On the eve of Navy Day, a new generation of long-range missiles of the Navy has appeared. Judging from the aerodynamic shape of its "double cone warhead + booster", it is generally believed that this is a new generation of hypersonic anti-ship missiles of the Navy, with a range of 1000 kilometers, which we call here the Eagle Strike 2X.
The appearance of the Eagle Strike 2X makes many people very excited, because compared to the US range of 200-300 kilometers, and it is a subsonic "Harpoon" missile, the Eagle Strike 2X can be called an "artifact". Even in the face of the LRASM ultra-long-range anti-ship missile (subsonic, intelligent), known as the "new generation of anti-ship artifacts of the United States", the Eagle Strike 2X has a greater range and hypersonic advantages, which can be described as a unique global player.
LRASM, the color is a bit ugly
However, if we look at it from the perspective of Sino-US system confrontation and ocean confrontation, the range of 1,000 kilometers is still a little small. The Range of the Eagle Strike 2X would be more strategic if it reached the 1500 km level.
The real significance of a missile lies in its position on the battlefield, which is closely related to the combat posture of both sides. The current development trend of anti-ship missiles between China and the United States is somewhat similar to the previous dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In the past, due to the different combat postures at sea, the United States and the Soviet Union derived different development models in terms of anti-ship missiles. Among them, the Soviet Union, due to the relative weakness of the naval air superiority, mainly relies on the missile's own strike and penetration capabilities, so it mainly developed long-range supersonic anti-ship missiles, the typical mode of operation is cruiser assault, or bombers mounted long-range supersonic anti-ship for saturation strikes. Due to its strong air superiority at sea, the United States believes that carrier-based aircraft can have temporary local air supremacy when attacking, and chooses to use carrier-based aircraft to mount anti-ship missiles to strike.
Long-range supersonic anti-ship missiles have a drawback, that is, the size and weight are very large, and it is difficult to mount the carrier aircraft. The advantage of subsonic anti-ship missiles is that the size and weight are relatively small, and the general fighter can be mounted, and multiple can be mounted. In this way, although the single penetration capability of subsonic anti-ship missiles is not so strong, the carrier-based aircraft fleet can carry a large number of missiles for saturation strikes, which is also difficult to defend.
The key is that with the actual combat radius of about 800 kilometers of the carrier-based aircraft, when the carrier-based aircraft mounts the anti-ship missile to strike, it is actually equivalent to directly increasing the range of the anti-ship missile by about 800 kilometers; if the range of the missile itself is 200-300 kilometers, the actual strike distance also reaches the level of 1000 kilometers.
After the delivery of Russia's Modern-class destroyers to the mainland in 2000, they were known as aircraft carrier killers; the "Sunblazing" anti-ship missiles on them were called aircraft carrier busters. In fact, this title is inconsistent, because the range of the Japanese anti-ship missile is only about 200 kilometers, and when facing the US aircraft carrier, it is likely that when it is 600 kilometers away from the US aircraft carrier, it will face the saturation strike of the anti-ship missile of the US carrier-based aircraft group, and the Hyundai class only has regional air defense capabilities (range of tens of kilometers).
In this situation, the Hyundai class is not very effective even if it is equipped with a larger range of "granite" anti-ship missiles (range 550 km class). The soviet union's most threatening threat was the long-range anti-ship missile strikes mounted on bomber fleets. Of course, the United States has also strengthened the long-range interception capability of the F-14 carrier-based aircraft - faster interception speed, AIM-54 "Undead Bird" long-range air-to-air missile (range 200 km class).
The Soviet Union created a bunch of big guys with a length of 10 meters and a weight of 6-7 tons
Therefore, the combat posture of the Soviet Navy's ships as a whole is still coastal defense, that is, the sea ships are within the protection range of their own land-based air force, and when the US ships are relatively close to the side, they will carry out surprise attacks on the US ships. Once you enter the ocean, the disadvantages are relatively large.
