According to the U.S. Navy News Network, around January 9, the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson" suddenly appeared in the Barabak Strait between the Philippine province of Palawan and the Malaysian island of Kalimantan, and then entered the Waters of the South China Sea; in addition, around January 10, the US Marine Corps amphibious assault ship "Essex" also appeared in the Strait of Malacca. One "big" and one "small", after they entered the South China Sea, they immediately merged to start a strategic cruise, and around January 15, it was reported that the two warships were located in the sea between the Paracel Islands and the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, and the future direction was unknown.
For the US Navy's "Carl Vinson" and "Essex" this time, the threat to us needless to say, must be very large, mainly reflected in the following points:
First, this is probably the end of 2021, early 2022 the U.S. Navy's first "big" and "small" aircraft carrier integration, in fact, this "Carl Vinson" in the second half of last year, just like kraft candy stuck around China, not much nest, especially in October last year, a moment and Japan's "Ise" helicopter carrier to cooperate, and then with the British "Queen" aircraft carrier group CP, brushed enough sense of existence around China.
However, the "brush sense of existence" is after all a "brush sense of existence", especially the "Queen" aircraft carrier, which has traveled thousands of miles to deter a certain country in East Asia? That is to come to the public tourism, in addition to showing that the two Type 45 destroyers of the Royal Navy are really unreliable, and the purpose of deterrence has not been achieved. Therefore, judging from the situation in the second half of last year, the US Navy's "Carl Vinson" is still alone most of the time, carrying escort ships alone and wandering around the Chinese mainland.
However, this operation of the US Navy in 2022 is obviously different, with the "Essex" amphibious assault ship. From the perspective of troop formation, an aircraft carrier must have a carrier-based aircraft wing; and an amphibious assault ship, generally equipped with a Marine Corps combat aviation battalion, a Marine Corps amphibious infantry battalion with a support battalion, that is, to form a Marine Corps amphibious expedition close to the regimental level. The first task that this amphibious expeditionary force, with a combined number of carrier-based aircraft, can complete is an amphibious landing and island seizure operation, and when the carrier-based aircraft seize air supremacy in the air, first plough the islands and reefs that need to be seized, and blow up the opponent's defenses, and then the Marine Corps' amphibious assault ships will slowly appear, and the MV-22B will be delivered in the air with hundreds of Marines, and there will be LCAC air cushion landing craft and marine corps AAV7 amphibious vehicles at the bottom to seize the beach, thus completing the task of seizing the island.
From this point of view, this time the US Navy in action, it is the "Carl Vinson" aircraft carrier, and the "Essex" amphibious assault ship, obviously not a good stubble, to put it more ugly, this is the real killing move, completely different from the previous US Navy's flower intestines, this time the US Navy's "big" one "small" two aircraft carriers if they really moved the killing heart, it is able to make some big news in the South China Sea, such as concentrating forces to seize a certain island and reef where the Chinese Navy is stationed.
Second, according to the U.S. Navy's way of using troops from 2020 onwards, the status of amphibious assault ships in naval battles is soaring like a rocket, and the U.S. Navy believes that in future naval battles, the target of aircraft carriers is too large, and it is difficult to survive under the repeated attacks of opponents such as hypersonic missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles.
To this end, the U.S. Navy has targeted amphibious assault ships, after all, compared to aircraft carriers, the first tonnage of amphibious assault ships is relatively small, half smaller than aircraft carriers, on the other hand, amphibious assault ships are easier to manufacture, the price is about two-thirds cheaper than aircraft carriers, even if they are sunk, it is not so painful. Therefore, from 2020 onwards, the U.S. Navy has stirred up the so-called "lightning aircraft carrier" concept, the essence of this concept, that is, in wartime, all the Marines on the amphibious assault ship should be removed from the ship, the Marine Corps helicopters are also removed, and then fully deploy F-35B fighters on amphibious assault ships, according to the US military's idea, "Essex" amphibious assault ships can generally carry 20 F-35B fighters, and the number of dispatches per day is about 45 to 50. Although the dispatch efficiency is only one-third of that of the fleet aircraft carriers, the cost of victory is relatively low, and the US military believes that amphibious assault ships are more flexible and mobile when used as aircraft carriers, so the US military always thinks about how to "match" their aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships together.
