Hypothetical War : Contest For The Spratleys

[RETAC21]

 

 

How would a base in Greenland make sense without a Sino-Soviet alliance in place?

To a Nazi-Sino alliance, it would be a boost!

 

Greenland is never going to be a significant base for anything due to the weather and the terrain.

To operate flying saucers from?

 

Joking aside, Thule was a pretty significant air base with a deepwater harbour - allegedly the Northernmost in the World.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Air_Base

 

 

It was comparatively big, but only as a deployment base. Deploying and maintaining aircraft there must be a nightmare.

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/admiral-defends-royal-navy-deployments-to-south-china-sea-1-8559896 QUESTIONS over whether Britain should send a future fleet of Royal Navy ships to the South China Sea have been raised in the House of Lords.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire said committing a fleet to the region would put a strain on the navy’s ability to protect the seas around the UK.

The Lib Dem peer said: ‘We require virtually half of the British navy to commit to keeping three ships in the South China Sea. If we follow the Foreign Secretary’s promise – as we always do – and send an aircraft carrier with a full complement of support ships east of the Malacca Straits, with aircraft on board the carrier, that would be half of the British navy already.

‘Probably most of the British navy would be committed to the South China Sea. Is that really a strategic priority over the defence of our waters and the seas around Europe?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​’

However, Admiral Lord Alan West – former head of the navy – hit back and said it was vital Britain patrolled the region as trillions of pounds of trade passes through it.

[KV7]

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/admiral-defends-royal-navy-deployments-to-south-china-sea-1-8559896 QUESTIONS over whether Britain should send a future fleet of Royal Navy ships to the South China Sea have been raised in the House of Lords.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire said committing a fleet to the region would put a strain on the navy’s ability to protect the seas around the UK.

The Lib Dem peer said: ‘We require virtually half of the British navy to commit to keeping three ships in the South China Sea. If we follow the Foreign Secretary’s promise – as we always do – and send an aircraft carrier with a full complement of support ships east of the Malacca Straits, with aircraft on board the carrier, that would be half of the British navy already.

‘Probably most of the British navy would be committed to the South China Sea. Is that really a strategic priority over the defence of our waters and the seas around Europe?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​’

However, Admiral Lord Alan West – former head of the navy – hit back and said it was vital Britain patrolled the region as trillions of pounds of trade passes through it.

 

This is a completely cooked plan.

[JasonJ]

 

 

Tokyo. Japan will send a large helicopter carrier to the South China Sea and Indian Ocean for a second straight year as it looks to bolster its presence in the strategic maritime region with annual tours, two Japanese officials said.

"This is part Japan's efforts to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific," said one of the officials, who has direct knowledge of the plan for a two-month tour beginning in September.

The 248 meter-long Kaga, which can operate several helicopters simultaneously, will make stops in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and at ports in India and Sri Lanka, said the sources who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The Kaga, which will be accompanied by an escort ship, may also conduct ad hoc joint drills with warships from other counties in the region, they said.

Japan last year sent its sister ship, the Izumo, on a similar tour of the contested South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

A spokesman for Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force said he was unable to comment on future operations.

Japan's growing visibility in those waters reflects concern it shares with the United States over China's military presence in a region through which trade routes pass that are vital to the Japanese and US economies.

China, which says its intentions are peaceful, claims most of the South China and has built bases on reefs and shoals it has reclaimed. China has also increased naval operations in the Indian Ocean.

The United States holds regular air and naval patrols in the South China Sea, saying it has to ensure freedom of navigation.

In May, it changed the name of its military Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii to Indo-Pacific Command to signal a broader regional strategy that has been promoted by Japan and Australia, stretching from the Western Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

Japan has not taken part in the US freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea because doing so could provoke China which could increase its military presence in the East China Sea where the rivals are locked in a dispute over ownership of uninhabited islets known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Tension

Amid growing tension over trade and Chinese suspicion of US intentions toward self-governing Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping in June told US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that China was committed to peace but would not yield "even one inch" of territory handed down by its ancestors.

Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea, which has rich fishing grounds, as well as oil and gas deposits. Taiwan also claims the sea but Japan has no claim to any part of it.

In the Indian Ocean, tension between China and India has flared over China's growing presence in the Maldives, which despite long-standing political and security ties with India has signed up to China's Belt and Road initiative to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond.

In order for Japan to take a wider regional role, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has stretched the limits of a post-war pacifist constitution by sending warships, planes and troops on overseas missions.

The Kaga, which is as big as any aircraft carrier operated by the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II, is designated as a destroyer to keep it within the bounds of those constitutional restraints.

