Dongfeng 17 is currently the only hypersonic weapon system that has been confirmed to be in service in the world. Russian missile experts have said that Dongfeng 17 is currently the most cutting-edge model of China's hypersonic weapons . It will become another weapon against the US military aircraft carrier and will play a decisive role in the Sino-US aircraft carrier showdown.
The gap between Chinese and American aircraft carriers
Even with such a magical weapon, some people still believe that China will not be able to win the aircraft carrier war with certainty, and Dongfeng 17 cannot make up for the objective gap between Chinese and American aircraft carriers . The emergence of this view is not completely unreasonable. After all, the United States, as the world's largest aircraft carrier power, does have its own unique features in aircraft carrier construction.
The U.S. Navy currently has 11 nuclear-powered super aircraft carriers , including 10 Nimitz-class ships and 1 Ford-class . The Nimitz-class has a displacement of more than 100,000 tons. It is currently the most powerful aircraft carrier in the world and can carry 75 carrier-based aircraft of various types.
The U.S. military's air superiority continues. Among the 75 carrier-based aircraft carried by Nimitz, 10 are F35C stealth fighters. This type of fighter is currently the main fifth-generation fighter of the U.S. military. It has cross-generation suppression capabilities against ordinary fourth-generation or even fourth-and-a-half-generation fighters.
The other 34 carrier-based aircraft are F18. The F18 is one of the best multi-purpose fighters in the world. With the new radar and fourth-generation combat bombs such as AIM9X, the F18 has reached the fourth-generation and a half standard, has strong ground-to-air and sea combat capabilities.
In addition to the two fighter jets, the Nimitz class will also carry seven EA18G electronic warfare aircraft. This electronic warfare aircraft, codenamed Growler, is also the most powerful electronic warfare aircraft in the world. It has super electromagnetic attack/interference capabilities. It has defeated the F22 stealth fighter aircraft in US military exercises. Its strength cannot be underestimated.
Nimitz is also equipped with an extremely complete range of combat support aircraft. The air power carried by a Nimitz aircraft carrier exceeds the scale of the air forces of small and medium-sized countries. It is difficult to find opponents on the earth in terms of quantity and quality. It is estimated that the air suppression radius of the carrier-based aircraft on the Nimitz aircraft carrier is as high as 1,700 kilometers .
On the other hand, the Chinese Navy has a clear gap with the US military in terms of the number and tonnage of aircraft carriers. Only two conventionally powered aircraft carriers have officially entered service, with a displacement of only more than 60,000 tons, and are classified as medium-sized aircraft carriers . Because it was derived from the Soviet Union aircraft carrier design, it did not install the catapult , but adopted a ski jump take-off design.
The domestic J-15 carrier-based aircraft itself has a good foundation. It is basically at the same technical level as the American-made F18. It is also a heavy-duty aircraft, so it should have stronger combat effectiveness. However, the ski-jump design of domestic aircraft carriers severely limits the dispatch rate and payload of carrier-based aircraft, making it difficult for the J-15 to exert its full strength.
Domestic airborne weapons have certain advantages over the US military. Thanks to the development of my country's missile technology, the J-15 can play the role of aircraft carrier killer when equipped with the Eagle Strike supersonic anti-ship missile. After replacing PL10 and PL15, it can also compete with US-made stealth carrier-based aircraft, but in general, Chinese and American aircraft carriers are indeed not on the same level.
Dongfeng 17 is difficult to reverse the situation?
The Chinese Navy is also well aware of the gap between Chinese and American aircraft carriers. Domestic aircraft carriers are temporarily unable to shoulder the important task of area denial/anti-access, which is why artifacts like the Dongfeng 17 are created. At present, China's progress in hypersonic weapons and is far better than that of the United States , which is also our military's biggest reliance against US aircraft carriers.
In the People's Liberation Army's arsenal, there are many weapons that can threaten the US aircraft carrier. The Eagle Strike supersonic anti-ship missile carried by the Chinese destroyer can travel hundreds of kilometers away, and can break through the defense of the US-made anti-missile system at Mach 4 high speed and ultra-low altitude.But after all, it is the anti-ship missile . The damage to the aircraft carrier is limited and cannot really be the final word.
In addition, the People's Liberation Army also has two anti-ship ballistic missiles, Dongfeng 21D and Dongfeng 26. Both of them can attack US aircraft carriers thousands of kilometers away. Their terminal speeds of up to Mach 310 are enough to break through the interception of any known missile defense weapons. However, anti-ship ballistic missiles are expensive and can easily cause strategic misjudgments, so they will not be used unless absolutely necessary.
The Dongfeng 17 is another product that changes the rules of the battlefield. Its warhead adopts the waverider design , and the penetration speed is also as high as Mach 10. Unlike anti-ship ballistic missiles, the Dongfeng 17 uses a near-horizontal trajectory. The maximum range of is said to be 2,500 kilometers .
Although the technical performance of the standard series of interceptor missiles equipped by the US military is sophisticated enough, it is still a bit insignificant compared to the Dongfeng 17. As long as a US aircraft carrier enters the range of the Dongfeng 17, it will face completely unpredictable hypersonic weapons attacks at any time. It is self-evident how much combat power an aircraft carrier that may be sunk at any time can have.
In general, the emergence of Dongfeng 17 has indeed changed the balance of the Sino-US aircraft carrier war . Before the US military takes targeted measures, the People's Liberation Army will temporarily have an advantage in this military comparison.
How to fight Dongfeng 17
Although Dongfeng 17 has strong combat performance, as a high-tech weapon, it is absolutely impossible to fight blindly. The nature of Dongfeng 17 determines that it must eliminate the imminent threat of US aircraft carriers as soon as it is launched. Therefore, in order to ensure the lethality or deterrence of Dongfeng 17, it is necessary to ensure that the US aircraft carrier is within the maximum range of 2,500 kilometers.
In the case where the Chinese aircraft carrier does not have an advantage, shore-based weapons such as the Dongfeng 17 must always provide support for our aircraft carriers. Such a distance can also allow our shore-based air power to rush to support the naval aviation.
Dongfeng 17 adopts a mobile platform. It is best to maintain mobility during combat so that the US military cannot figure out the specific location of the launch vehicle and avoid being destroyed by anti-radiation missiles or other long-range strike weapons. In order to ensure the damage effect, multiple vehicles should be dispatched in clusters to adopt saturation attack .
As long as it can cooperate properly with our aircraft carriers and aircraft, we can gain a local advantage over the US aircraft carrier and force the US aircraft carrier to give up its attack attempts and leave China's territorial waters. Dongfeng 17 with proper tactics will become the key for our army to repel or even sink US aircraft carriers and seize the initiative in naval battles.
