Recently, Philippine Sea has been very lively. On the one hand, my country's Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group has arrived in the sea area to conduct fighter exercises, with frigates, destroyers, high-speed combat support ships, carrier-based helicopters, carrier-based fighters, and bombers taking turns dispatching. The scale has broken the record for the scale of our offshore exercises. On the other hand, the U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, unwilling to be left alone and with ulterior motives, has sailed into the Western Pacific and arrived in the northeastern waters of Guam. To observe its movements, it is likely that it will also come to relevant areas of the Philippine Sea to "strongly observe" the Liaoning exercise.
According to the overseas version of the " Global Times ", after crossing the Miyako Strait last Friday, the aircraft carrier Liaoning ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy has arrived in the Philippine Sea and has begun a new round of aircraft carrier combat group /fighter exercises. The Global Times cited an analysis by sources on Monday as saying that this exercise will be more complex and closer to the real situation than the last exercise in May. The so-called real situation is to further strengthen the "blockade of Taiwan" exercise to block any forces trying to aid the Taiwanese independence elements entrenched in Taiwan Province of my country and to achieve effective deterrence against them.
According to a press release issued by our official photographer Japan’s Ministry of Defense on Sunday, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force discovered the PLA Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning and Type 054A frigate last Saturday. A huge fleet composed of Zaozhuang ship, 52D destroyer Chengdu ship, Type 055 destroyer Anshan ship, Wuxi ship and 901 comprehensive supply ship Hulunhu ship passed through the Miyako Strait and entered the waters of the Western Pacific south of Japan. An aerial photographer from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force photographed carrier-based fighter jets and carrier-based helicopters conducting takeoff and landing training on the Liaoning ship from time to time while the aircraft carrier battle group was advancing. According to a press release issued by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, it can be seen that these carrier-based aircraft include Z-18 carrier-based helicopters and J-15 carrier-based aircraft .
The Z-18 carrier-based helicopters on the Liaoning ship are most likely to be the early warning model Z-18, which makes up for the Liaoning ship's lack of early warning aircraft . The Z-18 is based on the original carrier-based Z-8F. The main rotor and tail rotor have been upgraded. It adopts a full composite material design, which improves the service life and reduces the vibration level. It has been replaced with a more powerful turboshaft engine and an improved transmission system, which improves the power and maintainability of the entire aircraft. In addition, the avionics system has been improved, significantly improving the modernization of the entire aircraft. The Z-18 early warning radar is arranged at the tail of the aircraft.
Ten years ago, the first type of carrier-based multi-purpose fighter J-15 achieved perfect landing on the Liaoning ship for the first time. Since then, my country's fighter jets have achieved a leap from land to sea. Over the past ten years, the systematic combat capability of the J-15 carrier-based aircraft has become stronger and stronger, and it has perfectly realized day and night takeoff and landing, sea and air assaults, and partner-style refueling. Now, the J-15's large-scale combat effectiveness has been formed, and the "Flying Shark" has become the "unsheathed sword" of the Liaoning ship. It can launch fatal strikes at any time whenever necessary.
By tracking the movements of the two C-2A carrier-based maneuvers, the US media initially determined that the US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier (CVN-68) is currently (December 20, 2022) located in the northeastern waters near Guam. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is the second-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy. Before the Ford-class aircraft carrier entered service, it had been the world's largest warship in service, with a displacement of over 100,000 tons. The aircraft carrier is equipped with 4 lifts, 4 steam catapults and 4 arresting cables .
According to the US version of Wikipedia , the CVN-68 Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is equipped with 4 F/A-18F "Super Hornet" combat squadrons, 1 EA-18G "Growler" electronic warfare squadron, 1 E-2C "Hawkeye" early warning aircraft squadron, 2 MH-60 "Seahawk" helicopter squadrons and 1 C-2 "Greyhound" transport aircraft squadron.It is also equipped with 5 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, 1 Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser and an unknown number of attack nuclear submarine . It can be said that in terms of lineup alone, the US CVN-68 Nimitz-class aircraft carrier strike group is not weaker than the Liaoning ship strike group that is conducting exercises in the Philippine Sea, but we have appropriate response measures.
On the one hand, our 10,000-ton large-scale destroyer Type 055 surpasses the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in terms of comprehensive performance, and is superior in terms of survivability and sustained firepower output. In addition, in the first half of this year, according to the Indian media "Eurasia Times", 055 had test-fired the YJ-21 hypersonic missile . The YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship missile has a range of 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers and a terminal maneuvering speed of up to Mach 10. It can effectively penetrate the air defense system of the enemy's aircraft carrier strike group and cause a fatal blow to its aircraft carrier. Therefore, there are often arguments that one Type 055 destroyer can match two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
In addition to the excellent strength of the Type 055 destroyer, the Liaoning ship strike group also has a powerful bodyguard, which is the naval version of the H-6K H-6J. The H-6J's fuselage has been upgraded and improved, using lighter composite materials, a more powerful D-30-KP2 turbofan engine, more advanced avionics and a more modern glass cockpit. In addition, the H-6J is also equipped with a new long-range surface search radar and a high-precision target acquisition photoelectric pod, which can lock enemy surface ships from a long distance. It can also carry up to 7 YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles (6 on the wing pylons and one in the bomb bay). The two H-6Js can finally carry 14 YJ-12 anti-ship missiles, which can ensure the intensity of the attack on the enemy aircraft carrier battle group .
It is precisely because we are fully prepared and have a strong lineup, with both 055 destroyers guarding the sea and H-6J bombers patrolling in the air, that our country's Liaoning ship can safely pass through Miyako and leave the island chain, enter the Western Pacific and enter the Philippine Sea.
The author believes that this exercise of is currently very effective compared to . On the one hand, the record-breaking fleet lineup demonstrated our strong strength and firm determination to safeguard the territorial reunification of the motherland, and once again shocked the Taiwan independence elements, making them understand that seeking independence by coercing foreign countries will eventually lead to a dead end; on the other hand, the United States very "generously" sent a powerful Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier into the Western Pacific to "cooperate" with our "locking exercise." We have completely We can use the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as the imaginary enemy to fully demonstrate the feasibility, effectiveness and reliability of our platform locking tactics, so that the captains and sailors of the US aircraft carrier can see that we have the ability to "walk the talk" in executing "anti-access/area denial tactics". The United States can no longer rely on its aircraft carrier fleet to show off its power in the waters near Taiwan Province of my country.
