Preface
There has always been a story on the Internet, which talks about the mine attack and defense war between Britain and Germany at sea during World War II . In the middle and late stages of World War II, Germany carried out mine blockade operations against a small British naval base near the English Channel. After the German navy warships laid mines, the British navy's warships would go to mines in time to ensure that the sea For the normal operation of the base, the two sides later formed a subtle tacit understanding: the German Navy went to mine mines on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the British Navy went to clear mines on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and both sides rested at the same time on Sundays. As a result, one day the British Navy I was busy with other things and did not clear the mines. The German naval ships came to mine mines again the next day, but they were sunk by the mines I had laid the day before!
Mines were widely used in World War II
The authenticity of this story cannot be verified, but mine blockade operations have been widely used since World War II. Mines are a low-cost naval warfare equipment. If successful in a major waterway or outside the opponent's naval base Laying a large number of mines can indeed play a great role in containing the opponents, because it is easy to lay mines and difficult to clear. Even if the mines laid do not damage or sink the opponent's ships, it will take a long time for the opponent to clear the mines. This in itself is a problem. Consume the opponent's combat resources! Mines are still an effective naval warfare equipment to this day, and just recently, a U.S. Navy officer actually proposed a tactic of using mines to deal with China!
Until today, sea mines are still one of the indispensable equipment of various navies.
The minelaying capabilities and minelaying equipment of the US military
Recently, the US Navy officer Duno published an academic article at the US Naval Research Institute. The main content of this article It’s how the US military uses water mines to deal with China. Duno pointed out in the article: In recent years, as the People's Liberation Army's large amounts of advanced equipment and tactics have become more and more mature, it has enough strength to compete with any opponents around China, including the US military! And Duno believes that the People's Liberation Army has even surpassed the US military in many aspects. It is difficult for the US military to take advantage of China's surrounding areas, so it must consider the role of unconventional warfare.
The current mines in the US military include MK36, MK40, MK41, MK62, MK63, MK64 and other models.
Duno believes that mine tactics are an effective method. The US military can use them in China's Yangtze River Delta , Pearl River Delta and Yellow Sea etc. A large number of mines are laid in the sea areas. These sea areas are China's most economically developed coastal areas. Once these areas are blocked by mines, China's economy will be greatly affected. In this way, the US military can achieve the goal of subduing China at the lowest cost and price! It seems that Duno's analysis is succinct and he also knows where China's economically developed areas are. But in fact, Duno's analysis is simply wishful thinking. Before overturning Duno's analysis, let's first take a look at the minelaying capabilities of the US military!
The MK-65 express strike mine being loaded onto a B-1B bomber
As early as World War II, the U.S. military had masterfully used mine tactics. For example, in the "Hunger Campaign" launched by the U.S. military against Japan in 1945, the U.S. military within half a year Thousands of bombers and hundreds of submarines were dispatched, and more than 10,000 mines were laid near the main waterways and naval bases around Japan, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Navy at that time. The current mine performance of the US military has become much more advanced, but the mine-laying tools are still the same three: bombers, submarines and surface combatants. Among these three types of mine-laying equipment, bombers have the highest mine-laying efficiency.
Mines are so powerful that one can destroy a large ship
The U.S. military currently mainly relies on B-52 and B-1B strategic bombers to complete its aerial mine laying. A B-52 strategic bomber can carry up to 30 MK-65 mines or 100 MK-62 mines. There are 76 B-52 strategic bombers in active service in the US military. This bomber has a combat radius of more than 7,000 kilometers. It can fly near the Chinese coastline after taking off from Hawaii. In theory, several B-52 strategic bombers can fly at once. Mine-laying operations can either block a strait or completely block a large naval base. It takes a lot of time to eliminate hundreds of mines of various depths, and it may not be completely eliminated. Therefore, the U.S. Air Force still maintains the capability of aerial mine-laying. tactics.
B-52 strategic bomber aerial minelaying
The second type of minelaying equipment of the US military is the attack nuclear submarine . For example, the US Navy's latest Virginia-class attack nuclear submarine. A Virginia-class attack nuclear submarine can carry nearly a hundred MK-57 submarines. Laying anchor mines. Although the laying speed of Virginia-class attack nuclear submarines is far slower than that of B-52 strategic bombers, the advantage of submarine laying is that it can covertly approach the laying mission area. After all, the strategic bombers are too noisy. Currently, the US Navy's 50 The remaining attack nuclear submarines have mine-laying capabilities.