Now, although the amphibious assault ship "Essex" is still a combat aviation battalion of the Marine Corps, and the main aircraft type is all MV-22B, the US military in Japan has 2 Squadrons of Marine Combat Attack Aircraft, and these two squadrons are equipped with exactly 20 F-35B fighters. As long as the U.S. Navy wants to, it can move these 2 squadrons of combat attack aircraft to the "Essex" at a very fast speed, cooperate with the "Carl Vinson", and form a fleet aircraft carrier + "lightning aircraft carrier" battle group out, at this time, this US fleet can not only carry out the task of seizing the island, but also fight the decisive battle of the fleet, which is even more threatening.
Third, judging from the mode of action of the "Carl Vinson" and the "Essex", the meaning of strategic deterrence can be described as very strong, and we said earlier that the amphibious assault ship "Essex" operated relatively normally, coming from the Indian Ocean direction and the Strait of Malacca, while the "Carl Vinson" played a snakeskin position, presumably from Japan or Guam, and made a big circle from the Sulawesi Sea, the Sulu Sea, and through the Barabac Strait to the South China Sea.
As we all know, as a semi-enclosed sea area, the South China Sea has two main passages, one is the Taiwan Strait in the north and the Bashi Strait in the northeast, and the other is the Natuna Islands and the Strait of Malacca in the south. As for the Strait of Malacca, the place is too narrow, the population is too dense, and finding someone to sit fishing on the edge of the strait can count how many aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships the U.S. Navy has come in, and when it came in.
- Judging from the carrier-based aircraft units carried by the "Carl Vinson" aircraft carrier, the US Navy can be said to be very worthy of the Chinese Navy, carrying a "strongest in history" naval carrier-based aircraft wing, this 2nd carrier-based aircraft wing includes the 2nd, 113th and 192nd squadrons of fighter attack aircraft, and the three squadrons are equipped with 36 super Hornet fighter attack aircraft. In particular, the 2nd Wing also carries a freshly baked Navy fighter attack aircraft Squadron 147, which is the only F-35C fighter squadron in the Navy that formed combat effectiveness in 2019. In addition, on the carrier-based early warning aircraft squadron and electronic warfare squadron, the 2nd Wing was also specially strengthened, with 5 E-2Ds as standard and 6 with him, and 5 Growler electromagnetic attack aircraft as standard, and 7 with him.
After such a maneuver, the US Navy's 2nd carrier-based aircraft wing has, first, has a more powerful battlefield situational awareness capability and electronic countermeasure capability, after all, its early warning aircraft and electronic countermeasure aircraft have all been highly equipped; second, its existence has allowed a squadron of stealth fighters to appear in the South China Sea, while the Chinese Navy and Air Force currently have no stealth fighters available in the southern theater.
Therefore, don't look at the US Navy this return of the F-35C is not much, just 10, if you count the "Essex" on the possible carry of several F-35B, it is estimated that there are fifteen or sixteen, but it is these fourth-generation stealth fighters, enough to make the US Navy's "big" one "small" two aircraft carriers, running rampant in the South China Sea, and once there is a real military conflict with the Chinese Navy, there are fourth-generation fighters as the main force, and electronic warfare aircraft as a performance bonus of the US aircraft carrier battle group, It is able to suppress almost all Chinese naval and air force fighters in the South China Sea. For the Chinese Navy and Air Force deployed in the South China Sea, the threat is really self-evident.
At present, the "Carl Vinson" and "Essex" are still operating in the South China Sea, and it is said that the Chinese Navy's "Shandong" aircraft carrier has also attacked, and the two aircraft carriers continue to track. In addition, another aircraft carrier of the US Navy, the "Lincoln", is said to have completed all the preparations before the dispatch and is ready to rush to the South China Sea around the Spring Festival to join the ranks of the "Carl Vinson". This means that in the South China Sea, we are likely to soon witness the grand situation of 4 aircraft carriers fighting in the South China Sea, what moths will the US Navy make in the South China Sea next, and whether the Chinese Navy can cut off the black hand of the US Navy, and let us continue to pay attention!