The new domestic built aircraft carrier of China is given new power to PLA (People's Liberation Army)

 

 

The new domestic built aircraft carrier of China is given new power to PLA (People's Liberation Army)

In nuclear strategies, the part of the nuclear bombers, that are carrying those weapons are patrolling all the time. The mission of those planes, which can be far away from the base is to make the surprise-attack if the opponent is making aggression against their homeland. So what if China would create the global nuclear strike capacity? It can start to reach the patrol of those nuclear-capable planes to Atlantic, where they can threat also to the Atlantic side of the USA and its European allies. 

In the past, the Chinese bombers were capable to hit only the targets, what is on the Pacific side, and nations like the United Kingdom were out of the range of the nuclear bombers. Attacks against London, what are made by China would be done by using strategic FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment Systems) (1)or nuclear submarines, which are using ballistic missiles.

But the ability to use bomber makes that deterrence more sophisticated, and the nuclear-armed bombers can be withdrawn if the other side would bend in that situation. If the ballistic missiles have been shot, that's it. Those weapons cannot return. There is made the experiments of warheads, which can be returned to earth by using the same technology, what has been created for manned spaceflights. So the technology is similar, what is used in the Apollo- and other kinds of space capsules. 

But the thing is that kind of systems require that the weapon orbit the Earth that it can return to the launch site, or there is needed the naval vessels if the warhead wanted to return from the distant areas. The sea-areas are the best places, where weapons can land if the operation is happening in the remote areas. Nuclear warheads are easier to find from the sea areas, and there are fewer eyes to see that kind of thing. 

Why we should afraid of the domestic built aircraft carrier? (2) If we want to think of China as the global operator in the field of military power, we must remember that it needs military bases for supporting it's long-range bomber operations, and that's why the overseas bases are so important in that kind of actions. But the thing is that the locations of those bases are well-known, and there will be attacked in the crisis. 

The second thing is that there is needed goodwill between the nations, that somebody allows that foreign country brings nuclear weapons in their areas. The security in those weapons is that the bomber itself can fly without landing, but the support planes like airborne refueling platforms need those remote airfields, like overseas base at Djibouti(3). And if those airfields are destroyed the refueling is impossible. 

The remote airfields are the places, where the support planes like airborne refueling platforms can lift-off, and also the escort fighters of those bombers need the place, where the pilots can take the rest. But the problem with the ground-based airfields is that the pilots can try to escape, and another thing is that they are hard to control, that those people would not share information, what they should not deliver. 

Another threat is that somebody could attack those airfields, and try to rob the nuclear weapons. Also, those airfields can be attacked by using conventional weapons like mortars, and that thing might cause that the aircraft, what is operating in those airfields are damaged. 

So that means that the escort fighters cannot lift off at the right time to escort the strategic bombers. Those escort fighters need to secure the mission and another role of those fighters is that their mission is to deny every kind of attempt to harm or steal the nuclear weapons or use them without permission. 

The aircraft carrier offers an excellent workspace for its crew and fighter pilots. The sharing of information can be fully controlled. 

And if the bomber is traveling in the middle of the ocean there is a possibility, that there is the engine failure. In that kind of case, the rescue operations must begin immediately, because there is a possibility that somebody tries to steal those nuclear weapons. So in that kind of mission, the helicopters that are sent to rescue the crew must have powerful air support and the other thing that this kind of mission requires is that there are enough people, that the nuclear weapons can be protected. 

Also sharing unnecessary information must be minimized. That means that when the rescued crew is on the deck of that carrier they can just send back home without extra coffee brakes. If the rescue vehicle would be some kind of frigate, that means that the jet-planes cannot operate from those vessels. 

Or at least the jet planes, what are easy to control are not operating from those frigates or destroyers. The airfields are easier to control, and the places of the jet fighters are easier to locate. The VTOL-aircraft can operate in every platform, but the problem is that they are harder to find, if there is some kind of problems. If the GPS-signal from those planes is cut, the plane must be located in another way, and the easiest way is just called the airbase, where the aircraft should be and ask is the plane in there, and the confirmation of that thing can be done by using the recon satellite. 

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment_System

(2) https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/06/27/should-we-be-afraid-of-chinas-new-aircraft-carrier/

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_People%27s_Liberation_Army_Support_Base_in_Djibouti

Image:  https://www.ft.com/content/1249f934-20dd-11ea-92da-f0c92e957a96