Rising dragon, mighty eagle
The following article by Ukraine supporter David Axe, is off-topic, but could well be of interest to readers:
17 October 2024
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is still conducting sea trials of its first big locally built aircraft carrier, the 80,000-ton Fujian. While Fujian’s crew works out the ship’s kinks, the crews of the PLAN’s other carriers – the ex-Soviet Liaoning and her Chinese-built sister Shandong – are training for war.
Their focus, it seems, is on increasing the sortie rate for their 24-jet air wings. The good news, for the Chinese, is that – according to the Japanese defence ministry – the 50,000-ton Liaoning has demonstrated she can launch nearly 50 fixed-wing sorties a day for as many as nine days in a row. That’s impressive for a flattop with Liaoning’s limitations.
The bad news for the Chinese is that the US Navy’s own carriers can sustain many more sorties over a longer period of time – and there are a lot more American carriers.
An aircraft carrier is only as useful as its aeroplanes. Conversely, carrier-based planes are only as useful as their carrier. How frequently a carrier can launch its planes dictates how much firepower its air wing can bring to bear over time.
Daily sortie rate is a rough measure of this overall firepower. For the US Navy’s 10 Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarriers, each displacing 100,000 tons, the standard is 120 sorties a day for weeks at a time for an air wing with around 60 fixed-wing aircraft. The expectation is that, in an emergency surge, a Nimitz would launch 240 sorties in 24 hours.
The Americans’ new Ford-class carriers – one of which is already in service – are around the same size as the Nimitzes but are designed for an even higher sortie rate, with roomier flight decks and more efficient elevators for moving aircraft and munitions between the flight deck and the hangar. With 60 fixed-wing aircraft, a Ford should manage 160 sorties a day, or 270 in a 24-hour surge.
The US Navy’s flattops routinely sustain twice as many daily sorties as the PLAN’s flattops have managed on rare occasions in recent years. Fujian’s arrival might close the gap somewhat, but for now the Americans have a massive carrier firepower advantage.
Between them, Liaoning and Shandong might be able to launch 100 daily sorties. The US Navy could deploy five or six carriers to the western Pacific in the event of a major war with China – meaning potentially more than 700 daily sorties. If carriers fought carriers far out at sea without much input from land-based aviation, there would be a lot more American planes in the sky than Chinese ones.
And the gap is actually much greater once you factor in the nature of the respective sorties. How a carrier launches its planes dictates the amount of fuel and weaponry the planes can carry. That determines how far away they can strike – and with how much force.
The US Navy’s supercarriers all have catapults that can launch strike fighters at their full weight – allowing, for instance, an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to get airborne with 17 tons of weapons and fuel. At this weight, an F/A-18 can range more than 400 miles with eight tons of missiles and bombs.
Liaoning and Shandong lack catapults. Instead, they launch their Shenyang J-15 fighters via ramps on their bows. This launch method is risky. If there isn’t a stiff headwind, the Chinese carriers cannot launch their J-15s at the planes’ maximum weight. This max weight – coincidentally – allows the Chinese jets 17 tons of weapons and fuel.
A max-weight J-15 should match a max-weight F/A-18’s range and firepower. But unpredictable wind conditions mean J-15s will often launch at reduced weight with shorter range and fewer weapons. So Liaoning and Shandongsorties aren’t always equal to American sorties.
Even as the Chinese navy steadily expands its carrier flotilla, it’s still playing catch-up to the leading carrier power in the Pacific region. The Fujian has catapults, but only three to an American carrier’s four, and she still can’t match a Nimitz or a Ford for tonnage. Fujian will be able to launch fully loaded planes reliably but she still won’t match US Navy sortie rates.
For the foreseeable future, the PLAN is badly overmatched in carrier airpower.
Food for thought :
One carrier battle group deployed in the Eastern Med would have sufficient firepower to destroy Putler’s occupation within just a few days.
John McCain might have ordered just that. So probably would a president Roger Wicker, but it’s hard to think of anyone else. Possibly Ron Reagan or JFK?
Both JFK and President Reagan IMHO would have been polar opposites to the current breed of ass wipes. We know JFK took no crap during the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Reagan brought down (with Maggie) the Soviet Union without firing a shot. Those were leaders, in a bygone era.
I will go for Trump. Biden, Obama, Kamala… are full of shit!