In this encouraging reminder of the power of America’s submarine service, we see that China has reason to stifle its bellicose generals.
Sounds good, right? BUT!!! What about the history of Democrat presidents selling out American strategic advantages to the Chinese military? Bill Clinton sold technology to China that they would likely have been unable to develop for years. Why? Campaign money. Now will Obama, cut from a similar mold, follow a similar course?
Will any American secret remain secure? The answer is, YES!
What secret will remain secure, you ask?
Barack Obama’s actual identity, of course.
~ TD
THE WEEK
China thinks it can defeat America in battle
But it overlooks one decisive factor
By David Axe
Sorry, China, but the U.S. still has the upper hand. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jared Hill/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
The bad news first. The People’s Republic of China now believes it can successfully prevent the United States from intervening in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or some other military assault by Beijing.
Now the good news. China is wrong — and for one major reason. It apparently disregards the decisive power of America’s nuclear-powered submarines.
Moreover, for economic and demographic reasons Beijing has a narrow historical window in which to use its military to alter the world’s power structure. If China doesn’t make a major military move in the next couple decades, it probably never will.
The U.S. Navy’s submarines — the unsung main defenders of the current world order — must hold the line against China for another 20 years. After that, America can declare a sort of quiet victory in the increasingly chilly Cold War with China.
How China wins
The bad news came from Lee Fuell, from the U.S. Air Force’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center, during Fuell’s testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commissionin Washington, D.C. on Jan. 30.
For years, Chinese military planning assumed that any attack by the People’s Liberation Army on Taiwan or a disputed island would have to begin with a Pearl Harbor-style preemptive missile strike by China against U.S. forces in Japan and Guam. The PLA was so afraid of overwhelming American intervention that it genuinely believed it could not win unless the Americans were removed from the battlefield before the main campaign even began…
Read whole article at: http://theweek.com/article/index/264032/china-thinks-it-can-defeat-america-in-battle
Fortunately for that liberal order, America possesses by far the world’s most powerful submarine force — one poised to quickly sink any Chinese invasion fleet. In announcing its readiness to hold off the U.S. military, the PLA seems to have ignored Washington’s huge undersea advantage.
(Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adam K. Thomas/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
The Silent Service
It’s not surprising that Beijing would overlook America’s subs. Most Americans overlook their own undersea fleet — and that’s not entirely their own fault. The U.S. sub force takes pains to avoid media coverage in order to maximize its secrecy and stealth. “The submarine cruises the world’s oceans unseen,” the Navy stated on its Website.
Unseen and unheard. That why the sub force calls itself the “Silent Service.”
The Navy has 74 submarines, 60 of which are attack or missile submarines optimized for finding and sinking other ships or blasting land targets. The balance is ballistic-missile boats that carry nuclear missiles and would not routinely participate in military campaigns short of an atomic World War III.
Thirty-three of the attack and missile boats belong to the Pacific Fleet, with major bases in Washington State, California, Hawaii, and Guam. Deploying for six months or so roughly every year and a half, America’s Pacific subs frequently stop over in Japan and South Korea and occasionally even venture under the Arctic ice.
According to Adm. Cecil Haney, the former commander of Pacific Fleet subs, on any given day 17 boats are underway and eight are “forward-deployed,” meaning they are on station in a potential combat zone. To the Pacific Fleet, that pretty much means waters near China…
Read whole article at: http://theweek.com/article/index/264032/china-thinks-it-can-defeat-america-in-battle
(Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adam K. Thomas/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Waiting out the Chinese decline
If American subs can hold the line for another 20 years, China might age right out of its current, aggressive posture without ever having attacked anyone. That’s because economic and demographic trends in China point towards a rapidly aging population, flattening economic growth, and fewer resources available for military modernization…
Read whole article at: http://theweek.com/article/index/264032/china-thinks-it-can-defeat-america-in-battle
…Wisely, American political and military leaders have made the investments necessary to sustain U.S. undersea power for at least that long. After a worrying dip in submarine production, starting in 2012 the Pentagon asked for — and Congress funded — the acquisition of two Virginia-class submarines per year for around $2.5 billion apiece, a purchase rate adequate to maintain the world’s biggest nuclear submarine fleet indefinitely.
The Pentagon is also improving the Virginia design, adding undersea-launched drones, extra missile capacity, and potentially a new anti-ship missile.
Given China’s place in the world, its underlying national trends and America’s pointed advantage in just that aspect of military power that’s especially damaging to Chinese plans, it seems optimistic for PLA officers to assume they can launch an attack on China’s neighbors without first knocking out U.S. forces.
Not that a preemptive strike would make any difference, as the only American forces that truly matter for containing China are the very ones that China cannot reach.
For they are deep underwater. ♞
Read whole article at: http://theweek.com/article/index/264032/china-thinks-it-can-defeat-america-in-battle
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
– Psalm 20:10