On Aug. 2, the newly formed U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced that they would launch a "large scale global exercise 21" military exercise on Aug. 27. The drill was the largest U.S. military exercise in the Indo-Pacific region in nearly 40 years. Spanning 17 time zones around the world, the exercise involved 25,000 people from six U.S. fleets and three Marine Corps expeditions, spanning more than 50 units from the Mediterranean to the western Pacific. It has provoked the largest maritime threat.
The picture shows the idea of an anti-ship ballistic missile strike on an aircraft carrier.
From August 6 to August 10, China also carried out large-scale military exercises in the South China Sea, using a variety of advanced equipment, it is reported that its exercise area of 100,000 square kilometers, about 1/30 of China's territorial waters, the sea across the sanya periphery to the Xisha Islands, as many as nearly 30 participating ships, China's Navy 002 type Shandong aircraft carrier also participated in this military exercise. During the exercise, it is likely that China will test-fire anti-ship ballistic missiles from the northwest inland to the southeastern sea, which is the second time that china has shown the world this advanced weapon that changes the rules of naval warfare since it test-fired this missile into the sea in August 2020.
The picture shows the regional schematic map of China's naval exercise in Yugoslavia.
It should be said that China has carried out such an important military exercise in order to deal with the increasing military threat of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, and in the face of the largest military exercise in the past 40 years, China should also show an uncompromising posture. Of course, the United States is also very interested in this military exercise carried out by our country, and has repeatedly sent reconnaissance planes and spy ships into the south naval exercise area, trying to do its best to get a glimpse of the end, but under the strict defense of our army, the US ships and planes have been driven out of this sea area.
It can also be seen from this military exercise that China has taken anti-ship ballistic missiles as an important force of strategic deterrence and has made it a "killer weapon" at a critical moment. In the latest "China Naval Modernization Report" released by the US Congressional Research Office on August 3, anti-ship ballistic missiles were also analyzed and paid attention to as key equipment. At present, China is equipped with 2 types of anti-ship ballistic missiles, namely the DF-26 and the DF-21D. Among them, the dongfeng-26 has a long range of up to 4000 kilometers; the Dongfeng-21d has a relatively close range of about 2000 kilometers. Both missiles are nuclear-conventional warheads that can carry hypersonic gliding missiles and can launch precision attacks on aircraft carriers.
The picture shows a schematic diagram of China's inland launch of anti-ship ballistic missiles to strike the sea range.
Anti-ship ballistic missile technology is very difficult, and the Soviet Union has carried out the development of similar weapons many times, but all of them have failed. Anti-ship ballistic missiles are weapons that can be developed and used on the basis of a series of advanced equipment systems. For example, it is necessary to establish a satellite space-based communication system with global coverage, so that when the warhead is at a height near the height of space, it is necessary to send route correction instructions; in this regard, China has a skylink satellite communication system; to establish a global marine surveillance and reconnaissance satellite system, in order to accurately discover and track aircraft carriers above the vast sea, in this regard, China has a series of sharp soldier satellites and fengyun, practice series of satellites, etc.; to establish a precisely positioned global satellite navigation system to provide accurate flight route correction for warheads. In this regard, China has the Beidou satellite navigation system.
The picture shows that China is installing anti-ship ballistic missiles on a large scale.
At the same time, large early warning aircraft, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced surface ship units, space survey ships, etc., are also needed, so that anti-ship ballistic missiles can be used in various combat environments and their flight routes and strike effects can be evaluated. Finally, it is even more necessary to have gliding hypersonic warhead technology in order to develop missile warheads that can maneuver at the edge of the atmosphere to change orbits, penetrate at high speeds, and strike with precision. Without such a warhead, the construction of all the above systems cannot be implemented on the biggest goal of "anti-ship".
The picture shows the DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missile.
Both the Soviet Union and the United States were close to possessing similar weapons, but in the end neither of them did so. The reason for the failure of Soviet research and development was the lack of space-based communication systems covering the entire outer space of the earth, hypersonic glide missile technology, advanced solid fuel rocket technology, digitalization, informatization, and automated missile control technology, advanced early warning aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle technology; the reason why the United States could not develop similar missile weapons was the lack of hypersonic missile technology in the United States. The United States pointed out in its latest "China Naval Modernization Report" that the United States needs 5-10 years to develop anti-ship ballistic missiles owned by China.
Pictured is the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile.
