As the situation in the Asia-Pacific region gradually heats up, the United States has stepped up its provocations on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is afraid of retaliation and strengthens the defense of forward bases. When the United States encircles and provokes other countries, it also wants to ensure the security of its own strategic assets. Guam has always been a forward military base of the US Indo-Pacific strategy, which is the forward fortress of the United States and naturally the weakness of the United States. Recently, the United States just passed the "National Defense Authorization Act" for fiscal year 2023, which disclosed the "Guam Defense Plan" for the first time, and will set up a special agency to evaluate the Pentagon's plan to establish Guam's air defense and anti-missile defense, and clearly establish a defense system to protect Guam.
At present, Guam has many strategic weapons, including strategic bombers, nuclear submarines, and fifth-generation stealth fighters, but only the THAAD anti-missile system is deployed on the defensive side. Now the Guam defense plan disclosed by the United States reveals that they intend to add "Standard-3" and "THAAD" to intercept medium and long-range ballistic missiles, the "Patriot-3" system is mainly terminal anti-missile, and "Standard-6" and "Patriot-2" to intercept cruise missiles, tactical missiles and fighter attacks, and establish a distributed and mobile launch system.
This transformation of the United States actually shows a process of the United States from attack to defense. In the past, the United States put strategic bombers and nuclear submarines on Guam in order to deter neighboring countries, and everyone knows who it is, which is the key link of the US blockade of China's island chain. However, with the rapid development of China's anti-access and area denial capabilities, the first and second island chains of the United States have long existed in name only, and Guam, which is in the second island chain, has naturally become the target of public criticism.
As early as last June, John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, expressed concern that China's advances in naval vessels, missile technology and nuclear capabilities were the largest military buildup since World War II, raising the Pentagon's sense of urgency about the PLA's attack on Guam. Of course, he said this to hype the "China threat theory", but it can also confirm the anxiety of the United States to a certain extent.
However, there is a saying in China called "if anyone does not offend me, I will not offend, if anyone offends me, I will offend", and the United States has always been provoking China's core interests, so it must be prepared to be counterattacked and retaliated. Recently, the United States has frequently used the Taiwan Strait issue to provoke provocations, which has reached an extremely dangerous point. Just as the US military disclosed the Guam defense plan and asked for a hammer, the Chinese aircraft carrier group sent a "surprise".
According to the news reported by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, 1 Liaoning aircraft carrier, 2 Type 055 destroyers, 1 054A frigate, 1 Type 052D destroyer, and 1 Type 901 integrated supply ship entered the Western Pacific activities. Before that, 1 Type 055 destroyer, 1 Type 052D destroyer, and 1 Type 903A supply ship also appeared in the Western Pacific, it is not clear whether the two formations carried out joint training, but it is certain that China is projecting combat power to the Western Pacific. Another point that has attracted much attention this time is that the Chinese aircraft carrier has carried out hundreds of carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings, and for the first time has reached the waters near Guam, allowing the United States to also experience the feeling of a knife to the throat. The new movements of the United States in Guam to a certain extent show that the development of China's military strength has indeed scared the US military. (A Dream)