Celestial as the "mistress of the seas." China challenges the US Navy
Battle over the ocean
The world's oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the earth’s surface: control of it is sometimes as important as controlling land. It should be added here that active economic growth in Asia has made the South China Sea one of the most important (in terms of trade) region of the Earth. The interests of the United States and China, however, are not limited to this. The Middle Kingdom, for example, has put African countries on a credit game and now really wants to fully control (as much as possible at all) the black mainland. Of course, all this requires not only money, but also powerful naval forces. The second is impossible without the first.
So far, the Russian fleet firmly holds the second place in terms of aggregate potential among all naval forces. But this is achieved mainly due to the marine component of the nuclear triad. There are strategic submarines of the project 667BDRM “Dolphin”, which are gradually becoming obsolete: they are replaced by fourth-generation submarines of the 955 “Borey” project, equipped with the Bulava, which, by the way, has recently been put into service. The Russian fleet is developing, but this is incomparable with the strengthening of the Chinese Navy. Suffice it to say that the Chinese already had two aircraft carriers at their disposal (although the second is still being tested).
The main thing - aircraft carriers
There is no point in discussing the role of aircraft carriers in modern naval warfare. Tactical potential fleet, in fact, being built around them, as well as universal landing ships. It is enough to recall the distant World War II, and specifically the Pacific theater of operations. And the role played by the aircraft carriers of Japan and the United States. Today, their significance has only grown. Frigates and destroyers, even the most advanced, will perform, in a major (but not nuclear) war, rather protective functions. Without air cover, they are still very convenient targets for the enemy aviation.
The Chinese understand this perfectly well, although, again, they do not forget to build destroyers and frigates with a new guided missile weapons. Here it is important to focus on one thing: do not underestimate and do not overestimate the Chinese fleet. The aircraft carrier "Liaoning" - the most vivid confirmation of this. This is one of the few large non-US aircraft carriers and in combination one of the most controversial ships in general. As is known, it was built on the basis of the 1143.6 project bought out by China of the Soviet Varyag. Frankly, the entire family of ships of the 1143 project has always been criticized. The built aircraft carriers did not have launch catapults and carried relatively few aircraft. The new aircraft carrier, the Shandong project of the 001A, is already a purely Chinese development, but in fact it has become a development of the Varyag (or Admiral Kuznetsov, if it is more convenient). With all its pros and cons.
The main thing: in both cases, the Chinese chose not the best way, having made the J-15 fighter, a copy of the Soviet Su-33, the basis of the air group. This is a fairly large aircraft, even against the background of its “land” counterparts. Why not purchased in Russia, the MiG-29K, is unclear. The Chinese newspaper South China Morning Post recently reported that the Celestial Empire is developing a new carrier-based fighter in exchange for J-15, which have proven themselves not to be the best after a number of problems. "Malfunctions in J-15 flight control systems led to at least four accidents, the death of one pilot and the serious injury of another," the publication notes. Recall that in April 2016, 29-year-old pilot Zhang Chao died after trying to save a car. The flight control system was out of service during a training landing on the deck. There is nothing surprising if such “childhood diseases” are visited by a fundamentally new technique. It is unpleasant when you have to struggle with them on the development of almost half a century ago. Frankly speaking, J-15 is morally obsolete even before its first flight, and replacing it is quite a sensible idea.
What exactly is another question. In the deck version of a very large and very strange from a purely conceptual side, J-20 is believed to be weak. A more plausible version of another Chinese five - the mysterious J-31 - seems to be the more likely choice. Attitude to him, in general, is also ambiguous. Earlier it was reported that the J-31 will have a Russian RD-93 engine - an export version of the RD-33, which received the MiG-29. Traction on afterburner - about 9000 kgf. RD-93 can not be called the engine of the fifth generation - it does not allow for supersonic flight on the cruise afterforce mode. That is, to begin with, the Chinese will need to create their own “super-engine”, and only then talk about the start of the production of J-31 and the possibility of the appearance of its deck version.
