China’s Aircraft Carrier Advances With Jet Take-Off Drills

[Vikrant]

China conducted flight take-offs and landings on its Liaoning aircraft carrier over nearly a month of exercises, the first such drills on the vessel as the country modernizes its military arsenal and extends its reach at sea.

The Liaoning returned to Qingdao port July 3 after the training mission that involved J-15 fighter jets, the People’s Daily newspaper said in a front-page article. The Global Times newspaper posted pictures on its website of the yellow-painted prototype planes taking off from the Liaoning’s deck.

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China?s Aircraft Carrier Advances With Jet Take-Off Drills - Bloomberg

 

[waltky]

Containing China...

How the US is encircling China with military bases
August 21, 2013 WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is encircling China with a chain of air bases and military ports. The latest link: a small airstrip on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan. The U.S. Air Force is planning to lease 33 acres of land on the island for the next 50 years to build a "divert airfield" on an old World War II airbase there. But the residents don't want it. And the Chinese are in no mood to be surrounded by Americans.

The Pentagon's big, new strategy for the 21st century is something called Air-Sea Battle, a concept that's nominally about combining air and naval forces to punch through the increasingly formidable defenses of nations like China or Iran. It may sound like an amorphous strategy — and truth be told, a lot of Air-Sea Battle is still in the conceptual phase. But a very concrete part of this concept is being put into place in the Pacific. An important but oft-overlooked part of Air-Sea Battle calls for the military to operate from small, bare bones bases in the Pacific that its forces can disperse to in case their main bases are targeted by Chinese ballistic missiles.

Saipan would be used by American jets in case access to the U.S. superbase at Guam "or other Western Pacific airfields is limited or denied," reads this Air Force document discussing the impact building such fields on Saipan and nearby Tinian would have on the environment there. (Residents of Saipan actually want the Air Force to use the historic airbases on Tinian that the U.S. Marines are already refurbishing and flying F/A-18 Hornet fighters out of on an occasional basis.) Specifically, the Air Force wants to expand the existing Saipan International Airport — built on the skeleton of a World War II base used by Japan, and later the United States — to accommodate cargo, fighter and tanker aircraft along with up to 700 support personnel for "periodic divert landings, joint military exercises, and joint and combined humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts," according to Air Force documents on the project.

An MC-130 aircraft flies over Tinian Island as it transports senior leaders of Guam's Andersen Air Force Base for an island tour

This means the service plans to build additional aircraft parking space, hangars, fuel storage tanks and ammunition storage facilities, in addition to other improvements to the historic airfield. And it's not the only facility getting an upgrade. In addition to the site on Saipan, the Air Force plans to send aircraft on regular deployments to bases ranging from Australia to India as part of its bulked up force in the Pacific. These plans include regular deployments to Royal Australian Air Force bases at Darwin and Tindal, Changi East air base in Singapore, Korat air base in Thailand, Trivandrum in India, and possibly bases at Cubi Point and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines and airfields in Indonesia and Malaysia, a top U.S. Air Force general revealed last month.

The Saipan announcement comes as Chinese defense minister, Gen. Chang Wanquan, visited Washington to talk with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The specific topic of U.S. bases in the Pacific didn't come up during a joint press conference held by the two officials Wednesday, but Wanquan said in response to a question about the U.S. military's increased focus on the Pacific that "China is a peace-loving nation. And we hope that [America's] strategy does not target a specific country in the region."

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Growing US presence in Australia to include aircraft
August 21, 2013 — The U.S. is preparing to add aircraft to its military presence in Australia, which will include 2,500 Marines rotating through the northern port of Darwin starting in 2016.

This summer’s rotation has involved about 250 personnel, but that will increase to a 1,150-strong force next year, including an aviation support contingent at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Darwin, along with four heavy-lift helicopters, according to Australian officials. More than 300 Marines and sailors, along with 12 F/A-18 Hornets and a KC-130 Hercules from Marine Aircraft Group 12, are training Down Under this month as part of the Southern Frontier 2013 exercise, according to U.S. Marine Corps Pacific. Now the commander of Pacific Air Forces has signaled plans to rotate fixed-wing aircraft through Darwin and nearby RAAF Base Tindal.

Two F-16 Fighting Falcons conduct a training mission over Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 14, 2013.

Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle said the U.S. and Australia are talking about rotating U.S. aircraft to the bases, according to a transcript of comments he made to a group of defense writers July 29. “The plan would be to rotate fighter and tanker capability initially, and then potentially long term, rotate bomber capability through, probably, Tindal,” he said. Forces heading to Australia could come from the continental U.S. or include F-16s from Misawa Air Base or F-15s from Kadena Air Base in Japan, he said.

The Air Force has already made a test run with a bomber from Andersen Air Base on Guam, Carlisle said. “We’ve landed it down at Darwin and turned around and took it off again,” he said. “So we’ve demonstrated it. We’ve brought tankers down there. And we do bring fighters down fairly often into Tindal and Darwin to exercise with the Australians.” Before the rotations can start, the Air Force needs to invest in ground infrastructure and deploy some equipment, he said. “I think over the next year, you’ll see it climb a little bit and then … based on budgets, it will start to increase in probably 2015,” Carlisle said.

Growing US presence in Australia to include aircraft - News - Stripes