Huh?

Here's another shot from a diff angle


Want a clue whether a pic of Liaoning is genuine or not? real pics of Liaoning won't carry airplanes. The air wing is still not integrated with the carrier and the carrier does not carry any aircrafts on sea voyages. Any pics/vids of aircraft launching or landing is made on a training-level basis near base,not operational and is done under controlled conditions. If you see a pic of Liaoning at sea with aircraft launching or on deck,high chance it's fake of PSed.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 30 2014, 04:26 PM

Despite all the hype, the Liaoning is mostly thought of as an introduction piece,where the PLAN takes its first step about carrier operation doctrine and applications. It's not exactly 100% for combat duties, more like a gateway equipment to familiarize the PLAN with carrier ships. The PLAN's aircraft carrier program may yet be in the future, not the present. But believe me, just look at present warship production, once when they got the carrier tech & doctrine right, expect the shipyards to start producing indigenous carriers at very quickly.

A PLAN (left)and a JMSDF (right) naval officer all chats & smiles (taken during RIMPAC 2014). A rare example, I may imagine.


Sometimes the simple humanity of individual soldiers override selfish national sentiments

Nigerian military buys Chinese-built MRAPs to combat Islamic insurgents


A Nigerian soldier stands beside a CS/VP3 'Bigfoot' MRAP


Model of the CS/VP3 MRAP from various viewing angles

In order to more effectively combat the Boko Haram militants in Nigeria, the military has purchased up to 30 Chinese-made CS/VP3 MRAPs, popularly known as 'Bigfoot'. Until recently the Nigerian military has had difficulties in combating the militants, mostly due to outdated military assets and questionable tactics. The current equipment, which feature many converted vehicles such as pickup trucks and commercial-grade transports have been proven vulnerable to the militant's ambushes and IED roadside bombs.

The Nigerian military, despite being one of the largest and well-funded military in Africa, with an annual budget of $3.7 Billion USD has recently been plagued with severe corruption and questionable defense procurements.

The purchase represents a major step in the increasing purchase of Chinese-made defense assets by African countries. In recent years Chinese defense firms have developed a good relationship with many African nations and have acquired sizeable amounts of defense contracts with these nations. These include the supply of small arms, artillery and armored vehicles.

PLA Navy introduces ASW version of the Jiangdao-class Type 056 corvette


The PLA has introduced into active service a version of the Type 056 corvette which has been optimized for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). As of press time, 4 Type 056 ASW corvettes have been inducted into service (Numbers 593, 594, 598 and 599). The ASW corvettes, designated as Type 056A, has a specially built ASW detection suite integrated into the stern area, in which a retractable hatch & winch system houses a variable depth/ towed sonar array.

The Type 056A will retain the original Type 056's basic armament systems (76mm gun, two 30mm cannons, one 8-cell SAM launcher & two triple-barrel torpedo launcher) except for the two double C-803 Anti-ship missile launchers, which will be replaced with a light ASROC launcher system, probably a CY-1 or CY-2.


CY-1 ASROC Missile

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Oct 2 2014, 12:37 PM

Type 056 Corvette take first steps to international markets


Type 056 Corvette Meizhou

Following the successful performance of the Thai Navy's Pattani Class corvettes, which are effectively a Type 056 prototype system and the Type 056s already in PLA Navy service, the Chinese CSSC shipyards (ltd) have been awarded contracts from the Nigerian and Bangladeshi Navies for the order of 2 Type 056 corvettes respectively each for their navies.

The low cost of the useful 1300 Ton corvettes, purported to be about only $80-90 Million USD per basic unit has enticed other smaller nations to consider the Type 056 corvettes as a potential addition to their naval forces. These countries include Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. The PLAN currently has 17 operational Type 056s in service out of the projected 45 first batch of ships that are scheduled to be in full service by 2020.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Oct 2 2014, 12:20 PM

Thailand expand navy, Indonesia expand navy. Meanwhile Malaysia sit quietly in corner.

Probably different case, Type 054 Frigate is more like multi-purpose warship so of course la install ASW weapons. The basic Type 056 class is a small corvette for basic offshore patrol duties only, I think that limits any multi-purpose use (don't have the space for extra sensors, weapons & computers beyond the basic loadout),

So that's why they have to develop specialized Anti-Sub, Anti-Surface, Anti-Air and command versions of the corvettes with extra specialized electronics gear & weapons for each variant while sacrificing some other capability. For ASW version, they remove the Anti-ship missile launcher & replace with ASROC launcher, in Anti-air version they remove Anti-Ship missile launcher & install extra SAM launchers and in Anti-ship version they remove SAM launcher & install extra Anti-ship missiles. For command versions, they will remove most of the weapons systems to make way for better radar systems and command & communications gear. I think this is forced upon designers due to the small size of the ships.

Also because of these plans designers of Type 056 installed a 'plug & play' system, where the space and capability to install specialized electronics gear, radar systems and weapons for each specialized variant can be installed on a basic hull without major remodifications. So in production, the shipyards can produce a lot of modular blank hulls and at the fitting-out stage the user navy can choose what variant of Type 056 that they want for service,whether basic or specialized. That's why they can build 22 ships in 24 months, modularity is the key.

Also I heard rumors that PLA Navy already have plans to order a 2nd batch after the current batch of 43 ships is done. Seems like the PLA Navy brass just love this ship class!.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Oct 2 2014, 02:11 PM

Probably they found from PLA Navy service that the ship performs nicely and gives no problems to users. Also IMHO with 17 ships already in service with no major issues so far is a good sign from a ship designed only from 2008 and built at a rate of a month per ship. Many ship classes need lengthy trial time to iron out all the kinks in a new systems.

