When it comes to war, weapons and equipment are an unavoidable topic, after all, there is no way to fight without weapons. And specifically, the U.S. military has been able to dominate the world for many years, in addition to the warehouse full of nuclear warheads, there are three conventional "ace" weapons: aircraft carriers, cruise missiles and stealth aircraft. However, now the three magic weapons of the US military seem to be less magical in the Indo-Pacific region, what is going on?
(The huge tonnage and numerous aircraft carriers carrying many aircraft are a symbol of U.S. military power.)
First, let's talk about the regular ace three-piece set of the US military: the first ace - aircraft carrier!
Almost the world has heard of such a passage: Whenever there is a sudden hot event somewhere in the world, the most accustomed question of the US president is: "Where is our aircraft carrier?" "Nuclear-powered supercarriers carrying dozens of advanced aircraft are now a symbol of U.S. military hegemony.
The combat effectiveness of the US aircraft carrier is indeed worthy of the title of "sea hegemon": According to the US military's own tests, the carrier-based fighters carried by the active US military "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers have an average daily dispatch of 160 to 200 sorties, and the high-intensity attendance can even reach 240 sorties It is enough to destroy 320 to 480 different targets, which shows the powerful power of the aircraft carrier.
(The Tomahawk cruise missile is a "stepping stone" for the U.S. military to launch a war, and when the door is knocked on, the aviation unit will be dispatched)
The second biggest trump card - cruise missiles!
In addition to aircraft carriers, cruise missiles are also another important "magic weapon" of the US military. Cruise missiles first appeared on the battlefield in the 1991 Gulf War, when the first wave of attacks on Iraq by the US military did not send bombers and fighters, but used hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles to carry out early strikes on Iraq's air defense systems, command and communication centers, air bases and other targets. And since the Gulf War, the first round of the war to destroy the enemy's main defense system with a large number of cruise missiles has become a fixed routine of the US military: from the Kosovo War in 1999 to the War in Afghanistan in 2001 to the Iraq War in 2003.
(The US stealth aircraft technology is not to be described as advanced, in addition to stealth fighters, the US military also has the world's only stealth strategic bomber, and is developing a second generation of stealth strategic bombers)
However, compared with the first two "aces", the US military really advocates the third one: stealth aircraft. The United States is the world's most developed stealth aircraft, the largest number of equipment models, the largest number of equipment of the country, from the earliest F-117 to the later B-2 and then to the F-22 and F-35, the United States has developed and mass-produced 4 kinds of stealth aircraft, at the same time these 4 kinds of stealth aircraft have been on the battlefield, subject to actual combat testing, although F-117 was shot down in the Kosovo War, but the other three types of aircraft have not been shot down in actual combat, so stealth aircraft is still regarded by the US military as the trump card in the trump card.
With the passage of time, although the "three aces" of the US military have performed well in previous wars, but now with the advancement of technology, the form of war and the opponents of the United States have also undergone tremendous changes, and the effective "ace weapons" of the past are now less effective. Because objectively speaking, in the past, the opponents of the United States were similar to Iraq, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and even Afghanistan, which are the poorest and least technologically advanced countries in the world, and now the United States has taken the initiative to list the other two major countries in the world as "potential opponents", and the situation is completely different.
(Anti-ship ballistic missiles are the biggest confidence to say "no" in the face of the US aircraft carrier battle group))
First of all, large countries are not small countries, and large countries have complete weapons and equipment systems, and their technology is equally advanced! For example, the well-known "anti-ship ballistic missile" has been public for several years, and this weapon is specifically aimed at the aircraft carrier battle group that the United States is proud of, although there are many views on the Internet that anti-ship ballistic missile weapons have not been tested in actual combat, so the actual use of the effectiveness is doubtful. But as the saying goes, "As soon as an expert strikes, he knows if there is one!" "Some people may not want to believe in the power of anti-ship ballistic missiles, but the US military is convinced, and now the US military itself has publicly admitted on many occasions that aircraft carriers are very vulnerable to anti-ship ballistic missiles, and they are easily attacked and incapacitated."
(Cruise missiles, we also have, how to deal with cruise missiles, we naturally know in our hearts, the United States with cruise missiles can not threaten us at all)
Secondly, although the cruise missiles of the US military also shine in actual combat, they are also aimed at small and medium-sized countries, and due to the limitation of the level of national strength and the level of science and technology, the defense system of the small and medium-sized countries themselves is flawed, and it is impossible to establish a set of long-distance, medium, and near-level air defense systems like big countries.
But even so, the air defense of small countries is, in a sense, very effective. For example, in the 1999 Kosovo War, the Yugoslav army not only shot down a large number of US "Tomahawk" cruise missiles in the 78-day war, but also finally after the Yugoslav Union compromised and surrendered, nato troops entered Kosovo and found that the 78-day bombing only destroyed 21 Yugoslav tanks and armored vehicles, and after the armistice, the Yugoslav army also took off 12 MiG-21 fighter jets from Pristina airport.