Based in Kure in western Japan, the Kaga was commissioned in March last year and its primary mission is anti-submarine warfare. Its tour of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean follows a two-month trip to the region from May by the Osumi, an amphibious transport ship.

http://jakartaglobe.id/international/japanese-helicopter-carrier-tour-south-china-sea-indian-ocean-two-months/

[Adam_S]

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/admiral-defends-royal-navy-deployments-to-south-china-sea-1-8559896 QUESTIONS over whether Britain should send a future fleet of Royal Navy ships to the South China Sea have been raised in the House of Lords.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire said committing a fleet to the region would put a strain on the navy’s ability to protect the seas around the UK.

The Lib Dem peer said: ‘We require virtually half of the British navy to commit to keeping three ships in the South China Sea. If we follow the Foreign Secretary’s promise – as we always do – and send an aircraft carrier with a full complement of support ships east of the Malacca Straits, with aircraft on board the carrier, that would be half of the British navy already.

‘Probably most of the British navy would be committed to the South China Sea. Is that really a strategic priority over the defence of our waters and the seas around Europe?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​’

However, Admiral Lord Alan West – former head of the navy – hit back and said it was vital Britain patrolled the region as trillions of pounds of trade passes through it.

 

 

I thought the plan was to build 12 T45s so that there would be enough escorts to deploy at least one carrier without using up the entire navy to escort it. Oh no, hang on, I thought the idea was that the UK would work with the EU navies and use their air warfare frigates to build multinational EU battlegroups. Oh wait, that's not going to happen now, is it? So what is the plan exactly?

[Simon Tan]

BritaIn needs to stop pretending it is a global power and get back to being a country. Madness.

[Adam_S]

BritaIn needs to stop pretending it is a global power and get back to being a country. Madness.

 

Maybe they could get the US to loan them some escorts. After all, given that they chose to go with AEGIS instead of some European system, they should be able to interoperate easily.

[RETAC21]

BritaIn needs to stop pretending it is a global power and get back to being a country. Madness.

 

It nearly was, but then Croatia intervened...

[Chris Werb]

BritaIn needs to stop pretending it is a global power and get back to being a country. Madness.

This. 👍👍👍

[Chris Werb]

 

 

BritaIn needs to stop pretending it is a global power and get back to being a country. Madness.

Maybe they could get the US to loan them some escorts. After all, given that they chose to go with AEGIS instead of some European system, they should be able to interoperate easily.

???????

[Adam_S]

 

 

BritaIn needs to stop pretending it is a global power and get back to being a country. Madness.

Maybe they could get the US to loan them some escorts. After all, given that they chose to go with AEGIS instead of some European system, they should be able to interoperate easily.

???????

 

 

Poor attempt at sarcasm.

[Chris Werb]

OK 😁

[chino]

How many times have the Chinese threatened commercial shipping passing through the disputed area?

Sure, send your navies there, waste your money, start a shooting war. Why not?

[Chris Werb]

How many times have the Chinese threatened commercial shipping passing through the disputed area?

 

Sure, send your navies there, waste your money, start a shooting war. Why not?

 

 

The Nine Dash Line simply isn't our problem. Unless you're wanting to fish or extract oil and gas, it's nobody's problem.

[JasonJ]

Vietnam started to drill for gas in SCS with Russia, although using Japanese made drilling equipment. Vietnam and Japan to start construction of a drilling site, repotedly by Reuters to be just outside of the 9 dash line area but a CSIS think-tank thinks this may still actually be inside the 9 dash line. Vietnam had plans to drill with the Spanish but PRC pressure caused its cancellation back in March.

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/vietnam-finds-new-partners-for-s-china-sea-drilling#gs.6AIU1vg

https://twitter.com/GregPoling/status/1024768566384570368

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-japan-southchinasea/petrovietnam-japanese-firms-sign-south-china-sea-gas-deal-amid-tensions-with-beijing-idUSKBN1KM3SO

https://www.rosneft.com/press/news/item/190909/

[Nobu]

The joint PRC/Republic of China 9 dash line claim certainly appears to be Hanoi's problem, which is not a surprise considering the North Vietnamese version of the 9 dash line in the SCS extends 2500 kilometers or more off the Democratic People's Republic of Vietnam's coastline in places.

 

Complicating matters somewhat for Hanoi is the awkward matter of which side the North Vietnamese government and millions of patriotic North Vietnamese fought and died for during the Cold War.

 

Hanoi trying to bring Russia onside on its behalf in the SCS would be more historically appropriate. Trying to bring Washington onside sounds like the makings of a future Vietnamese folk song about how one generation of North Vietnamese warriors fought and defeated Halberstam's best and the brightest, and how another convinced the sons and daughters of the best and the brightest to protect their spoils of victory (the entire territory of the Republic of South Vietnam) for them a generation later.

 

The North Vietnamese would probably make that song their national anthem.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Nobu

[JasonJ]

Russia and the Philippines looking into deeper naval cooperation.

