China thrsat In Indian

T-72 tanks moved to remote Sikkim area after China tests Indian defences

Manu Pubby

Posted online: Tuesday , Jul 28, 2009 at 0441 hrs

New Delhi : Chinese moves to test Indian control of the strategic Finger Area in North Sikkim last year have prompted the Army to deploy heavy tanks and armoured personnel carriers in the region and strengthen defensive positions. In fact, the highest gallantry award to a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel was conferred to a dozer operator, Zalim Singh, who cleared a strategic road near Theing village — he was decorated with a Bar to Shaurya Chakra — for a column of advancing tanks.

While the Army brought armoured vehicles to the North Sikkim plateau in the late 1980s, the small detachment has now been replaced by the heavier and more powerful T-72 Main Battle Tanks and modern BMP troop carriers.

Sources said the mobilisation took place after repeated Chinese transgressions last year in the Finger Area, a one kilometre stretch of land in the northern tip of Sikkim that overlooks a valley called the Sora Funnel and is considered a strong defensive position.

The T-72 tanks were inducted after a monumental effort by the BRO to widen roads, construct tracks and strengthen bridges leading to North Sikkim. The heavy tank column was taken up the high plateau partly by road-based carriers.

Sources said that while China too has tanks on its side of the border, they are deployed well inside its territory. “China does not need to deploy tanks on the border because the terrain and roads on its side makes it easy to bring them at short notice. India, on the other hand, has no option but to keep them on the border as it would take days to get the tanks up from the plains,” an expert pointed out.

Besides the tanks, the Army has strengthened other defences in the region, particularly around the Finger Area. Permanent posts have been set up on heights and bunkers have been strengthened. The Army has also increased surveillance capabilities in the region. At least two Long Range Observation Systems which can detect, record and transmit live images of an area under observation, have been set up in the Finger Area.

The strengthening of defences has taken place partly due to the re-induction of the 27 Mountain Division to North Sikkim. The Kalimpong-based Division, responsible for the defence of North Sikkim and the Finger Area, had been moved to Jammu and Kashmir in 2001 during the Op Parakram troop buildup along the Pakistan border.

The Finger Area entered controversy last year after the Chinese increased patrolling and even planned to built a road through it. While the area was always under Indian control, the Army used to send in regular patrols and held only a few traditional defensive positions.

India decided to strengthen defences after increased Chinese transgressions and the discovery last year that the alignment of a new East-West road being built by Beijing would pass thorough the Finger Area. Construction was put to a stop after New Delhi lodged a diplomatic complaint.

J-10B Threat

J10B superior then F-16 or F-15.

PLA Navy Threat.

WEAPONS AND SYSTEMS PLAN

Why the F-22 Matters for Japan

by Richard Fisher, Jr.
Published on July 4th, 2009
ARTICLES

Two critical political "dogfights" are underway in Washington that could help determine the speed with which Japan may have to make a critical decision on whether to acquire a decisive means of deterrent, quite possibly a nuclear deterrent.

The first dogfight is between the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration over whether to continue production of the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor 5^th generation super-fighter. A second and related dogfight is whether a group of Congressmen led by Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii can persuade Congress to change a law preventing foreign sales of the F-22, so that Japan could then purchase an export version of this fighter.

Amid the constantly competing headlines out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Latin America, Israel and Russia, very few in Washington are aware of the F-22’s political dogfights, and very few are thinking of the consequences of failing to sell the F-22 to Japan. At first glance, the F-22’s chances of political survival are not great. President Barak Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have made ending F-22 production at 187 fighters their most important policy change to prove they can control U.S. military spending and strategy. Gates contends that 187 Raptors is enough for the U.S. Air Force and that money is instead needed to fight "the wars of today" not "the wars of tomorrow." However, support for the F-22 remains strong within the U.S. Air Force, even though Gates fired the USAF leadership in 2008 in part for its support for the F-22.

The U.S. Senate has only approved 7 more F-22s while the U.S. House of Representatives approved 12 more—but only after a Republican amendment added to a bill at 3AM in the morning. Top Democrat and some Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress are rising to oppose the additional Raptors and immediate threats to veto the Defense funding bill by the White House and by Gates prove they are serious about defending their policy prerogatives.

