Let's talk about Trump's battleships and Chinese innovation.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump's battleships and Chinese innovation.

Just a quick recap, Trump announced a new class of battleship that is not a battleship by any traditional definition. It reportedly doesn't actually have engineering plans yet. It's basically a kid's drawing of a cool military boat. We mocked it immediately. Then defense analysts around the world basically said there was no reason to even talk about it because the thing will never be built. This upset the right-wing that immediately bought into the idea of a return to the days of “wooden men and iron ships.” That's what was actually said. completely misquoting the saying while also misunderstanding it. The saying is ironmen and wooden ships, which would mean Trump's battleships would need to be made of, you know, wood. Pretty sure the origins of that statement weren't meant to apply to ships with friggin’ laser beams.

Okay, but now there's a new talking point. "Hey, just wondering if you and the other experts plan on retracting your statements about Trump's battleship now that the Chinese Navy is trying to develop an anti-ship ballistic missile to take it out. It sure seems like it scared our enemies. I look forward to seeing you talk about this on your channel.”

If we must. So, the day before you sent this message, there was coverage about a new intercontinental anti-ship ballistic missile from the Chinese. I'm going to assume that's what you're talking about. But, see, here's the thing--the headlines say fielding, not developing. That's a huge difference. Developing in the defense industry means they're experimenting and researching. Fielding means they're deploying a finished product. If you had read a little further in any of the articles, you'd see references to the Pentagon's assessment of the DF27 missile program from 2023. That means it isn't in response to something announced a few days ago.

If you were reading a technical article from a defense analyst or maybe from USNI, you'd find references to DoD's 2021 report to Congress on China's military development. The system is referenced then as well. Keep in mind that's when US intelligence became aware of a program and decided to disclose it to Congress, even though the Chinese haven't officially confirmed it yet. That means it likely started development even earlier. But that doesn't mean this news is irrelevant to the discussion of Trump's new battleship. According to Dr. Andrew Erickson of the Naval War College. The assessments indicate that, "taken together, China's ASBMs, now potentially extending to intercontinental ranges with the DF-27 pose a potent threat to surface ships across much of the Pacific. In effect, they constitute a new form of naval force.

How do we apply these statements to the Trump class of ships? Well, before the plans are even drawn up, the Chinese have fielded an anti-ship ballistic missile that renders it obsolete. Rather than refuting the idea that this is a bad idea, it adds yet another way in which it's a bad idea. Large surface ships are going to be targets from thousands of miles away. Nobody wants to admit this, but the future of war is thousands of tiny unmanned vehicles, not giant vanity projects.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.