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US aircraft carriers are taking new routes into the South China Sea, Chinese think tank says. https://www.businessinsider.com/aircraft-carriers-new-routes-south-china-sea-think-tank-says-2022-1?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sf-insider-mildef&utm_source=facebook.com US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in Danang, Vietnam, March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Nguyen Huy Kham US carrier strike groups entered the South China Sea 10 times in 2021, compared with six times in 2020 and five in 2019. Use of alternative routes between islands may be designed to evade PLA radars and indicates skill diversification for US sailors, defence experts say. The US Navy's aircraft carrier strike groups have not only increased South China Sea transits since last year, but their routes and drill patterns are becoming more complicated and unpredictable, according to a recent study. Defence experts said the changes could indicate new countermeasures devised by the strike groups to face any contingencies in the region, such as a potential attack on Taiwan by Beijing's People's Liberation Army, or over South China Sea territorial disputes. Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. It is also one of the rival claimants to several small islands and reefs in the busy shipping lanes of the resource-rich South China Sea. The US demands freedom of navigation in the region. The USS Carl Vinson CSG completed a five-day joint drill with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) around the disputed Spratly Islands on Saturday, kicking off their 2022 naval schedule two weeks earlier than last year, according to the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a maritime strategic study unit affiliated to Peking University's Institute of Ocean Research. USS Carl Vinson the South China Sea. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Jasen Morenogarcia/Released "The US military have drastically reinforced their military deployment in the South China Sea since last year, in terms of training scales, sorties and scenarios," SCSPI director Hu Bo told state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on Friday. "USS [US ship carrier strike groups] entered the South China Sea 10 times last year, compared with six times in 2020, and five in 2019, with their training patterns becoming more complicated and unpredictable." In the past, the US warships used to enter the region via the Bashi Channel between the Philippines and Taiwan, but their routes and operation time spans had become diversified since last year, he added. Navigation records and satellite images show that the strike groups had tended to pass through narrow waterways between the Philippine archipelagos on their way to the region, including the Balabac Strait off Palawan province, a channel between Verde Island and Mindoro, and other points, the CCTV report said. In the latest transit last Tuesday, the CSG led by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier entered the region via the Balabac Strait to team up with the Essex ARG, a landing helicopter dock group, according to the US Navy. Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan's Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, said the US strike groups appeared to be trying to come up with new countermeasures to the PLA's anti-access strategies aimed at stopping foreign military interventions in waters off Taiwan and in the South China Sea. A press conference in the hangar bay of US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson while anchored in Manila Bay, Philippines, November 30, 2010. US Navy/PO2 James Evans "I believe the US Navy is trying to escape the over-the-horizon (OTH) radars systems on the three artificial islands of Mischief, Subi and Fiery Cross reefs, which has targeted US warships and aircraft [before]," Lu said, referring to Beijing's three artificial islands in the Spratlys. "The US Navy can use the geographical features of the Philippines to approach the region and suddenly appear somewhere out of the PLA's expectations, because the OTH radars have limitations when it comes to monitoring approaching objects from a group of archipelagos." The USS Carl Vinson strike group fleet includes destroyers, frigates, submarines and supply ships. The new approach of warships sailing between island groups would also require US sailors to boost their skills in traditional terrestrial navigation, Lu noted. Collin Koh, a research fellow from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the new movements and choices of route were in keeping with the dynamic force employment concept implemented by the US Navy. "Instead of using only those traditional routes, the increased use of lesser-known, alternative routes would reduce predictability with respect to the direction of movement of US military assets," Koh said. "This thereby increases operational and strategic flexibility in times of peace and contingencies. Such contingencies would include the Taiwan Strait scenario to be sure."

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Noticed there are scattered current affairs threads for stuff related to military hardware, tactics etc. I'll kick it off with some of the more interesting things I learned about recently: On the US front: The F-117A Nighthawk AKA "Wobby Goblin" has been retired since 2008, after a remarkably short service life. Its shootdown in Yugoslavia in 1999 and subsequent compromise of the technology could have been a factor. F-14 Tomcat flew its last flight in 2006 - the only operator of the F-14 is now the Iranian air force. Moving to the UK, The country that invented and perfected the VSTOL fighter, the Harrier jump jet, no longer operates the type as of 2011. As a consequence of the Harrier retirement, the Royal Navy operates three STOVL aircraft carriers that do not have fixed wing aircraft. The Royal Navy has recently launched their latest aircraft carrier, the angled-deck Queen Elizabeth, but it is solely dependent on the F-35B to enable it to operate as something more than a helicopter carrier. As a cost saving measure, it is conventionally, not nuclear-powered. Japan Incidentally, the JMSDF's Hyuga class of helicopter carriers are only slightly smaller than the Royal Navy's STOVL carriers - which used to operate Harriers. Malaysia In the 2014 version of Cope Taufan, Malaysia gave the Americans a first taste of the SU-30MKM and they brought their newest toy, the F-22 Raptor to play. During the 2013 Lahad Datu standoff, BAe Hawks operated as strike aircraft, with the RMAF's Hornets performing target designation. General The Rheinmetall 120mm gun, pretty much the standard Western tank gun, has a barrel life of between 50-400 rounds, depending on the type of ammunition fired.Feel free to add on, or discuss current affairs topics. Please stay away from sensitive issues such as discussing classified information, or peeing contests in declaring Country X is better than Country Y, or whatever. These are hypothetical scenarios, whereas there is plenty going on just with the turmoil the world is in currently, and over the past decade to talk about.