Recently, American media published an article stating that China, with 370 warships, has built the world's strongest navy without relying on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The reason why the American media made such a judgment is because China has developed a new naval warfare model.
After World War II, the US military maintained global hegemony through aircraft carrier battle groups
Before World War II, battleships were undeniably the masters of the sea. This was a large, armored, steam-powered ship propelled by propellers, with a displacement of 8,000-9,000 tons and 6,000-8,000 horsepower, equipped with rotating turrets, 4 to 6 heavy guns, and a ram at the bow below the waterline for colliding with enemy ships.
Etymologically, "battleship" (Ship of the line) originally referred to a large warship that executed the line of battle tactic by firing broadside guns.
In the age of sail before ironclad battleships, larger warships were not as maneuverable as smaller ships and could not exert their power effectively due to their difficulty in handling and turning.
At this time, to gain an advantage on the battlefield, it was necessary to train unified tactics to overcome the shortcomings of individual warships. Large warships would typically form a single line ahead, occupying the upwind position, and once the enemy ships entered the range of their guns, they would continue moving parallel to the enemy while firing broadside guns until the opponent was destroyed.
The sailing warships built to execute the line of battle tactic, which had powerful broadside firepower installed on multiple decks, were called "battleships."
The existence of ironclad battleships brought the ocean into the steel age. Especially after Britain invented the "Dreadnought," it dominated the design standards of battleships, just like the American aircraft carrier. The Dreadnought was equipped with 10 12-inch main guns, ensuring uniform long-range firepower output, and abandoned the design of medium-caliber guns from the pre-Dreadnought era, as these medium-caliber guns occupied space that could have been used for large-caliber main guns, significantly reducing the firepower during long-range shooting.
As a revolutionary warship, the Dreadnought achieved a qualitative leap in mobility and firepower. The "Dreadnought" became the first truly modern battleship. "Dreadnought" not only became the synonym for modern battleships, but also, since then, all countries around the world began to build "Dreadnoughts." According to statistics, there were as many as 150 worldwide.
After World War II, the global naval power structure underwent a complete transformation. The era of battleships came to an end, and aircraft carriers officially established their core status as the dominant force at sea.
Aircraft carriers did not have thick armor, but they could replace battleships by using carrier-based aircraft. The cannons on battleships could only fire a few kilometers, while carrier-based aircraft could expand the combat range to hundreds of kilometers away. Battleships were sunk before even seeing the aircraft carriers.
Thanks to its unparalleled industrial strength and rich combat experience, the United States did not start from scratch, but deeply absorbed and learned from the innovations and lessons of British aircraft carriers in the war, and based on this, led the development of global aircraft carrier technology. (Excluding the Soviet Union.)
The "Forrestal"-class and later "Kitty Hawk"-class conventionally powered aircraft carriers, as well as the groundbreaking "Enterprise" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the "Nimitz"-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, had displacements several times that of British carriers. A larger hull meant stronger aircraft capacity, more sufficient aviation fuel and ammunition reserves, and better long-range sustained combat capabilities.
Especially the "Enterprise" aircraft carrier commissioned in 1961, which opened the nuclear age for aircraft carriers. Nuclear power gave the aircraft carrier almost unlimited range, eliminating the dependence of conventional-powered aircraft carriers on fuel supply, allowing them to sail at high speed for a long time and quickly deploy to any hot spot at sea, becoming the ultimate tool for the U.S. global strategy.
The United States developed the aircraft carrier into a carrier battle group, integrating air defense, anti-submarine, anti-ship, and land attack capabilities. The composition of the carrier air wing has become increasingly complex and perfect, including fighter jets, attack aircraft, early warning aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, and anti-submarine helicopters, making the aircraft carrier a powerful mobile military base at sea.
The U.S. Navy has always regarded the aircraft carrier and its formation as the core forces for implementing its global strategy. Before the 1990s, the United States took the aircraft carrier as the core platform for oceanic operations. In recent years, the United States has shifted to the "from the sea to the land" coastal strategy, changing the positioning of the aircraft carrier from the core platform for oceanic fleet confrontation to a base and platform for influencing land situations and conducting strikes on land and near-coastal areas.
In other words, the U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups rely on carrier-based aircraft to deliver firepower, the aircraft carrier is equipped only with self-defense weapon systems, but has a large number of information equipment, with strong communication and command capabilities inside and outside the formation. Other ships in the formation are organic components of the carrier's offensive and defensive capabilities, mainly responsible for air defense, anti-submarine, and land attack tasks, etc.