The confrontation between the Chinese and AMERICAN navies is also facing such a situation. The US aircraft carrier has a large number of aircraft carriers and a large fleet of carrier-based aircraft, and when it attacks in the open ocean, it can temporarily have local air supremacy, and can use carrier-based aircraft to launch a large number of subsonic anti-ship missiles. Because China's naval strength is relatively poor and the penetration capability of carrier-based aircraft is insufficient, it has inherited more of the Soviet model and relied more on the strike and penetration capabilities of the missiles themselves.
The premise of the US carrier-based aircraft group attack is that it can temporarily have air superiority during the attack, and it can carry out firepower strikes outside the defense zone of the other ship. With the increasing range of Chinese and Russian ship-based long-range anti-aircraft missiles (Hongqi 9B is close to 300 kilometers), the range of Harpoon has obviously been insufficient. Therefore, the United States has developed a larger range of LRASM anti-ship missiles, saying that the maximum range is greater than 370 kilometers, which will actually be larger (its ground attack model JASSM-ER, the maximum range reaches about 1000 kilometers), and some say that it has reached 600-800 kilometers.
LRASM volume and weight are not large (length 4 meter class, weight 1.1 tons class), F-35, F/A-18E/F can be mounted; the US aircraft carrier is now equipped with MQ-25 unmanned tanker, which can increase the combat radius of carrier-based aircraft by about 500 kilometers. In this case, the F-35 can reach an attack range of 1600-2000 km when mounting the LRASM. After the F-35 is equipped with a new engine (the range is increased by about 25%), the attack range will be further increased. Considering that the LRASM is slightly larger, the F-35 cannot be mounted in the magazine, so the United States and Norway have developed a smaller JSM anti-ship missile (maximum range of 550 kilometers) that can be built in. Therefore, no matter which mounting method, the F-35 can reach an attack range of nearly 2000 kilometers. This is the combat situation that we will face later.
We have previously developed the "double 3" index of the Eagle Strike 12 anti-ship missile, and later developed the larger range of the "sub-super combination" Eagle Strike 18 anti-ship missile (range 500-600 km), this time there is a new generation, the range, penetration capabilities are more enhanced Eagle Strike 2X anti-ship missile. The volume and weight of the Eagle Strike 12 is relatively large, and the JH-7A "Flying Leopard" fighter has not been seen mounted. It was said earlier that the improved JH-7B could be mounted, but unfortunately due to the appearance of the J-16, it was discontinued. The J-15 and J-16 have not seen pictures of Eagle Strike 12. The Eagle Strike 2X, which appeared this time, is also relatively large in size and weight (about 8 meters, basically twice that of LRASM), and the carrier-based aircraft may be difficult to mount.
The Boom 6 mounts the YJ-12 without problems
Then let's look at the Navy's new Eagle Strike 2X anti-ship missile, and we will feel different. Its range is very large, and the penetration capability is very strong, but if it cannot be mounted by the carrier-based aircraft, its actual strike range will be determined by the distance in front of the ship. If we calculate from the position of the ship itself, if its range is only 1,000 kilometers, the actual strike distance will have a significant gap with the US carrier-based aircraft.
Judging from the development process of "fighting aircraft carriers", the emergence of air-launched anti-ship ballistic missiles mounted by dongfeng 21D, Dongfeng 26 and bomb 6N has brought us great surprises. A key reason is that they were irreplaceable at the time. The emergence of the Dongfeng 21D, when the mainland's air force was not strong enough at that time, gave us the ability to "effectively" strike the US aircraft carrier at a long distance, which could drive the US aircraft carrier away to 1500 kilometers.
The emergence of the Dongfeng-26 has given us another effective strike capability against the US base on Guam (the other is the Bomb 6K mounted cruise missile, but it is easy to be intercepted), and it also has a deterrent ability for the US aircraft carrier fleet at a distance of about 2,000 kilometers or even more - its effective strike distance depends on our information situational awareness ability in wartime.
However, whether it is Dongfeng 21D or Dongfeng 26, both belong to the land base, the maneuvering speed is slower (the cost of the Dongfeng 26 is also large), and its strike range is also affected by its own range. The advent of air-launched anti-ship ballistic missiles mounted on the Bomb 6N is a good complement. The combat radius of the Bomb 6N itself (especially in the case of refueling in the air), coupled with the missile's own range of several thousand kilometers, the strike distance is long enough and the mobility is also very strong, basically can be called a "strategic" strike.
