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The Forum > Article Comments > Troubled waters: China’s blue water PLA-N > Comments

Troubled waters: China’s blue water PLA-N : Comments

By Jonathan J. Ariel, published 22/5/2009

China’s military build up, like most other activities the communist state engages in, is very, very difficult to gauge.

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plantagenet wrote 25 May 2009 10:34:21 PM:

>Thanks tomw ...

Delighted to be able to assist the discussion.

>For your trust in the Middle Empire to be.

There seems little point in criticising China for building a defence force comparable to that of other nations. This is unlikely to change China's actions. Other nations need to respond by making sure they have a credible defence force, as well as undertake diplomatic initiatives to reduce tensions.

>You present a treasure trove ...

Sorry if overloaded you with too many references. But I thought some facts might help the discussion.

Here is another one. Australian ship builder Austral have proposed a low cost version of their Independence-class littoral combat ship, which was designed for the US Navy. The new version, called the Multi-Role Vessel, omits the advanced sensors and weapons. This could be purchased by the RAN to supplement more expensive warships: <http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/05/austal-multi-role-vessel.html>.

The point of this is that China might invest in a lot of specialised warships which look good on paper, but turn out not to be that useful.
Posted by tomw, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 3:34:07 PM
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Thanks tomw

I think your views add a lot (backed with references or no).

The RAN it seems is too conservative to consider large littoral vessels because blue water is their hope and glory in the best (worst?) RN/US naval blue water traditions.

East Timor, PNG and the Solomons is our most critical (littoral) operating area where we can make a real difference. But the flag showing occurs around the Middle East in backing up our betters over the blue water.

So traditional surface ships win out - though fortunately the Government is giving the appearance of emphasising that high stealth vessel - the submarine.

Australian consideraton of Austal smacks of national self-sufficiency, efficiency and too few foreign postings for the RAN acquisitions officers and DMO. Long stays in Spain and the US make for better happy times than Hobart or dreary Canberra.

In any case why use merely millions in taxpayers money when billions are on offer to waste? ;)

Regards

Pete
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 4:09:04 PM
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