A naval fleet comprised of the guided-missile destroyers Ningbo (Hull 139) and Taiyuan (Hull 131), as well as the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 601), steams in astern formation in waters of the East China Sea during a maritime training drill in late January, 2021.Photo:China Military
With five Type 052D destroyers allegedly spotted under construction at the Dalian Shipyard, China is said to have restarted the mass production of this type of warship, with foreign media hyping that the fast pace of China's shipbuilding makes the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy "the largest navy in the world," a claim that Chinese analysts slammed on Tuesday as being the rhetoric of the "China threat" theory.
An unverified picture recently circulating on social media showed what seemed to be five Type 052D destroyers at various stages of completion at the Dalian Shipyard in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, Paris-based media outlet Naval News reported on Sunday.
In addition to these five, at least one more is being built at the Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai, and they will soon join the 25 warships of the same class currently in service with the PLA Navy, Naval News said, citing observers.
China has not officially announced its warship construction plan.
Since China aims to basically complete the modernization of its national defense and armed forces by 2035, including the development of a blue-water navy, to match the country's international status and better defend its interests, it is not unexpected if China is indeed building more advanced warships, particularly amid the current turbulent global security situation, analysts said.
Before the latest round of destroyer construction, China's shipbuilding industry launched a record 10 destroyers in 2019 with eight more in 2021, Naval News reported, noting that with such a pace of construction, the PLA Navy "confirms its status of largest in the world," a rank reached in 2021, according to a Pentagon report.
To say the PLA Navy is the largest in the world is an overstatement used to hype the "China threat" theory, because the Pentagon only counts the vessels' quantity and not quality - in this context, the displacement of the ships, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Comprehensively speaking, the US Navy is by far the largest in the world with 11 nuclear-powered super carriers. Even speaking by numbers, the US has some 70 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, many more than their Chinese Type 052D counterparts, the expert said.
The PLA Navy's rapid development indeed reflects the capabilities of China's shipbuilding industry, but China uses the vessels to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, as well as provide public security service to the international community and contribute to peace and stability, unlike the US, which uses warships to maintain its global hegemony, the expert said.
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