Of course, the scope of its strike still depends on our ability to detect information in wartime. That's why, in addition to strengthening and developing our satellite detection capabilities, we have also developed the stealthy supersonic WZ-8 UAV. Its flight altitude is high enough, the range is long enough (it can be launched by the Bomber 6), it is rushing to reconnoiter the US aircraft carrier fleet.
So, in fact, our current combat system is already rushing to drive the US ships 2,000 kilometers away, or even farther. When imagining Sino-US maritime operations, many people are accustomed to letting the US aircraft carrier fleet come to a range of about 1,000 kilometers from us, and even running to our doorstep to fight with us, so that the US aircraft carrier can accept our baptism of "all-round intensive firepower strike" -- this makes the actual operation too easy, and the US side is not stupid.
How far the US aircraft carrier formation is from us depends on our actual strike capability. In the early stage of the operation, the US aircraft carrier will basically be outside the range of our firepower, or close to the range of "ensuring that it is difficult for us to effectively explore its location." Therefore, with the improvement of our firepower strike capability, the US side's intervention in the Taiwan Strait has become more and more dependent on strategic bomber fleets taking off from Guam and Hawaii to launch ultra-long-range anti-ship missiles. At present, in addition to the new generation of ultra-long-range anti-ship missile LRASM, some models of its new Tomahawk V cruise missile also have the ability to strike moving targets at sea, that is, anti-ship, and its range is also very large.
Therefore, the mode of operation of the armies of major powers such as China and the United States at sea is completely different from that of the United States attacking Iraq, or Russia attacking Ukraine (the United States and Russia have great advantages, and the other side's cross-border counterattack capability is very weak, so the fleet will strike near the other side's coastal waters). In the war between China and the United States, the huge and perfect combat system of both sides will participate in all aspects, and at the beginning of the war, the great war has already begun at a distance of several thousand kilometers.
So, in this mode (the US ship may be 2000 kilometers away at the beginning), if the range of the Eagle Strike 2X is only 1000 km, (considering safety) if the distance in front of our ship is about 500 km, then who does the Eagle Strike 2X hit? Even if it can be struck, is there still a plurality of alternative means of attack, lacking irreplaceability.
So, if the Range of the Eagle Strike 2X is only 1,000 kilometers, it's not exciting enough. In contrast, whether it is the air-launched type of the Bomb 6N mount (the booster is longer and has a greater range), or the submarine-launched type that may appear later (more concealed and has a greater range), it is more exciting. However, the range of about 1,000 kilometers is only the speculation of some people. If its real range reaches about 1500 kilometers, then the situation will change a lot, and the threat to the US ships will be much greater.
Of course, there is a saying that "adults want both". As a great power, of course, we have two routes (superb, subsonic) going on at the same time. But for now, we are not small enough in terms of subsonic anti-ship missiles. This is also the reason why we have more advantages and potential in the choice of carrier-based aircraft, the twin-engine heavy one.
When talking about the issue of FC-31 and J-20 on board, many people said that if the FC-31 is on board, the number of ships will be more. However, from the actual situation, the length of the FC-31 is much larger than the F-35 (more than 17 meters), and the ship-based model may be wider than the J-15 after folding the wings from the blurred picture. In other words, the carrier-based version of the FC-31 is not more than a few. In terms of missile carrying capacity, the FC-31 does not have a side magazine; if the belly magazine is dealt with, the J-20 can be adjusted, or the PL-15 can be reduced a little, and 6 can be hung, while the FC-31 is more difficult because the magazine is smaller (it depends on whether the carrier-based type can be further increased).
Our current problem is that the size of the ammunition is relatively large, if at this time to choose a smaller carrier-based aircraft, such as the FC-31, the number of missiles mounted in each of its built-in, if only half of the J-20, it will be more troublesome. If it is a larger, longer-range supersonic anti-ship missile, whether the FC-31 can be mounted is still a problem. In this regard, it is clear that the J-20 also has more potential.
So, what will be the true range of the Eagle Strike 2X, and which one will be the Navy's future carrier-based aircraft? This will take time to answer.
Author: Chenxi Defense - Tang Zhifeng