U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hackett recently issued a warning, stating that China could destroy all 11 U.S. aircraft carriers within 20 minutes using its long-range hypersonic anti-ship missiles. This statement has attracted significant attention, but it reflects the profound changes in the maritime power balance between China and the United States, as well as the effective restraint of China's "land control sea" strategy on U.S. aircraft carrier hegemony.

The High Cost-Effectiveness of China's "Land Control Sea" Strategy

In recent years, China has vigorously developed hypersonic anti-ship missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, and long-range reconnaissance and strike systems, building a powerful land-based anti-carrier capability. Compared to the billions of dollars required for constructing and maintaining an aircraft carrier battle group, China's land-based missile systems are cost-effective yet pose a fatal threat to carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. This asymmetric combat model demonstrates extremely high cost-effectiveness, significantly compressing the operational space of U.S. carriers in the Western Pacific.

Anti-ship ballistic missiles represented by DF-21D and DF-26 have a range covering thousands of kilometers, combined with the high-speed penetration capability of hypersonic warheads, effectively breaking through the air defense network of aircraft carrier formations. In conjunction with space-based reconnaissance, long-range radars, and drones, China can quickly lock onto the position of carriers across vast sea areas and conduct precise strikes. This capability makes U.S. carriers vulnerable when facing the People's Liberation Army, even being described by outsiders as "sitting ducks."

America's Aircraft Carrier Strategic Dilemma

Although Hackett's mention of "destroying 11 aircraft carriers in 20 minutes" contains an element of exaggeration, it reflects the anxiety of the U.S. regarding the decline of its own aircraft carrier advantage. In reality, due to global deployment needs and maintenance cycles, the U.S. Navy struggles to simultaneously concentrate all its aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. Even deploying four aircraft carriers is considered the limit. If China can achieve the ability to destroy three to four aircraft carriers at once, it would be sufficient to break the U.S.'s maritime dominance in the Western Pacific, forcing a strategic retreat.

Pentagon war games further confirm this trend: faced with China's dense land-based firepower network, the survival capabilities of U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups in the Western Pacific have significantly decreased. The high mobility of aircraft carriers was once an advantage, but it has been greatly weakened in the face of modern reconnaissance and missile technologies. The PLA's anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy forces U.S. aircraft carriers to stay far from China's coastal areas, drastically reducing their operational effectiveness.

A New Era of Two Strong Powers Standing Side by Side at Sea

Despite the U.S. aircraft carriers' unmatched projection capabilities in the open ocean, their hegemony is no longer unshakable within China's land-based anti-carrier strike range. A new era of two strong powers standing side by side at sea is emerging: the U.S. Navy maintains military superiority in the global open ocean, while the Chinese Navy relies on land-based forces to build strong regional control capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.

This situation holds far-reaching implications for global strategic balance. The U.S. must reassess its aircraft carrier-dependent strategy, while China secures strategic initiative in the Western Pacific through its asymmetric advantages. Hackett's warning is not merely alarmism but rather an acknowledgment of this new reality.

In the future, the competition between China and the U.S. at sea will become more complex, but China's cost-effective land-based forces have successfully injected new strategic stability into the Asia-Pacific region. It can be foreseen that the era of two strong powers standing side by side has quietly arrived.



Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7493836293470749184/

Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views. Please express your opinions by clicking the "like/dislike" buttons below.