In 2015, china for the first time displayed two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the parade, namely the DF-21D and DF-26 missiles, when the United States was skeptical of this new concept of weapons. However, in August 2019, China carried out anti-ship ballistic missile launch tests in the waters of the South China Sea, and it was reported that a total of 6 anti-ship ballistic missiles were used. For the first time, Davidson, then commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed the threat of anti-ship ballistic missiles in official U.S. form, calling it a weapon that "changes the rules of naval warfare." Because the emergence of anti-ship ballistic missiles, a country can rely only on land missile bases when the navy is not as strong as the enemy, it can complete the direct damage to the enemy's powerful naval forces, and make "land to control the sea" a reality.
Nowadays, China has been equipped with these two missiles in batches, and they are still China's unique advanced technology, and the outside world does not know much about the specific conditions of their technology. It is only known that this missile uses Qian Xuesen's ballistic trajectory in flight, and the warhead glids at an altitude near space. China has also broken through the mach 18 speed, using the air rudder technology, which can ensure that the warhead can maneuver with the help of a thin atmosphere at a faster flight speed, which is an important reason why it can hit the mobile target of the aircraft carrier.
According to US estimates, China's rocket force has been equipped with several df-21d, df-26 missile brigades, a brigade can launch at least 10 anti-ship ballistic missiles in a wave, 3 brigades can quickly complete 3 waves of strikes, 30 missiles, only need 5-8 to break through the defense, can deal with 2 US aircraft carrier battle groups, if the use of nuclear warheads, then more powerful. With the current AIR DEFENSE AND ANTI-MISSILE TECHNOLOGY OF the United States, it is very difficult to deal with such a strike.
The picture shows the Aircraft Carrier Shandong 002 of the Chinese Navy, which also participated in the China South Naval Exercise.
For the time being, the United States does not have a reliable and effective way to deal with the threat of anti-ship ballistic missiles. In this regard, in fact, the United States has also been actively preparing. For example, one of the main tasks of the Burke-3 guided-missile destroyer, which the United States is building, is to deal with the threat of advanced intermediate-range missiles. When the Burke-3 destroyer was developed, it was determined to carry amdr-s and amdr-x two active phased array radars, of which the amdr-s radar is a professional anti-missile radar, the current model is spy-6 radar, the specific performance is the level of spy-1d +15db. What does that mean? It is that his search gain effect is 15db stronger than the spy-1d radar. Specific to each t/r component, the power is increased by 152w-225w, due to the use of gan material, so this radar has greater power, higher sensitivity, stronger ability to filter clutter, and is very suitable for use as an anti-missile radar.
The picture shows the structure of the US spy-6 radar.
However, the Burke-3 destroyer also has his problems, such as the warship uses the old Burke platform in the 80s, the ship's power energy is limited, it is impossible to guarantee that the 4-sided spy-6 radar will be turned on at the same time, and unlike the original design of the active phased array radar of two different bands, the first 3 Burke-3 destroyers can only be equipped with spy-6 radar, that is, amdr-s radar, as for the amdr-x radar, it is still under development. This means that the Burke-3 destroyer cannot conduct anti-missile and anti-aircraft operations at the same time during wartime, nor can it have a nearly unlimited anti-aircraft fire channel like China's 055 large destroyer, and he can only intercept up to 12 air targets at the same time.
The picture shows the combination of the US sea-based anti-missile system and the Burke-3 destroyer.
As for intercepting anti-ship ballistic missiles, the United States can only intercept them in the ascending stage of such missiles for now. Because the mid-section of the anti-ship ballistic missile is flying at an altitude near space, the anti-missile missile is too high and cannot maneuver at the edge of the atmosphere, so it cannot be intercepted; This makes it difficult for the United States to intercept anti-ship ballistic missiles, which have truly become an advanced weapon that "breaks a net with a needle." As for the terminal interception, it is something that the United States cannot think of, and human technology has not yet reached this level.
The picture shows the concept map of the 003 type aircraft carrier of our navy, at any time, having a strong navy is more important than defense.
In short, in the face of the largest military exercise held by the United States in the past 40 years, China has also responded with large-scale military exercises, and has displayed an advanced "killer weapon" -- anti-ship ballistic missiles, so that the United States also feels a strong deterrent, so that the military exercises it is carrying out have greatly reduced the effect, highlighting the importance of anti-ship ballistic missiles, which is a "weapon of great power."