Recently, many netizens discovered that in CCTV's report on the "Liaoning" aircraft carrier formation, the official no longer refers to it as an "aircraft carrier battle group", but uses the term "aircraft carrier strike group".
As a result, many netizens sighed, is this really going to do something big?
I feel like I'm going to witness history, and I'm so excited!
Hear the wind, is it still far away from the rain
However, if you look at the military reform in 2016, our seven military regions have been transferred to five major theaters.
Changing to the word "war" does not necessarily mean that it will be directly pulled out to fight in the near future.
In fact, the most intuitive purpose of the change in the expression of the aircraft carrier formation is to strengthen the actual combat significance of the PLA's aircraft carrier formation.
After all, aircraft carriers are a strategic offensive weapon, not a defensive one.
As early as 2003, the U.S. military, which has the largest modern aircraft carrier force and the most mature combat system, changed the aircraft carrier battle group "Carrier Battle Group" (CVBG) to Carrier Strike Group, referred to as CSG, in the "Naval Combat Command C3501.65D" issued in 2003.
The U.S. aircraft carrier formation staggering forward at full capacity
The main difference between the two is that the traditional battle group emphasizes the battle against the sea; Strike groups, on the other hand, place more emphasis on operations on the other side.
In the Cold War era, the imaginary enemy of the US aircraft carrier group was mainly sea forces that were not far from each other, such as competing with the Soviet Red Navy for sea supremacy.
As a result, during those years, the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group configuration was large, usually with two carriers operating together. At the same time, there were a little more frigates on the periphery and attack nuclear submarines in front of which were responsible for opening the way than there are now, in order to extend the defensive circle as much as possible.
However, such a huge aircraft carrier battle group will naturally increase the difficulty of coordination and command, and the military expenditure brought about by each operation is even more astronomical.
When the Soviet Union was still "alive", for the US military, this money really had to be spent. But with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Red Navy, which had been able to threaten itself, the United States found that it had no opponent worthy of a war.
After that, most of the tasks of the US aircraft carrier squadron were to carry out regional deterrence force and firepower projection, and began to change from "earth-shattering" naval warfare to land strikes in local wars.
Therefore, the US military has streamlined and upgraded its aircraft carrier formation, changed the "battle group" to a "strike group," and placed more emphasis on flexibility and the ability to deliver firepower to the shore.
The overcrowded deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier
At present, the US Navy has formed nine aircraft carrier strike groups with 11 aircraft carriers in active service as the core. Its basic components are as follows:
Generally, the core of an aircraft carrier battle group is one or two aircraft carriers; Immediately clinging to the aircraft carrier are frigates; On the periphery are destroyers, cruisers, and in front of the water are attack nuclear submarines (with a large number of torpedoes).
In the air, there are AWACS aircraft accompanying aircraft carriers and cruising fighters.
Helicopters transport personnel between warships, using satellite communications and navigation services throughout the process.
Finally, at least one supply ship to ensure continuous combat capability in the open ocean.
The American version of the aircraft carrier formation
Speaking of which, everyone should be clear that our "Liaoning" aircraft carrier formation has also used the name of the aircraft carrier "strike group", which obviously means that the Chinese Navy's land operations have become an extremely important link. Some "restless" guys in the East and South China Seas need to pay attention.
Moreover, among the countries with aircraft carriers in the world, only China and the United States have aircraft carrier "strike groups".
However, some people may also ask, in addition to teaching those "restless" guys, should we also maintain a certain deterrent power against the US military's maritime forces? In addition to the other side, it is also important to the sea.
In this regard, the Chinese Navy should still be relatively sure.
Chinese Navy aircraft carrier formation
For example, during the training of the 055 large-scale escort ship Shandong last year, he chased the US "Roosevelt" aircraft carrier strike group for several days, which frightened the US military.
The main reason why we can be so bold is that 055 can locate the attack distance outside the defense radius of the US aircraft carrier.
It is conservatively estimated that there is a distance of at least 500 kilometers between 055 and the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group. These 500 kilometers are the range of pure attack by the US side.
Satellite imagery
Our 055 is equipped with YJ-21 anti-ship missiles, with an effective attack range of more than 1,000 kilometers, which is a full-course hypersonic anti-ship missile. The strike strength is large, the strike distance is long, the penetration performance is high, and it is difficult to find the opponent.
And the standard anti-aircraft missile strike range on the "Roosevelt" was only 120-240 km; Harpoon anti-ship missiles are less than 300 km;
The combat radius of carrier-based aircraft is quite 740 km. However, the 055 is equipped with an advanced active phased array radar, and the fighters on the US side fly together, so we will aim at it, and it will jam when it is found.