Actually, in April of this year, Chinese media reported that Chinese designers have already begun to develop the deck version of the J-31 fighter for an aircraft carrier equipped with an ejection system of take-off. There is only one option here - this is a promising aircraft carrier “Type 002”, which was laid recently. This is a kind of mega-avian carrier, conceptually more similar to the American Nimitz and Gerald Ford, rather than the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov. More than once it was reported that he should get a steam or electromagnetic catapult, although he would be inferior in its displacement to the American giants. Build a ship supposedly can 2021 year, but it seems unlikely. China has no experience in creating such ships.
Boats and rockets
The submarine fleet of China, about which we have already spoken, looks in general about the same as the surface one. There is a lot tied to the Soviet, now obsolete technologies. A series of strategic submarines of the 094 “Jin” project is even visually difficult to distinguish from the domestic 667BDR “Kalmar” and 667BDRM “Dolphin”. Each Chinese boat carries twelve Juylan-2 ballistic missiles. In the 2010 year, the Pentagon report claimed that the test of the "Julan-2" missile was unsuccessful. She failed the final test series, and therefore the experts did not undertake to name the launch of the 094 project boats with these missiles.
The most potentially serious component of China’s marine nuclear triad is the promising SSBN of the 096 Pr. Tang, each of which is rumored to carry 24 ballistic missiles. This is objectively more than any domestic submarine can take and is comparable (in quantitative terms, at least) with the American submarine Ohio. It must be assumed that American experts have already begun to worry about this, although so far their multipurpose submarines seem to be a very significant force on the way to the underwater domination of the PRC. To challenge the United States here, China will need to create something more serious than the 093 Shan multi-purpose boats. With this, as far as can be judged, the situation at the Celestial Empire is not yet important. The real counterbalance for Sivulfs and numerous Virginia is now seen only in Russian Ash trees, which are going to be built by seven units. But this is a topic for a separate discussion.
The world's oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the earth’s surface: control of it is sometimes as important as controlling land. It should be added here that active economic growth in Asia has made the South China Sea one of the most important (in terms of trade) region of the Earth. The interests of the United States and China, however, are not limited to this. The Middle Kingdom, for example, has put African countries on a credit game and now really wants to fully control (as much as possible at all) the black mainland. Of course, all this requires not only money, but also powerful naval forces. The second is impossible without the first.
So far, the Russian fleet firmly holds the second place in terms of aggregate potential among all naval forces. But this is achieved mainly due to the marine component of the nuclear triad. There are strategic submarines of the project 667BDRM “Dolphin”, which are gradually becoming obsolete: they are replaced by fourth-generation submarines of the 955 “Borey” project, equipped with the Bulava, which, by the way, has recently been put into service. The Russian fleet is developing, but this is incomparable with the strengthening of the Chinese Navy. Suffice it to say that the Chinese already had two aircraft carriers at their disposal (although the second is still being tested).
The main thing - aircraft carriers
There is no point in discussing the role of aircraft carriers in modern naval warfare. Tactical potential fleet, in fact, being built around them, as well as universal landing ships. It is enough to recall the distant World War II, and specifically the Pacific theater of operations. And the role played by the aircraft carriers of Japan and the United States. Today, their significance has only grown. Frigates and destroyers, even the most advanced, will perform, in a major (but not nuclear) war, rather protective functions. Without air cover, they are still very convenient targets for the enemy aviation.
The Chinese understand this perfectly well, although, again, they do not forget to build destroyers and frigates with a new guided missile weapons. Here it is important to focus on one thing: do not underestimate and do not overestimate the Chinese fleet. The aircraft carrier "Liaoning" - the most vivid confirmation of this. This is one of the few large non-US aircraft carriers and in combination one of the most controversial ships in general. As is known, it was built on the basis of the 1143.6 project bought out by China of the Soviet Varyag. Frankly, the entire family of ships of the 1143 project has always been criticized. The built aircraft carriers did not have launch catapults and carried relatively few aircraft. The new aircraft carrier, the Shandong project of the 001A, is already a purely Chinese development, but in fact it has become a development of the Varyag (or Admiral Kuznetsov, if it is more convenient). With all its pros and cons.
