The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

For the aircraft carrier battle group, there is no doubt about its strength in naval battles.

Aircraft carriers are useless. This is relative. So far, it only refers to their uselessness when attacking the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, because the combat effectiveness and quantity of carrier-based aircraft cannot be compared with that of land-based aviation. They also need to face land-based air defense forces and shore-based counterattacks. missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles.

But there are close to 200 countries in the world. In addition to the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, there are a large number of countries!

The role of an aircraft carrier is to serve as a take-off and landing platform for carrier-based aircraft, and to obtain sea and air supremacy through carrier-based aircraft.

As a strategic weapon and mobile airport of a major power, aircraft carriers play a vital role in today's international environment, whether facing medium or low-intensity wars or maintaining regional peace.

A powerful aircraft carrier formation is an important power front in addition to the destructive deterrence of nuclear power. If you have it, you are one step ahead; if you don’t have it, you are a dwarf.

It's not that you should bully anyone, but you can't be bullied.

"Whether you still think aircraft carriers are useless, you might as well think about it. The U.S. Navy now has 14 aircraft carriers, including the Forrestal-class aircraft carriers in the 1950s, the Kitty Hawk-class and Enterprise-class aircraft carriers in the 1960s, and the Nepalese aircraft carriers in the 1970s and 1980s. Mitz class, in addition to three Nimitz class aircraft carriers under construction, there are two Nimitz class aircraft carriers in the queue, which are expected to be completed in the next fifteen years," Liu Tao said.

"The USS Nimitz was commissioned in 1975 at a cost of US$1.825 billion; the USS Eisenhower was commissioned in 1977 at a cost of US$2.1 billion; the USS Carl Vinson was commissioned in 1981 at a cost of US$2.28 billion. The cost of the USS Washington is US$3.5 billion. "Liu Tao said solemnly: "Do you think that the Americans spend a lot of money to build the aircraft carrier just to make toys?"

"There is also the Soviet Union, which has developed twists and turns in the development of aircraft carriers, but now it has also explored all the way from helicopter carriers to developing large aircraft carriers. Isn't the detour taken by the Soviet Union worthy of waking everyone up?" Liu Tao was speechless.

The Soviet Union's aircraft carrier development is definitely worth learning from.

That was the path that the Soviet Union explored with high tuition.

A lesson for the past and a guide for the future!

This truth is so simple, but some people always forget it.

There is no need to argue about the uselessness of aircraft carriers. There is no point in arguing.

Then there was a discussion about the changes in war, which will be brought about by informatization and high technology.

Since World War II, when Germany used armored forces to attack Poland, the mainstream of military development around the world has been towards motorization and mechanization!

The Soviet Union developed this to a point that no one could surpass and became the first country in the world to complete the construction of mechanized troops.

The Western-81 military exercise made the whole world tremble under the rolling torrent of steel from the Soviet Union, especially the European countries bordering the Soviet Union, which could not even sleep.

The Americans had no choice but to come up with new methods. It’s not that the Americans didn’t want to do what the Soviet Union did. At first, the Americans did the same thing. But it didn’t take long for the Americans to discover that there was no way to compare with the Soviets in terms of quantity. The quality was not much better, and the quantity was far inferior to the Soviets. If we continue like this, we will definitely lose.

So Americans found another way.

This Gulf War was actually the United States' test of whether this new style of play was reliable in the face of the torrent of steel.

After all, Americans themselves have no idea.

Obviously, the Americans succeeded!

Then, military transformation began again around the world.

Look at it now. The war continues to this day. The multinational coalition forces have destroyed important military facilities in Iraq through air strikes and caused huge damage to Iraq.

Iraq's powerful army is in a passive state of being beaten.

Anyone with eyes can see that victory is impossible for the Iraqis.

No one doubts that if the bombing continues like this, the war will end without the need for multinational coalition armies to be dispatched.

The war can be won simply by relying on air strikes, which has never happened in previous wars.

Although there are terrain factors in Kuwait and Iraq, there is no doubt that this style of play has given everyone a lot of inspiration.

In the future, countries around the world will definitely strengthen the construction of their air forces and missile forces.

This is from an offensive perspective, and from a defensive perspective, it will strengthen the construction of air defense forces.

Since ancient times, offense and defense have been spears and shields. There is neither the sharpest spear nor the strongest shield.

Liu Tao's view is that the Chinese army must have a balance of offense and defense and have strong offensive power. In the next ten years, China will gradually build 81 combined brigades. The firepower of the combined brigades is enough to cure the Chinese army's phobia of insufficient firepower. In other aspects, the air force and navy All shortcomings must be made up for.

It not only needs strong attack firepower, but also needs strong defensive capabilities, and this part is the construction of short-range, medium-range, and long-range air defense missiles and low-altitude air defense firepower.

It must have both strong strategic weapons deterrence and conventional weapons deterrence.

You can't always talk harsh words and play with nuclear weapons, then who will play with you?

There are many ways to play in this world, and there are different ways to play in different situations.

China needs cards with different playing methods. No matter which playing method is used, it can be played and played well.

There is much to learn from this Gulf War, but it cannot be copied. If it is worshiped and mythologized too much, it will go astray.

Because with the development of science and technology, national defense construction will cost more money, and war will cost more money.

Don’t look at the multinational forces bombing now, but the money is behind it.

The military expenditure raised by the United States in the early stage was not enough. After the US Congress allocated another $60 billion, it urgently allocated another $40 billion to win the war.

The United States sent two teams to beg for alms around the world, using sticks and carrots to get $50 billion.

It is conceivable that the multinational forces in the Gulf War kept bombing and burning money.

This is a bit like a very strong explosive power, but if you can withstand the explosive power in the early stage, the war will become very weak later.

This can be applied to Iraq, but it is not applicable to many countries. After all, if this method is used against Persia, the effect will definitely be greatly reduced.

Other countries can be led astray by the Gulf War, but China’s national defense construction cannot be led astray.

China’s national defense construction should take the essence and remove the dregs to make up for its own shortcomings.

Some places can be learned, but some places are not suitable.

The reason is simple. In the next ten years, China's military expenditure will not increase too much. Military expenditure is really limited.

After all, China is now centered on economic construction, and this tone remains unchanged.

The reason why national defense construction has made rapid progress now is not because the defense budget has increased significantly, but because these weapons are all domestically produced, and basically they don't make much money, or even lose money. There are even outrageous things like 10-year interest-free installments and 20-year low-interest installments.

If it were the United States, it would not achieve the same effect even if it spent ten or even twenty times more money.