Andrew S. Erickson

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 10 December 2012), RL33153, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]

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Roy Kamphausen, David Lai, and Travis Tanner, eds., Learning by Doing: The PLA Trains at Home and Abroad (Carlisle, PA: Army War College Press, 2012).
A vital contribution on a tremendously important but woefully understudied subject!
Brief Synopsis
To better understand the PLA’s ability to employ its developing capabilities in a variety of potential scenarios, this year’s workshop examined how […]

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Richard P. Hallion, Roger Cliff, and Phillip C. Saunders, eds., The Chinese Air Force: Evolving Concepts, Roles, and Capabilities (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2012).
This path-breaking study boasts contributions from some of the foremost authorities in the field. A must-read for everyone interested in the past, present, and future of China’s air force.
Book Description:
There is […]

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Feng, “What Does J-31 Tell Us About China,” Information Dissemination, 20121212.
There have been many articles written about the recent first flight of J-31. If you go to sinodefenceforum where I moderate, you can see pages and pages of analysis by amateurs like myself over what we think the roles of this aircraft is along with […]

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Thomas J. Christensen, “The Meaning of the Nuclear Evolution: China’s Strategic Modernization and US-China Security Relations,” Journal of Strategic Studies 35.4 (August 2012): 447–87.
ABSTRACT Will China’s development of a new generation of nuclear weapons impact US-China security relations in important ways? One’s answer depends on how one views the following: whether or not Chinese leaders […]

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David Chen, “Examining the New Aircraft Carrier through the PLA’s Revolution in ‘Organizational’ Affairs,” Jamestown China Brief 12.19 (5 October 2012).
With the commissioning of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) first aircraft carrier, more clarity has been provided in terms of the organizational setup of any future PLA Navy (PLAN) carrier strike group. The details emerging […]

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An essential reference for all serious observers of today’s PLA. You won’t find this incisive analysis anywhere else. A must-read!
Dennis J. Blasko, The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21st Century, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2012).
From the Publisher:
The Chinese Army Today is a comprehensive study of the Chinese military, examining its ground forces […]

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Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 17 October 2012), RL33153, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]

Continue Reading

Feng, “Liaoning and Future Carriers,” Information Dissemination, 28 September 2012.
… it will be interesting to see how PLAN intends to use this training carrier. I read a really great article by Andrew Erickson today, where he talked about how Liaoning will not be that useful in the immediate time facing US or Japan, but could be […]

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“An Aircraft Carrier of One’s Own—After Much Struggle, China Finally Has the Massive Naval Vessel it Always Wanted,” Slide Show, Foreign Policy, 26 September 2012.
China finally has its very own—ostensibly functional—aircraft carrier, named Liaoning. As Andrew Erickson and Gabriel Collins explain in a recent article for FP, the Chinese had to overcome multiple obstacles, and “All [those […]

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John Reed, “Who Left Skidmarks on the Flight Deck of China’s New Aircraft Carrier?” Foreign Policy, 26 September 2012.
This is interesting: as far as anyone knows, the Chinese have not conducted fixed-wing flight operations from the deck of their brand new aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. …
However, pictures that emerged on Chinese Internet forums of the ship’s commissioning […]

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Christopher Bodeen, “China: First Aircraft Carrier Entering Service,” Associated Press, 25 September 2012.
China formally entered its first aircraft carrier into service on Tuesday, underscoring its ambitions to be a leading Asian naval power, although the ship is not expected to carry a full complement of planes or be ready for combat for some time. …
President […]

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David Axe, “Engine Woes Could Ground China’s Stealth Armada,” Danger Room, Wired, 18 September 2012.
China’s newest stealth fighter prototype is made in the People’s Republic and could pose a challenge to U.S. air power. But it’s got an Achilles’ heel: Its engines are Russian imports.
Without reliable, homemade motors, China’s planned stealth armada will continue relying on Russian-made […]

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Ashley J. Tellis, “Uphill Challenges: China’s Military Modernization and Asian Security,” in Ashley J. Tellis and Travis Tanner, eds., Strategic Asia 2012-13: China’s Military Challenge (Seattle, WA: National Bureau of Asian Research, 2012), 2-24.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This chapter provides an overview of the dramatic shifts in the Asian balance of power as a result of China’s military modernization over the […]

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Robert D. Kaplan, The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate (New York: Random House, 2012).
From the Publisher: In this provocative, startling book, Robert D. Kaplan, the bestselling author of Monsoon and Balkan Ghosts, offers a revelatory new prism through which to view global upheavals and […]

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Michael Richardson, “New Ships Give China’s Navy a Stronger Punch,” The Japan Times, 12 September 2012.
Michael Richardson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore.
SINGAPORE — In the latest step in its naval modernization and expansion, China recently announced that it is accelerating serial production of an […]

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James Holmes, “Coasting: Was the U.S. Navy Really Better in 1917?” Foreign Policy, 7 September 2012.
During a Republican presidential debate in January, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney claimed that the U.S. Navy is now “smaller than any time since 1917.” And so it is, in raw numerical terms. The fleet stood at 245 vessels just before Congress passed the Naval Act […]

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Martin Murphy, “Deep-Water Oil Rigs as Strategic Weapons,” Murphy on Piracy, 5 September 2012.
A semi-submersible deep-water rig of the type China launched in May – the Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981) – and which Chairman Yilin he was celebrating when he spoke about a ‘strategic weapon’, would give China access to all but the very […]

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Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 10 August 2012), RL33153, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]

Continue Reading