What a War Between China and the United States Would Look Like

popular Mechanics ^ | December 29, 2010 | ERIK SOFGE

[Stand Watch Listen]

How It Works: China's Antiship Ballistic Missile
Last week, U.S. Navy officials stated to a Japanese media that the Chinese are moving closer to deploying long-range missiles capable of targeting U.S. aircraft carriers. Here's how they work.

The most alarming weapon China is developing to deny the U.S. Navy access to the East and South China seas is the antiship ballistic missile—the first such missile able to change course to hit a moving aircraft carrier. Mounted on a mobile launch vehicle, an ASBM would rise in two stages, reach space and then use fins to maneuver at hypersonic speeds on its way back down. The warhead then glides along a level path to permit synthetic aperture radar, which processes multiple radar pulses to form a single picture to target the carrier. Finally, the warhead’s infrared seeker locates a carrier’s signature and closes in for the kill.

[DManA]

I don’t think it is worth going to war with China over Taiwan. But we don’t need to tell them that right now.

[And2TheRepublic]

We would lose. With gay soldiers and women soon to be in Combat Arms MOS’, we dont stand a chance. Also, the politcal correctness.

The beginning of OIF and Afghan are the last great wars we will ever fight. Until the political climate changes within the military, we can’t succeed. I see the change for the worse daily in the Army Infantry.

[brownsfan]

A war between China and the US?

Not as long as we can still buy white flags from them.

[vbmoneyspender]

China is an empire. China focuses on Taiwan not so much because it cares about Taiwan having broken away but because it cares very much about other existing provinces breaking away.

[vbmoneyspender]

China is an empire. China focuses on Taiwan not so much because it cares about Taiwan having broken away but because it cares very much about other existing provinces breaking away.

[Peter from Rutland]

I call bullsh*t.

[GonzoGOP]

Every report i have seen about the Chines ASBM say that it uses a nuke. If so using them would open up a can of worms that I don't think China would want to. What is the sense of taking Taiwan if you end up reducing the whole world to a radioactive cinder.

And there is no such thing as a limited nuclear war. If the Chinese nuked a CV battle group and killed tens of thousands of US sailors there would be a immediate call to hit back in kind. And even Obama couldn't hold that back. One nuke into the Three Gorges Dam and you would kill almost as many Chinese as there are Americans.

[mrmeyer]

It would escalate to nukes at some point. In college there were a fair number of foreign exchange students from Japan, S. Korea, and China. I had to interview them for a business class and discuss business culture in their countries.

The interview with the Chinese student got ugly when Taiwan came up, and she made the point quite adamantly that the US would not stop China from reclaiming Taiwan. The anger and hatred her eyes were something straight out of Orwell's 2 minute hate in 1984. It was as if a switch had been flipped. Perfectly calm to completely enraged.

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

We need to be careful in overreacting to China.

It would be perfectly in line with 1000’s of years of Chinese foreign policy to rattle sabers and make trouble for the countries it boarders and do little but take advantage of whatever opportunities come along.

They could very easily cause us to over extend ourselves militarily and bankrupt ourselves financially preparing for asymmetrical threats.

[MichaelP]

Well, that doesn't make me feel good, at all!

Mike

[screaminsunshine]

They forgot the part where Obama calls an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Obama in an attempt to have Peace at any cost does not retaliate. Instead relying on the World Community to quell the outbreak of violence at any cost. Tiawan is a small price to pay for World Peace.

[Chickensoup]

cannot blame them. Would you want China protecting Long Island?

[Nervous Tick]

>> It would escalate to nukes at some point.

If I were president, China would be informed in no uncertain terms that *any* military attack on Taiwan would be met with immediate nuclear destruction of every major population center in China.

[NTHockey]

Article says we have 11 carriers in 2015. Present plans are to REDUCE that to eight. If 0bambi is reelected, he won’t stop at eight and won’t lift a finger to deter our bankers. Neither the Nimitz nor any other carrier will be sent to protect Formosa.

However, if it is President Palin in the WH, the whole scenario gets changed.

[xenob]

We would let them have Taiwan... We don’t hold all the cards anymore. This wouldn’t be some ground battle with guys on camels and AK47’s. It would be a battle of generals pressing launch buttons.

[central_va]

Thank God for Free Trade™, without that we would be at war already.

[SamuraiScot]

The chance of war may be remote

I wouldn't say they're remote. I just finished reading the book Samurai! by Japanese WWII ace Saburo Sakai (who denounced the war and the Emperor post-war). The Japs were planning a war of conquest in Asia since before their 1905 war with Russia. They were determined to take over as much of the world as they could. Oddly, they were unprepared to pursue the vision. Not enough pilots, not enough planes, not enough production, and insane holes in their understanding of their potential adversaries, because despite their energetic spy network—including among the Nisei here—their mindset was proud and insular.

What was truly amazing was the blindness in the West to Japanese obsession and duplicity, and the level of our tactical stupidity before Pearl. Then we mobilized, re-armed, and ground them to a pulp.

The parallels with the Chicoms are glaringly obvious. They're putting commercial and military assets all over the world. I think they're only a few years away from launching their dream campaign. Like the WWII Jap leadership, they're running a totalitarian state, they're delusional, and they dream of world conquest. I think their leaders have the same bizarre psychological weakness—a complete lack of understanding of free will, which is fatal in a long war—but the war will be expensive.

It would be difficult for them if we take it to them first, especially by suborning some of their Western provinces.

[Last Dakotan]

Engaging China through trade as it was sold to the American public in the 1990's has been a complete failure.

How do I know this? Because I am reading what a war with China would look like in Popular Mechanics magazine in the year 2011.

China needs to be treated as we have all other communist adversaries. Isolated and armed against.

[GenXteacher]

One thing the article appears to have left out- we have nuclear subs, and it is not unlikely there would be one or two in the area. They could strike the Chinese, possibly with nuclear weapons, in such a scenario, assuming we had a President with any spine in 2015.