One article I read had a very disturbing premise in it. The Chinese believe it would only take the sinking of one of our aircraft carriers. The loss of a very expensive ship, but also 5,000 sailors and numerous aircraft - will make the US tuck its tail and run. Why? The American public would not stand for it. The invasion of Taiwan is not like an invasion of the US.
Back during WWII, if your side could sink an aircraft carrier belonging to the other side, it was a very good thing. Then World War II ended. And Korea happened. Then Viet Nam happened. Then of course, the Cold War. Our aircraft carriers started to bristle with different defensive armaments for protection. Of course, the "bird farm" always had its aircraft for an assist should trouble come calling. Plus - all the support ships which were part of the task force. Bottom line? With the AEGIS system in tow, any of our strike teams with a carrier at its heart, were considered "protected" (to a degree).
But let's look at today's carrier. The Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) for example. It is a heck of a ship, with state of the art just about everything. And the John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is coming out of the docks shortly (2025). The Kennedy will be just like the Ford. But are they invincible? Are they safe? Are they worth the $11B just to build them? And here is the biggest question of all - are they unsinkable? Losing one of our aircraft carriers is a doomsday thought which haunts our war planners.
Communist China knows that if push comes to shove in Taiwan, the United States will have to use some of its carriers to join the fray. Just because of where we are located in the world, using our carriers would be a must. But China has not been standing still. They have hundreds of anti-ship missiles, many with ranges of 900 miles, ready to use against our carriers. The DF-21D, and the DF-26 class of missiles are their mainstay. They also have long range bombers to even make the range of the missiles even longer.
One article I read had a very disturbing premise in it. The Chinese believe it would only take the sinking of one of our aircraft carriers. The loss of a very expensive ship, but also 5,000 sailors and numerous aircraft - will make the US tuck its tail and run. Why? The American public would not stand for it. The invasion of Taiwan is not like an invasion of the US. As the expression goes, "no skin in the game for us", so why sacrifice our blood and treasure to protect Taiwan?
During the 2020's the non-stop game of cat and mouse will continue. Offense, defense. More offense, better defense. Our war planners want us ready to fight a major war without losing a carrier. But the beat goes on. In 2022, the keel laying ceremony was held for the third Ford Class carrier. It will be called the USS Enterprise (CVN-80).
The building of these super carriers will continue for decades. The final ship of ten in the Ford Class should be delivered by 2058. Man - that is a long time away! I hope the Chinese can behave until then!
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