Seawolf-class nuclear submarines can also perform minelaying missions
The third type of minelaying equipment of the US military is surface combat ships, such as Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers. However, the main mission of the US Navy's large surface combatants is It provides escort for aircraft carrier and carries Tomahawk cruise missiles for long-range land strikes, or conducts maritime anti-missile missions. It rarely performs maritime mine-laying tasks. Therefore, the US military currently mainly relies on strategic bombers and nuclear submarines . Conduct mine warfare operations!
The Burke-class destroyer can both sweep mines and lay mines
The countermeasure capabilities of the People's Liberation Army
Why is it said above that Duno's tactics of blocking China's coast with mines are wishful thinking? Because Duno only saw the minelaying capabilities of the US military, but did not take into account the countermeasures capabilities of the People's Liberation Army at all! Laying a large number of mines in my country's offshore waters is actually a declaration of war! Under such circumstances, the People's Liberation Army will definitely launch an all-out counterattack. Judging from the current strength of the People's Liberation Army, it can completely prevent the US military's mine-laying equipment from coming back!
054A launches anti-aircraft missiles
First of all, it is a counterattack against the US military strategic bombers. The US military's B-52 and B-1B strategic bombers with minelaying capabilities currently only have more than a hundred in total. These strategic bombers carry mines and want to get close to our country's coastal waters. , it will be intercepted by PLA Air Force fighter jets and maritime ships thousands of kilometers away. The Chinese Air Force currently has thousands of advanced third- and fourth-generation fighter jets. The US military's B-52 and B-1B strategic bombers are simply trying to "send their lives" if they want to get close to our country's offshore waters. Mines themselves do not have the ability to glide or fly. If they want to lay mines in our country's offshore waters, they must fly over our country's offshore waters. Even if the US military dispatches the B2 bomber with stealth capabilities to fly over our country's offshore waters, it will be intercepted by the People's Liberation Army. The powerful air defense system locked and destroyed it in time, giving them no chance to open the magazine to lay mines!
If US bombers want to get close to our country's offshore waters, they will "send their lives" to the J-20
Let's look at nuclear submarine mines. The movement of US Navy nuclear submarines is indeed smaller than that of strategic bombers, but wanting to get close to our country's offshore waters is also a wishful thinking! In recent years, the anti-submarine combat capabilities of our Air Force and Navy have become more and more powerful and mature. Most of the hundreds of new frigates and destroyers that have been in service since 2000 have advanced anti-submarine capabilities, and most of them have advanced anti-submarine capabilities. Both can carry anti-submarine helicopter .Our country has also put into service the advanced Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft in recent years. The Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft has the longest anomalous magnetic detector among the world's anti-submarine aircraft . No matter how quiet the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarines are, the disturbance to the ocean's magnetic field cannot be avoided. The abnormal magnetic detector of the Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft is tailor-made for submarines with a high level of silence! In addition, submarines cannot move at will on the seabed, and no one is as familiar with the underwater topography of my country's offshore waters as the Chinese Navy. We know exactly which underwater channels US nuclear submarines will take if they want to come in. If US nuclear submarines want to get close to our country, When laying mines offshore, you must first consider whether they will be destroyed by mines laid by the Chinese Navy!
The Yin-8 anti-submarine aircraft is equipped with an advanced foreign magnetic detector
As for using surface ships to lay mines, don’t even think about it! Once the US military wants to block my country's coast with mine tactics, US surface ships will not be able to enter the " first island chain "! Our country has a large number of shore-to-ship missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers, and hundreds of heavy-duty fighter jets with a range of more than 1,500 kilometers. These fighter jets can carry long-range missiles for saturated anti-ship operations. Our navy's advanced large surface combatants and aircraft carriers can also inflict heavy blows to US warships approaching our coastal waters. In addition, our country's anti-ship ballistic missile can not only hit aircraft carriers, but can also hit Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers. Very good at it, the US surface ships were already under saturation attack by the People's Liberation Army anti-ship missiles before they reached the minelaying mission area, and they had no chance to mine them at all!
One of the missions of the J-7 is high-intensity anti-ship warfare
Overall, the tactic of blocking our country’s coast with mines is simply a “brainstorm” to come up with. This is not intended to lay mines at all. Anyone in the US military This piece of equipment wants to come to our country's offshore mines. This is simply a way to "retire early" for yourself! With the strength of the People's Liberation Army today, it can defeat any opponent in the first and second " island chain ". If you can't get in, what can you do to lay mines? Therefore, it is simply wishful thinking to block China's coast with water mines! The tactic proposed by Duno actually reflects that with the continuous improvement of the People's Liberation Army's strength, the US military has "run out of skills" and is a bit "hurrying to medical treatment", otherwise it would not use this unrealistic strategy. Bring tactics to the table for discussion!
