"Science to win" of the third millennium
Great underwater wall of China
About the fact that China is building the Great Underwater Wall, and about the aggravation of relations between China, Taiwan and the United States, we already wrote in 2018 and even in 2011 (Great Underwater Wall). Now the situation is getting worse. This summer, Chinese submarines flooded the waters of the South China Sea, which naturally causes concern in Taiwan and the United States.
US intelligence recently released information about China's large-scale investment in the development of underwater fleet, means of detecting enemy submarines and barriers against them. Moreover, with this in mind, the structure of the country's military command is being reorganized.
In 2030, China's submarine fleet should have 76 units, compared to the current figure of 66. Of the active submarines, there are 6 nuclear-powered with ballistic missiles, and the same number of strike nuclear submarines. The number of Type-039 Chinese missile submarines that are barely visible to detection systems outside of China is unknown.
The rest appear to be diesel. The advanced generation of boats Type-039 can be used for blockade. Who is China going to blockade? Apparently, the ports of Taiwan. Accept it as a fact - China has long overtaken the United States in terms of the size of the fleet.
The PRC Navy today is 742 warships against the American 460. Against the background of the deployment of bases on the islands of the South China Sea, such militarization is becoming a nightmare not only for Taiwan, but also for the United States, which also has its own interests there (and not only related with Taiwan).
And this despite the fact that Washington has always pursued certain rather aggressive interests in the region, but its military policy has been relatively stable. Almost the only exception, of course, was the long-term war in Vietnam.
China can use its advantage at any moment. Its fast-growing economy makes it possible for it to maintain control over Taiwan in the event of its takeover by force. However, whether there will be an end to the existence of the “two Chinas” is a separate conversation. But the technologies used by the sides of the confrontation are now the most interesting.
In general, with the superiority of China in the number of ships, the United States has the opportunity to win the conflict and maintain control over the region, since Chinese sailors, unlike American ones, do not have experience in real combat operations. But China's increase in the use of high technology in the fleet, especially submarines, is incomparable with the United States, not to mention Taiwan, in terms of scale. Taiwan generally has only four submarines.
Unidentified flying but underwater object
The United States began to think about the Chinese advantage in October 2021, when, during an international exercise in the South China Sea, one of the most modern and secret American nuclear submarines collided with an unknown obstacle, as a result of which 11 members of its crew were injured. The US Navy was quick to say that the submarine ran into some kind of underwater rock, which was caused by a human factor.
This was said even before the publication of the results of the investigation. In the Chinese Ministry of Defense, they hinted that there was nothing to approach their territorial waters, otherwise it would be worse. However, given the area where the incident occurred, which is part of the Great Underwater Wall zone, the boat could have run into a Chinese hydroacoustic station.
But everything was yet to come. The real hype was made by the information that quantum technologies have come into play. In late 2021 and early 2022, China's arsenal of hydroacoustics, designed to detect enemy submarines, was replenished with a quantum system, which can also be used to improve missile guidance and increase strike accuracy.
American submarines and some NATO submarines move with noise only five decibels higher than the noise of the sea, which allowed Swedish submariners to destroy American acoustic detection systems during the exercises. However, quantum devices are much more sensitive.
The NATO countries and Russia do not have such installations, research was conducted, in particular, in Australia, but the first prototypes appeared precisely in China. First of all, quantum devices are designed to detect the magnetic field emanating from a submarine.
Any medicine has side effects, and sometimes they are unexpectedly positive. The Chinese “submarine cure” is no exception. Scientists have found that quantum technology can be applied to the very same submarines. When navigating, modern submarines are guided by satellite data, which allows the enemy to jam these satellites.
Quantum technology, on the other hand, allows a submarine to navigate independently, without being tied to a satellite. Similarly, Chinese technology can be used to guide missiles. Quantum sensors can be placed not only on stationary devices on the seabed, where they are vulnerable to the enemy, but also on satellites. How to jam such satellites, American scientists have not yet figured out. China is also going to use quantum entanglement to encrypt communications with submarines.
"Earth-to-air", "air-to-air" and, finally, "water-to-air"
Naturally, Chinese quantum developments will give an incentive to Australian scientists to force the practical, rather than theoretical, creation of prototypes of such devices. However, recent events show that in its militarization of the South China Sea, the Celestial Empire is ahead of NATO in science-intensive technologies, not only in the field of quantum entanglement.
In August, the East China University of Science and Technology announced the creation of an unmanned submarine capable of rising from the surface of the sea into the air. Flight drone will be carried out at a speed of about 120 km / h. The only problem is that the drone cannot rise out of the water in case of strong waves.
Now developments are being carried out in the direction of creating a sliding mechanism before taking off on an air cushion on the surface of the sea, even during a storm. When submerged, such boats do not allow them to be detected by radars on enemy ships, and when taking off, by sonar. This allows computers on American ships to be overloaded to the point that they freeze.
In October of this year, China officially announced the start of the development of a project for a new two-medium weapon, a torpedo missile that can hit targets both under water and from the air, and, unlike a drone, will move at supersonic speed through the air.
Similar developments were already underway in the USA, the USSR and then in Russia, but they involved launching from a ship and landing with a parachute. The revolutionary nature of the Chinese idea is that a jet engine will be used in the torpedo rocket, which will increase speed compared to Russian and American counterparts.
Against this background, photos from American satellites showing the degree of militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea no longer surprise anyone. They were published in November of this year, and China has been building these islands since 2013, and it was easy to guess for what purpose: to confirm their territorial claims to the sea area. In November, it emerged that China was continuing to build airfields and fixed anti-submarine facilities on the islands.
Obviously, if a war really breaks out in the South China Sea, then it will be waged by China with the help of the creation of new engineering structures and high technologies. Despite the fact that China is overpopulated, and its army is the largest in the world, the Chinese protect their fighters, emphasizing technological development.
At the same time, the US is not averse to risking human resources, as previous wars have shown. In this they do not differ from Russia or Ukraine. By and large, Russia's special operation in Ukraine is conducted by old-fashioned methods compared to a possible conflict in Southeast Asia, for which China is preparing.
- Mikhail Vikentiev, Alexey Baliev
- hi-news.ru, yaustal.com, floornature.com, topwar.ru
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