Several developments in recent weeks point towards China’s efforts to expand the seaborne aviation capability of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The PLAN is seeking to procure amphibious assault ships with significant aviation capability, are finishing construction on the world’s largest aircraft carrier dock, while speculation is mounting over a possible new aircraft carrier […]

THERE is a chance that China will stop its island-building spree in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and other areas if all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan agree to issue a united stand against Beijing’s sea activities, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said. “In this […]

Some U.S. naval commanders are at odds with the Obama administration over whether to sail Navy ships right into a disputed area in the South China Sea — a debate that pits some military leaders who want to exercise their freedom of navigation against administration officials and diplomats trying to manage a delicate phase in […]

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday that whether a new port being built in Hainan province could host aircraft carriers, as some media have recently speculated, would be decided “in accordance with the tasks required”. Canada-based Kanwa Asian Defense, a regional defense magazine, said in its August issue that a 700-meter dock […]

On 27 July, local media outlets reported that the Vietnamese Coast Guard had inducted a new patrol vessel into one of its commands. The new boat, numbered CSB 4035, is the fifth of the Vietnamese-built TT400-class vessels in the fleet and was inducted into the service’s Zone 4 command. The vessel was delivered by local […]