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CHINA BRIEFS

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WHY CHINA’S FOURTH AIRCRAFT CARRIER IS LIKELY TO BE NUCLEAR-POWERED

Author:   Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – Issue No 14 dated 01 Jan 2026 China’s third aircraft carrier, Fujian was commissioned on 05 Nov 2025. She is a substantial departure from her earlier siblings. Gone is the ramp at the bows which has been replaced by three Electro Magnetic Launching Systems (EMALS), thus making the […]
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CHINA’S ANTARCTIC STATIONS GROW UNABATED

Author: Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 13 dated 11 Apr 2025 China’s tryst with the Antarctic was led by Guo Kun, a graduate of the PLA Military Institute of Engineering, Harbin. While working at the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), in the early 1980s, he was appointed as Director of the newly […]
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CHINA ACCELERATES PAKISTAN’S HANGOR CLASS SUBMARINE PROGRAMME

Author: Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 12 dated 25 Mar 2025  In 2015, Pakistan signed a contract with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. Ltd (CSOC), for eight S-26 Class submarines at an estimated cost of between four to five billion U.S. dollars. Termed as the Hangor Class Submarine Programme, this […]
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CHINA’S MISSILE TEST RANGE IN THE TAKLAMAKAN DESERT

Author: Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 11 dated 17 Mar 2025 China’s development of long range conventional ballistic missiles, against static terrestrial as well as mobile maritime targets has been ongoing for several years. As part of the development process of such weapons, China has set up a few target ranges. […]
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CHINA’S WENCHANG SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTRE AND YUAN WANG ROCKET TRANSPORT SHIPS

Author: Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 8 dated 21 Feb 2025 China has been in the business of launching rockets for several decades with its first Space Launch Centre (SLC) having been established at Jiuquan, Gansu Province in 1958. This was followed by the establishment of two additional SLCs in Taiyuan, […]
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ARE WE SEEING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLA NAVY’S NEW NUCLEAR SUBMARINE BASE?

Author: Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 7 dated 10 Feb 2025 The PLA Navy’s nuclear attack submarine fleet is growing exponentially with an estimated six to nine Type 09III-B SSNs having being launched since May 2022, when the first one rolled out from the newly constructed eastern expansion of the Bohai […]
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YUCHI NAVAL BASE, GUZHEN BAY IN THE MIDST OF ANOTHER ROUND OF EXPANSION

Author: Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 6 dated 06 Feb 2025 Yuchi Naval Base (35o 43.’4 N, 119o 58’.9 E) in Guzhen Bay is located about 50 km South West of Qingdao. It is the primary base of the Northern Theatre Navy (erstwhile North Sea Fleet) and is amongst the PLA […]
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CHINA’S HEAVY LIFT SHIP FLEET AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR USE IN COMBAT

Author: CHINA’S HEAVY LIFT SHIP FLEET AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR USE IN COMBAT Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 5 dated 30 Jan 2025 Heavy Lift Ships (HLS), as the name suggests, are essentially vessels that are designed for the purpose of lifting large and heavy pieces of equipment. They essentially fall […]
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CHINA’S ZUBR CLASS HOVERCRAFTS – AN ASSESSMENT

Author: CHINA’S ZUBR CLASS HOVERCRAFTS – AN ASSESSMENT Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – Issue No 4 dated 22 Jan 2025 The Zubr Class (Type 958) is by far the largest hovercraft in the world. It was designed by the Almaz Central Naval Design Bureau, St. Petersburg, USSR. Construction was subsequently undertaken by the Almaz Shipyard […]
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CHINA IS WELL ON THE PATH TOWARDS A NUCLEAR-POWERED AIRCRAFT CARRIER

Author: CHINA IS WELL ON THE PATH TOWARDS A NUCLEAR-POWERED AIRCRAFT CARRIER Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – Issue No 3 dated 15 Jan 2025 China’s third aircraft carrier, Fujian returned from her sixth round of sea trials on 07 Jan 2025. While much has changed on her when compared to her predecessors insofar as aviation […]
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GSI DELIVERS CHINA’S FIFTH ICEBREAKER IN RECORD TIME

Author: GSI DELIVERS CHINA’S FIFTH ICEBREAKER IN RECORD TIME Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – Issue No 2 dated 08 Jan 2025 China’s fifth icebreaker, the Tan Suo San Hao (Exploration No 3) set sail from Guangzhou on 26 Dec 2024 and arrived at Sanya on 29 Dec 2024. She is designed by the China State […]
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HDZH SETS A NEW RECORD FOR TIME TAKEN TO CONSTRUCT FRIGATES

Author: HDZH SETS A NEW BENCHMARK FOR TIME TAKEN TO CONSTRUCT FRIGATES Hudong-Zhonghua (HDZH) shipyard launched the first Type 076 vessel, Sichuan (Hull Number 51) on 27 Dec 2024 with considerable fanfare. Buried under the media blitz is the fact that two Type 054A frigates, one for the PLA Navy and the other for China Coast […]

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