Taiwan and China thread.
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Starlink worries China; Chinas sees it as a major threat to its control of communications and its aware that past idea of satellite control like shooting expensive missiles at them doesn't work with these cheap massive constellations
So China's plan is to launch its own constellation of satellites - but China's satellites will have something starlink doesn't, laser weapons - China wants its constellation equipped with lasers constantly following starlink satellites so that if it wants to it can use its satellites to shoot their lasers at starlink satellites to destroy them. China also wants to use the satellites for communications but the main goal is being able to launch thousands of laser equiped satellites just to be able to shoot down enemy satellites
wccftech.com
So China's plan is to launch its own constellation of satellites - but China's satellites will have something starlink doesn't, laser weapons - China wants its constellation equipped with lasers constantly following starlink satellites so that if it wants to it can use its satellites to shoot their lasers at starlink satellites to destroy them. China also wants to use the satellites for communications but the main goal is being able to launch thousands of laser equiped satellites just to be able to shoot down enemy satellites
Starlink Causes Concern In China As Researchers Want Capability To Shoot Satellites Down
SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service is a cause of concern for Chinese researchers as they consider ways to shoot the satellites.
wccftech.com
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Soldato
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@Grim5 Good luck to the Chinese in that desire. Falcon9 is launching at a once per week cadence and they're building Starlink satellites at a rate of 120 month. That sounds like a pretty big deal to knock a meaningful number out quicker than SpaceX can launch them. How many of the total 12,000 planned do they need to kill to reduce service?
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I'd say China is more reliant on the West than we're the West being reliant on them. Other than cheap manufacturing what else do they export that cannot be gained elsewhere?
To get China's constellation into orbit they need a new rocket which they are now working on, it's the same size as starship and same 150tons to orbit claimed. But they've only just started work on this rocket and the first flight is not a scheduled to happen for 10 years, they also plan to use this rocket to land on the moon in 15 years
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Associate
Starlink worries China; Chinas sees it as a major threat to its control of communications and its aware that past idea of satellite control like shooting expensive missiles at them doesn't work with these cheap massive constellations
So China's plan is to launch its own constellation of satellites - but China's satellites will have something starlink doesn't, laser weapons - China wants its constellation equipped with lasers constantly following starlink satellites so that if it wants to it can use its satellites to shoot their lasers at starlink satellites to destroy them. China also wants to use the satellites for communications but the main goal is being able to launch thousands of laser equiped satellites just to be able to shoot down enemy satellites
Starlink Causes Concern In China As Researchers Want Capability To Shoot Satellites Down
SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service is a cause of concern for Chinese researchers as they consider ways to shoot the satellites.
Oh yeah great and then it will create a whole bunch space junk floating around taking out commercial satellites and sending us back to the 1940's.
Rare Earth Elements. Last I heard they current produce about 95% of the worlds REE and they have an estimated 30% of the worlds total reserves.
Soldato
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Our problem is we are hamstrung by cost and environmental legislation. It's entirely possible we (the West) can produce rare earths as we once did but we need to address the environmental and cost impact of being strategically self sufficient
Soldato
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Chinese defence analyst was saying on the radio he believes that if Xi remains in power he will attack Taiwan its a matter of when not if, the only reason he's not doing it now is because his military isn't where he wants it to be and any potential failures would weaken his position considerably, but when he's ready he will attack. The question is what will the US do about it? Looking at Ukraine I'd imagine beyond supplying any rebels and the regular army if the war persists, not much.
They are going for it. North Korea might go for it as well.
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Today China confirmed Xi will retain the presidency and Xi's first request after being confirmed was for the military to be upgrade itself to be able to take on the USA
Anyone losing a ship to that weapon is grossly outmatched.
It's up to a 1 ton bomb with a steering tail, double the explosives of a heavy torpedo. No ship is surviving that.
But the point is, it is a steered bomb without propulsion so using it means you were able to fly a plane plus pilot on top of the target to drop a huge and slow bomb on it.
In a conflict of planes firing anti-air missiles from around the curve of the earth and ground based AA having gigantic missiles capable of firing from the other side of a country flying an entire plane to the target to drop a bomb is insane.
I don't believe China is on the same technological level as people fighting out of caves in a desert.
It's a 1 ton smart bomb with a jdam kit fitted, has a range of 28km when launched from the f15, the bomb works by steering itself to land in the water, then travels underneath the ship and detonates, creating a shockwave that rips the ship in half.
It's pretty similar to how you would destroy a bridge using a bomb or missile, making it explode under the bridge, so here you make the bomb explode under the middle of the ship
Yeah it doesn't have huge range but it's cheap, at around $30k
The war in Ukraine shows that as advanced and scary as all the expensive weapons are; within the first couple weeks both sides run out of all the fancy stuff and then have to use easier cheaper to produce weapons. The Americans own war games show that in a war with China the USA runs out of long range missiles within two weeks and if the war lasts longer two weeks you need the easy mass produced weapons.
As such this bomb is not a first strike weapon, it's what you use when you've either secured air dominance or you've simply run out of fancy missiles
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The range is dependant on how high (thus making you more visible to radar and therefore anti air) you release it. It is a scruffy (but yes, cheap) guided missile.
You should have no right at all to get away with flying that close to release gravity bombs against modern forces.
The war in Ukraine shows that as advanced and scary as all the expensive weapons are; within the first couple weeks both sides run out of all the fancy stuff and then have to use easier cheaper to produce weapons. The Americans own war games show that in a war with China the USA runs out of long range missiles within two weeks and if the war lasts longer two weeks you need the easy mass produced weapons.
As such this bomb is not a first strike weapon, it's what you use when you've either secured air dominance or you've simply run out of fancy missiles
I don't think Ukraine is a good comparison.
They never had the good stuff and frankly their stuff is getting better through donations. Russia also never had the good stuff apparently since they can't even get air dominance over a country with no planes.
But there we have something to go on, if Russia can't get air dominance over a country that is running on charity weapons then getting air dominance over China so you can walk up with bombers sounds very unlikely.
For the USA or China to run out of hundreds of thousands of missiles there would have to be planes being the target of those missiles in the first place.
I just can't see it being a viable weapon given how much would have to be destroyed before it could show up.
