The Russia-Ukraine war has provided military powers worldwide with a close-up opportunity to observe modern armed conflict, with the U.S. being particularly noteworthy.
As the self-proclaimed world's number one military power, the United States, despite its formidable military strength, has revealed several vulnerabilities in this war, especially in light of the possibility of future conflict with China. Military leaders have identified three urgent issues that need addressing.
According to *National Interest*, aircraft carriers have always been a core element of U.S. military operations abroad, with nearly every war in recent decades involving their presence.
However, with the rapid advancement of missile and drone technology, the survivability of traditional aircraft carriers has faced unprecedented challenges, especially evident in the Black Sea confrontations during the Russia-Ukraine war.
While the overall combat capability of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is debatable, Russia's maritime superiority remains apparent compared to Ukraine, which nearly lost its entire navy at the war's outset.
Nonetheless, Western support for Ukraine, particularly in providing long-range anti-ship weapons like Harpoon missiles, has altered the battlefield dynamics.
Combined with NATO's drones and intelligence systems enhancing Ukraine's situational awareness, major ships of the Black Sea Fleet have been successively sunk, highlighting the fragility of traditional naval combat power.
The impressive results achieved by Ukraine with limited intelligence support and anti-ship missiles raise concerns about the potential dire situation the U.S. military could face in a standoff with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taiwan Strait.
The PLA not only possesses numerous hypersonic anti-ship weapons but also has a highly advanced battlefield situational awareness system, which undoubtedly poses a significant threat to the U.S. Navy.
In the event of war, the PLA's hypersonic missiles would be guided by large high-altitude drones to strike U.S. naval fleets with precision.
These missiles' penetration speeds exceed the operational limits of U.S. missile defense systems, making it highly likely that large targets like aircraft carriers could be sunk in a short time.
If aircraft carriers are lost, the U.S. would lose a crucial power projection capability, significantly increasing the difficulty of conducting intervention operations.
Chinese hypersonic weapons are viewed by the U.S. military as "game-changers," fundamentally altering the rules of engagement and rendering decades of U.S. missile defense development ineffective.
Beyond the publicly known DF-17 and YJ-21 hypersonic missiles, the Pentagon speculates that the PLA has access to various undisclosed advanced weapons.
In this regard, the Hong Kong newspaper *South China Morning Post* has reported on a Pentagon statement emphasizing awareness of China's ongoing weapon tests, some of which involve vehicles capable of entering and exiting the atmosphere at 15 times the speed of sound with autonomous maneuverability.
Faced with such new weapons, the U.S. finds it challenging to intercept them and even harder to predict their true targets.
Aside from the weaponry gap, U.S. military officials have highlighted China's nearly limitless war potential.
China's industrial production capacity ranks first globally, closely linked to its war potential.
Although Ukraine has the support of numerous Western countries, its heavy industrial production capacity has struggled to compete with Russia, leading to ongoing suppression by Russian forces on the battlefield.
Russia has managed to withstand the pressure from dozens of Western nations with its conventional weapons production capacity, and should this scenario involve China, the U.S. would likely face an even greater challenge.
China's current industrial production scale is overwhelming globally.
More importantly, unlike Russia, which lacks light industry, China is the only country with a complete industrial chain. Should Western nations lose China's supply chain, many weapons would become impossible to produce, while China would not face this issue.
Ultimately, the outcome of modern warfare hinges on economic and technological competition, with higher demands on these two aspects.
In these areas, the U.S. has almost no advantage over China.
For example, the U.S. Navy has estimated that even in peacetime, China's shipbuilding capacity is 233 times that of the U.S., indicating a significant gap in military development.
At the same time, the technological superiority of the Chinese Navy has become increasingly apparent.
Historically, the Chinese Navy's development has often drawn on U.S. naval experience, but in the coming years, we may see the U.S. Navy continuously imitating Chinese naval construction practices.
For instance, the U.S. Navy has begun modifying its DDG-1000 destroyers to acquire the capability to launch hypersonic weapons, clearly inspired by China's 055 destroyers and YJ-21 missiles.
If the construction plan for the 076 drone carrier comes to fruition, the U.S. Navy may follow suit by designing a similar second deck for their aircraft carriers.
It is evident that the Chinese Navy has taken the lead in the development of modern naval forces.
Of course, China must not let its guard down. The U.S.'s long-standing status as a military hegemon, along with its deep resources and technological accumulation, remains a significant threat.
Currently, the international situation has reached a critical point, and China must be vigilant against any signs that could spark war.
For both China and the U.S., the best current scenario is to engage in competition without armed conflict. Although the two countries are in a confrontational state, it should not escalate into military conflict.
However, international relations are not always rational, and due to various reasons, even minor frictions between China and the U.S. could trigger a major conflict.
Therefore, the PLA, as the armed force of the state, must be fully prepared to respond to possible challenges at any time.
Only by staying alert can we maintain national security and stability amid a complex international landscape.
In summary, the Russia-Ukraine war has sounded the alarm for military powers like the U.S., making them aware of the vulnerabilities of traditional military strength in modern warfare.
In light of China's military rise and formidable war potential, the U.S. must seriously reassess its strategic layout and response measures.
In this context, maintaining peace and stability and avoiding conflict and war will be the most rational choice for both sides.
Comentarios