Senator Inouye’s attempt to reverse a 1998 law barring export of the F-22 may stand a greater chance of passage, if only because it does not push for continued F-22 production. However, Secretary Gates reportedly favors selling the smaller less capable Lockheed Martin F-35 to Japan, and he may actively oppose Senator Inouye’s initiative. But the ability of the U.S. to offer Japan a re-designed export version at an estimated price of $290 million a plane only works if a deal can be reached before 2011, when the 187 Raptors will be built. Expenses for redesigning an export version of the F-22, and the expected small production run, perhaps 40 aircraft, means Japan’s Raptors will cost almost twice some estimates of what they cost for the U.S. Air Force.

So, are 40 or so very expensive F-22 fighters worth the additional political costs to Japanese of entering a complex Washington battle that divides the Congress and challenges the Obama Administration’s control of U.S. defense policy? For this analyst the answer is a definite yes. The F-22 is the only combat aircraft built anywhere that can offer Japan the non-nuclear capability sufficient to deter China, and perhaps even North Korea. If Japan cannot get the F-22 that will only accelerate the day Japan must make far more fateful decisions about its security, such as whether to invest in far more powerful offensive weapons, like nuclear submarines or even nuclear weapons.

If Japan could reach a quick agreement on a F-22 sale, they would be entering Japanese Air Self Defense Force squadrons at about the same time that China will be starting to test its expected 5th generation fighters. Both of China’s main fighter companies, the Chengdu and Shenyang Aircraft Corporations are competing to build China’s heavy-weight 5th generation fighter, and there remains a good chance that China’s Air Force will buy both models to sustain industrial capacity. In addition, there are indicators that China is also working on a medium-weight 5th generation fighter program, perhaps even similar to the Lockheed Martin F-35. China will also quickly put its 5th generation fighters on its expected conventional and nuclear powered aircraft carriers. Available open sources indicate that China is investing heavily in the advanced stealth, engine, radar and electronic technologies needed for 5th generation fighters. China will surely build more than 187 5th generation fighters.

So if Secretary Gates thinks the F-35 would be good for Japan, why should it take the high political risk of seeking the F-22? Simply put, the revolution in high technology aerial combat capabilities is forcing a revival of the air superiority fighter. Since the 1980s the U.S. has led the way in building "networked" air forces in which radar and electronic warfare aircraft vastly increased battlespace awareness leading to a reduced need for the fastest and most maneuverable fighters. Japan has copied the U.S. by investing in expensive aircraft to support its fighters. But advanced missiles and counter-radar capabilities being developed by Russia and China are creating a real threat to the U.S. networked warfare paradigm. Their new and future long-range anti-air missiles could quickly take out U.S. and Japanese long-range sensor aircraft while Chinese anti-satellite weapons threaten vital communication links. This plus the emergence of Russian and Chinese 5th generation fighters all serves to revive the importance of raw fighter capability and pilot skill.

The U.S. Air Force intended the F-22 and the less expensive F-35 to complement each other. The F-22 was intended to achieve air superiority so the F-35 could undertake critical attack missions. In terms of raw performance, the F-22 can fly about 25 percent faster, and over 4km higher than the F-35. The F-22 can also "supercruise," meaning it can fly longer at supersonic speeds without using fuel-guzzling engine afterburners, which gives it a major advantage. In an air combat scenario in which you lose your electronic support aircraft and communication satellites, you are then relying on the absolute performance of your combat aircraft, so which one would Japan want its pilots to be flying, the best or the second best?

So it is not an exaggeration to observe that for Japan, the F-22 could serve as a decisive non-nuclear deterrent against China. If China cannot be assured of air superiority over the disputed regions of the East China Sea, it will be less tempted to challenge Japan militarily. This is the bottom line: if Japan can prevent future wars with China by buying the F-22, it will have been well worth the price.

Richard D. Fisher, Jr. is a senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Arlington, Virginia, and the author of China’s Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach, Praeger, 2008.

