Source: Chinese Bugle
Since the beginning of this year, the “appearance rate” of the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group has been very high, and the “shadow” of the U.S. aircraft carrier is often seen in many parts of the world. Not long ago, South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a joint military exercise in the high seas of the eastern Korean peninsula, and the US Navy dispatched the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Of course, it is not just the US Navy that often runs out to “show off its muscles”. The United Kingdom, France and other countries have also vigorously strengthened the construction of their naval power in recent years, and have demonstrated their “navy strength” in various forms. It can be said that the competition of military power among countries in the world today depends to a certain extent on whether the sea power is strong. It has gradually become a consensus that a strong country needs to build a modern navy.
So, where is the direction of the development of the world’s naval construction in the future, and what are the key points? Please pay attention to the “National Defense Time and Space”-South Military Forum.
Data map: Chinese aircraft carrier formation sailing at sea (Source: PLA Daily)
Zhou Yuting:
There is a saying in the military field that it takes 30 years to build a strong army, 50 years to build a strong air force, and 100 years to build a strong navy. Among the three major military services, the navy is recognized as the most expensive and most difficult service to build. So, what kind of navy is a strong navy? Some netizens commented that the aircraft carrier battle group is currently the most capable offensive and defensive naval fleet in the world, and the aircraft carrier is an important symbol of the navy of a major country; some commented that the future will be the era of unmanned navy. Professor Yinan, with regard to the construction and development of the navy in the future, what are you most concerned about?
Jin Yinan: For the Navy, combat power in the traditional sense is surface power. Most people judge whether a country’s navy is strong or not. First, they look at the tonnage of the country’s navy, especially whether it has a behemoth on the water – an aircraft carrier. The reason why the aircraft carrier is so eye-catching and has become the focus of the world’s most attention is because the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier can not only fight against the air, but also attack the land and the sea. Since World War II, the United States has relied on aircraft carrier formations to cruise around the world and dominate the world.
But people often overlook a phenomenon, that is, only seeing that the U.S. military has the most powerful surface force in the world, but ignoring that the U.S. military also has the largest submarine force in the world. Today, submarines have posed a great threat to all surface power, even air power. It can be said that submarines will play a vital role in future naval warfare. At present, air power can attack surface ships, ballistic missiles can also attack surface power, and coastal defense forces also pose a great threat to surface power, but these weapons, equipment and forces pose a great threat to submarines. Small. Therefore, in future naval battles, submarines will definitely take on more important tasks. However, many people tend to ignore this point.
Data map: The US “Ohio” class cruise missile submarine “Georgia” (Source: The Paper)
Zhou Yuting:
That’s right, at the beginning of this year, the U.S. “Ohio”-class strategic nuclear submarine carrying 20 “Trident” ballistic missiles and dozens of nuclear warheads made a rare appearance at the Guam Naval Base, arousing widespread public attention. In the “Trinity” nuclear strike force, the nuclear submarine is considered to be the most survivable nuclear strike weapon. If a nuclear war breaks out in the future, nuclear submarines have the highest survival rate. It can be seen that the status of submarines in future wars cannot be underestimated.
Jin Yinan: That’s right. The United States currently has 68 active submarines, of which 18 are “Ohio”-class strategic nuclear submarines, and each “Ohio”-class strategic nuclear submarine can be equipped with 24 submarine-launched missiles. According to some statistics, the number of nuclear missiles carried by these 18 “Ohio”-class strategic nuclear submarines alone has exceeded the total number of nuclear bombs possessed by the United Kingdom and France, not to mention the land-based and air-based nuclear forces of the United States. Therefore, the nuclear attack capability of the US military is very strong.
