China to rule under the waves.

[r16]

thanks for the ideas .

 

[LoneRebel]

Interesting line from the article...

"Against an attack from the Mach 10 DF-21D without knowing the missile's launch point, the U.S. Navy's only way to evade it would be through electronic countermeasures."

Clearly a problem...except that it has been three decades since there has been any way to launch a ballistic missile from this particular planet without the US and Russian military knowing the exact launch point before the missile has cleared the first stage, so any 'without knowing the launch point it's terrible' can be pretty well ignored.

Do these missiles make ship captains sleep better at night? Absolutely not. But the 'missiles have made ships obsolete' argument was officially won in 1982...except that it wasn't. It continues to be won every time a new missile turns up...but it never really is. That's how the arms race is run.

Funny thing about that though is that Chinese nationalists love to say that the DF-21D is the new Chinese superweapon that will devastate the US Navy, send the cowardly Americans running back to America, and cement China's domination of Asia and thereby lead to China supplanting America as the world superpower, all in one package.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Funny thing about that though is that Chinese nationalists love to say that the DF-21D is the new Chinese superweapon that will devastate the US Navy, send the cowardly Americans running back to America, and cement China's domination of Asia and thereby lead to China supplanting America as the world superpower, all in one package.

Name one nation without nationalists overestimating the capability of at least one weapon system.

 

[LoneRebel]

Name one nation without nationalists overestimating the capability of at least one weapon system.

I'd say mine, but we probably have a few of them too. It's just that next to nobody listens to them, since everyone (both here and elsewhere) loves to joke about how crappy our military is.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'd say mine, but we probably have a few of them too. It's just that next to nobody listens to them, since everyone (both here and elsewhere) loves to joke about how crappy our military is.

Not knowing the location of the 'distinguished and ever loyal city' I cannot comment. I will say though that in the US there are a large number of people spouting about how puny our military is as well (I refer to them as 'clearly delusional', but they do control a major political party somehow), so that may not be a valid indicator.

 

[Colonel]

I'd say mine, but we probably have a few of them too. It's just that next to nobody listens to them, since everyone (both here and elsewhere) loves to joke about how crappy our military is.

The US. We don't need to over-estimate our capability because even if we low ball it, we can still destroy everyone on the planet through a variety of means not even counting nuclear.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Not knowing the location of the 'distinguished and ever loyal city' I cannot comment. I will say though that in the US there are a large number of people spouting about how puny our military is as well (I refer to them as 'clearly delusional', but they do control a major political party somehow), so that may not be a valid indicator.

He's from the Philippines, forget which island/city exactly.

 

[LoneRebel]

Not knowing the location of the 'distinguished and ever loyal city' I cannot comment. I will say though that in the US there are a large number of people spouting about how puny our military is as well (I refer to them as 'clearly delusional', but they do control a major political party somehow), so that may not be a valid indicator.

Ah, that. Just me being roundabout. That's just the colonial title of the capital city of a former colony of yours, although not a title given by the US. And yes, our military is pretty crappy hardware-wise, even by the standards of what an economy the size of ours should be able to afford. If countries were ranked by their military spending as a percentage of their total GDP, we would be very much on the low end. Still doesn't stop China from criticizing us every time we so much as buy new coast guard patrol boats. They even tried to strong-arm South Korea to prevent them from selling jet trainers to us once.

Regarding this large number of delusional people in the US that you mentioned...well, they may be delusional and in charge of a major political party, but they don't seem to me to have all that much influence in making the budget these days, since I keep reading about budget cuts nowadays?

He's from the Philippines, forget which island/city exactly.

The "Isigne y Siempre Leal Ciudad" is Manila.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Ah, that. Just me being roundabout. That's just the colonial title of the capital city of a former colony of yours, although not a title given by the US. And yes, our military is pretty crappy hardware-wise, even by the standards of what an economy the size of ours should be able to afford. If countries were ranked by their military spending as a percentage of their total GDP, we would be very much on the low end. Still doesn't stop China from criticizing us every time we so much as buy new coast guard patrol boats. They even tried to strong-arm South Korea to prevent them from selling jet trainers to us once.

