The U.S. Navy has dispatched the LPD-25 amphibious dock landing ship USS Somerset during the U.S. Navy's "Shoulder to Shoulder" joint military exercise with the Philippines. Judging from the latest navigation trajectory provided by the automatic ship identification system, the US amphibious dock landing ship and the Philippine patrol ship have gone to the waters near the vigorous dark sand of the Nansha Islands. The Philippines will conduct an amphibious landing exercise on the South China Sea side of Palawan Island, so the War Research Institute also speculates that judging from the timing and the dynamics of the US warships, it is very likely that a simulated island seizure exercise will be launched after the US dock landing ship approaches Nansha this time.
By targeting China's Spratly Islands as an imaginary target, the United States is clearly trying to inject a boost to the Philippines after the exercises, allowing it to launch more frequent provocative actions against China after the exercises. In the course of the "shoulder-to-shoulder" military exercise between the United States and the Philippines, a Type 815A electronic reconnaissance ship of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has arrived about 2 nautical miles away from the US and Philippine fleets to collect intelligence data on every move of the US and Philippine fleets. The U.S. Navy dispatched an amphibious dock landing ship this time, rather than an amphibious assault ship with a straight deck, which cannot be carried by the F-35B vertical short-range fighter, so it is relatively weak in air supremacy.
Amphibious warships, like aircraft carriers, are large surface ships, and are actually targets for the PLA H-6K bombers, according to the information obtained by the War Research Institute, the H-6K bombers can complete the carrying of multiple YJ-12 anti-ship missiles. In recent years, in addition to completing a large number of ground strike missions, the H-6K has also been practicing anti-ship technology. Previously, the USS Roosevelt nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was used as a sparring partner for the H-6K bomber when it crossed the Bass Strait, and according to the news reported by foreign media, the H-6K bomber launched multiple rounds of simulated attacks on the Roosevelt nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at that time. Now that the US dock landing ship has approached the Nansha Islands and is about to carry out a simulated island seizure exercise, the War Research Institute believes that the opportunity has come for the PLA, and the H-6 bombers can take this opportunity to complete the simulated strike.
In the Soviet era, the Soviet Union used Tu-16 bombers to warn the U.S. fleet by flying at low altitudes, and although the H-6K bombers could achieve anti-ship strikes with YJ-12 missiles outside the defense zone, the War Research Institute believes that for the PLA, the H-6K bomber can also be used to skim the sea and warn at close range. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) can send a group of H-6 planes to approach the airspace around the Nansha Islands and fly over the US landing ship to tell the United States that the PLA has anti-ship strike capabilities.
In recent years, the actions of the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea can be said to be a kick in the nose, and many provocations by the United States and the Philippines have not only been targeted at maritime law enforcement agencies such as the mainland coast guard, but now they have clearly targeted provocations against the mainland navy. Although the United States and the Philippines have conducted exercises to seize islands in today's military exercises, the War Research Institute also believes that the United States does not dare to jointly seize islands with the Philippines in actual combat. In addition to the anti-ship strike missions carried out by the H-6 bombers, the PLA can also use a large number of hypersonic missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles to complete the anti-ship strike mission. Text/Iris