Why would China need a ship like this...?
Yes, this question is a good one - and the people who dont believe that China needs such a ship because they still think that China has no "imperial ambitions" and still operates on the Hu-era "harmonious world"-principle of shying away from confronting the major hegemon, while massively building up the PLAN for the sake of "humanitarian operations" and "protecting SLOC" (against whom, I wonder...?) - are either purposefully blind and ignorant, or very good in keeping with the forum rules here.
Sorry to say, but China does all this to sink american warships and kill american sailors. Here, I said it. Simple as that. And I am aware that I'm transgressing the "No War Drums-rule" here. But this is an elephant in the room that has been skirted around for far too long - and I've been here for nearly a decade (even if you dont see that from my post-count).
China's reason for a submersible arsenal ship is simple:
The PLAN, as well, have done their research and simulations and saw that an American CSG is a literal fortress that takes hundreds of anti-ship missiles to sink because each Burke has 96 VLS cells (with a number of them being quad-packed) and each Tico has 122 cells (also with quad-packed), and will engage any incoming sea-skimmer swarm at its maximum SAM-range because a number of E-2s are on standby, allowing such early engagement to happen. China has probably done simulations, where even two regiments of H-6Gs, each armed with four YJ-12s werent enough to even exhaust even 50% of the CSG's SM-6/SM-2/ESSM arsenal - not to mention that these bombers face deadly opposition by the CSG's soon-to-be-operated F-35s even before they reach striking distance.
Their finding? The best way to kill a CSG is either by submarine or still by using massive amounts of missiles. The submarine plan is wonky, since China absolutely has no confidence that even its newest nuclear subs can even reach a CSG and get near it until torpedo distance, without getting counterdetected and killed by all those Virginias and Sea-Wolfs that are protecting the CSG.
Submarines might be the most efficient and cheapest way to kill an CSG, but what use does it have if your Sub's chance to survive the engagement is so low, that it is basically a suicide mission? The nuke sub, as platform that needs to get so close to fulfill its mission is simply unsuitable for China, that doesnt even have a lot of them to begin with.
The second method of using long range missiles promises fewer risks, even if it is a much more expensive way, because you are literally brute-forcing your way to kill the CSG by launching more missiles than the CSG has interceptors and defenses. But even here, the problem remains: The platforms so far are all not really survivable. Bomber-fleets are getting shot down by F-35s, Surface combattants are easily detected at long range and face hails of LRASMs themselves, which forces them to expend precious VLS-cells for SAMs and hence lowering their possible AShM count. And SSGNs, while the best way of safely delivering long range anti ship missiles, are expensive and have low efficiency in terms of carrying a substancial amount of missiles because of the limitations of the submarine hull.
Land-based ASBM, as well, are sub-optimal: The PLAN understands that the US Aegis BMD can intercept even dozens of ASBMs with their SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, so here, again, the strategy is basically a brute-force one - saturational attack. But on land, it is quite hard to assemble and coordinate multiple ASBM brigades over a large territory, undetected from enemy satellites and recon, and to make them launch their barrages in a coordinated effort to achieve saturational quantities. If only a single platform can carry and launch the ASBMs of several brigades, it would make things easier... Oh wait!
The answer is the submersible Arsenal Ship. It has the qualities that all other delivery platforms for masses of long range missile lack: It is large enough to carry the quantity needed to saturate any CSG's defenses, it is due to its submersible feature, survivable enough to deliver those missiles into striking distance with an CSG, and it can even easily defend against enemy anti-ship missiles without expending interceptors (and hence wasting precious VLS-cells for SAMs) by simply submerging and letting enemy missiles pass over its head. The submersible Arsenal Ship literally fulfills all requirements for a single-purpose warship: And that purpose is nothing else but sinking heavily defended carrier groups with the brute-force tactic of missile saturation.
If I was an US intelligence officer and saw satellite pictures of such a ship being built in Dalian or anywhere, I would rush to my superior and tell him that China prepares for war against the United States. Let's be honest here; a Submersible Arsenal Ship has no other uses but to sink US carrier groups, the most heavily defended surface action groups on earth. You dont need this ship to sink the Vietnamese/Philippine/Indonesian Navy - even 054As can do that on their own very wel. You cannot use the arsenal ship for humanitarian disaster relief, you cannot use it for anti-piracy patrols, you cannot use this to protect your SLOC, you cannot use this to patrol the South China Sea and your maritime claims - this class of ship's sole purpose is to deliver hundreds of anti ship missiles into striking distance of targets that would shoot down or sink any other delivery platform.
If China truly builds this ship, even forum rules cannot prevent me from saying that China indeed prepares for killing USN servicemen.
The construction of such a ship should be considered by the US as a hostile act from China, in any case. There is no way China could excuse these ships by claiming that they fulfill any other purpose but to sink USN ships.
Personally, I would expect the US to try to make China sign a naval treaty of some sorts banning or at least limiting the construction or displacement/armaments of such purpose built CSG-killers.
