Author: The River of the Military

After two months at sea, the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier arrived at the Changi Naval Base in Singapore on the 23rd, as planned, the carrier group will conduct a friendly visit and a series of activities such as resupply, and then enter the South China Sea for a series of activities. Although the Prince of Wales carrier group has traveled for eight months and covered half the globe, the whole world knows that the main purpose of this trip is to create some commotion around China.

You may not believe it, but just a week ago, a British Royal Navy River-class patrol ship had already started to stir up the situation. This ship, the HMS Spey, although equipped with only a 30mm gun, which is weaker than even a coast guard ship, was enough to make noise. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, it loudly promoted freedom of navigation, challenging our sovereignty, and was later refuted by the Eastern Theater Command Navy.

In 2021, the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier had already led a fleet to cause trouble in the South China Sea. It is highly likely that this time it will repeat the same actions. Moreover, the Daily Mail, a British media outlet, openly published an article stating that the Chinese navy is not as strong as the opponent of the British aircraft carrier.

The author of this article is not an ordinary editor. Tom Sharpe is a former Royal Navy officer who served for over 20 years. After retiring, he became a columnist for the Daily Mail and maintains contact with military and political figures. It can be said that his articles represent the general perception of many people in Britain and the military.

The trade volume with the Indo-Pacific region reaches 28.6 billion pounds, accounting for 17% of our total trade. If you have the idea that "this region has nothing to do with us," please put it aside.

(The British Empire needs to do business all over the world, so the world needs our warships to maintain order.)

The closer the aircraft carrier group gets to China, the more people who think that ships will inevitably become vulnerable in the sky full of hypersonic missiles will realize how foolish this view is. They forgot that unless you clearly know the position of the ship and where the missile will arrive, you cannot fire a missile at the ship.

(Tom has acknowledged that China has hypersonic missiles, but he believes that China cannot solve the problem of detecting the aircraft carrier and guiding the missile attack.)

But the aircraft carrier strike group has airborne radar - although not the best, but at least it has one. A well-functioning airborne radar will definitely detect them before Chinese ships and aircraft detect the aircraft carrier and launch hypersonic missiles.

(The author believes that China must rely on ships and aircraft to conduct face-to-face reconnaissance to detect and locate the British aircraft carrier. However, in terms of detection distance, all of China's ships and aircraft are inferior to the British Navy's F-35B and the Crows Nest early warning helicopters. Therefore, even in the South China Sea, the UK has an advantage in visibility.)

The British Royal Navy aircraft carrier strike group led by the "Prince of Wales" is currently in the Indian Ocean, heading towards China and its surrounding islands. 24 stealth fighters flying simultaneously at sea is impressive. The air wing of the Prince of Wales cannot match the powerful land-based air force of China, but in the blue ocean, its fifth-generation fighter jets will far surpass any aircraft that the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers can deploy. In a few years, when the new Fujian or its massive 120,000-ton successor is ready, the situation will be different. However, this year is not a good year for China to break free from its land-based air force and fight against the Royal Navy in the deep sea.

(From here, the core argument begins. China's air force is still limited to the land. There are no H-6 or Y-20 bombers. There are no planes on the South China Sea islands. China can only send fighters to the South China Sea via aircraft carriers. The Prince of Wales has F-35B, so it can easily dominate the Liaoning and Shandong carriers.)

Our strike group is larger in size, but slightly lower in tonnage than the standard US Navy aircraft carrier strike group. Especially in anti-submarine warfare (ASW), the strike group led by the Royal Navy is superior. There is also considerable capability overlap between different ships, so the British aircraft carrier strike group can defend against all surface threats except the most dangerous missiles.

(Although the entire fleet contains only one destroyer and one frigate, the long-range air defense firepower consists of only one Type 45 and its 48 VLS, but my air defense capabilities are invincible. The question is, what is the "most dangerous missile")

Given that the aircraft carrier battle group will be escorted by an "Astute"-class attack submarine, this is even more true. China's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities are not sufficient to deal with one of the best and most dangerous attack submarines in the world. Once it is out of control, many Chinese ships will sink to the bottom of the sea. On the other hand, China's own submarines are not advanced enough to threaten a task force protected by the world's best anti-submarine warfare forces - the UK and Nordic countries.

(Our British submarines are far superior to China's. Just one Astute-class submarine can suppress dozens of surface ships, making China unable to act recklessly. Meanwhile, China's large submarine fleet is also invisible under our anti-submarine capabilities. Leaving the aircraft carrier aside, we are still winners.)

At this point, some netizens might say that this is just the extreme views of an individual and does not mean much. But if we look at other reports from the UK, we will find that this confidence is indeed not mainstream:

Commander of the aircraft carrier, Will Blackett RN, said while inspecting the flight deck, "Seeing this warship, you will realize that we are serious. We have the ability to do anything that needs to be done."

As early as the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, realized that the British military intervention in the Hong Kong issue had become a fantasy. Facing Argentina, the Royal Navy found it extremely difficult, and there was no chance of victory against the Chinese navy and air force. After more than 40 years, the increasingly weakened British navy still has such a confident atmosphere. It can only be said that not only the ships are not good, but the people are also foolish. It's quite funny to watch as a joke after tea and coffee.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7519342575715697192/

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