Andrew S. Erickson

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 24 April 2025).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!

You can also click here to access the report via the public CRS website.
SUMMARY
China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is the top focus […]

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Important, impactful insights! This vital authoritative report and accompanying annex show just how dramatically and systematically China has built up its space and counterspace assets, and just how aggressively Russia has developed and postured its own. Of fundamental concern are the sheer number of satellites China now has in orbit, particularly for ISR, as part […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 14 March 2025.

American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport […]

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The Department of Defense just released the 2024 China Military Power Report (CMPR)!

Access here the Full Text (cached copy) & Fact Sheet (cached copy).
Rollout at CSIS, 18 December 2024.
Watch rollout webcast on YouTube.

KEY REVELATIONS—MY TAKE:

By CMPR’s suspense date of “early 2024,” China already had over 600 operational nuclear warheads.
All of China’s roughly 400 ICBMs can […]

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Now that the Department of Defense (DoD) has just released the 2024 China Military Power Report (CMPR)… you can access the Full Text & accompanying documents below. Since I couldn’t find a single-source location on the Internet, and the Pentagon has deactivated some of the previous links, I decided to make my own. Now you can […]

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Nuclear Challenges: The Growing Capabilities of Strategic Competitors and Regional Rivals (Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence Agency, 23 October 2024).
Click here to download a cached PDF.

CHINA-FOCUSED CONTENT:
p. 1
China
China is undergoing the most rapid expansion and ambitious modernization of its nuclear forces in history—almost certainly driven by an aim for enduring strategic competition with the U.S. and […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 5 October 2024.

American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport […]

Continue Reading

Today at the Naval War College, the Chief of Naval Operations rightly directed what we must focus on. Admiral Lisa Franchetti unveiled the Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy (NAVPLAN2024). We have 834 days until 1 January 2027 and each of us has a vital role in executing this plan.
Here in Newport, the China Maritime […]

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This vital authoritative report shows just how dramatically and systematically China has built up its space and counterspace assets, and just how aggressively Russia has developed and postured its own. Of fundamental concern are the sheer number of satellites China now has in orbit, particularly for ISR, as part of its systematically building out a […]

Continue Reading

Space Threat Fact Sheet (Washington, DC: Headquarters Space Force Intelligence, 29 April 2024). 
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A CACHED PDF.

SPACE THREAT FACT SHEET
HEADQUARTERS SPACE FORCE INTELLIGENCE
The access to and use of space is of vital national interest. Intensifying strategic competition presents a serious threat to U.S. national security interests in, from, and to space. China and […]

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This periodically-updated Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 26 August 2024).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 10 June 2024.

American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport a […]

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Attention, Attention, Attention—This is not a drill! Don’t miss the China government naval/maritime ship recognition Order of Battle (OOB) guides that the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) just released! It’s the first time this unparalleled resource has been publicly updated in 15.5 months… And, for the first time ever, ONI has divided its exquisitely-detailed […]

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This periodically-updated Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 5 February 2024).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access […]

Continue Reading

Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 17 January 2024.

American & Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy & I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport in […]

Continue Reading

Andrew S. Erickson, “Xi’s Fast & Furious Nuclear Buildup & Beyond: Key Text from Pentagon’s 2023 China Military Power Report,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 16 January 2024.

Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2023 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, October 19, 2023).

Publication summarizing report’s […]

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This periodically-updated Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 15 November 2023).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access […]

Continue Reading

Now that the Department of Defense (DoD) has just released the 2023 China Military Power Report (CMPR)… you can access the Full Text & accompanying documents below. Since I couldn’t find a single-source location on the Internet, and the Pentagon has deactivated some of the previous links, I decided to make my own. Now you can […]

Continue Reading

Latest and greatest…with many references to CMSI reports, including the Quick Look Summary from, and revised versions of papers presented at, our 11-13 April 2023 Conference—“Chinese Undersea Warfare: Development, Capabilities, Trends”! As part of Ronald O’Rourke’s continuous incremental improvements, this # 26X (!) edition of his report on PRC naval modernization incorporates numbers provided by […]

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