Project 640: China's National Missile Defence in the '70s

Project 640: China's National Missile Defence in the '70s

* 1
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On 15 December 1963, the then Chinese leader Chairman Mao Zedong said that China’s military strategy was defensive in nature, and therefore China should develop defensive (strategic) weapons as well as offensive weapons such as nuclear weapons and missiles. On 6 February 1964, during his meeting with Dr Qian Xuesen ('Father of Chinese Rocketry'), Chairman Mao again expressed his views on the importance of the missile defence capability. According to Mao, missile defence capability should not be dominated by the two superpowers only, and China must also develop its own missile defence weapons, no matter how long it would take. This conversation, later known as “640 Directive”, was cascaded to the whole defence industry as Mao’s order to develop a missile defence system that could defend the country against nuclear-armed strategic missile attacks.

On 23 March 1964, over thirty top scientists from across the Chinese defence industry attended a meeting organised by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (COSTIND) in Beijing to discuss the feasibility of a missile defence system. On 10 May 1965, the Central Special Committee issued a notice to the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Ministry of Machinery Industry, China Academy of Science, PLA Artillery Corps, and Base 20, asking them to list the missile defence in their annual and long-term plans. A plan outlining the missile defence weapon development submitted by COSTIND was approved by the Central Special Committee in August 1965.

On 23 February 1966, COSTIND organised another conference to outline detailed development plans for the missile defence programme, which was given a codename “Project 640” after Chairman Mao’s “640 Directive”. Under the plan, the whole project was divided into five key sub-systems. Key elements of the project included the FanJi (“Counterattack”) series anti-ballistic missiles (ABM), the XianFeng (“Pioneer”) anti-missile super gun, and a land-based missile early warning network. The meeting also decided to speed up the building of a dedicated ABM test range and the development of the nuclear warhead for the ABM system. The project entered full-scale development in the early 1970s.

Under the instruction of the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, the 2nd Academy of the 7th Ministry of Machinery Industry (Ministry of Aerospace Industry) was officially renamed Academy of Anti-Ballistic Missile & Anti-Satellite in 1969 to be in charge of the ABM system development. Its subordinated 210 Institute was assigned to the development of the anti-missile super gun. Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics was responsible for the development of the anti-missile laser. The 2nd Academy also began to develop the anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon technology in the early 1970s.

Project 640 faced enormous technical and financial difficulties from the very beginning. The country, troubled by its financial hardship and internal political turmoil of the ‘Culture Revolution’, was simply unable to support an expensive project like this. Additionally, the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union and later the closure of the U.S. Safeguard ABM system made an independent Chinese missile defence system seemingly unnecessary. After Mao’s death in 1976, the development of the missile defence began to slow down. In March 1980, the new Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping decided to cancel the whole project so that the country could concentrate on economic development.

FanJi (FJ) Anti-Ballistic Missile

The 2nd Academy initiated three development programmes in the early 1970s: FanJi 1 low- to medium-altitude ABM, FanJi 2 low-altitude ABM, and FanJi 3 high-altitude ABM.

FanJi 1

The FanJi 1 was a two-stage, semi-active radar-homing, hypersonic interceptor missile designed to intercept ballistic missile warheads at low- to medium-altitude. The first-stage of the missile used liquid propellant and the second-stage used solid propellant. The missile was 14m in length. Flight tests of two dummy missiles were carried out successfully in August and September of 1979. At the same time, the PLA proposed a missile defence zone around the capital Beijing using the FanJi 1. However, the development programme was cancelled by the Chinese government in March 1980 due to financial and political reasons.

FanJi 2

Between October 1971 and April 1972, the 2nd Academy tested six flight tests of a 1:5 scaled model of the FanJi 2 low-altitude ABM, with five of them being successful. The development programme was cancelled in 1973.

FanJi 3

The FanJi 3 high-altitude ABM system was proposed by the 2nd Academy in 1974, but the development stopped in 1977.

“XianFeng” Anti-Missile Super Gun

The Anti-missile super gun developed by the 210 Institute was given a codename “Project 640-2”. Initial research was carried out on a 140mm smoothbore cannon, which fires 18kg projectiles to a maximum distance of 74km. In January 1967, an anti-missile super gun known as “Xianfeng” (“Pioneer”) was proposed. The super gun was 26 metre in length and weighted 155 tonnes. Mounted on a fixed gun rack, the 420mm-calibre super gun was designed to fire 160kg unguided rocket-propelled projectiles to intercept the incoming nuclear warheads. Various tests were carried out in the early 1970s, but the design was proven impractical. The development of the super gun was put on a halt in 1977 and finally cancelled in March 1980.

