This edited volume starts with an account of the submarine in naval warfare and moves on to review the nature and consequences of naval modernisation in Southeast Asia by considering their acquisition by the small and medium navies of the region. It explores the reasons for these navies taking on this very substantial and demanding challenge, the problems they are facing and the consequences of the deployment of submarines for regional stability. Given the backdrop of growing tensions over the South China Sea and increasing competition between the United States and China in the region, will the arrival of submarines in the area help or hinder the cause of peace? This volume will be of substantial interest not just to those interested in submarines and naval development but also to students and teachers concerned about the very volatile developing situation in and around the South China Sea.

This edited volume analyses the naval arms race in South-East Asia, and reviews the content, purposes and consequences of the naval policies and development of the main countries of the region. The rise of naval capability in the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region is increasingly recognised as a major indicator of the ‘rise of Asia’ and its increasing importance in the world’s political, economic and strategic future. Most coverage focusses solely on the navies of the 'big four' – the US, China, India and Japan; however, the region’s other navies, though much smaller, are significant too. Given the current focus on the South China Sea and the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia, naval development in South-East Asia is of particular relevance. This book first identifies the issues involved in defence acquisition in this area. It then goes on to establish some templates of naval modernisation as a means of assessing the policies of individual countries in the region, by looking at the naval policies of the big four. Finally, the general issue of naval modernisation in South-East Asia is illustrated through a more detailed examination of some of the major issues common to all countries of the area. These include the defence-industrial perspective, specific examinations of submarine and surface ship acquisition processes, and a review of the balance to be struck between naval and coastguard forces in the area. This book will be of much interest to students of naval power, maritime security, South-East Asian politics, strategic studies, and IR in general.

This book sheds light on one of the most under-studied but powerful navies in the world. Using a multifaceted approach, it examines how the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) has sought to transform itself from a coastal naval force focused solely on deterring North Korea to a navy capable of operating in the blue waters of East Asia and beyond. The project argues that peninsular and regional security dynamics, technological developments, the US-South Korea alliance and internal politics combine to inform and shape ROKN modernisation.

This edited volume reviews the nature and consequences of naval modernisation in Southeast Asia against the backdrop of growing tensions over the South China Sea and increasing competition between the United States and China in the region. The varying problems and challenges facing the small and medium navies of the area as they seek to grow their maritime power in response to their perceptions of strategic need are compared and contrasted. The prospects of significant destabilisation of an already volatile area - even of a potential naval arms race, are carefully analysed. There can be little doubt that naval modernisation in Southeast Asia is a key indicator of the likely future of the Asia Pacific and also illustrates the problems faced by small and medium powers in a world dominated by the great. Accordingly this book will be of much interest to students and teachers focusing on security in the Asia Pacific region as well to those concerned with naval development in genera l.

Tells the story of the growing Chinese Navy - The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) - and its expanding capabilities, evolving roles and military implications for the USA. Divided into four thematic sections, this special collection of essays surveys and analyzes the most important aspects of China's navel modernization.

China’s emergence as a global economic superpower, and as a major regional military power in Asia and the Pacific, has had a major impact on its relations with the United States and its neighbors. China was the driving factor in the new strategy the United States announced in 2012 that called for a “rebalance” of U.S. forces to the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, China’s actions on its borders, in the East China Sea, and in the South China Sea have shown that it is steadily expanding its geopolitical role in the Pacific and having a steadily increasing impact on the strategy and military developments in other Asian powers.

The Asia-Pacific region has emerged as the hub of global geo-political, geo-economic and geo-strategic significance in the post-Cold War period. The rise of China and the resurgence of India will be the hallmark for the next 50 years. How this surge in power is accommodated by the incumbent powers like the United States and Japan, and how the new regional powers like China and India manage the power politics that emerge will be the key determinants of regional stability.This volume examines the national maritime doctrines as well as the nuclear weapons developments at sea of the four major powers in the Asia-Pacific, namely, China, India, Japan and the United States, to see if the evolving dynamic is a cooperative or a competitive one. In particular, the volume looks at the evolving paradigms of maritime transformation in strategy and technology; the emergent new maritime doctrines and evolving force postures in the naval orders of battle; the role and operations of nuclear navies in the Asia-Pacific; and the implications and impact of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and sea-based missile defence responses in the region.

In Strategic Asia 2012-13: China’s Military Challenge, leading experts assess and forecast the impact of China’s growing military capabilities. What are China’s strategic aims? What are the challenges and opportunities facing the United States? How is the region responding to China’s military power and to the U.S. policy of “strategic rebalancing”?

China's rise to global economic and strategic eminence, with the potential for achieving pre-eminence in the greater-Asian region, is one of the defining characteristics of the post-Cold War period. This work offers a basic understanding of the military-strategic basis and trajectory of a rising China, provides background, and outlines current and future issues concerning China's rise in strategic-military influence. The next decade may witness China's assertion of military or strategic pressure on Japan, the Korean Peninsula, India, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Central Asia, or even on behalf of future allies in Africa and Latin America. While conflict is not a foregone conclusion, as indicated by China's increasing participation in many benign international organizations, it is a fact that China's leadership will pursue its interests as it sees them, which may not always coincide with those of the United States, its friends, and allies. Until now, no single volume has existed that provides an authoritative, comprehensive, and concise description of China's evolving geo-strategy or of how China is transforming its military to carry out this strategy. Fisher examines how China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) remains critical to the existence of the Chinese Communist government and looks at China's political and military actions designed to protect its expanded strategic interests in both the Asia-Pacific and Central to Near-Asian regions. Using open sources, including over a decade of unique interview sources, Fisher documents China's efforts to build a larger nuclear force that may soon be protected by missile defenses, modern high technology systems for space, air, and naval forces, and how China is now beginning to assemble naval, air, and ground forces for future power projection missions. His work also examines how the United States and other governments simultaneously seek greater engagement with China on strategic concerns, while hedging against its rising power. Although China faces both internal and external constraints on its rise to global eminence, it cannot be denied that China's government is pursuing a far-reaching strategic agenda.

The navies of China, India and to a lesser extent Japan are expanding rapidly at present. This has the potential to alter the US-dominated naval balance in Asia-Pacific but it also raises a question: are the regions powers involved in a naval arms race? Naval development is and always has been a crucial indicator of economic and political development. It shows the emergence of a significant shift in strategic weight from West to East. But within the Asia-Pacific Region, alongside growing economic and institutional integration, there are geo-political tensions that threaten the regions stability and peace. The balance between the two determines the form that naval development in that region is taking. Some aspects of this suggest the beginnings of a naval arms race that would have profound consequences for the region and the world.