Quote: (11-18-2014 08:11 AM)DChambers Wrote:
^^ Unless things go nuclear.
I that occurred all of our surface fleet and our main installations would be gone. Indeed, since the President changed the policy of nuclear retaliation, instead of launching upon our detection of enemy nukes inbound we will now absorb the first strike and then retaliate (with what you might add), a nuclear war would find us at a great disadvantage.
Nah, right now and for some years into the future, the Chinese do not have enough deployed ready weapons to mount a "counterforce" strike which would take out American land based ICBMs and other bases. They have less than 100 land based and sub-launched ICBMs They are only starting to get MIRVs now.
The USA could ride out a Chinese first strike and still utterly destroy China.
Both the USA and the USSR came close to launching on false alarms in the past.
In a conventional war, the US submarine fleet would be limited only by its payload of torpedoes and missiles in sinking targets. They could sit in the Straits of Taiwan and pick off invasion transports. Probably with a few other navies like the Japanese, British and French, too.
The one cool thing the Chinese have developed is a ballistic missile with terminally guided warheads to possibly sink a carrier.