For a long time, chip manufacturing has been regarded as China's "last piece of short board" by the outside world. At present, China has not yet fully achieved comprehensive self-reliance in extreme ultraviolet light technology, and related principle prototypes are only at the laboratory level.

▲Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography Machine

However, one thing that caught everyone off guard was that China adopted an extremely rare "root thinking" approach to solve such problems: since high-end process chips cannot be manufactured in the short term, then focus on improving semiconductor materials.

Under the influence of this unique mindset, China not only achieved significant scientific research results in the field of semiconductor materials but also successfully applied them to its advanced equipment, becoming a "combat multiplier" for the People's Liberation Army, which also means regaining what is known as a "generation gap" advantage over Western countries.

▲Silicon Carbide

As the saying goes, there's no need to fear thieves if they don't steal, but beware if they do. Naturally, this major achievement of China has caught the attention of Indian media. But surprisingly, this time India did not display their much-praised "Balarat Winning Strategy," instead giving high praise to China's breakthroughs.

01. Indian Media Highly Commends China's Semiconductor Breakthrough

It is reported that the renowned Indian media, The Eurasia Times, published a report in mid-June, focusing on China's achievements in the semiconductor field. In the title alone, Indian media emphasized that the combat capability of China's J-20 fighter jets increased threefold due to silicon carbide technology!

▲Active electronically scanned array radar equipped on F-35

Moreover, it can make the current US F-35 and F-22 fighters invisible! It is reported that silicon carbide is a new semiconductor material with extremely high hardness, and is very suitable for "high-power devices" working at temperatures far higher than conventional semiconductors. While saving power consumption, it can withstand more than ten times the overload voltage of traditional silicon-based semiconductors and still operate normally at temperatures above 600 degrees Celsius.

▲The capabilities of the J-20 are still improving

In his comment, former Indian Air Force pilot Takur wrote that the relevant technology has been applied to the active electronically scanned array radar on the J-20 stealth fighter jet. This means that the detection range of the Chinese military aircraft will see a major breakthrough. As for the exact improvement, the Hong Kong media South China Morning Post believes that this technology will double the detection range of the J-20. The Shandong University that developed this technology clearly stated in its social media post that the radar detection range could triple.

02. What does this technology mean for China's air force?

From the perspective of modern aerial warfare, the core determinant of victory between peer-generation stealth fighters often lies in situational awareness capabilities. From the traditional aerial warfare theory, early warning aircraft, ground stations, and space-based satellites all constitute part of the situational awareness system. Whichever side has a stronger system gains the upper hand first. The air battle that occurred on May 7th between India and Pakistan corroborated this objective reality.

▲Next-generation European air combat system

On the other hand, China's main adversaries are not "lame" countries like India but powerful opponents with large numbers of stealth fighters. Especially after the deployment of various new weapons such as ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles, hypersonic surface-to-surface strike missiles, and air-launched anti-satellite missiles, the survival capabilities of important strategic assets like early warning aircraft have become increasingly low. This has led to a new phenomenon.

The fifth-generation fighters that were once decisive in determining victory often find it difficult to enter the battlefield in an "idealized" state. This is why sixth-generation fighters emphasize the "penetrating air dominance" theory, aiming to endow single airborne platforms with strong decision-making, reconnaissance, and strike "closed-loop" capabilities.

▲The striking effectiveness of ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles is extremely high

Now, with the J-20 equipped with a radar that has higher power and longer detection range, it means tactical-level "enemy discovery before us" and "enemy engagement before us" can be achieved. The traditional concept of "close-range aerial combat principles for fifth-generation fighters" no longer exists. The technical and tactical advantages of the US Air Force within the first and second island chains have further diminished.

03. What does this reflect about a new reality?

From a higher level, the competition in military semiconductors is also a significant reflection of the Sino-US rivalry. In the past, it was generally believed that the United States led globally in radar, electronic warfare, missiles, and other fields because of its continued investment in the semiconductor sector. Companies like IBM, AMD, and Intel ultimately contributed their results to military production, forming a virtuous cycle that guaranteed the U.S.'s absolute technological advantage in military power.

▲US artillery factory

However, now, as the overall decline of American power and the negative impact of deindustrialization, the U.S. has had to rely on global supply chains for the development of new equipment. This directly led to a significant reduction in U.S. scientific research investments, making it impossible to achieve the "diversity" of the Cold War era, and even leaving it quite passive in dealing with China. For example, the AIM-174B missile newly equipped by the U.S. forces was directly improved based on the SM6 missile to counter the PLAAF's PL-17, but the resulting significant negative effect was that the procurement cost of this missile was extremely high.

This is also the case in the semiconductor industry. Although the U.S. might design excellent graphics cards, it cannot integrate a cost-effective anti-stealth radar using existing technologies. The recently canceled E7 AWACS aircraft, which was equipped with the MESA multi-mission radar, had a detection range of only 390 kilometers, which was even lower than the range of most ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles.

▲E7 AWACS Aircraft

All these prove that the decline in the U.S.'s research capabilities has reached a shocking level.

Furthermore, the U.S. also heavily relies on China's rare earth resources for its military production capacity, leading to both the quality and quantity of its weapon systems falling behind, making it unable to withstand a hard confrontation with China in the Asia-Pacific region.

In fact, the problems currently faced by the U.S., even when President Eisenhower won World War II, warned his successors to be wary of the growing U.S. military-industrial complex. Clearly, these warnings fell on deaf ears, eventually leaving the U.S. in an embarrassing situation where it spends a lot of money but cannot accomplish even minor tasks.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7518979020302746147/

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