In this regard, the Taiwan Provincial Media Zhongtian News at that time had a special analysis, speculating that the PLA's two 055s could launch multiple rounds of saturation strikes against the US aircraft carrier battle group.
Nanchangshu
Looking at the United States, in the past 30 years, the shipbuilding capacity of the United States has been declining.
Prosperity and decline are the law of development of things, and the United States embarked on the road of no return to "deindustrialization" in order to pursue maximum interests.
At present, only two shipyards in the United States can barely build aircraft carriers. The delivery time limit has changed from the original 5 years to the later "uncertain".
Deindustrialization is eroding the biggest foundation of American hegemony.
According to many analyses, China's shipbuilding capacity today is about 63-200 times that of the United States.
Dalyan Shipyard
Moreover, the state of aircraft carriers in other countries during the same period is generally more embarrassing.
For example, when people hear news about the "Kuznetsov", the only remaining Russian product, it is usually either a "joke" or a "tragic accident".
The last time the Kuznetsov was on a mission was more than seven years ago.
This is the scene in October 2016, when the Russian Navy sent an aircraft carrier battle group with the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier as the core, starting from the port of Murmansk of the Northern Fleet, rushing to Syria in the eastern Mediterranean, passing through the English Channel.
Russian aircraft carriers
So much so that some netizens jokingly said - this big Russian aircraft carrier, don't burn wood, right?
After carrying out the combat mission, the "Kuznetsov", which had gone out to fight with illness, staggered all the way back with black smoke spitting out, stopped at the shipyard with a "bang", and announced the start of overhaul. In the following period, the Russian army once again fell into the dilemma of having no aircraft carriers available.
The most recent news about the "Kuznetsov" was on December 12, 2022, when the "Kuznetsov" under repair suddenly caught fire, resulting in 3 deaths and 12 injuries, and the aircraft carrier burned an area of 600 square meters in the accident, and even burned the dock.
Later, it seems, none of them heard anything more about the "Kuznetsov". That's because, to this day, it's still under overhaul.
and the British Empire, which began with sea power. Although it has three aircraft carriers on hand, it cannot build its own carrier-based aircraft, so it all depends on buying them from the Americans.
In particular, the aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth", which has just been launched for a few years, often drops its chain at critical moments.
For example, at the beginning of this year, when the United States planned to drag NATO to carry out the "Steadfast Defender 2024" military exercise, Britain sent the "Queen Elizabeth" out.
Unexpectedly, Britain originally wanted to raise a big face, but it turned out to be embarrassing. As soon as the aircraft carrier left the port, it was directly lying on its stomach and had to return to the port for maintenance.
Moreover, this is not the first time it has "wombled".
Some analysts say that judging from the performance of the "Queen Elizabeth" every time it "lies down", this large British aircraft carrier may have been misdesigned by the shaft system responsible for the transmission of the entire warship. If you want to repair it completely, you have to dismantle the keel, which is super troublesome.
Britain's current aircraft carrier can be regarded as having no technology and no supporting facilities.
Looking at France again, it has aircraft carriers and can build its own carrier-based aircraft, and it is still the only country in the world other than the United States that has a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. However, the ejection system of the French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" cannot be produced in-house and is deeply dependent on the United States.
It can be said that at present, China is the second country in the world other than the United States that can achieve self-production from aircraft carrier platforms, carrier-based aircraft, to catapult systems (electromagnetic catapult of the Fujian ship), and blocking cables.
Coupled with the disparity in the shipbuilding capabilities of the two countries, the gap between the number of aircraft carriers between China and the United States will become smaller and smaller.
However, compared with American aircraft carriers, we do have some weak links.
At present, the Chinese Navy has only two active aircraft carriers and one aircraft carrier in sea trials, which are small in number and have not yet formed a series.
In contrast, the "Kitty Hawk class" (decommissioned), "Nimitz class", and "Ford class" of the US aircraft carriers, as three aircraft carrier models of different designs, have long been serialized in production.
One level of the American aircraft carrier, one design. The naming of this design is usually named after the name of the first ship launched according to this design.
In fact, the US Navy also has an aircraft carrier "Enterprise", which does not belong to the "Kitty Hawk class" or to the "Nimitz class" and "Ford class", which is the earliest and the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States. However, due to the high cost of construction and other reasons, the sequence was not formed in the end.
In short, in this world, no one and no country can succeed casually, and the same is true for the army, and even more so for the navy.
So much so that there is such a saying:
For a country,
Building a full-fledged army is a realistic requirement;
Building a mature air force is a goal that needs to be achieved;
Building a full-fledged navy and carrying out systematic operations on land, sea, and air is a dream that 90 percent of the countries in the world dare not imagine.