Ground-Based Missile Early Warning Network

Compared to the ABM system, the development of the associated missile early warning and tracking system was much more productive. The first stage of the project included five missile early warning stations located in Khashi, Nanning, Kunming, Hainan, Jiaodong, and Xiangxi; and a command & control centre in Weinan (No.28 Station). Later the network also included a computing station codenamed “Qin Ling”, a recovery and tracking station codenamed “Chang Jiang”, a mobile tracking station codenamed “Qian Shao”, a second mobile tracking station codenamed “Huang He”, and an additional early warning station codenamed “Chang Cheng” in Changchun.

The key elements of the missile early warning network included 7010 phased array early warning surveillance radar and 110 mono-pulse missile tracking radar. Both radar systems played key roles in providing initial missile early warning capability for China, as well as supporting China’s ICBM tests and space programme.

7010 Radar

Developed by 14th Electronic Institute in Nanjing in 1976, 7010 radar was a fixed, land-based phased array surveillance radar designed to detect, identify, and track intercontinental ballistic missiles and other objects in outer space. The development of 7010 radar began in 1970 and the radar became fully operational in 1976. The 40m X 20m radar antenna was built on the Huangyang Mountain slope 1,600m above the sea level in Xuanhua, Hebei Province, about 140km northwest of Beijing. A second site was built in Henan Province. In July 1979, the 7010 radar sites provided accurate data on the re-entry time of the de-orbited U.S. Skylab spacecraft. On 12 January 1983, 7010 radar successfully predicted the time and place of landing for the failed Soviet Union nuclear-powered satellite Cosmos 1402. The radar site was abandoned in the early 1990s.

110 Mono-Pulse Missile Tracking Radar

110 radar was developed jointly by 14th Electronic Institute in Nanjing and the Electronic Institute of China Academy of Science (CAS) in the 1970s. The radar antenna was 25m in diameter and weighted 400 tonnes. The radar antenna was housed in a large radome 36.5m in height and 44m in diameter. The radar became fully operational in 1977, with only one station built at the Zhanyi Space/Missile Tracking Station in the southern Yunnan Province.

Following the cancellation of Project 640, the missile early warning and tracking network evolved into the space tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) network in the 1980s to support China’s space programme. However, it may have retained some functions for missile early warning and space surveillance.

Last update: 11 April 2009

115 ships at sea search and rescue exercise

JL600??????????????

Russian military advanced unit arrives in China for anti-terror exercise

Russian military advanced unit arrives in China for anti-terror exercise

english.chinamil.com.cn 2009-07-10

　 　TAONAN, Jilin Province, July 9 (Xinhua) -- An advance unit of Russia's armed forces arrived at a military base in northeast China's Jilin Province Thursday to prepare for a joint exercise with the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

　　The advance unit is headed by Major General Kachan, chief of Russian Far Eastern Military District's air defense forces, and has ten personnel responsible for commanding aviation, parachuting, artillery, communications and logistics units.

　 　They will make preparations for the 1,300-member Russian troops who will take part in the five-day anti-terrorism military exercise code-named "Peace Mission-2009" to start on July 22.

　　The Russian unit was met by Major General Gong Jicheng with the PLA Shenyang Military Command at Jilin's Baicheng train station where they were transported to the PLA's Taonan tactic training base.

　　 Chinese and Russian defense authorities announced Wednesday that the two nations, both members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), will jointly conduct the exercise.

　　Chief of General Staff and General of the Army of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Makarov and Chief of the General Staff of the PLA Chen Bingde will hold strategic talks in Russia's Khabarovsk on July 22.

　　About 1,300 personnel from the army and air force of each side will participate in the exercise. Russia will also send an airborne assault unit, according to the Defense Ministry.

　　Prior to the Russian advance unit, the PLA's director team for the exercise headed by Lieutenant General Ma Xiaotian had arrived at the training base.

　　Most of the PLA's 1,300 troops in the exercise have been deployed and are making the final preparations, according to Ma, who is also deputy chief of the PLA's General Staff.