In addition to 18 “Ohio”-class strategic nuclear submarines, the U.S. military also has a large number of attack nuclear submarines. Although the United States’ attack nuclear submarines are not equipped with strategic nuclear missiles, their combat capabilities are also very strong. Among the 50 attack nuclear submarines currently in service in the U.S. military, the three with the strongest combat capability are the “Sea Wolf”-class attack nuclear submarines. We all know that in October last year, the USS Connecticut nuclear submarine hit a mountain on the seabed of the South China Sea and was finally forced to float back to Guam, and finally returned to Hawaii for repairs. The “Connecticut” nuclear submarine that hit the mountain on the seabed is one of the three “Seawolf” class nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States.
Speaking of which, it is very dangerous for us to deploy the “Sea Wolf”-class nuclear-powered attack submarine to the South my country Sea. The “Sea Wolf”-class nuclear-powered attack submarine can dive to a depth of 600 meters. At such a depth, not to mention the attack capability is difficult to achieve, even the detection capability is difficult to achieve, so the underwater attack capability of the United States must arouse our attention.
Zhou Yuting:
The United States not only has strong surface and underwater forces, but also continues to strengthen the construction of anti-submarine capabilities. Not long ago, the warships of the United States, South Korea and Japan conducted an anti-submarine joint exercise in the high seas of the Sea of Japan. The joint military exercise with the theme of anti-submarine was held again. Not only that, according to Kyodo News, the U.S. military deployed eight U.S. MQ-9 Reaper UAVs at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base in Kare Island, Japan on October 23. Some commentators believe that this drone is mainly used for maritime patrols, and it may carry anti-submarine equipment including sonar buoys in the future, which will pose a certain threat to my country’s marine security. Professor Yinan, what do you think the anti-submarine joint exercises and military deployments of the United States and its allies have taught us?
Jin Yinan: In recent years, the strength of China’s surface ships has been enhanced, the capability of China’s naval aviation, especially the support capability of surface ships, has been enhanced for all to see. We must maintain the safety of the fleet, the safety of the waterway, and the safety of the port. We must not only guard against threats on the surface, guard against air threats, but also guard against underwater threats. This involves the construction of digital oceans, the deployment of underwater acoustic sensors, and the deployment of underwater sonar. Because underwater sonar can effectively protect underwater safety. For example, when a submarine from another country comes, the fixed underwater sonar can quickly detect its whereabouts and send a signal to the shore base, so that people can grasp its whereabouts. In addition, it is necessary to improve the floating and mobile anti-submarine capabilities, including the anti-submarine capabilities of warships, the anti-submarine capabilities of the air, especially the anti-submarine capabilities of ships and submarines.
Judging from the existing anti-submarine capacity, the most effective way is air anti-submarine. The American P-3C is a typical anti-submarine patrol aircraft. According to reports, there are currently 120 fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft equipped on the coast of Japan, of which there are 100 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, and this is not counting the ship-based helicopter anti-submarine aircraft. In general, Japan’s anti-submarine potential is very strong, and this is also the task that the Americans handed over to the Japanese. Japan has to undertake anti-submarine and mine-sweeping work for the United States, so the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has strong mine-sweeping and anti-submarine capabilities. .
I personally think that at present, if we want to maintain the country’s maritime security, the task of anti-submarine is still relatively heavy, and the ability in this area needs to be strengthened. The general idea can be to use anti-submarine patrol aircraft for anti-submarine first. Using patrol aircraft for anti-submarine, the search range is relatively large, the anti-submarine distance is relatively long, the speed is relatively fast, and the anti-submarine effect is also relatively good. After a large area of anti-submarine is carried out in the air, ship cruise and submarine cruise are used to conduct more detailed underwater searches. At the same time, with fixed hydroacoustic buoy sensors and underwater fixed sonar sensors, mobile detection and fixed detection are combined to conduct large-scale search. Combined with a small-scale search, it can really effectively protect against threats from underwater. Only in this way can a three-dimensional navy and a three-dimensional coastal defense be formed, that is to say, safe and effective defense can be formed from the air, on the surface and underwater. Only in this way can we truly and effectively defend our own maritime security.
(Produced by Chinese Bugle)