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> US missile defense system, which the US doesn't really even have Uh..Missile defense is a massive part of US Navy doctrine and is pretty much the primary pur

by kcb 4y ago

> US missile defense system, which the US doesn't really even have Uh..Missile defense is a massive part of US Navy doctrine and is pretty much the primary purpose of every Destroyer, Cruiser, and soon Frigate in the Navy at this point. Without a doubt, the Aegis system and THAAD are the direct reason for these developments from China and Russia.

staunch 4y ago
Sure, but that doctrine is old. And has it not been partially obsoleted by China's advances in missile technology? My understanding was that our fleets have sufficient defense for a limited attack but that a full scale missile attack by China would quickly overwhelm them.
- kurupt213 4y ago
  The navy is close to adding lasers to its point defense array
- kcb 4y ago
  Aegis is continually evolving with new sensors, processing, and missiles and far from obsolete. It's no coincidence that China is building similar capabilities into its own Destroyers. I definitely would't call the scale of missile defense in the fleet limited. Each carrier group would contain and be screened by Destroyers and Cruisers with several hundred interceptors ready to go between them.
  - staunch 4y ago
    This might've been the article that I read, which seems to disagree: "The inconvenient truth is that our Navy has 12 carrier groups and all are now obsolete. The Chinese have developed an antiship ballistic missile (ASBM), the DF-21D, nicknamed the “carrier killer.” It has a range of 1,200 miles and can fly at speeds higher than Mach 5. During descent to the target, it can fly at Mach 10. That’s like launching one in Chicago and hitting the Statue of Liberty three minutes later. We have no missile-defense systems that can counter the DF-21D. The Navy has a ballistic-missile-defense system, but the problem is it doesn’t work. Last year the Navy performed a test in which it tried to intercept two ASBMs. It couldn’t hit either one. This was a planned test—the Navy knew when the missiles were coming, from what direction and how many. Imagine a surprise attack on a carrier with 20 missiles incoming at the same time." https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-aircraft-carrier-fleet-battle-group-target-warfare-china-missile-asbm-11649885333 https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-aircraft-carrier-fleet-bat...
    - kcb 4y ago
      Skeptical of anyone who claims "The inconvenient truth is that our Navy has 12 carrier groups and all are now obsolete." China sure is building a lot of carrier groups for a country who supposedly just made carrier groups obsolete, And the only test I can find from last year was this. https://www.mda.mil/news/21news0012.html https://www.mda.mil/news/21news0012.html
gsibble 4y ago
This. We have hundreds of Aegis boats sitting off our coasts waiting for it to rain MIRVs.
- kurupt213 4y ago
  The aegis you are talking about are mainly dedicated to protecting CVNs
- robonerd 4y ago
  > We have hundreds of Aegis boats 113, if you count Japan's, Korea's, and the rest of NATO (with 137 more planned.) These are spread around the world, and only some of them are Aegis BMD. And not all of those will be ready when they're needed. A few dozen Aegis BMD ships off the coast of the US seems plausible. Besides Aegis, there is THAAD (which only protects a handful of rather small areas) and GMD (which only has a few dozen interceptors.) If China/Russia threw hundreds of missiles at the continental US all at once, it's a good bet that at least some would get through and wreck havoc.

by kcb 4y ago

staunch 4y ago

Sure, but that doctrine is old. And has it not been partially obsoleted by China's advances in missile technology? My understanding was that our fleets have sufficient defense for a limited attack but that a full scale missile attack by China would quickly overwhelm them.

kurupt213 4y ago
The navy is close to adding lasers to its point defense array
kcb 4y ago
Aegis is continually evolving with new sensors, processing, and missiles and far from obsolete. It's no coincidence that China is building similar capabilities into its own Destroyers. I definitely would't call the scale of missile defense in the fleet limited. Each carrier group would contain and be screened by Destroyers and Cruisers with several hundred interceptors ready to go between them.
- staunch 4y ago
  This might've been the article that I read, which seems to disagree: "The inconvenient truth is that our Navy has 12 carrier groups and all are now obsolete. The Chinese have developed an antiship ballistic missile (ASBM), the DF-21D, nicknamed the “carrier killer.” It has a range of 1,200 miles and can fly at speeds higher than Mach 5. During descent to the target, it can fly at Mach 10. That’s like launching one in Chicago and hitting the Statue of Liberty three minutes later. We have no missile-defense systems that can counter the DF-21D. The Navy has a ballistic-missile-defense system, but the problem is it doesn’t work. Last year the Navy performed a test in which it tried to intercept two ASBMs. It couldn’t hit either one. This was a planned test—the Navy knew when the missiles were coming, from what direction and how many. Imagine a surprise attack on a carrier with 20 missiles incoming at the same time." https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-aircraft-carrier-fleet-battle-group-target-warfare-china-missile-asbm-11649885333 https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-aircraft-carrier-fleet-bat...
  - kcb 4y ago
    Skeptical of anyone who claims "The inconvenient truth is that our Navy has 12 carrier groups and all are now obsolete." China sure is building a lot of carrier groups for a country who supposedly just made carrier groups obsolete, And the only test I can find from last year was this. https://www.mda.mil/news/21news0012.html https://www.mda.mil/news/21news0012.html

gsibble 4y ago

This. We have hundreds of Aegis boats sitting off our coasts waiting for it to rain MIRVs.

kurupt213 4y ago
The aegis you are talking about are mainly dedicated to protecting CVNs
robonerd 4y ago
> We have hundreds of Aegis boats 113, if you count Japan's, Korea's, and the rest of NATO (with 137 more planned.) These are spread around the world, and only some of them are Aegis BMD. And not all of those will be ready when they're needed. A few dozen Aegis BMD ships off the coast of the US seems plausible. Besides Aegis, there is THAAD (which only protects a handful of rather small areas) and GMD (which only has a few dozen interceptors.) If China/Russia threw hundreds of missiles at the continental US all at once, it's a good bet that at least some would get through and wreck havoc.