Yes, this question is a good one - and the people who dont believe that China needs such a ship because they still think that China has no "imperial ambitions" and still operates on the Hu-era "harmonious world"-principle of shying away from confronting the major hegemon, while massively building up the PLAN for the sake of "humanitarian operations" and "protecting SLOC" (against whom, I wonder...?) - are either purposefully blind and ignorant, or very good in keeping with the forum rules here.
Sorry to say, but China does all this to sink american warships and kill american sailors. Here, I said it. Simple as that. And I am aware that I'm transgressing the "No War Drums-rule" here. But this is an elephant in the room that has been skirted around for far too long - and I've been here for nearly a decade (even if you dont see that from my post-count).
China's reason for a submersible arsenal ship is simple:
The PLAN, as well, have done their research and simulations and saw that an American CSG is a literal fortress that takes hundreds of anti-ship missiles to sink because each Burke has 96 VLS cells (with a number of them being quad-packed) and each Tico has 122 cells (also with quad-packed), and will engage any incoming sea-skimmer swarm at its maximum SAM-range because a number of E-2s are on standby, allowing such early engagement to happen. China has probably done simulations, where even two regiments of H-6Gs, each armed with four YJ-12s werent enough to even exhaust even 50% of the CSG's SM-6/SM-2/ESSM arsenal - not to mention that these bombers face deadly opposition by the CSG's soon-to-be-operated F-35s even before they reach striking distance.
Their finding? The best way to kill a CSG is either by submarine or still by using massive amounts of missiles. The submarine plan is wonky, since China absolutely has no confidence that even its newest nuclear subs can even reach a CSG and get near it until torpedo distance, without getting counterdetected and killed by all those Virginias and Sea-Wolfs that are protecting the CSG.
Submarines might be the most efficient and cheapest way to kill an CSG, but what use does it have if your Sub's chance to survive the engagement is so low, that it is basically a suicide mission? The nuke sub, as platform that needs to get so close to fulfill its mission is simply unsuitable for China, that doesnt even have a lot of them to begin with.
The second method of using long range missiles promises fewer risks, even if it is a much more expensive way, because you are literally brute-forcing your way to kill the CSG by launching more missiles than the CSG has interceptors and defenses. But even here, the problem remains: The platforms so far are all not really survivable. Bomber-fleets are getting shot down by F-35s, Surface combattants are easily detected at long range and face hails of LRASMs themselves, which forces them to expend precious VLS-cells for SAMs and hence lowering their possible AShM count. And SSGNs, while the best way of safely delivering long range anti ship missiles, are expensive and have low efficiency in terms of carrying a substancial amount of missiles because of the limitations of the submarine hull.
Land-based ASBM, as well, are sub-optimal: The PLAN understands that the US Aegis BMD can intercept even dozens of ASBMs with their SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, so here, again, the strategy is basically a brute-force one - saturational attack. But on land, it is quite hard to assemble and coordinate multiple ASBM brigades over a large territory, undetected from enemy satellites and recon, and to make them launch their barrages in a coordinated effort to achieve saturational quantities. If only a single platform can carry and launch the ASBMs of several brigades, it would make things easier... Oh wait!
The answer is the submersible Arsenal Ship. It has the qualities that all other delivery platforms for masses of long range missile lack: It is large enough to carry the quantity needed to saturate any CSG's defenses, it is due to its submersible feature, survivable enough to deliver those missiles into striking distance with an CSG, and it can even easily defend against enemy anti-ship missiles without expending interceptors (and hence wasting precious VLS-cells for SAMs) by simply submerging and letting enemy missiles pass over its head. The submersible Arsenal Ship literally fulfills all requirements for a single-purpose warship: And that purpose is nothing else but sinking heavily defended carrier groups with the brute-force tactic of missile saturation.
If I was an US intelligence officer and saw satellite pictures of such a ship being built in Dalian or anywhere, I would rush to my superior and tell him that China prepares for war against the United States. Let's be honest here; a Submersible Arsenal Ship has no other uses but to sink US carrier groups, the most heavily defended surface action groups on earth. You dont need this ship to sink the Vietnamese/Philippine/Indonesian Navy - even 054As can do that on their own very wel. You cannot use the arsenal ship for humanitarian disaster relief, you cannot use it for anti-piracy patrols, you cannot use this to protect your SLOC, you cannot use this to patrol the South China Sea and your maritime claims - this class of ship's sole purpose is to deliver hundreds of anti ship missiles into striking distance of targets that would shoot down or sink any other delivery platform.
If China truly builds this ship, even forum rules cannot prevent me from saying that China indeed prepares for killing USN servicemen.
The construction of such a ship should be considered by the US as a hostile act from China, in any case. There is no way China could excuse these ships by claiming that they fulfill any other purpose but to sink USN ships.
Personally, I would expect the US to try to make China sign a naval treaty of some sorts banning or at least limiting the construction or displacement/armaments of such purpose built CSG-killers.
