The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 752 Military Changes (Seeking monthly ticket subscription)

For an aircraft carrier battle group, its strength in naval battles is unquestionable.

Aircraft carriers are useless, this is relative. So far, they are useless only when launching attacks on the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, because the combat effectiveness and number of carrier-based aircraft cannot be compared with those of land-based aviation forces, and they also need to face the threats of land-based air defense forces, shore-based anti-ship missiles, and anti-ship ballistic missiles.

But there are nearly 200 countries in the world, in addition to the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, there are a large number of countries!
The role of an aircraft carrier is to serve as a take-off and landing platform for carrier-based aircraft and to gain sea and air control through carrier-based aircraft.

As a strategic weapon and mobile airport of a major power, aircraft carriers play a vital role in today's international environment, whether facing medium or low-intensity wars or maintaining regional peace.

A strong aircraft carrier fleet is an important power front of a major country besides the destructive deterrence of nuclear power. If it has one, it will be superior to others; if it does not have one, it will be inferior to others.

It’s not about bullying anyone, but about not being bullied.

"Whether you still think that aircraft carriers are useless, think about it. The U.S. Navy now has 14 aircraft carriers, including the Forrestal-class aircraft carriers from the 50s, the Kitty Hawk-class and Enterprise-class aircraft carriers from the 60s, and the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers from the 70s and 80s. In addition, three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are under construction, and two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are in line, which are expected to be completed in the next 2 years," said Liu Tao.

"The USS Nimitz entered service in 1975 at a cost of $18.25 billion. The USS Eisenhower entered service in 1977 at a cost of $21 billion. The USS Carl Vinson entered service in 1981 at a cost of $22.8 billion. The USS Washington, which is about to enter service, cost $35 billion." Liu Tao said in a deep voice, "Do you think that the Americans spend a lot of money to build aircraft carriers just to make toys?"

"There is also the Soviet Union, which has experienced twists and turns in the development of aircraft carriers. But now, it has also explored all the way from helicopter carriers to the development of large aircraft carriers. Isn't the detour taken by the Soviet Union worth awakening everyone?" Liu Tao was speechless.

The Soviet Union’s development of aircraft carriers is definitely worth learning from.

That was the path that the Soviet Union explored at a high price.

A lesson for the past and a guide for the future!
This truth is so simple, but some people always forget it.

There is no need to argue about the theory that aircraft carriers are useless. There is no point in arguing.

Then we discussed the changes in warfare, and how informatization and high technology will bring about changes in warfare.

Since World War II, when Germany used armored forces to blitzkrieg Poland, the mainstream of military development in the world has been towards motorization and mechanization!

The Soviet Union developed this to a level that no one could surpass, becoming the first country in the world to complete the construction of mechanized troops.

The West-81 military exercise made the whole world tremble under the Soviet Union's rolling steel torrent, especially the European countries bordering the Soviet Union, which could not even sleep.

The Americans had no choice but to come up with a new way of playing. It was not that the Americans did not want to do the same as the Soviets. At the beginning, the Americans did the same thing, but it didn't take long for the Americans to find that they could not compete with the Soviets in terms of quantity. The quality was not much better, and the quantity was far inferior to the Soviets. If they continued like this, they would definitely lose.

So Americans took a different approach.

This Gulf War was actually the United States's way of verifying whether this new style of fighting was reliable in the face of the steel torrent.

After all, the Americans themselves don’t know the answer.

Obviously, the Americans succeeded!

Then, military transformation began again around the world.

Look at it now. The war has continued to this day, and the multinational coalition has destroyed important Iraqi military facilities through air strikes, causing huge damage to Iraq.

Iraq's powerful army is in a passive position.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Iraqis could not win.

No one doubts that if the bombing continues like this, the war will be over without the need for the multinational coalition army to be deployed.

Relying solely on air strikes to win a war is something that has never happened in previous wars. Although there are terrain factors in Kuwait and Iraq, there is no doubt that this style of play has given everyone a lot of inspiration.

In the future, countries around the world will definitely strengthen the construction of their air forces and missile forces.

This is from the offensive perspective. From a defensive perspective, it will strengthen the construction of air defense forces.

Since ancient times, attack and defense have been spear and shield. There is no sharpest spear, nor the solidest shield.

Liu Tao believes that the Chinese military must have a balance between offense and defense and must have strong offensive power. In the next ten years or so, China will gradually build 81 combined brigades. The firepower of the combined brigades will be enough to cure the Chinese military's fear of insufficient firepower. In other areas, the shortcomings of the air force and navy must be made up.

It requires both powerful offensive firepower and powerful defensive capabilities, and this part is the construction of short-range, medium-range, and long-range air defense missiles as well as low-altitude air defense firepower.

We must have both strong strategic weapons deterrence and strong conventional weapons deterrence.

You can't always make threats and use nuclear weapons, who would want to play with you?

In this world, there are many ways to play, and different situations have different ways to play.

China needs cards that can be played in different ways, and it can be played in any way and played well.

There are many things worth learning from this Gulf War, but we cannot copy them. If we worship and deify it too much, we will go astray.

Because with the development of science and technology, national defense construction will cost more money, and war will cost even more money.

Even though the multinational forces are bombing all kinds of things now, what they are bombing with is money.

The military funds raised by the United States in the early stage were not enough. After the U.S. Congress allocated another $600 billion, it urgently allocated another $400 billion to win the war.

The United States sent two teams to various parts of the world to beg for alms, and through a combination of sticks and carrots, it raised $500 billion.

It is conceivable that the multinational forces in the Gulf War kept bombing and burning money.

This is a bit like having extremely strong explosive power, but if you can withstand the explosive power in the early stages, the subsequent wars will become very powerless.

This method can be applied to Iraq, but it is not applicable to many countries. After all, if this method is used against Persia, the effect will definitely be greatly reduced.

Other countries may be led astray by the Gulf War, but China’s national defense construction cannot be led astray.

China's national defense construction should be to take the essence and remove the dross to make up for its own shortcomings.

Some places are suitable for learning, but some places are not suitable.

The reason is simple. In the next ten years, China's military expenditure will not increase too much because the military expenditure is really limited.

After all, China now focuses on economic development, and this tone remains unchanged.

The reason why national defense construction has made rapid progress now is not because of a substantial increase in the defense budget, but because these weapons are all domestically produced, and basically do not make much money, or even lose money. There are even outrageous things like 10-year interest-free installment payments and 20-year low-interest installment payments.

If it were the United States, spending ten or even twenty times more money would not achieve the same effect.

(End of this chapter)