China's Expanding Influence in the Indo-Pacific, Middle East and Africa
Thursday 30 January 2025
Over the past year, China has significantly increased its military activities and defence spending, projecting power through exercises, especially near Taiwan, and modernising its forces with advanced technologies. This report looks into Chinese influence and munitions.
In the past year, China has significantly increased its military activities, marked by a 7.2% rise in defence spending and extensive military exercises, including large-scale drills near Taiwan. China is rapidly modernising its military capabilities, expanding naval power and missile arsenals, while investing in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence. These developments have raised concerns among the United States and its allies about China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, highlighting a strategic push for greater regional and global influence by Beijing as it aims to establish a "world-class military" by 2049.
Chinese military activity around Taiwan has escalated recently, as seen in the graph above, marked by significant incursions of aircraft into their air defence identification zone (ADIZ), as well as naval activity around their territorial waters. This escalation, along with increased aggression towards the Philippines and other countries bordering the South China Sea, raises regional tensions and compels Taiwan and others to bolster their defensive readiness.
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Chinese Munitions Found Across the Globe
Chinese munitions have been confirmed by Fenix Insight to be used in conflict throughout locations across the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia, as shown by the map below.
These findings highlight China's expanding influence in global arms markets, with its munitions increasingly utilised by various state and non-state actors in these regions. Below are some examples of such munitions identified by Fenix Insight analysts.
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Anti-Tank Guided Missile |
The Red Arrow 8 are a family of Chinese-developed, wire-guided, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), which use semi-automatic command-to-line-of-sight (SACLOS) guidance. |
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Rocket-Assisted Projectile |
The WR2004 is a Chinese fin- and spin-stabilised, high-explosive fragmentation (HE-frag) anti-personnel (AP or APERS) round. |
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New Chinese Munitions Recently Revealed
Two new anti-tank (AT) mines were revealed at the Zhuhai Airshow in November 2024. These are both referred to as 'smart mines', that utilise a mix of seismic, acoustic and optical sensors.
The Type 925 Intelligent Top Attack Munition System is an off-route, top attack, AT mine. It is unique in that the submunition it launches is capable of autonomous flight, using its onboard rotor system, greatly extending the range far beyond conventional top-attack mines. The LY-501N Smart Mine is an off-route, side-attack, AT mine with a mechanism that can control the pitch of its directional warhead.
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OFF-ROUTE ANTI-TANK MINE |
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OFF-ROUTE ANTI-TANK MINE |
Additionally, two new rocket-assisted guided projectiles were displayed. The LHA-40 is 40 mm, laser-guided, fin- and spin-stabilised, with the overall design similar to the Raytheon Pike semi-active laser-guided precision munition. The IG-40 is a larger image-guided, fin- and spin-stabilised, high-explosive, anti-drone, dual-purpose (HEADDP) design. While this is claimed to be an anti-drone (uncrewed aerial vehicle [UAV]) munition, it would likely also be used to target helicopters.
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ROCKET ASSISTED PROJECTILE |
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ROCKET ASSISTED PROJECTILE |
As China's aggression in the Indo-Pacific region intensifies, along with the expected decrease in Russian and Iranian influence in the Middle East and Africa, it is likely that larger quantities and variety of Chinese munitions will appear across the world.
References in METIS
Source Information
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