“Why in the fk would these dumbasses publish this information”
The US regularly publishes information on its weapons. As does every other world power. The intent is to prevent potential opponents from thinking they have such an advantage in a particular area of warfare that they decide to go to war. It is for deterrence. China has published data and demonstrated several times that it can shoot down intel satellites. China has also launched geostationary satellites, which are much higher up and harder to shoot at. These reportedly have much of the capability of their more vulnerable low-orbit analogs. The US is putting the world on notice that it can shoot down pretty much anything by taking a missile into orbit and launching it from there. (That’s just one of the implications of the article. But it surely won’t be missed by the Chinese.)
The idea of weapons is that they are not secret. If they were secret they would not have any deterrent effect.
Due to the disparity in local navies between the US (which has something like 239 major ships worldwide) and China, which has over 400 smaller ships indicates that the US has lost local deterrence regarding preventing China from taking Taiwan. The US is telling China that its satellites, which give it a decided advantage in using its impressive long range anti-ship capability, is not the advantage China thinks it is.
The object is to avoid a major power war by reestablishing a deterrent to that war. If the US can stave off a Chinese initiated major power war long enough, it is likely that the CCP will collapse and China will fractionate into many smaller powers that will be fighting amongst each other.
Reminds me of the line out of the movie "Dr. Strangelove". "Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, eh?"
Well stated, sir,
Well stated, sir.I see you’ve given this briefing before.
“likely that the CCP will collapse and China will fractionate into many smaller powers that will be fighting amongst each other.”
This is what I was told by a General and GS16 in 2002, in Brussels, during a required meeting of the Singal Battalion that covers Networks for that area extending into Northern Germany, The Netherlands and SHAPE-Chievers.
I keep saying: China’s supposed “advantage” in surface ships is wildly overblown. It’s not the US vs. China. It’s the US/Taiwan/Malaya/Japan/Korea/the Philippines with ALL their land-based air, missiles and weaponry vs. the Chinese navy. They cannot even get to open water without losing more than half their fleet, and no, the US would not engage within the “ring.”
Sometimes those weapons actually exist, sometimes they don't.