Probably the most successful thing about the Type 056 is because it's a basic system with conservative features; no ridiculous new tech or designs fads that make a ship spend 6-7 years in trials just to be integrated with the system and at the end of the day the, ship becomes 2-3 times more costly and somewhat outdated from its original function (see the US navy LCS project fiasco as an example).

If reports are true, I believe the PLA Navy wants to make wholesale changes to their brown water navy by 2020 and try to make the Type 056 as the main ship type for the fleet. This makes sense both operationally and logistically (many ships comprising of a single class of ships with similar spare parts & servicing routine makes the PLA Navy requisition staff breathe easier ). The older ships can be either kept as training/reserve ships, passed down to the Coast Guard, sold off cheap or even be given away for free to smaller navies to increase China's soft power image.

Also note that the current batch of top-class PLA Navy ships (Type 022 FAC, Type 056 Corvette, Type 054 Frigate, Type 052 Destroyer and Type 071 LPD) are only in service for less than 10 years. That gives a relative technological edge and long service time ahead of them.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Oct 2 2014, 03:16 PM

I think the correct military parlance is that the Type 056 does the 'grunt' work of the PLA Navy.

Unglamorous but essential, the kind of job appropriate for a basic ship with conservative features. Its cheap cost and modularity also possibly can make it a long-serving workhorse of the navy. If the modular concept goes smoothly, the PLA Navy can streamline itself by ordering multiple variants (ASW, AAW, AshW & command) of a Type 056 class to suit its various needs in the foreseeable future rather than designing a new ship every time a requirement pops up, with all the possible problem that may entail. If production of the Type 056 of all variants reaches 100 ships, it probably won't surprise me.

Also I heard plans for a Type 054B variant that uses an Electric propulsion engine?

I think it's all relative. I mean these modern PLA ships still can't possibly compete with US Navy right now (can anyone, actually?), but the numbers & technological gap will be closer with time (won't close completely though,but close enough if current trends continue). But in terms of numbers and tech, probably current PLA Navy is already one step behind Japanese, Taiwan and South Korean navies and already threatening to overtake them, whether the US likes it or not.

Besides, I think the age where the PLA depends more on numbers than technology is already behind us. Now it has technology AND numbers.

To be fair, they are future plans and the ASW is the only one introduced at this time but they are there because the 'plug & play' modular capability is already there. Also I already said that some systems can be improved at the expense of other systems. For example to fit ASW version, they have to remove Anti-ship missile & its system and replace it with ASROC launcher & its system. So you probably can get an idea on how the modular system works: you gain some, you lose some. For Anti-Air version they probably will remove some surface radar/scanning systems to concentrate on installing anti-air equipment like better air search/tracking radar & extra SAM launchers.

As a source I'll quote wiki,so YMMV but as I originally came across the details about the Type 056's capability in a forum & I can't find it, I can't post it here.



This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Oct 2 2014, 05:04 PM

I'm just stating facts, but of course you are entitled to your opinion.

I personally see no problems with the Type 056s having specialized roles. Especially when considering the large numbers of the corvettes planned by the PLA Navy.

A naval squadron consisting of 3-4 basic type 056 with a command and a specialized Type 056 (either Anti-Ship, Anti-Surface or ASW version depending on the type threat expected during the operation) can be, in my opinion a very credible offense/defense group. Instead of a gathering of ships of different types, there's a lot of advantages of fielding different versions of the same ship class.

A basic Type 056, for its small size, is already a quite well-rounded ship in terms of weaponry that cover anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-air scenarios. The addition of a type 056 command ship to command & coordinate the squadron and a specialized ship to boost the squadron's firepower can greatly increase the capabilities of that squadron.

When I did my research on the type 056, I noticed two distinct types of people commenting on the Type 056.

On the US STRONK! side, most criticized that the type 056 as an cheap, out-of-date, technologically inferior ship that would be sunk long before it even detected the presence of a US warship.

On the other side, more moderate commenters has stated that while the Type 056 is, in fact, a basic, cheap and technologically inferior ship in regards with US ships, it's exactly what is needed in a littoral combat role with its more 'grunt' type of work. As they say "you don't need a Ferrari to plow a rice field".

Probably a lot of corvettes have the capabilities & size of the Type 056 but the price is firmly in China's favor. In most forums commenters agree that a basic Type 056 would probably only cost about $70-90 million USD per ship.

Our Lekiu-class frigates also not guaranteed can decently fight (on paper, Type 056 still have superior weapons, even as corvettes). Also considering we only have 2 in the whole RMN fleet and PLA navy probably have already deployed 10+ Type 056 ships in South China Sea right about now, chances are decidedly not so in our favor.

P.S.: Probably if they use the whole fleet of Type 056 only, PLA Navy can already overwhelm entire SEA nations' navy.

Now this is actually what a Komodo Tactical Vehicle with Mistral missiles looks like. Next time stay away from Kaskus.

Hey guys any knowledge whether this locally-made medium utility truck made it to service with Malaysian army or not? I remembered it from DSA a couple of years ago.

Comparison chart showing measurements of the backbone ships of the modern PLA Navy fleet, the Type 022 FAC, the Type 056 OPV/Corvette and the Type 054A Guided-Missile Frigate.