The Philippine and Russian navies are in talks for “deeper security cooperation,” which includes the acquisition by the Philippines of submarines.

The talks were the highlight of a meeting on July 29 between Vice Adm. Robert Empedrad, Philippine Navy commander, and Adm. Vladimir Ivanovich Korolev, Russian Navy chief, at the Russian Navy Day celebration in St. Petersburg.

In a statement released on Saturday by the Philippine Navy Public Affairs Office, spokesperson Jonathan Zaka quoted Korolev as giving his “commitment to support the upgrade program of the Philippine Navy in terms of training, maintenance” and future acquisitions that included submarines.

Shipyard visit

The Philippine Navy delegation, led by Empedrad, also visited Russia’s Admiralty Shipyard, where submarines were being built.

Korolev also brought up the idea of the two navies conducting joint humanitarian assistance and disaster response training, the Philippine Navy statement said.

The Russian Navy chief also brought up the possibility of more visits from Russian ships to the Philippines and vice versa.

A Philippine Navy ship was expected to make a port call in Vladivostok.

Three warships from Russia have made a port call in Manila in June.

In attendance at this year’s Russian Navy Day parade was Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Navy chief of China, Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong, was also there.

26 new ships

Russia introduced 26 new ships during its parade, meant as a show of strength.

Four warships would have Kalibr cruise missiles, Putin said.

Kalibr missiles fired from Russian ships in the Mediterranean and the Caspian have been used as part of Moscow’s help for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

During the parade, Putin reviewed a spectacular annual naval display on Neva River in St. Petersburg with 39 warships carrying out maneuvers.

Putin told the 4,000 servicemen who took part in the parade that the Russian Navy “is making a weighty contribution to the fight against international terrorism.”

“Of course we will continue measures aimed at strengthening and developing the Navy,” Putin said. —WITH A REPORT FROM AFP

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/168865/ph-russia-navies-talks-security

Edited August 6, 2018 by JasonJ

[Nobu]

Russian naval vessels of any configuration operating in the East China Sea would be historically well advised to maintain their alert posture. Units of the Japanese Navy will be in the vicinity.

[GARGEAN]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/china-fires-six-warning-shots-13063653

Hmmm...

[Josh]

Nothing new. Though I note the article is titled with 'warning shots', where as the content clearly states they were given six verbal warnings instead.

[GARGEAN]

Nothing new. Though I note the article is titled with 'warning shots', where as the content clearly states they were given six verbal warnings instead.

Meh if so. Though it was real hot shots.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

Sound is rubbish at the beginning, but its fixed after about 40 minutes or so.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Stuart Galbraith

[JasonJ]

 

Sound is rubbish at the beginning, but its fixed after about 40 minutes or so.

 

8 hours is really long. So far I listened to the first speaker and the Q and A for his part. Main point being that the US is going to stay involved regarding the SCS and acknowledging that everything the US has done so far has not produced results. And thus advocates a new approach such as economic sanctions in the form like how PRC used economics to retaliate against ROK regarding the THAAD deployment. Generally reasonable in my view. In some sort of way, economic leverages such as the tariffs are being pulled against China. But it is of course yet to be seen if those will be short term or not. On the military side, the "H.R. 5515: John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019" has a general approach towards China which is as follows.

 

China – As China makes investments and advances in its military capabilities, this legislation directs a whole-of-government strategy to confront the People’s Republic of China and bolsters DOD’s efforts to plan for and provide the necessary forces and military infrastructure and logistics capabilities in the region. The bill supports military exercises with Japan, Australia, and India and improves security cooperation to counter China’s rising influence in Asia, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

 

I think it indicates that the US isn't going to do much to reverse the progress China has made in the SCS but a continued framework to contain China within the SCS.

Edited August 19, 2018 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

 

Tokyo. Japan will send a large helicopter carrier to the South China Sea and Indian Ocean for a second straight year as it looks to bolster its presence in the strategic maritime region with annual tours, two Japanese officials said.

 

"This is part Japan's efforts to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific," said one of the officials, who has direct knowledge of the plan for a two-month tour beginning in September.

 

The 248 meter-long Kaga, which can operate several helicopters simultaneously, will make stops in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and at ports in India and Sri Lanka, said the sources who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

 

The Kaga, which will be accompanied by an escort ship, may also conduct ad hoc joint drills with warships from other counties in the region, they said.

 

Japan last year sent its sister ship, the Izumo, on a similar tour of the contested South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

 

A spokesman for Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force said he was unable to comment on future operations.

 

Japan's growing visibility in those waters reflects concern it shares with the United States over China's military presence in a region through which trade routes pass that are vital to the Japanese and US economies.