Regarding this large number of delusional people in the US that you mentioned...well, they may be delusional and in charge of a major political party, but they don't seem to me to have all that much influence in making the budget these days, since I keep reading about budget cuts nowadays?



The "Isigne y Siempre Leal Ciudad" is Manila.

And those 'cut to the bone' budgets you hear so much about...are still comparable to the defense spending of the entire rest of the world combined. The fact that these cuts are even commented on is itself an indication of the insanity.

 

[Colonel]

And those 'cut to the bone' budgets you hear so much about...are still comparable to the defense spending of the entire rest of the world combined. The fact that these cuts are even commented on is itself an indication of the insanity.

We have lost abilities in these budget cuts and many great people, vital NCOs, good commanders have been forced out of the military because the budget cuts. Give it a few years at this rate and the US will have a hollow force.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

We have lost abilities in these budget cuts and many great people, vital NCOs, good commanders have been forced out of the military because the budget cuts. Give it a few years at this rate and the US will have a hollow force.

Having been 'forced' out of the US military by my own conscience I do not cry for them.

 

[LoneRebel]

Not equal to the rest of the world combined anymore (though it was fun while it lasted; I liked impressing other people with "Did you know that the US's military spending is equal to the military spending of every other country PUT TOGETHER?"). It's more like 30-40% of world spending now. And you can bet that that percentage will continue to decrease.

 

[Colonel]

Not equal to the rest of the world combined anymore (though it was fun while it lasted; I liked impressing other people with "Did you know that the US's military spending is equal to the military spending of every other country PUT TOGETHER?"). It's more like 30-40% of world spending now. And you can bet that that percentage will continue to decrease.

We are giving up the high ground. I'd say that if we continue on the track we are on this planet is going to get dangerous, very dangerous. Proxy wars from the days of the cold war, direct confrontation in the Far East between world level powers if China ever gets to that stage. Economic instability, chaos, war, all to a degree we have yet to witness in the previous century.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Not equal to the rest of the world combined anymore (though it was fun while it lasted; I liked impressing other people with "Did you know that the US's military spending is equal to the military spending of every other country PUT TOGETHER?"). It's more like 30-40% of world spending now. And you can bet that that percentage will continue to decrease.

Wow. So five percent of the world's population is 'only' spending half as much as everyone else put together. Oh the horror! How ever will we get by?!?

Perhaps it is time to stop engendering the hatred of everyone else put together. There's a thought.

By the way, we still spend twice as much as our single nearest competitor, so there's still a 'fun fact' that can be tossed around.

 

[LoneRebel]

Wow. So five percent of the world's population is 'only' spending half as much as everyone else put together. Oh the horror! How ever will we get by?!?

Perhaps it is time to stop engendering the hatred of everyone else put together. There's a thought.

By the way, we still spend twice as much as our single nearest competitor, so there's still a 'fun fact' that can be tossed around.

I appreciate your concern, as an American, for "everyone else put together", but let me assure you that that everyone else is currently in the process of finding out that sometimes, the alternatives to the US are even worse.

Eh, twice as much as the nearest competitor still doesn't sound as impressive as "the rest of the world combined." It's not as fun for party trivia. The fact that during most of the first half of the 20th century, the US economy was also equal to the rest of the world's economies put together is also good for party trivia. I believe it even reached 60% of world GDP at one point. That's all in the past now, but still, that was something.

 

[LoneRebel]

We are giving up the high ground. I'd say that if we continue on the track we are on this planet is going to get dangerous, very dangerous. Proxy wars from the days of the cold war, direct confrontation in the Far East between world level powers if China ever gets to that stage. Economic instability, chaos, war, all to a degree we have yet to witness in the previous century.

Unfortunately, yes. And small countries like my own are going to get the worst of it, as usual. Just like my sig says.

 

[Darkflight]

Read the article and think about what it actually says for a while before you make absolute judgements about its content. If your attention span is to low to do that, here is a TLDR:

Chinese scientists have made a small theoretical step towards making what is currently technology that has no practical use outside of military weapons more practical for civilian purposes. This discovery might possibly have consequences for transportation in the future, but the consequences are practically non-existant for now.

This is similar to those articles USAians made in the 70s when NASA was funded heavily and people dreamt of tomorrow. Only time will tell if this is more practically possible then those flying cars people used to imagine was.