Recently, there has been a lot of uproar, that is, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked US aircraft carriers, and many people are arguing about whether the Houthis have hit or not.
Judging from the low-grade anti-ship weapons of the Houthis, it seems unlikely that they will break through the layers of air defense networks and hit the US aircraft carrier, and will not be able to pose a devastating threat to the US aircraft carrier.
Although the Persian Gulf-2 used by the Houthis is an anti-ship ballistic missile, its performance is very average. After the missile is launched, it flies in the atmosphere throughout the whole process, showing a ballistic arc similar to gliding, the maximum trajectory apex is 20,000 to 30,000 meters, and the reentry speed is about Mach 3~4. Also because of the low penetration speed, the power of the part is relatively small, and the destructive power is obviously insufficient.
Since the 80s, the United States has made a big explosion in radar and electronic technology, and has made tremendous progress in the detection and interception of high-altitude targets.
In particular, the use of the Aegis system and various phased array radars 9 has made it almost impossible for fighters or missiles to penetrate at high altitudes.
And with AWACS aircraft, such a thing can deal with low-altitude penetration. Therefore, the air defense circle of the aircraft carrier battle group has expanded from the original tens of kilometers to hundreds or even thousands of kilometers.
However, whether it is hit or not, if you think about it, if you had gone back 15 years and the Houthis had dared to attack US warships, then the US military would have been fighting the Houthis a long time ago.
You know, the Houthis are blockading the Red Sea. Why is the Red Sea Route important? The Red Sea, the choke point of the global economy, is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Almost all of the Eurasian maritime trade depended on the Red Sea. Every year, 17,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal, which means that 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, which is a total of more than $1 trillion worth of goods. This narrow sea area connects the Mediterranean Sea to the north by the Suez Canal and to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean to the south by the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The Suez Canal is controlled by Egypt, but the situation is more complicated in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is bordered by Eritrea and Djibouti on the west bank and Yemen's Houthi-controlled territory on the east. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is only 25 to 32 kilometers wide, and it is not difficult to blockade it. The blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would be equivalent to choking the Red Sea route, and ships would have to make a detour through the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and then sail along the western side of the continent. The Red Sea route is particularly important for the transportation of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In the first half of 2023, about 9 million barrels of oil per day were transported through the Suez Canal, according to freight analytics firm Vortexa. Blockading the Red Sea is equivalent to choking half of the West's energy lifeline, and if it were according to the previous character of the United States, it would have ended long ago.
And what is the situation now? In order to avoid a new round of attacks by the Houthis, the US aircraft carrier moved to Mecca. Soon after, the Houthis took over four more American freighters.
This reveals a very important message for China: the US military will never end up in the Middle East.
Today's United States is mired in a U.S. debt crisis internally, and the external Russia-Ukraine war and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are consuming the United States, and at the same time, it has to compete with China.
Therefore, for the current United States, even if it gives up Israel and its core interests in the Middle East, the US military will not end up in the Middle East, and the US military is now accumulating all its forces to fight the final decisive battle with China in the Western Pacific.
For the United States, the weakened US military has to face a growing and powerful China, which is the only country in the world that can threaten the status of the US military, and the United States can use all its allies to sanction and blockade Russia, but this set is completely useless for China.
In 2024, the United States will use financial warfare against China, using the exchange rate to harvest the yuan, which is the last resort that the United States can use outside of non-military affairs, but what is the result? The renminbi is strong, and it is only harvested in Japan, Vietnam and other countries.
Therefore, the goal of the United States is to contain China's development only by using the means of war
In the second decade of the 21st century, the US military power has collapsed significantly, the missile destroyers are either facing the danger of decommissioning, the aircraft carriers are lining up for overhaul, and the Zumwalt destroyer, the USS Ford, and the Littoral Combat Ship, which took 20 years to build, have all declared failure.
Most of the U.S. military forces are now deployed in the western Pacific, and the U.S. forces stationed in Japan, the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, and the U.S. forces deployed to Guam, Australia, and Alaska have more than 150,000 U.S. troops around China.
If the U.S. military ends up in the Middle East, there is only one final result, that is, it will absolutely not be able to contain China in the Western Pacific, so the United States will never end up in the Middle East.
For the United States, as long as it completely wins the Sino-US competition, the United States can still regain the Middle East, but if it sits back and watches China develop again for the sake of the Middle East, then the United States will eventually lose the Middle East.
You must know that Bush Jr. paid too much attention to the Middle East and ignored China, giving China a chance to develop, and the United States did not want to make a second mistake.
Look at the past two days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine recognizes Palestine as a state, this statement has actually reflected the current attitude of the United States, even if Jewish interest groups are kidnapping the United States, the United States will not end up in the Middle East.
Is this news good or bad for China? This means that the United States will not give up its involvement in the situation in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and other waters around China, and will continue to implement a policy of containment, suppression, and blockade against China in all aspects.
But the good news is that China can take advantage of this opportunity to get more involved in the Middle East and gain more geopolitical benefits in the Middle East.