China PLA Navy News

https://news.usni.org/2025/07/25/japan-reports-rare-sighting-of-chinese-navy-submarine-support-ship
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Dakai-class submarine rescue ship sailed through the Tsushima Strait on Friday, marking the first time a Chinese submarine support vessel has been spotted in the area, Japanese officials said.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed the sighting of a PLAN ship bearing hull number 841 as it sailed east around 205 miles west of Japan’s Goto Islands. The Chinese ship sailed northeast through the Tsushima Strait to enter the Sea of Japan, according to the Japan Joint Staff Office. Maritime patrol aircraft from JMSDF Kanoya Air Base on the main island of Kyushu and Fleet Air Wing 4 based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi on the main island of Honshu shadowed the PLAN ship, according to the release.

The Dakai-class is the PLAN’s latest submarine rescue ship. The ship class entered service in 2024. Hull number 841 is the second ship of a class of three. The ship spotted on Friday is believed to have only entered operational service at the end of last year.

Friday’s transit followed a Thursday spotting of a three-ship PLAN surface group.

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t is not clear if the Dakai-class 841 is on a submarine support deployment or on a training cruise as a precursor to future submarine support deployments.

Earlier in the week, PLAN Dongdiao-class surveillance ship Tianlangxing (794) was sighted sailing west in an area 80 miles northeast of Miyako Island before entering the East China Sea by way of waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa, the JSO said. Tianlangxing previously in June sailed east through the Osumi Strait. Destroyer JS Amagiri (DD-154) shadowed the PLAN ship.
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NYT and Business Insider from January

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/16/world/asia/china-ships-fishing-militia-blockade.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-fishing-boats-making-strange-moves-in-east-china-sea-2026-1
The first of these irregular movements of Chinese fishing boats occurred on December 25, with more than 2,000 ships forming two reverse L shapes with lines over 290 miles long off the coast of Shanghai. Then, on January 11, almost 1,500 vessels were spotted forming a single line in the same waters stretching roughly 300 miles. The New York Times first reported these activities.
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Pretty interesting even if it is a glitch or has some other more prosaic explanation.
 

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It seems likely they are training either for picket operations or mine laying. Every boat drops a few and you now have a barrier hundreds of miles long of thousands of mines. Mine laying operations are part of the militia training.
 
SUPER=BUG said:
It looks like the new batch of 054B has slightly upgraded firepower compared to the first batch.
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32 >>> 48 VLS cells & larger blast deflectors for the slanted missile cannisters (i.e., they could be equipped with YJ-12/15 instead of the older YJ-83K)?
 

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Well, it's confirmed. 48 650mm hot VLS along with a larger slant launcher likely meant for YJ-12 or YJ-15 (Though probably the former given how specialised YJ-15 is).

Should provide this frigate some heavy duty firepower for all aspects with supersonic antiship missiles, HHQ-16F, new rocket propelled torpedoes and possibly the quadpackable 555 SAM missile
 

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