The main thing: in both cases, the Chinese chose not the best way, having made the J-15 fighter, a copy of the Soviet Su-33, the basis of the air group. This is a fairly large aircraft, even against the background of its “land” counterparts. Why not purchased in Russia, the MiG-29K, is unclear. The Chinese newspaper South China Morning Post recently reported that the Celestial Empire is developing a new carrier-based fighter in exchange for J-15, which have proven themselves not to be the best after a number of problems. "Malfunctions in J-15 flight control systems led to at least four accidents, the death of one pilot and the serious injury of another," the publication notes. Recall that in April 2016, 29-year-old pilot Zhang Chao died after trying to save a car. The flight control system was out of service during a training landing on the deck. There is nothing surprising if such “childhood diseases” are visited by a fundamentally new technique. It is unpleasant when you have to struggle with them on the development of almost half a century ago. Frankly speaking, J-15 is morally obsolete even before its first flight, and replacing it is quite a sensible idea.
What exactly is another question. In the deck version of a very large and very strange from a purely conceptual side, J-20 is believed to be weak. A more plausible version of another Chinese five - the mysterious J-31 - seems to be the more likely choice. Attitude to him, in general, is also ambiguous. Earlier it was reported that the J-31 will have a Russian RD-93 engine - an export version of the RD-33, which received the MiG-29. Traction on afterburner - about 9000 kgf. RD-93 can not be called the engine of the fifth generation - it does not allow for supersonic flight on the cruise afterforce mode. That is, to begin with, the Chinese will need to create their own “super-engine”, and only then talk about the start of the production of J-31 and the possibility of the appearance of its deck version.
Actually, in April of this year, Chinese media reported that Chinese designers have already begun to develop the deck version of the J-31 fighter for an aircraft carrier equipped with an ejection system of take-off. There is only one option here - this is a promising aircraft carrier “Type 002”, which was laid recently. This is a kind of mega-avian carrier, conceptually more similar to the American Nimitz and Gerald Ford, rather than the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov. More than once it was reported that he should get a steam or electromagnetic catapult, although he would be inferior in its displacement to the American giants. Build a ship supposedly can 2021 year, but it seems unlikely. China has no experience in creating such ships.
Boats and rockets
The submarine fleet of China, about which we have already spoken, looks in general about the same as the surface one. There is a lot tied to the Soviet, now obsolete technologies. A series of strategic submarines of the 094 “Jin” project is even visually difficult to distinguish from the domestic 667BDR “Kalmar” and 667BDRM “Dolphin”. Each Chinese boat carries twelve Juylan-2 ballistic missiles. In the 2010 year, the Pentagon report claimed that the test of the "Julan-2" missile was unsuccessful. She failed the final test series, and therefore the experts did not undertake to name the launch of the 094 project boats with these missiles.
The most potentially serious component of China’s marine nuclear triad is the promising SSBN of the 096 Pr. Tang, each of which is rumored to carry 24 ballistic missiles. This is objectively more than any domestic submarine can take and is comparable (in quantitative terms, at least) with the American submarine Ohio. It must be assumed that American experts have already begun to worry about this, although so far their multipurpose submarines seem to be a very significant force on the way to the underwater domination of the PRC. To challenge the United States here, China will need to create something more serious than the 093 Shan multi-purpose boats. With this, as far as can be judged, the situation at the Celestial Empire is not yet important. The real counterbalance for Sivulfs and numerous Virginia is now seen only in Russian Ash trees, which are going to be built by seven units. But this is a topic for a separate discussion.
Information