Chinese Ships Possibly Heading to Australia Capable of Carrying Landing Craft, Helicopters
Udumbara
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New satellite images have emerged of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) flotilla, reportedly heading for Australian waters.
Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) was monitoring Chinese ships but declined to provide details on their identity or whereabouts.
On Dec. 3, the real-time vessel intelligence company Starboard released satellite photos of what it says are likely to be the ships sailing towards Australia.
Starboard also says it identified a Type 052D Destroyer, a Type 054A Frigate, and a Type 903A replenishment vessel.
The 025D is equipped with guided missiles, including the YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship missile, thought to have a range of up to 500 km. It also has two triple torpedo tubes. The 054A carries vertically launched surface-to-air missiles.
Like the U.S. Navy, PLAN ships do not broadcast their positions via Automatic Identification System (AIS), a radio-based system used by the maritime industry to monitor and track vessel movements in real time. Ships broadcast their identification, position, course, speed, and other data, allowing other ships and shore stations to track them.
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When last tracked, it was approximately 260 nautical miles east of the Philippines.
Starboard commented that the ships forming the latest flotilla represented “a significant projection of expeditionary power.”
With the replenishment vessel, thought to be carrying over 11,000 tonnes of fuel and dry stores, the flotilla does not need to call into ports, extending its cruising range to over 10,000 nautical miles, which is enough to enable it to transit around Australia.
Marles told reporters on Dec. 1 that “Defence is monitoring a Chinese PLAN task group, which is currently in the Philippine Sea,” but refused to reveal how many ships or any details of their type and capability.
The monitoring would continue “until we know that they are not coming in the vicinity of Australia,” he said.
“We absolutely had an unprecedented level of surveillance of that task group by the Royal Australian Navy,” Marles said, “and you can be assured that at any point in the future we will bring that same degree of determination and commitment to any journey that happens in our particular area.”
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