You may recall a couple of weeks ago when a US Navy Ship, the Impeccable, was harassed by Chinese ships. What was not as well reported was that this is a specialized surveillance ship with sophisticated sonar equipment for monitoring submarines… and it was operating 75 miles away from a Chinese submarine base. No wonder they were a little ticked off.
While the United States Navy is the leviathan of the seas, our main projection of power is our aircraft carrier strike groups. During WWII the dominance of aircraft carriers over more traditional battleships established a new era of naval history. But will these carrier groups become obsolete as new weapons are developed?
Today the US Naval Institute announced that China has developed a special kill weapon to destroy aircraft carriers. The weapon is essentially an anti-ship ballistic missile with an estimated range of 2000 km. At speeds close to Mach 10, these missiles can travel 2000 km in just 12 minutes and they have erratic flight patterns and low radar visibility to elude anti-missile systems. Add this to the fact that China has been deliberately expanding its naval program, including adding a host of new submarines, it is clear that China is preparing for a time when they will want us to stay away. They will be able to put this new kill weapon on their new subs and take out our battleships and aircraft carriers at will. By keeping our carrier groups at bay we will not be able to participate in any conflicts in the region. Good luck Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, etc. You may be on your own.
In addition to this news, the U.S. Navy is shrinking. In two year's time, it may be less than 300 ships, total.
ReplyDeleteSo each ship kill has that much more effect.
We've come a long way from Reagan's "600-ship Navy."