 

China, which says its intentions are peaceful, claims most of the South China and has built bases on reefs and shoals it has reclaimed. China has also increased naval operations in the Indian Ocean.

 

The United States holds regular air and naval patrols in the South China Sea, saying it has to ensure freedom of navigation.

 

In May, it changed the name of its military Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii to Indo-Pacific Command to signal a broader regional strategy that has been promoted by Japan and Australia, stretching from the Western Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

 

Japan has not taken part in the US freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea because doing so could provoke China which could increase its military presence in the East China Sea where the rivals are locked in a dispute over ownership of uninhabited islets known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

 

Tension

 

Amid growing tension over trade and Chinese suspicion of US intentions toward self-governing Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping in June told US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that China was committed to peace but would not yield "even one inch" of territory handed down by its ancestors.

 

Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea, which has rich fishing grounds, as well as oil and gas deposits. Taiwan also claims the sea but Japan has no claim to any part of it.

 

In the Indian Ocean, tension between China and India has flared over China's growing presence in the Maldives, which despite long-standing political and security ties with India has signed up to China's Belt and Road initiative to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond.

 

In order for Japan to take a wider regional role, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has stretched the limits of a post-war pacifist constitution by sending warships, planes and troops on overseas missions.

 

The Kaga, which is as big as any aircraft carrier operated by the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II, is designated as a destroyer to keep it within the bounds of those constitutional restraints.

 

Based in Kure in western Japan, the Kaga was commissioned in March last year and its primary mission is anti-submarine warfare. Its tour of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean follows a two-month trip to the region from May by the Osumi, an amphibious transport ship.

http://jakartaglobe.id/international/japanese-helicopter-carrier-tour-south-china-sea-indian-ocean-two-months/

 

 

Following up.. JS Kaga carrying 5 helicopters will be accompanied by JS Inazuma and JS Suzutsuki totaling about 800 personnel. Begins on August 26th and will finish on October 30th. They will make port calls to India, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

http://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/release/201808/20180821-02.pdf

[JasonJ]

France sent 3 Rafales, an A400M, a C-135, and a A310 to an international air exercise in Australia but also stops in several South East Asia countries including Vietnam.

 

 

Phát biểu tại họp báo, Tướng Không quân Patrich Charaix, Chỉ huy Chiến dịch Pegase chia sẻ, Không quân Pháp tổ chức và điều phối Chiến dịch Pegase tại châu Á - Thái Bình Dương với việc triển khai đội hình bay gồm ba chiến đấu cơ Rafale, một máy bay vận tải A400M, một máy bay tiếp vận C-135 và một máy bay A310. Không quân Pháp huy động tới một trăm thành viên đội bay cho Chiến dịch này.

Tiếp sau đợt diễn tập Pitch - Black (từ 27/7 đến 17/8/2018) tại Australia, hành trình trở về Pháp, Đội hình bay này của Không quân Pháp thực hiện các chuyến ghé thăm tại Indonesia, Malaysia, Việt Nam, Singapore và Ấn Độ, trước khi Đoàn qua các Tiểu vương quốc Ả rập Thống nhất.

Theo Tướng Không quân Patrich Charaix, các chuyến thăm này góp phần tăng cường sự hiện diện của Pháp tại khu vực này, góp phần làm sâu sắc thêm mối quan hệ của Pháp với các đối tác chiến lược chính trong khu vực, duy trì năng lực tác chiến đội bay. Qua các chuyến thăm tại các nước, hai bên đã giao lưu, trao đổi kinh nghiệm và hợp tác đào tạo quân nhân trong tương lai.

Ông Olivier Sigaud, Đại biện lâm thời, Đại sứ quán Cộng hòa Pháp tại Việt Nam cho biết, Chiến dịch Pegase thực hiện chuyến thăm đầu tiên Việt Nam là một trong những hoạt động nhân dịp hai nước kỷ niệm 45 năm ngày thiết lập quan hệ ngoại giao Việt Nam - Pháp và kỷ niệm 5 quan hệ Đối tác chiến lược. Sự kiện này minh chứng cho mối quan hệ năng động Pháp - Việt trong lĩnh vực quốc phòng.

Đại biện lâm thời, Đại sứ quán Cộng hòa Pháp tại Việt Nam nhấn mạnh, chọn Việt Nam là điểm triển khai thăm của Chiến dịch Pegase lần này thể hiện việc Pháp đánh giá tầm quan trọng và vị thế Việt Nam trong mối quan hệ hợp tác song phương giữa hai nước.

Đội hình bay này của Không quân Pháp có mặt tại Việt Nam, Sân bay Nội Bài, từ ngày 26 - 29/8/2018.

https://baotintuc.vn/quan-su/chien-dau-co-rafale-cua-khong-quan-phap-dap-xuong-san-bay-noi-bai-20180827112544595.htm