Aircraft Carriers Not PLA's Only Strength Against US: Voice of Russia

Aircraft carriers are not the only weapon Beijing can use to defeat Washington in the Western Pacific, according to Vassily Kashin from the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in an interview with the state-run Voice of Russia.

While many analysts from the Western world predict that China will match the US Navy aircraft carrier fleet in numbers by 2050, too many unpredictable factors render this estimate irrelevant, said Kashin. Nikita Khrushchev, former leader of the Soviet Union, had once predicted that the US aircraft carriers would all be wiped out by anti-ship ballistic missiles, a statement that did not turn into fact even after the Cold War.

China's military technology is likely to improve steadily over the next decade, Kashin added. This will expand the country's options for defeat US carrier battle groups in the region from a simple head-on carrier battle. For example, China is developing advanced supersonic cruise missiles which can be used to attack US aircraft carriers from an unpredictable trajectory. This could be the primary weapon that the People's Liberation Army Navy will use in a potential conflict.

In addition, the J-20, China's first 5th-generation stealth fighter, could carry out attacks against US carrier battle groups with supersonic cruise missiles. Radar aboard the carriers would have a difficult time detecting the stealth fighters, which could then operate as tactical bombers because of their larger size, Kashin said. If China does go head-to-head with the US, the victorious strategy will be a surprise for all.