"We can park more than 100 nuclear warheads in front of your house without you knowing it or doing nothing about it." Recently, the US Navy announced a high-profile announcement that a strategic nuclear submarine will dock on Guam. Meanwhile, an amphibious assault ship carrying an F-35B in the East China Sea is conducting exercises; The aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson" and the amphibious assault ship "Essex" in the South China Sea are also moving north; The USS Lincoln, which left the U.S. mainland at the beginning of the month, is approaching the Western Pacific Sea — as many as four U.S. aircraft carriers capable of taking off and landing stealth fighter jets and a search for strategic nuclear submarines will be gathered around China.
Recently, the US Navy announced a high-profile strategic nuclear submarine to dock in Guam, saying that it showed the Commitment of the United States to the Indo-Pacific region, and the US experts threatened: "We can park more than 100 nuclear warheads in front of your door, and you are completely unaware or helpless." This is the first time in six years that the U.S. Navy has publicly announced the docking of a strategic nuclear submarine on Guam, and the second time since the 1980s that it has done so.
Meanwhile, after several months at Sasebo Base in Japan, the USS America amphibious assault ship carried an F-35B stealth fighter jet back to sea to conduct exercises in the East China Sea; The USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea carries F-35C stealth fighter jets, and the amphibious assault ship Essex is also heading north. This means that there is a supercarrier and two "lightning carriers" in the waters around China.
The USS Lincoln, which has just left the U.S. at the beginning of the new year, is carrying F-35C fighter jets and is approaching the Western Pacific Sea – it is likely that in the near future, china will gather as many as four U.S. aircraft carriers capable of taking off and landing stealth fighter jets and a search for strategic nuclear submarines.
Such a large-scale build-up of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers was rare after the Cold War, so what exactly does the Pentagon intend to do?
Many US media said that Washington used this to show military power to allies and enemies, especially to China and North Korea to issue a "silent warning." For the world's no other hegemonic power, flaunting its might is nothing new, although Campbell, a senior White House official, just recently issued a warning that "the Future of the Pacific region is most likely to have a 'strategic accident'".
The "strongest weapon" of the US Navy appeared on Guam to help defend Taiwan?
Screenshot of Russian media report. The scene in the picture is the scene of the "Nevada" arriving in Guam on the 15th
According to CNN, the Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine "Nevada" carrying 20 Trident ballistic missiles and dozens of nuclear warheads sailed into the US naval base on Guam. This is the first time since 2016 that a U.S. ballistic missile nuclear submarine has "visited" Guam. CNN said it was one of the U.S. Navy's most powerful weapons rarely seen on Guam.
The U.S. Navy said in a press release that this demonstrates U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and complements many exercises, operations, training and military cooperation operations conducted by U.S. strategic forces to ensure that U.S. strategic forces are ready for global deployment.
CNN reported that the CNN report quoted U.S. analysts as saying that the "Nevada" strategic nuclear submarine rarely docked on Guam because the United States sent a message to its allies and adversaries amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. In the current environment, Washington is likely to make more such military displays.
"This is a message, intentionally or unintentionally: we can park more than 100 nuclear warheads in front of your door, and you don't know or do anything about it." On the contrary, the other party can't do it or can't do it for a long time. CNN quoted Thomas Schugart, former captain of the U.S. submarine and a researcher at the Center for New American Security.
It is understood that the United States currently has 18 Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines, 4 of which have been converted into cruise missile nuclear submarines, and the other 14 are equipped with "Trident" ballistic missiles. The NEVADA entered service in 1986 and is an old boat that has been in operation for more than 35 years. The first Ohio-class ship is expected to be decommissioned in 2029. The U.S. Navy said the submarines would undergo about a month of maintenance and replenishment in port after an average of 77 days at sea.
This move by the US military has attracted the attention of the international media. The British "Times" said that this attack nuclear submarine usually conducts underwater covert patrols, but this time it was photographed and officially announced by the US Navy. This is the second time since the 1980s that such submarines have been seen by the public. The analysis believes that at a time when Sino-US relations are tense, the situation in the Taiwan Strait is heating up, and the DPRK has repeatedly tested missiles, Washington wants to use nuclear-powered submarines to dock on Guam to send a message to the outside world.
Russia Today stressed that Guam is near Taiwan, where there is the nearest U.S. military base to China on U.S. territory and less than 3,000 kilometers from Taiwan. The visit of the US nuclear submarine to Guam is precisely at a time when the dispute between China and the United States is increasing, especially on the Taiwan issue. In addition to political signals, the Nevada's presence in the region also provides an opportunity for U.S. forces to learn about anti-submarine warfare.
