With a video of piloting a drone to land on the Izumo quasi-aircraft carrier, Chinese netizens "This is my Trumpet 4" suddenly exploded, which made the Japanese side very embarrassed. The Izumo, the strongest in the Sea of Japan, the kind that can carry the F35B carrier-based aircraft, was easily broken through by a civilian enthusiast drone, not only was it photographed thoroughly, but finally "landed" on the deck and took off, no matter how the Japanese explained, or even forcibly said that the video was generated by AI, it made people deeply doubt their capabilities.
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Unexpectedly, the news of "this is my Trumpet 4" is far more than that, and on May 8, the netizen posted again on social media, showing the latest results. This time, it turned out to be a bigger guy than the Izumo: the USS Reagan nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the US Navy, and many other US warships!
This huge aircraft carrier was moored in Japan's Yokosuka base at the time, and it can be seen from the video that Chinese netizens are bold and bold, and the drone has been very close to the aircraft carrier, almost flying close to the face, but no one in the military port has any reaction, and obviously did not notice that the drone is approaching.
At this time, the scenery from the deck of the aircraft carrier is in full view and very clear. The Reagan was undergoing maintenance work at the time, with four elevators all in a low position, and the deck was very messy, with debris, scaffolding, and a large piece of cloth, and many parts of the island were covered with green tarpaulins. This seems to confirm the rumors that the Reagan had a serious problem and was lying in Yokosuka. Is there any connection between this problem and the once widely circulated "nuclear leakage" theory?
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The USS Reagan is a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that began construction at Newport News Shipyard in New York, USA, in 1998, launched in 2000, and officially named on March 4, 2001. With a displacement of up to 100,000 tons and a steam catapult, the Reagan is capable of carrying more than 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including fighters, early warning aircraft, etc., in addition to 4 helicopters.
However, the Reagan has been in trouble recently, and since March last year, a blogger claiming to be a sailor on the Reagan has posted that there has been a nuclear leak on the aircraft carrier, and it is difficult to solve, and rumors have been flying all over the sky for a while.
The man, who was allegedly sent by his boss to "monitor the normal level of radiation from the nuclear reactor", suffered from "nausea and vomiting" as the accident progressed, and he suspected that his health was affected by the radiation, so he posted a complaint. And the Reagan has been lying in the port of Yokosuka for several months, which makes people even more suspicious.
However, in June 2023, the Reagan entered the South China Sea, and in August 2023, the Reagan went to sea to participate in military exercises, and this intensive operation seems to have dispelled the rumors of "nuclear leakage". Even if there is a nuclear leak, it should be dealt with.
However, this year, netizens "This is my Trumpet 4" lifted the "fig leaf" of the Reagan again. Although it is not possible to determine the exact time when he secretly photographed the Reagan, it is speculated that it was also in March and April of this year, which is not much different from the previous successful "raid" on the Izumo. The Reagan also conducted military exercises with the Philippines in the South China Sea in November last year, and after returning to the Yokosuka base, it was not until the sea trials of the Fujian warship on the mainland in May this year that the Reagan went to sea for a short time again, but it was only a test, and it did not carry carrier-based aircraft, and it soon went back again.
According to common sense, after more than 8 years of overseas deployment, the Reagan should return to the United States for mid-term maintenance, and the Roosevelt aircraft carrier that replaced it has already come to the Asia-Pacific region, but the Reagan has not left, which makes netizens at home and abroad very puzzled.
Fortunately, there is a candid photo of "this is my Trumpet 4", which reveals a certain answer, it turns out that the Reagan has been undergoing maintenance in Japan for a long time and has been dismantled, and the short time to sea in May should be a sea trial after undergoing repairs. As the pride of the United States, it is very abnormal for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to engage in such a big battle in a Japanese base while not maintaining it on its own soil. The particularly large "cloth" on the deck of the aircraft carrier in the video is very eye-catching.
The Reagan was powered by two high-powered nuclear reactors, located in compartments deep below deck. Does the current anomaly on the deck mean that the reactor needs to be repaired in depth? All indications show that the rumors of the "nuclear leak" before the Reagan are probably not groundless.
If the "nuclear leakage" is true, then Japan will have a good look. Japan has a long history with nuclear weapons, having suffered two atomic bombs in World War II, built a large number of nuclear power plants after the war, had many nuclear radiation accidents, and finally broke out in 2011 with the serious Fukushima nuclear disaster. If the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier makes another nuclear leak in Japan, then Japan really can't eat and walk around, and it will be almost like retribution.
Of course, this is just speculation. What makes the United States and Japan most angry now is an ordinary small drone, why can it come and go freely in the heavily guarded Yokosuka base, as if it were in a no-man's land? Due to the presence of U.S. troops stationed at Yokosuka Military Port, it is like a country within a country, and the security level is quite high, and the internal security is directly responsible for the U.S. military. In this case, it was also "invaded" by drones, and more than once, the face of both the US military and Japan was lost.
It is not easy to say that they are not easy, and how to prevent low, slow and small rotary-wing UAVs has always been a worldwide problem. Most of these UAVs are four- or six-axis designs, and their size is very small, which is not only difficult to detect with the naked eye, but also cannot be distinguished by radar, let alone guided anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down.
But don't look at the small size of the drone, but the ability is very strong, not to mention taking pictures and videos, you can also bring grenades or rockets to carry out "air strikes" when modified, and blow up infantry and tanks on their backs, and now such a drama is being staged every day on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield. Fortunately, the Chinese netizen just came to take a sneak shot, and if the cloud and the Reagan really were really given a grenade, then the movement would be big.
Regarding the incident of the Reagan being secretly photographed, the US military put on an ostrich tactic. Justin Keller, a spokesman for the Yokosuka base of the US military in Japan, said that the base is already aware of the photos and videos, and the US Navy Criminal Investigation Bureau has also specifically "investigated their authenticity." But Keller claimed that "the investigation showed no signs of a drone flying over the Reagan," adding that the base and its ships "are adequately protected on a daily basis, and the safety of the base or the crew of the USS Reagan has never been questioned." Obviously, this matter is too humiliating for Americans to admit it.
But the fact that it was secretly filmed is a fact, and it seems that neither the US military nor the Japanese Self-Defense Forces have many ways to deal with drones. Now the Russian army should be the most experienced in this area. Their methods are simple and crude, one is to apply strong electronic interference to cut off the communication between the drone and the rear operator, and naturally it will not be able to fly anymore. Many of the drones that the West has aided Ukraine simply cannot be used because they cannot adapt to the ubiquitous interference on the battlefield.
Another option is to use a drone against a drone, using your own drone to shoot them down, or releasing a trap net to cover the drone and capture it. In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian army has accumulated quite a lot of examples of drone "air combat", and the effect is quite good. I don't know if the United States and Japan will steal from Russia after this candid shooting incident and learn this tactics against drones.