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China Builds New Type 002 Mega Carrier as the Age of Sea Power Wanes

posted by martyb on Wednesday May 15 2019, @03:52AM   
from the The-bigger-they-are dept.

Chocolate writes:

Who's is bigger? Russia or the good old US of A? Do we need to get out the measuring tape? Maybe we do, after China completes what looks to be the latest generation naval defense: the Type 002 aircraft carrier that is currently under construction in a floodable dry dock. Tinfoil hatters among us will be glad to hear that updates of the progress for the construction of this mighty vessel come from satellite imagery. Now that battleships are pretty much obsolete with maybe carriers to follow this latest addition to China's growing fleet may just be an expensive showboat.

Entry for the carrier on Wikipedia.

Original Submission

• Re:New long range weapons (Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday May 15 2019, @10:54PM

  by Arik (4543) on Wednesday May 15 2019, @10:54PM (#844007) Journal

  Rail guns don't solve the problem. The problem is one of aim. You're trying to hit an extremely small target which is going extremely fast. Of course slower projectiles make this even harder, but it's still plenty hard with lasers. Light speed isn't instantaneous, computing ballistics isn't instantaneous, and every millisecond that goes by the incoming missile covers a tremendous amount of territory *and* it's using evasive maneuvers too. Even if you had something faster than lasers, nova guns let's say, so fast they hit the very same instant they're fired, and you have a computer so dang fast we can effectively call the calculations instantaneous. You'd *still* need several guns going at once to straddle the target in order to have a good chance of a kill. Just because by the time your sensors pick the thing up it's already a lot closer than they say, and quite possibly has changed course as well.
  
  OK, so you've got all that stuff, you're ready to shoot them down, right? But you've only got so many defenses. Ships have weight and size limits and most of the space is already used for something critical. So you just have a few nova guns. All the enemy has to do is shoot enough missiles to overwhelm your mounts and you are toast.
  
  Offense and defense have fought back and forth over the centuries, defense has had it's day many times, but it's usually fairly short. Offense is definitely king in terms of sea warfare, for now and the foreseeable future. Ships are targets. Very expensive targets. Naval ships carry tremendous firepower - but they need all of it, and more, to be able to defend themselves.
  
  "Of course, both the offense and the defense from those offensive weapons depend on satellite imagery. And, the satellites can be destroyed, easily enough."
  
  Well, yes, imagery will be important, and satellites taken out, but I don't think it's correct to say that these *depend* on satellite imagery, nor does it all disappear when you blow up the satellite.
  
  "Whoever decides first that he has the most to lose because the enemy can see what he is doing, will start the turkey shoot, then the other side will join in. At which point, traditional sea power will re-establish itself."
  
  Far from significant landbases, sure.
  
  In the South China Sea? Nah. Taking out their satellites would set them back but they'd still have no problem at all finding a carrier there.
  
  Sea power can be effective, either going head to head with an enemy navy in relatively neutral waters, or just bullying small nations around the globe (that's called 'force projection' among other sexy euphemisms.) But if you're putting your carriers in their home waters, it's not just going to fight their navy. It's going to be going up against their ground-based air force and missiles, and that tilts the balance heavily against the side using sea power alone.
  
  "As for a Chinese carrier group facing off against a US carrier group - this squid ain't making no bets. Whoever is seen first, probably dies, unless the guy who had the jump makes a mistake. Then he dies, instead."
  
  I think you're drastically overestimating the Chinese carrier group or drastically understimating the US one, or both. In neutral water, in the middle of the Pacific say, the US would probably see them first, and almost certainly win even if they failed (though that failure might be costly.)
  
  However they've given no sign they'd even think about trying to meet us there. If there's a confrontation it will be right on their doorstep. Within range of many of their air force bases.
  
  "Sounds exciting, doesn't it?"
  
  No, it sounds like a tragic and tremendous waste of resources and people.
  
  

  --
  If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?

  Parent

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