New images show Chinese flotilla with formidable firepower in Philippine Sea

A private intelligence company has revealed a Chinese naval task group being tracked by the Australian military east of the Philippines boasts ships with formidable firepower, including a Landing Helicopter Dock ship, a destroyer, a frigate and a refuelling vessel.

Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed yesterday that the ADF was closely monitoring a Chinese flotilla in the Philippine Sea, although he stressed it was not yet clear whether it was heading towards Australia.

Now the private firm Starboard Maritime Intelligence says it has used satellite technology to track down the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) task group, which it says is currently around 260 nautical miles east of the Philippines.

The company calls the group a "significant projection of power", with a Landing Helicopter Dock "capable of hosting up to 30 helicopters and approximately 1,000 marines for various operations ranging from humanitarian relief to amphibious landings".

The maritime intelligence firm's analyst, Mark Douglas, said the PLA-N destroyer and the frigate would provide protection for the flotilla, and that the frigate would be "looking for submarines that might be monitoring the task group."

The company also said the replenishment vessel would be acting as a "mobile logistics hub, carrying over 11,000 tons of fuel and dry stores."

"This support effectively untethers the flotilla from shore-based ports, extending its cruising range to over 10,000 nautical miles —sufficient to transit around major landmasses like Australia without entering port," it said.

Still, Mr Douglas stressed it was not yet possible to say whether or not the flotilla was heading towards Australia.

"Intent is hard to gauge from [the images] — we can see that they're definitely going south-east," he told the ABC.

"It's a long way from there to Australia. We're working with our partners to get more imagery to determine in what direction it might be heading in the future."

Former naval officer Jennifer Parker, who is an expert associate at the ANU's national security college, said it was "rare" to see a deployment of a Chinese amphibious task group outside the first island chain and into the western Pacific.

"This is another example of the increased expeditionary deployment of China's blue water navy. For the last decade, their deployments of task groups have only been to the Red Sea and they didn't involve large amphibious ships," she said.

"The nature of their deployments have changed in the last two years, indicated by PLA-N warships off Alaska in June 24, and the circumnavigation of Australia in March 25 as two examples. But neither of those involved large amphibious vessels."

She also stressed there was "no indication based on their location, course and speed that they are presently heading to Australia", pointing out the group was over 3,500km north-west of Port Moresby.

"But they could deploy further into the western Pacific. Because they are accompanied by a replenishment vessel, they can deploy long distances," she added.

A spokesperson for Defence Minister Richard Marles declined to comment on the imagery.

Yesterday, Mr Marles stressed that Australia monitored "all movements" of Chinese naval vessels in the region, but would not be drawn on the details of the task group, given its destination was not clear.

"We're not about to give a running commentary on movements of all Chinese navy vessels," he said.

Pace of China's military build-up 'worrying': Wong

This afternoon Mr Marles met with PNG Defence Minister Billy Joseph ahead of a historic trilateral meeting with Indonesia in Port Moresby, where he flagged that the Chinese task group was likely to be discussed.

"Obviously, we speak very closely with our friends and allies, and we will do that," Mr Marles said.

On Tuesday night Foreign Minister Penny Wong also used a speech at a major event hosted by the Kokoda Track Foundation to burnish the government's Pacific credentials, while warning that China's military build-up was causing anxiety across the region.

"We see the worrying pace of China's military build-up, without the transparency that the region expects," she said.

"The multilateral system is under strain as the world falls short of the commitments to which we have all agreed.

"The rules have not been respected in the face of newer challenges, including disinformation, interference, and cyber attacks."

Ms Wong said Australia had "backed in" a Pacific-first approach to peace and security and that outside players such as China should "respect sovereignty and Pacific-led approaches".

"This is our home," she said.

"And the growing interest and activity from external partners in the security of our region has had consequences, both intended and unintended."