Chinese terra-forming in the South China Sea

[printcraft]

So then this happened.

https://amti.csis.org/chinas-new-spratly-island-defenses/



Wonder how Bolton will react to this...

Man.... Trump must have REALLY pissed them off for them to be acting like that....

 

[T.Lex]

Man.... Trump must have REALLY pissed them off for them to be acting like that....

haha

These were likely built when HRC was favored.

But, more importantly for our purposes, I wonder how Trump will react.

 

[printcraft]

haha

These were likely built when HRC was favored.

But, more importantly for our purposes, I wonder how Trump will react.

Incendiary tweet.

 

[T.Lex]

Incendiary tweet.

Followed by personal insults.

And gesturing.

Then vaguely defined winning.

 

[foszoe]

So then this happened.

https://amti.csis.org/chinas-new-spratly-island-defenses/



Wonder how Bolton will react to this...

He will call for letting her in


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/world/asia/anastasia-lin-miss-world-china-censorship.html?_r=0

 

[ArcadiaGP]

China seizes US Navy underwater drone in international waters of South China Sea | The Independent

 

[5.56'aholic]

China seizes US Navy underwater drone in international waters of South China Sea | The Independent

Nothing will come of it. The current administration is too busy trying to plow all their BS through the system to stump trump.

Just a thought, but what is to stop the US from terraforming their own island and staking a claim to the same waters?

 

[T.Lex]

Just a thought, but what is to stop the US from terraforming their own island and staking a claim to the same waters?

Money.

And an avoidance of foreign entanglements.

 

[Lelliott8]

Sometimes I wonder if these aren't just little presents from their buddy Obama. His friends in Iran picked up a US spy-drone a while back, also. Always curious about what's not being shared...

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Wait what...

 

[T.Lex]

haha

We need Actaeon in here.

As I understand it, surface activity is one of the best ways to mask the sound of subs.

So, the headline makes no sense on the surface (pardon the pun), but is probably accurate.

 

[spencer rifle]

Too bad all our BBs are in memorials. Some 16" HE persuaders could have ended this sooner.

 

[T.Lex]

So this is actually pretty big news.

China aircraft carrier crosses Taiwan Strait amid tension - BBC News

China basically bought an old Russian carrier and has completely refurbished it. Meanwhile, they've trained pilots and aircrews and developed doctrine to support operations. Combined with their suspected (but pretty well documented) commitment to anti-carrier weapons systems, our carrier fleet in the Pacific could be seriously challenged.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Too bad all our BBs are in memorials. Some 16" HE persuaders could have ended this sooner.

Those things are floating coffins nowadays.

 

[Birds Away]

Those things are floating coffins nowadays.

How so?

 

[Kutnupe14]

How so?

It's a floating artillery platform. Sure great if it's uncontested, and can rain shells down on people in huts, but against any modern blue water Navy, it's going to be sunk.

 

[Birds Away]

It's a floating artillery platform. Sure great if it's uncontested, and can rain shells down on people in huts, but against any modern blue water Navy, it's going to be sunk.

I agree as an offensive platform it has very limited application. But, you have to understand, most modern anti-ship weapons are designed against modern thin skinned warships. The Iowa class could certainly be sunk but it would take a pretty high concentration of forces to achieve that. That, in and of itself, could have great tactical value. The big Achilles heel is, other than a limited offensive value as we discussed, the cost of operation vs. the potential gain is way out of balance.

 

[T.Lex]

The HMS Sheffield sinking by an Exocet (or knockoff thereof, can't remember) is illustrative. I think it was a single missile that brought her down, launched from a single aircraft. (Again, going from memory, but another one launched from the same sortie might've not hit.)

Scale that up to an adversary with greater sorties and missiles, and the vulnerabilities scale, too.

Not to mention the space/high altitude missile attacks that China appears capable of. They've invested serious resources in carrier-killer strategies that would also then be applicable to big, slow-turning (relatively) battleships.

With all that in mind, they are perfect for a certain role. A role that continues to this day.

 

[Birds Away]

The Sheffield was as much about ineffective damage control as anything else. The Stark, on the other hand, was the opposite tale. While the NGFS capabilities of the Iowas are a nice arrow to have in your quiver, at what cost?

 

[printcraft]

How long after the Chinese sank one would it take before their entire fleet was a reef?