Andrew S. Erickson

Our Overall Thoughts: China’s ‘Starter Carrier’
A newly-wed couple wants a ‘starter home,’ a new great power wants a ‘starter carrier.’ Before foreign strategists start hyperventilating about the “beginning of the end,” a deep breath is needed. China’s ‘starter carrier’ is of very limited military utility, and will primarily serve to confer prestige on a rising […]

James Holmes, “Blue Water Dreams: Why China Wants an Aircraft Carrier,” Foreign Policy, 27 June 2011.
On a visit to Washington this month, Chinese Gen. Chen Bingde, chief of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff, confirmed what Asahi Shimbun and the Financial Times reported last December: China, he said, has officially committed itself to deploying aircraft-carrier […]

Josh Chin, “China Watch: Sina’s Big Weibo Dream, High Speed Ride,” China Real Time Report, Wall Street Journal, 27 June 2011.
A daily list of the best of The Wall Street Journal’s China coverage and what the Journal’s reporters in China are reading and watching online. …
Nearing take-off? As much as you ever wanted to know […]

Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson, “Jet Engine Development in China: Indigenous high-performance turbofans are a final step toward fully independent fighter production,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国), No. 39 (26 June 2011)
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Deep Dive—Special In-Depth Report #2
Executive Summary:
–Engines commonly used in Chinese and other modern aircraft may be divided into several major categories: […]

Feng, “Is J-15 a Game Changer?” Information Dissemination, 25 June 2011.
I often see articles on the web warning of the impending Chinese naval power and the impact on American’s naval dominance. I find most of them to be badly written and low on facts. However, there are some authors how have followed PLAN for a […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011).

Kindle edition now available!

Japanese summary translation now available: 中国の航空宇宙パワー海洋任務への発展.

Highlighted in GlobalSecurity.org’s Special Selections.

Andrew S. Erickson, “Beijing’s Aerospace Revolution: Short-Range Opportunities, Long-Range Challenges,” 3–18.
Andrew S. Erickson and Jingdong Yuan, “Antiaccess and China’s Air-Launched Cruise Missiles,” 275–86.
Andrew S. Erickson and David Yang, “Chinese […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s J-15 No Game Changer,” The Diplomat, 23 June 2011.
Following is a guest entry from Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson, co-founders of China Sign Post.
Gen. Chen Bingde, Chief of Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has reportedly said that, for the first time, a Chinese ‘aircraft carrier is […]

Under the leadership of Profs. Joe Maiolo and Thomas Mahnken, as well as Prof. Timothy Hoyt, Journal of Strategic Studies boasts a rare combination of intellectual rigor, empirical richness, and policy relevance that other political science- and history-related publications would do well to emulate. Led by noted China technology scholar Dr. Tai Ming Cheung, whose […]

Dennis J. Blasko, “‘Technology Determines Tactics’: The Relationship between Technology and Doctrine in Chinese Military Thinking,” Journal of Strategic Studies, 34.3 (June 2011): 355-81.

Does ‘doctrine drive technology’ or does ‘technology drive doctrine’? For the United States with its advanced industrial and technological base, many examples of ‘doctrine driving technology’ can be found. For the […]

Tai Ming Cheung, “The Chinese Defense Economy’s Long March from Imitation to Innovation,” Journal of Strategic Studies, 34.3 (June 2011): 325-54.
China’s defense economy has been vigorously developing a comprehensive set of innovation capabilities that will eventually allow it to join the world’s top tier of military technological powers. China’s target is to catch up by […]

Leo Lewis, “Diabetes May Thwart China’s Grand Plan,” The Australian, 21 June 2011.
MORE than 92 million Chinese live under the cloud of diabetes. It is also why Beijing’s grand visions for flotillas of aircraft carriers and fleets of stealth fighters could ultimately be crushed by a simple can of fizzy drink.

What this statistic shows […]

Thomas G. Mahnken, “China’s Anti-Access Strategy in Historical and Theoretical Perspective,” Journal of Strategic Studies, 34.3 (June 2011): 299 – 323.
This article views China’s development of anti-access capabilities against the backdrop of the theory and history of military innovation. It begins with a discussion of the process of military innovation, as well as the indicators […]

Michael C. Horowitz, The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010).
The Diffusion of Military Power examines how the financial and organizational challenges of adopting new methods of fighting wars can influence the international balance of power. Michael Horowitz argues that a state or actor wishing to […]

Aaron Shraberg, “Near-Term Missions for China’s Maiden Aircraft Carrier,” Jamestown China Brief, 11.11 (17 June 2011).
As China’s maiden aircraft carrier nears its sea trials one question that evades analysts’ minds is why China is building a carrier. For many of the carrier’s potential missions: from “recovering” Taiwan; to “solving” the Paracel, Spratly and Diaoyu (Senkaku) […]

Andrew Forbes, review of Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and Carnes Lord, eds., China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, July 2009) in The Northern Mariner 20 (2010), 430-31.

The economic rise of China, which has helped fund its military growth and modernisation, has polarised elements of the analytical […]

Jonathan Marcus, “China Extending Military Reach,” BBC News, 14 June 2011.
A maritime arms race is under way in the South China Sea. Beijing is rapidly developing a host of military capabilities that will enable it to project power well beyond its own shores. …
According to Dr Andrew Erickson, a China expert at the US Naval […]

Conrad Waters, author, Seaforth World Naval Review 2012; review of Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and Carnes Lord, eds., China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, July 2009) in “Naval Books of the Year,” John Jordan and Stephen Dent, eds., Warship 2011 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, June 2011), […]

For analysis of China’s first carrier aircraft, see Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson,“Flying Shark” Gaining Altitude: How might new J-15 strike fighter improve China’s maritime air warfare ability?,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国), No. 38 (7 June 2011).
Further background on Chinese aircraft carrier development is available in Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson, “The ‘Flying Shark’ Prepares to […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “‘Flying Shark’ Gaining Altitude: How Might New J-15 Strike Fighter Improve China’s Maritime Air Warfare Ability?” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 38 (7 June 2011).

For further background on Chinese aircraft carrier development, see also Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “The ‘Flying Shark’ Prepares to Roam the Seas: Strategic Pros […]