Saying that "Sino-US conflicts are not necessary," the military has stepped up its actions
Military experts said that the US military's move has three purposes. First of all, it concentrates on displaying its powerful "Trinity Strategic Nuclear Force" and "Ohio-class" strategic nuclear submarines are an important embodiment of the US military's global military hegemony. Second, it shows that the United States does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons in the event of conflict with China, especially on the Taiwan Strait issue. Due to the continuous expansion of the Apra Naval Base in Guam, it is not excluded that the "Ohio-class" strategic nuclear submarines, including the Nevada, will be stationed in Guam in the future and continue to exert pressure on the Chinese side. Third, show allies their determination to continue to provide a "nuclear umbrella" and show that they will not abandon their "pre-emptive" nuclear policy.
"China's nuclear policy prohibits the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons, but the United States does not have such restrictions," russian satellite news network said. The Biden administration has hinted at plans to change nuclear policy, but allies have asked it not to abandon the threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike against China and Russia. At the beginning of the new year, the five nuclear powers of the Security Council issued a joint statement saying that they believed that "nuclear war cannot be won and must not be fought" and that weapons are not aimed at each other.
"The U.S. and China need to sit down and talk." Germany's Focus believes that the "Indo-Pacific strategy" of the United States, China's growing confidence in its own power, and the involvement of European countries in the Indo-Pacific have made it the most risky region in the future.
"The conflict with Beijing is not predestined and unnecessary." According to the US National Interest, China may be the biggest security threat to the United States, but it is also the biggest opportunity. These days, the Pentagon spends a lot of time thinking about how to defeat China in a possible future war, possibly over Taiwan. The question is, how will the game end? According to the Indo-Pacific Command, although the U.S. military and its allies still have the advantage in equipment, the future does not look good. By 2025, China will surpass the United States militarily in the region.
Show muscle! U.S. military's "strongest demonstration" against China
According to the South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Microblog, the US Navy's aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson" has left the South China Sea from the Mindoro Strait after maneuvering around the Spratly Islands. Together with the USS Essex amphibious assault ship, which is accompanying the carrier, "it is expected that one aircraft carrier strike group and two amphibious readiness groups operated by the US military in the West Pacific will further converge for a '1+2' joint exercise." ”
As a cutting-edge amphibious assault ship of the US Navy that only entered service in 2014, the "American" deliberately enhanced its aviation capabilities at the beginning of its design to accommodate more aircraft and aviation fuel. Theoretically, it could carry more than 25 F-35B fighter jets, with the largest capacity of aircraft carriers in the U.S. Lightning Carrier. It's unclear exactly how many F-35Bs the U.S. carried with it in the East China Sea, but the U.S. Marine Corps at Iwakoku Base in Japan already has two squadrons (32 F-35Bs).
With the existing 11 supercarriers "insufficient," the U.S. Navy modified some of its amphibious assault ships with straight-through decks to carry F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters that can take off/land vertically. Amphibious assault ships that have undergone this modification are called "lightning carriers" and can act as auxiliary forces for supercarriers.
If you count the Lincoln, which is moving too far to the west, in the waters around China, there will be a combination of two supercarriers and two "lightning carriers", far larger than the "three countries and four aircraft carriers" that appeared in Okinawa last year - the latter including the US "Carl Vincent" aircraft carrier and the "Us" amphibious assault ship "Us", the British "Queen Elizabeth" aircraft carrier and the Japanese "Ise" quasi-aircraft carrier.
The USS America amphibious assault ship and F-35B fighter jets conduct aviation operations near the East China Sea
You know, even the U.S. Navy has a hard time concentrating multiple aircraft carriers in the same sea. Typically, single-carrier battle groups are standard equipment for the U.S. Navy when conducting conventional deterrent cruises; In the tense situation in the region, the two aircraft carrier battle groups will be concentrated in case of "unforeseen needs"; And the three-carrier battle cluster usually means a serious crisis, or an extremely ostentatious warning of force; As for the four aircraft carriers coming out together, if it were not for the armed conflict in the region, it would have been the strongest demonstration...
It is worth noting that this time the four US aircraft carriers also have a trend of high coordination between the US Navy and the Marine Corps. The F-35C fighters carried by the CARL Vinson belong to the U.S. Navy, the F-35C from the Lincoln belongs to the U.S. Marine Corps, and the F-35Bs equipped with the U.S. U.S. belong to the Marine Corps, and they can also take off and land on the Essex.
In other words, the U.S. Navy has assembled four aircraft carriers this time, and the core carrier-based aircraft carried is actually the F-35 series fighters of the U.S. Marine Corps. In recent years, the U.S. Marine Corps has held high the banner of "strategic transformation, claiming to "return to the old business" and perform a series of offensive tasks, from island capture to assisting the U.S. Navy. From this point of view, the gathering of these four US aircraft carriers around China has a very strong sense of offensive direction.
It's just that for the Pentagon, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is too bone.com. Both the Carl Vinson and Essex have been deployed overseas for several months and are about to return to port for recuperation. This also means that the "strongest demonstration" in the United States is only a flash in the pan.