Chinese supersonic missiles to destroy U.S. Navy?

Japanese Kamikaze attacks

The Surface Navy is Dead

• Our navy surface ships are pretty much only useful for rescuing people at sea or bullying crap-hole third world nations that cannot defend themselves. But in a real war with a modern military power our ships are little more than expensive sitting ducks for high tech missile target practice.
• The end of the traditional navy was there for all to see with World War II Kamikaze attacks. It was just a matter of delivery systems. Between high tech missiles (or Muslim Kamikaze jet pilots) the days of a surface navy are over. But that never stopped politicians and military contractors from keeping the building programs going.

(Bloomberg News)  -  Increased interactions between the the Chinese and U.S. navy in the contested South China Sea risk becoming more complicated by the increasingly sophisticated missiles being carried by submarines.

A new report to the U.S. Congress assessing a Chinese submarine-launched missile known as the YJ-18 highlights the danger, noting the missile accelerates to supersonic speed just before hitting its target, making it harder for a crew to defend their ship.

Defense chiefs from several countries in Southeast Asia have warned in recent months of the danger of undersea “clutter” as countries build up submarine fleets and the U.S. challenges China over its claim to a large swath of the South China Sea. This week’s U.S. patrol inside the 12-nautical mile zone that China claims around its man-made islands in the waters saw the USS Lassen shadowed by two Chinese naval vessels.

The YJ-18 missile can cruise at about 600 miles an hour, or just under the speed of sound, only a few meters above the surface of the sea and then, about 20 nautical miles from its target, accelerate to as much as three times the speed of sound, according to an Oct. 28 report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“The supersonic speed makes it harder to hit with on-board guns,” according to Larry Wortzel, a member of the commission. “It also makes it a faster target for radars.”

The YJ-18’s speed and long range, as well as its wide deployment “could have serious implications for the ability of U.S. Navy surface ships to operate freely in the Western Pacific” in the event of a conflict, the commission found.

The YJ-18 should not be confused with the so-called “carrier killer” DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missile, which was paraded during China’s commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II. The DF-21, which would target aircraft carriers, would be fired from land-based mobile launchers. The YJ-18 could impede the progress of a carrier group, the commission report said.

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Kamikaze Attacks

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Kamikaze + Aircraft Carrier = Sunk

A total of 57 ships were sunk by Japanese kamikazes including 3 aircraft carriers and 14 destroyers.  Some 368 other ships were damaged.  About 4,900 sailors were killed and over 4,800 wounded.
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All this was done with ancient World War II era technology.  But for some insane reason we continue to build super expensive WWII style carriers in an age of ultra powerful high-tech missiles.

USS Gerald Ford - $13 Billion in Scrap Metal
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There is one good thing about the new USS Gerald Ford - the government spending to build it creates jobs.

But that is the only good thing.  In an era of modern technology the aircraft carrier is as much a relic of World War II as the wooden sailing ships are from the Napoleonic Wars.
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In any real war with modern missile technology this new carrier should stay afloat for about one hour . . . maybe two.  So what we have done is purchase $13 billion in scrap metal that at some point will be at the bottom of the ocean floor.  Land based forces cannot be sunk by a couple missiles, but then there is no big money in that for domestic defense contractors.