interests armed with military force,” Wu Shengli, the commander of the Chinese Navy, said at the launch on Hainan island. He described the deployment as an international humanitarian mission.

Lieutenant-Commander Xie Zengling said: “If the pirates make direct threats to the warships or the vessels we escort, the fleet will take counter-measures.” His special forces members could “handle several enemies with their bare hands”, he added.

The ships, which have a crew of 800, will join a swelling armada of ships from navies around the world – all deployed in recent weeks after the United Nations called for a sterner response to the escalation of piracy. The international and cooperative nature of the Aden deployment however, defence analysts said, does not disguise the significance of yesterday’s departure.

In an era when China is playing a much larger global role in commerce and politics, the deployment redefines it as a nation prepared to spill blood protecting its diverse stakes in the world economy. Some also see it as yet another step on China’s path to superpower status. This week, in a rare press conference, senior Defence Ministry figures said for the first time that China was seriously considering building its first aircraft carrier – a development that has been rumoured since the 1980s. “An aircraft carrier is a symbol of the country’s overall national strength as well as the competitiveness of the country’s force,” said Colonel Huang Xueping.

The prospect of a Chinese aircraft carrier has obsessed defence analysts in Washington and around the Asia region where China is engaged in a series of territorial and resource disputes with its neighbours.

Japan, which has already expressed concerns over China’s growing military spending, showed clear signs that it was rattled by Beijing’s deployment to Aden. Taro Aso, the Prime Minister, yesterday ordered his Defence Ministry to find a way to also deploy naval vessels to fight pirates off Somalia.

The apparent eagerness by Beijing to join the nations represented in Aden – including Britain, the US and Russia – is also thought to derive from rivalry with India, whose ships have shouldered much of the burden of fighting piracy in the region.

Sailing out of the past

— Zheng He is also known as Cheng Ho, or the Three Jewel Eunuch Admiral

— He was castrated at the age of 10, when Ming troops went to his village to crush Mongol rebels

— After being captured he was sent to the army, and rose through the ranks to become Chief Eunuch and admiral

— In 28 years he sailed to 37 countries. More than 1,100 treasure ships, some more than 400ft in length, were constructed for his seven voyages

— Some historians suggest that he was the inspiration for Sinbad the Sailor. Another theory suggests that he discovered the New World in the 1420s, 70 years before Columbus

Sources: Columbia Encyclopaedia; Encyclopaedia of World Biography; Dictionary of World History; bbc.co.uk

Some pictures in this report of the Chinese task force deploying:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gB7YMEDuCwwY9ncDOtPAkEI4-H2wD95AJ2Q80

On another note the Japanese are certainly rattled by this development, they are going to look into ways of deploying their own ships in the next parlimentary session…

Just waiting for the South Korean’s to join in the fun now:D

just to correct one thing, Luhai is actually 051B.

168, the first 052B, actually made an around the world deployment last year. And Sov, 054 made a port call to Vladivostok this year. But 171 is definitely a step up, since it’s the most advanced destroyer in service. Although to be fair, it has been around for 3 or 4 years now. Only 054A have yet to make any kind of long range deployments, although it did join up with 054 and 138 when they were coming back from Vladivostok. In fact, it created China fear mongering reports from the Japanese media.

I know, actually I corrected Lawrence about that in the previous thread which I deleted.

I get a feeling that the PLAN are still playing with the basic 054 design, I certainly think it will form the backbone of the fleet replacing the various 053 variants in service.

just to correct one thing, Luhai is actually 051B.

168, the first 052B, actually made an around the world deployment last year. And Sov, 054 made a port call to Vladivostok this year. But 171 is definitely a step up, since it’s the most advanced destroyer in service. Although to be fair, it has been around for 3 or 4 years now. Only 054A have yet to make any kind of long range deployments, although it did join up with 054 and 138 when they were coming back from Vladivostok. In fact, it created China fear mongering reports from the Japanese media.