　　The Taonan tactic training base is one of the PLA's major bases for military exercises. It belongs to the PLA's Shenyang Military Command which borders Russia's Far Eastern region to the north.

　　After the "Peace Mission-2009" joint anti-terror exercise, the military base will be engaged in the "Stride-2009" exercise in August and September, the largest tactic training exercise so far conducted by the PLA.

Northern sea Fleet and Eastern Sea Fleet threat

July.08 (China Defense Mash up Reporting by Johnathan Weng) — According to Japan Asagumo News, which is an official media of Japan Self-defense Forces, 5 warships of Chinese Navy Northern sea Fleet and Eastern Sea Fleet appeared around Japan Ogasawara Group Islands on AM 6:00 June 25th. One JMSDF destroyer in that area made an eye-contact with these Chinese Navy ships and reported the information.

The Chinese warship group was consisted by DDG-116 “Shijiazhuang” (Type 051C class), FFG-527 “luoyang” (Type 053H3 class), FFG-528 “Mianyang” (Type 053H3 class), 881 “Hongzehu” Replenishment Ship and Beice-721 Reconnaissance Ship.

JSDF said that these 5 ships had set up from east sea toward to pacific ocean. On 22nd June, this marine group arrived the international sea area which is on the north-east direction and has 260 km distance to Ogasawara Village. Chinese navy fleet even made ship-borne helicopter anti-submarine drill from Type 053H3 class frigates.

Muslim Uighurs.

China has long been suspecting the Uigurs of using religion to foment separatist and anti Chinese sentiments. Specifically, using Mosques. Could it be so? How can this be? Would a Muslim ever use a house of worship to spread hatred and dissent of a host culture? Here is an article from ITN Source:

Violence in Xinjiang Nothing New Says China Analyst By Victor Beattie
08 July 2009
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-07-voa6.cfm

Muslim Uighurs.

uighurs EU

uighurs
The Netherlands: Muslim [Uighurs] Attack Chinese Embassy (Germany too)
Posted by Chandler On July - 7 - 2009

The ummah (worldwide Muslim community) “respond” to the Muslim revolt in China. Has anyone asked the Muslim Uighurs who were released from GITMO for a statement?

DUTCH TO PAY FOR CHINESE EMBASSY REPAIR

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – The Dutch government said Tuesday it will pay for repairs to China’s embassy in The Hague, which was damaged in a protest against Beijing’s crackdown on separatists in Xinjiang province.

map-of-uighursForeign Minister Maxime Verhagen apologized to China’s top diplomat in the Netherlands for the violence by the protesters, mostly members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group living in the Netherlands.

“Demonstrating is a basic right, but violence is always unacceptable,” Verhagen said.

Verhagen also used his meeting with the diplomat to express his concern at the violence in Xinjiang.

“Unfortunately, information out of the region is very restricted and transparency is very important in this situation,” Verhagen said. He urged the Chinese to restore communications with the area and allow foreign journalists to work there.

Police arrested 142 demonstrators Monday when they stoned the embassy and tried to clamber up the railings that surround the building. Most were released late Monday but police kept 39 in cells overnight.

Police cordoned off the area in front of the embassy Tuesday. Many of the building’s front windows were smashed.

Also Tuesday, Uighur [Muslims] and Turkish [Muslims] protesters clashed with police outside the Chinese Embassy in Turkey and threw eggs at the building.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the Dutch protesters were members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group Beijing accuses of having links to al-Qaida. He said the Chinese consulate in Munich, Germany, also was attacked with a Molotov cocktail and slightly damaged.

The Dutch protest came after reports that street battles have killed dozens and injured hundreds in the deadliest ethnic unrest to hit China’s western Xinjiang region in decades.

Gheyretjan Rozi of the Dutch Uighur Support Group said Monday’s demonstration was peaceful until protesters saw somebody taking photos of them from inside the embassy. Rozi said 450-600 Uighurs live in the Netherlands
http://www.chandlerswatch.com/2009/07/07/the-netherlands-muslim-uighurs-attack-chinese-embassy-germany-too/

ethnic strife in western China

obs spread ethnic strife in western China

URUMQI, China — Sobbing Muslim women scuffled with riot police, and Chinese men wielding steel pipes and meat cleavers rampaged through the streets as ethnic tensions worsened in China’s oil-rich Xinjiang territory, prompting the president to cut short a summit trip abroad Wednesday.