However, China has created a different model, that is, missile and carrier-based aircraft dual firepower.
China has Built a New Naval Warfare Model
Why does the aircraft carrier battle group still rely on carrier-based aircraft as the core combat force even though missile technology is becoming more and more advanced?
First, airplanes can fly over and circle above the target area for reconnaissance, identification, re-selecting targets, implementing precise strikes, and even air combat to seize air superiority. Once a missile is launched, it cannot be retrieved and can only strike preset targets, unable to respond to changing situations.
Second, a carrier air wing can continuously launch aircraft 24 hours a day, maintaining presence in the target area, forming continuous deterrence and strike pressure. After a missile salvo, it takes a long time to reload (reloading of vertical launch systems at sea is extremely difficult), resulting in a gap in firepower.
It can be said that carrier-based aircraft provide continuous, flexible, and wide-ranging strike capabilities, which are incomparable to one-time missiles.
However, when we fully connect all platforms and build a cross-platform information network, it is different. Especially, our military has developed several types of carrier-based hypersonic missiles, among which the YJ-19 can not only be carried by the 055 destroyers, 052D destroyers, and other main warships, but also can be applied to the 533mm torpedo tubes of the existing 093, 093A, 039, 039A/B/C submarines. Therefore, when we introduce it, we say it can be used for submarine-launched.
Even it can be deployed on the 054B frigates and large unmanned combat vessels. Our 054A and 054B still use 32-unit 650mm vertical launch devices, not adopting the larger diameter 850mm vertical launch system. The size of the YJ-19 is just suitable for the 054, 054B.
This means that the Chinese Navy will achieve a decisive advantage over the U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups in terms of long-range combat capabilities. Hypersonic missiles, with their extremely high flight speed, maneuverability, and low-altitude penetration characteristics, can effectively break through the current carrier-based air defense and anti-missile systems, thereby greatly enhancing our anti-ship operational range and damage effect.
Imagine, even a frigate like the 054B, after being equipped with such missiles, can have the capability to seriously damage or even sink an aircraft carrier. This not only greatly enhances the firepower density and sustained strike capability of the fleet, but also forms a saturation attack advantage in multiple directions, multiple batches, and high intensity at the tactical level.
It should be noted that among China's 370 warships, there are 60 guided missile destroyers, 50 054A-class destroyers, and more than 100 hypersonic firepower strike platforms, which are enough to cope with the U.S. military, which can only spare three or four aircraft carrier groups.
This is why the American media said that even without nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the Chinese Navy still has built one of the most formidable maritime combat forces in the world by building a hypersonic strike system. With the support of hypersonic weapons, "detect and hit, hit and destroy" is gradually becoming a reality, which poses unprecedented challenges to the survival capabilities of traditional large surface ships.
Additionally, the so-called "carrier-based aircraft and hypersonic missile dual-core" combat system further expands the tactical options and flexibility of the navy in high-intensity modern naval warfare. On one hand, carrier-based aircraft can go forward to carry out reconnaissance, electromagnetic suppression, and mid-range guidance tasks, providing key information support for hypersonic missiles to conduct beyond-visual-range strikes; on the other hand, the powerful penetration and termination capabilities of missiles can effectively reduce the risks of manned platforms penetrating, forming an organic complement of firepower and mobility. Depending on the battlefield situation—whether it's an oceanic showdown, regional denial, or control of critical routes, the Chinese Navy can flexibly allocate two core combat forces to achieve optimal combat effectiveness, thus gaining greater initiative in high-end confrontations.
China Still Needs Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers
Of course, although the American media said this, China still needs nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers do not need frequent refueling, effectively reducing the demand for logistics support and expanding the operational radius. Nuclear power plants can fully demonstrate their high speed and high maneuverability, and at the same time, enable the entire ship to be less dependent on large oil tankers.
The unlimited endurance and continuous high-speed advantages of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers allow them to be rapidly deployed to any part of the world. Considering factors such as endurance and combat capability, only large aircraft carriers and submarines are more suitable for using the costly nuclear power plant. During the process of long-range operations, the lower the dependence of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers on supply guarantees, the stronger their practicality; the practicality of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is far superior to that of conventional-powered aircraft carriers.
It can be said that nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are important strategic weapons for maintaining world and regional peace and safeguarding national maritime sovereignty. They have significant implications for enhancing national status and protecting national territorial security. As a maritime power, China needs nuclear submarines even more.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7548996086375957002/
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