On another note does anyone know what vessel Iran has deployed to the Gulf of Aden.

I can’t find anything on any news channel.

Also I wonder how the troops the Swiss are talking about deploying will work? They have no naval boarding experience so the only thing I can think is deck parties for Swiss flagged ships.

Right now that is done with and all I see is white noise back to sensible matters.

I suppose its not that surprising but Japan now considering to deploy ships as well:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/24/japan.pirates/?iref=mpstoryview

I suppose a case of if they are doing it so are we.

Thinking about setting up a sweep stake to see who is the next navy to deploy. I bet South Korea won’t want to be left out…

Oh well if you want to be childish fine, I tried to engage you but instead you seem to think this is a game where you in your own words “Shot down down all your reasons” believe me you didn’t as anyone can see.

I feel reel pity for you…your clearly a very sad petty person. Your back on my ignore list…I choose to no longer feed a troll. I hope in time the list of people who have you on their ignore list will reach a point where you can no longer spoil this forum. Good bye.

You were asked to support your assertions and you refused, firstly you got the previous thread deleted because you were unable to back up what you claimed and now you have resorted to this when challenged a second time. At no point has anybody said that you are not entitled to an opinion but your reaction when that opinion is justifiably questioned and challenged in a civilised manner is a stain on your character.

No you did not, I shot down all your so called ‘reasons’.

Wrong, they chose the most modern and powerful indigenous unit in the PLAN, over and over again. If you have evidence to the contrary then please post it, it would make a pleasant change from your usual posts.

It is blatantly obvious that they sent the most modern indigenous unit in the PLAN as I have demonstrated on multiple occasions. You are perfectly welcome to your opinion but if choose to post it here you need to be able to defend it and thus far you have failed outright.

Oh well if you want to be childish fine, I tried to engage you but instead you seem to think this is a game where you in your own words “Shot down down all your reasons” believe me you didn’t as anyone can see.

I feel reel pity for you…your clearly a very sad petty person. Your back on my ignore list…I choose to no longer feed a troll. I hope in time the list of people who have you on their ignore list will reach a point where you can no longer spoil this forum. Good bye.

No I and others put up good reasons to disprove you in the previous now dead thread.

No you did not, I shot down all your so called ‘reasons’.

Let it go. We disagree its not a game of who is right or wrong. I expressed a speculative opinion which differs from yours. It is highly surprising IN MY opinion, because that differs from your opinion doesn’t make it wrong. Shenzen was unique in the PLAN’s fleet but not particularly more advanced then a number of contempory classes, she actually shared much the same technology. The good will visits were just that good will visits, I don’t think the Chinese government were particularly showing off technology rather flying the flag with a crew and ship selected for the task capable of global tours.

Wrong, they chose the most modern and powerful indigenous unit in the PLAN, over and over again. If you have evidence to the contrary then please post it, it would make a pleasant change from your usual posts.

The general staff of the PLA have never made a big thing of showing off any kind of technology. Quite the reverse they are highly secretative about their procedures and equipment. As I said the 052b and support ship tasked make sense but the deployment of an 052c IN MY OPINION is surprising. I am allowed an opinion am I? I am more then prepared to respect your OPINION why can’t you show any respect for mine?

It is blatantly obvious that they sent the most modern indigenous unit in the PLAN as I have demonstrated on multiple occasions. You are perfectly welcome to your opinion but if choose to post it here you need to be able to defend it and thus far you have failed outright.

There is a very obvious trend as I have displayed and the dispatch of an 052C is in no way surprising. Shenzhen was for a very long time the most modern indigenous unit in the PLAN and she undertook the most foreign cruises. Now the new ships are undertaking such ships. The fact is that you can not disprove what I have identified, that is why the above quoted post was so short.

No I and others put up good reasons to disprove you in the previous now dead thread.