The new violence in Xinjiang’s capital erupted Tuesday only a few hours after the city’s top officials told reporters the streets in Urumqi were returning to normal following a riot that killed 156 people Sunday. The officials also said more than 1,000 suspects had been rounded up since the spasm of attacks by Muslim Uighurs against Han Chinese, the ethnic majority.

President Hu Jintao, who was in Italy to take part in a Group of Eight meeting later Wednesday, departed early to return home to deal with the outbreak of violence in Xinjiang, the Foreign Ministry said on its Web site.

The chaos returned when hundreds of young Han men seeking revenge began gathering on sidewalks with kitchen knives, clubs, shovels and wooden poles. They spent most of the afternoon marching through the streets, smashing windows of Muslim restaurants and trying to push past police cordons protecting minority neighborhoods. Riot police successfully fought them back with volleys of tear gas and a massive show of force.

At one point, the mob chased a boy who looked like he was a Uighur. The youth, who appeared to be about 12, climbed a tree, and the crowd tried to whack his legs with their sticks as the terrified boy cried. He was eventually allowed to leave unharmed as the rioters ran off to focus on another target.

Earlier, officials had arranged a tour for journalists of sites that were attacked by Uighur rioters on Sunday. But the public relations event backfired spectacularly when angry women in traditional, brightly colored headscarves began to gather to protest the arrests of husbands and sons.

Some of the women screamed at security forces and jostled them in a standoff that lasted 90 minutes.

Uighurs have said this week’s rioting was triggered by the June 25 deaths of Uighur factory workers killed in a brawl in the southern Chinese city of Shaoguan. State-run media have said two workers died, but many Uighurs believe more were killed and said the incident was an example of how little the government cared about them.

China to build world's largest amphibious aircraft

JL (Dragon) 600


SH-5



China to build world's largest amphibious aircraft
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-25 16:48

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-06/25/content_8323684.htm

The development and production of the Dragon 600, intended to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft, has received government approval, AVIC General Aircraft Company Ltd said Wednesday.


The Dragon 600, which would be as large as an Airbus 320, could be used for tasks such as emergency rescue, fighting forest fires and sea patrols, said Hu Haiyin, deputy general manager of the company.

Hu said that market research indicated a domestic market for 60 such craft in the next 15 years.

The research and design stage would last for four years, with commercial production to begin in at least five years, Hu said.

The company's facilities are southwest of the Zhuhai airport. The first construction phase is scheduled for completion in 2012 and the company plans to have 1,500 employees.

South China Sea Competition: China Contemplates More Mischief

On June 11, 2009 a Chinese Navy submarine reportedly collided with the towed sonar array of the U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. John S. McCain, about 144 miles from Subic Bay in the Philippines.^[1] Previously on March 8, 2009 Chinese Maritime Militia ships harassed the U.S.S. Impeccable on a surveillance mission about 75 miles from Hainan Island.^[2] These incidents illustrate a growing tension between China, the United States and other Asian nations over China’s increasing militarization of the South China Sea. This region’s sea lanes are critical to Asia’s economic vitality, while the six littoral states have overlapping claims and occupy varying numbers of islets in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. China claims most of the South China Sea as its territory and at times has sought to calm tensions by acceding to regional negotiations designed to advance economic cooperation while setting aside territorial claims, though as of yet there is no regional framework to settle conflicting claims. Furthermore, China has long claimed that provisions of the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty allow it to forbid foreign military activities within its Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ), an interpretation that Washington rejects.

China GPS Threat

China's global navigation satellite system, Compass, will provide regional service in 2011 with a constellation of 12 satellites, a navigation industry insider said Thursday.

China aims to make Compass a navigation satellite system of 35 satellites by 2020, which can offer global service.

Compass, or Beidou (Big Dipper) in Chinese, is expected to rival the US-developed GPS, the EU's GPS and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System, earlier reports said.

J-7G KJ2000

Attached image(s)