(As long as the GPS satellite is solved, the threat of cruise missiles can be completely solved)
It can be seen that even for small countries, the power of cruise missiles is greatly reduced, and the effectiveness of cruise missiles can be imagined for world powers. Because the big countries have perfect and reliable air defense systems, especially the early warning system composed of reconnaissance satellites, long-range reconnaissance aircraft, and early warning aircraft, they can directly lock on the US bombers or fleets carrying cruise missiles, and directly attack them, and eliminate the BOMBers and surface ships of the US military before the cruise missiles are launched.
Even if the U.S. military can launch cruise missiles, the defenders can intercept and destroy cruise missiles through various means such as long-range interception by fighter jets, interception by long-range interception of anti-aircraft missiles, interception of long-range, medium- and near-three-tier interception of anti-aircraft missiles, and interception of the end of anti-aircraft guns. In addition to these hard kills, if the United States uses cruise missiles in great power wars, then the United States' own GPS system will bear the brunt of being destroyed by other countries with anti-satellite technology, and once the GPS guidance system is lost, the cruise missile will lose the ability to navigate and attack on its own, and it will not be able to use at all.
Therefore, for the war of major powers, cruise missiles are more of a joke, and it is no problem to scare and frighten small countries, but it can be said that its role in dealing with large countries is very limited.
(The JY-27 radar imported from Venezuela, which last year was the radar that spotted the approaching F-22 stealth fighter, which made the Americans lose face fiercely.)
Finally, let's talk about stealth aircraft, although the US military has the most times and experience in the battlefield, but the rest of the world has not slept, and the anti-stealth technology of various countries is also developing rapidly.
For example, Syria once purchased the JY-27 long-range early warning radar, which is specially used to search for stealth targets, and whether stealth aircraft have been found after deployment is unknown, but what we know is that in 2019, the Israeli Air Force specially sent fighter jets to completely blow up the radar using long-range air-to-surface missiles.
However, the matter is not over, in May 2020, the South American country of Venezuela also used the JY-27 radar to successfully find the US F-22 stealth fighter near Venezuela, and broadcast it away on the radio, making the US Air Force gray-headed and faceless.
Therefore, the myth of stealth aircraft is also self-defeating in the face of great power wars - after all, the export equipment is certainly not as advanced as the equipment for self-use, and since the export equipment can find the STEALTH aircraft of the US military one after another, the performance of the self-use equipment, without me saying more, everyone can guess.
Although the "three aces" of the US military have basically failed in the face of the current great power war, we must not be too optimistic, because the Americans are not stupid, knowing that their advanced weapons are ineffective, they naturally seek new weapons and equipment. This time, the weapons introduced by the Americans were still cruise missiles, but instead of cruise missiles alone, two platforms were added: nuclear submarines and bombers.
(The U.S. military has converted 4 Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines into cruise missile nuclear submarines, and may modify more in the future))
As early as 2002-2008, the U.S. Navy converted the four earliest mass-produced "Ohio" class strategic missile nuclear submarines into cruise missile nuclear submarines, each submarine can carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, these submarines lurk underwater, can launch surprise attacks on targets within the missile range in any sea, and 154 missiles are enough to constitute a saturated strike-level attack, coupled with the concealment of submarines, can further increase the suddenness of the attack, thereby catching the opponent off guard.
(Nuclear submarine submarine-launched "Tomahawk")
The concept of the bomber is similar to that of a nuclear submarine, which also uses stealth strategic bombers such as the B-2 and B-21, carrying long-range cruise missiles, firing missiles outside the long-range air defense early warning range of the enemy country and carrying out long-range precision strikes against the enemy. Now the United States is accelerating the development plan of the B-21 bomber, which is to realize the new combat method of "bomber + cruise missile". And it is worth noting that the US bombers are not carrying the old Tomahawk cruise missile, but the hypersonic missile under development, the AGM-183A cruise missile. This missile has been tested live on the B-52H bomber, and once successfully developed, it will be combined with the B-21 bomber to produce great combat effectiveness.
(The U.S. military's new AGM-183A missile (white object in the picture) has been tested on the B-52H bomber.)
Overall, the US military has realized that the equipment and technology level of other major countries in the world has been greatly improved, and has been equipped with a considerable number of "killer" weapons, so the traditional "three aces" of the US military have been unable to effectively contain and deter other countries, so the United States must develop a combat system with stealth bombers, large nuclear submarines as platforms, and can carry new hypersonic cruise missiles, so as to launch a "saturation strike" against potential enemies from a longer distance and more unexpected locations.
But strategic bombers and strategic missile nuclear submarines, these weapons have entered the strategic weapons level, if the United States uses these weapons, it is easy for other countries to produce strategic misjudgment, then if a nuclear war is triggered, the United States itself will not be able to escape the fate of the country, so still have to ask: the new "trump card", does the US military really dare to use?