Let it go. We disagree its not a game of who is right or wrong. I expressed a speculative opinion which differs from yours. It is highly surprising IN MY opinion, because that differs from your opinion doesn’t make it wrong. Shenzen was unique in the PLAN’s fleet but not particularly more advanced then a number of contempory classes, she actually shared much the same technology. The good will visits were just that good will visits, I don’t think the Chinese government were particularly showing off technology rather flying the flag with a crew and ship selected for the task capable of global tours.

The general staff of the PLA have never made a big thing of showing off any kind of technology. Quite the reverse they are highly secretative about their procedures and equipment. As I said the 052b and support ship tasked make sense but the deployment of an 052c IN MY OPINION is surprising. I am allowed an opinion am I? I am more then prepared to respect your OPINION why can’t you show any respect for mine?

Now back to the thread how do people feel the PLAN ships will operate in the area? Close protection of Chinese flagged ships or a more flexible profile.

Again your seeing a trend where there is no particular trend.

Sending an 052c is an unusual decision.

There is a very obvious trend as I have displayed and the dispatch of an 052C is in no way surprising. Shenzhen was for a very long time the most modern indigenous unit in the PLAN and she undertook the most foreign cruises. Now the new ships are undertaking such ships. The fact is that you can not disprove what I have identified, that is why the above quoted post was so short.

The below is a rough list of the overseas cruises undertaken by Chinese surface combatants in recent years. In many cases these cruises include visits to countries not listed. It goes witout saying that these two classes were the most modern indigenous units in the PLAN that were fully commissioned and worked up and this thus demonstrates the PLAN habit of deploying its most modern indigenous warships on its overseas cruises. The Shenxhen further reinforces this, she has visited 15 countries since joining the PLAN, more than any other unit.

052 Class (Harbin/Quingdao)

1997: First ever PLAN visit to the US
2002: First ever PLAN Global cruise
2006: Visit to Pearl Harbour
2007: First ever PLAN visit to New Zealand

052B Luhai (Shenzhen)

2000: First Chinese goodwill visit to Africa
2001: First PLAN visit to Europe
2002: First planned PLAN visit to Japan cancelled
2003: 37 day cruise to Guam, Brunei and Singapore
2004+: Deep modernization and refit
2007: First PLAN visit to Japan

With this new anti-piracy mission the PLAN is once again deploying its most modern indigenous units overseas thus continuing the trend and furthering the apparent development of the South Sea Fleet as both the premier user of indigenous ships and systems and the primary power projection force in the PLAN.

Again your seeing a trend where there is no particular trend.

Sending an 052c is an unusual decision.

The below is a rough list of the overseas cruises undertaken by Chinese surface combatants in recent years. In many cases these cruises include visits to countries not listed. It goes witout saying that these two classes were the most modern indigenous units in the PLAN that were fully commissioned and worked up and this thus demonstrates the PLAN habit of deploying its most modern indigenous warships on its overseas cruises. The Shenxhen further reinforces this, she has visited 15 countries since joining the PLAN, more than any other unit.

052 Class (Harbin/Quingdao)

1997: First ever PLAN visit to the US
2002: First ever PLAN Global cruise
2006: Visit to Pearl Harbour
2007: First ever PLAN visit to New Zealand

052B Luhai (Shenzhen)

2000: First Chinese goodwill visit to Africa
2001: First PLAN visit to Europe
2002: First planned PLAN visit to Japan cancelled
2003: 37 day cruise to Guam, Brunei and Singapore
2004+: Deep modernization and refit
2007: First PLAN visit to Japan

With this new anti-piracy mission the PLAN is once again deploying its most modern indigenous units overseas thus continuing the trend and furthering the apparent development of the South Sea Fleet as both the premier user of indigenous ships and systems and the primary power projection force in the PLAN.

As I said before even with my amusing mistake…Play Nice or not at all!

Due to the previous thread being derailed I have deleted and started again.:mad:

This a thread to discuss the PLAN’s deployment in anti piracy operations. I have also disabled “smilies” due to them being used childishly.

Play nice people…

Dude funny mistake, disabling smiles and then using one in your own post! lol!