Satellite image of China’s under-construction Type 003 aircraft carrier. (via Center for Strategic & International Studies)
Eurasian Times: China Racing Ahead Of US Navy At Breakneck Speed; Building 20 Warships Per Year In 17 Shipyards – Top Official
The US is trying to gain an edge over adversary nations like Russia and China by acquiring advanced maritime warfare abilities. The Pentagon’s intention to win this great power competition was released in a recent report titled ‘Navy Aviation Vision 2030-2035’.
This development comes at a time when concerns regarding the US Navy losing out in terms of both quantity and quality have been raised.
China Zooming Ahead At Breakneck Speed?
China is building at least 20 warships a year in 17 shipyards and is expanding its naval fleet at a rate the United States is not matching and does not yet have the financial resources to compete with, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said on Thursday.
“China has 17 shipyards: Last year they built 20 warships [and] this year they’re building another 20 ships,” Del Toro told the Aspen Security Forum 2021. “I’m concerned we need to build more ships. …We need to increase resources by 3% to 5% over inflation. We’re raising the alarm [to Congress].”
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WNU Editor: The US Secretary of the Navy raised his concerns on China's navy buildup at the Aspen Security Forum today (see video below).
5 comments:
The US is only building 4, but at least the crews are not transphobic
It is argued Hitler had to go to war or Germany would be insolvent and he would have been deposed.
https://www.quora.com/How-did-Hitler-fund-and-finance-a-huge-military-and-war-when-Germany-was-so-poor-just-a-few-years-earlier?share=1
China has many companies and local governments in the red. What if Xi is in the same position?
What if SecNav and the rest of them do not know their ass form a hole in the ground?
What if the the true nature of the Chinese economy is not adequately described in the war games the US loses?
What if China and Russia have no intention of stabbing each other in the back like Stalin and Hitler did?
If China wins, will Biden get a bonus or will he see black helicopters with Chinese markings?
Building things is important, of course, but does not guarantee operational proficiency. The Chinese are still well behind as to actual combat experience, whereas the US has been in harm's way (i.e. combat conditions) for the last 20+ years.
Also, there is such a thing as building TOO fast, which doesn't allows little time for lessons learned to enter the construction process, especially if you haven't had suffiecient time to LEARN those lessons. For instance, there might be some basic weaknesses/problems amongst these various ship classes that won't become apparent except during the course of putting them through the paces.
So, instead of building a few, testing them under real world conditions, then incorporating lessons learned in the next batch, you run the risk of creating entire fleets of ships with as-yet unforeseen problems. Imagine the lessons learned during the very rocky development of the Ford class (assuming they WERE learned). Meaning (theorectically) that the second ship won't have the same issues as the first, the third fewer issues than the second, and so on. Rather, China must hope they got it right from the get go, or else pay a heavy price as many of these ships head back to the docks en mass for essential fixes and upgrades.
"whereas the US has been in harm's way (i.e. combat conditions) for the last 20+ years."
Surrendering to Iranians? That kind of combat experience?
On the other hand air departments on carriers have plenty of actual experience.
After the loss of the USS Bon Homme Richard makes you wonder if Reftra or firefighting school is very good in the last 15 years. Carrier ops are very different when people fire back.
If this story is accurate, Id say they can afford lots of lost ships regardless, and with a few hundred million potential sailors they are probably going to survive.
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