As the age of the carrier draws to a close, its utility will be more more limited to applications of power against second-rate military powers. The real aircraft carrier will be a satellite in space. Hopefully, by the time the Chinese catch up with ocean going carriers we will have a new administration in place who extends the arms race into space.
China finds itself in the exact opposite position from the Russians. The Russians only had to interdict, not control our sea lanes, to win the war at sea.
To feed the Economy, China has to CONTROL the sea lanes to their resources. We only have to interdict that.
The Chinese have to make the leap from Interdiction, to control.
That is a VERY big chasm for them to get over.
Though flying close air support and bombing Third World bridges wasn't the grand vision for these “floating cities” it was those missions that have kept these ships relevant. The WWII gun cruisers were so effective in Vietnam they burned out their barrels firing round the clock.
I thought we had one, from 1980-1988. Whatever happened to Star Wars?
Isn't it much better to ride to the space station in the back of a Russian vehicle? Much cheaper.
I have to agree. Working both in competition against them, and also with them (vendors), in an industry decimated by Chinese competition, I have learned that the Chinese are NOT to be underestimated. They are not superhumans, but they are smart, hard workers, and very motivated. They can even do remarkably good quality control under the right direction / circumstances, though this is not presently the norm, of course. The most likely things that might keep them from surpassing us are: Social issues / economic mismanagement (too big an elephant to ride?), corruption, resource starvation, and too much mercury and other pollution in their environment. (Medical and clean-up cost issues.)
As the age of the carrier draws to a close, its utility will be more more limited to applications of power against second-rate military powers. The real aircraft carrier will be a satellite in space. Hopefully, by the time the Chinese catch up with ocean going carriers we will have a new administration in place who extends the arms race into space.
We actually have most of the technology needed for this:
For perspective, non-B5 fans, that baby is a mile long... It's not practical yet, but as a fellow engineer once told me "Anything can be done for enough money." (Sell California, maybe?) [/sarc]
There, all fixed.p> Agreed on your second point, though.
Cheers!
There, all fixed.
Agreed on your second point, though.
Cheers!