US aircraft carrier group deployed for ‘routine patrols’ in S. China Sea

[samsara]

Except U.S directly to WAR with China, sending the US A.C group do nothing to stop Chinese building in SCS ... according to recent satellite photos showed Four artificial islands built by China, the only way is to bomb them, but such way of war will lead to Sino-U.S hot war, i do believe American strategy think-tanks in Washington already evaluated & understanded the risk of war with China which is World 2nd economy & 1.3 billion ppl & Top5 Nuclear Power & Independent military industrialization. If both find out the bigger risk after hot-war with each other, we can say war can stop the war. If not, we will see U.S-China war and U.S-Russia war.

Now other side U.S A.C group sailing in SCS, another side China continue finish building of four artificial islands in SCS, there both doing their jobs ... so PEACE~! The probability of war between U.S & Russia & China is much less than U.S/Russia/China war with others, don't dream !!! The world new balance after WWII isn't easily broken by any American / Russian /Chinese.

What pinpointed remarks!

Aside from all the pompous show-offs of forces sailing the US CSG, perhaps even several CSGs, in the South China Sea, and the mainstream media hypes for the Empire superiority & dominance and freedom of navigation buzzwords... any cool head and realistic person (I esp. expect the many PDF members here to have such quality, they should have better qualities than those snowflakes & deplorables) will need to pay attention whether China will HALT or instead EXPEDITE the developments through the physical constructions of the many islands/islets/atolls in the South China Sea.

At the end, only the factual progresses do matter! All others are just the passing winds and roaring waves...

For a refresh, here's a past related article by a prominent member of PDF!

China consolidates its positions in the South China Sea

"It should be noted that this very progressive but above all very costly method applied by the Chinese in the South China Sea will still have a lasting and destructive effect for the other neighboring countries because it is not only difficult to duplicate but is also difficult to counter on the duration, less to relying prematurely on military operations, which unfortunately will have an uncontrollable and unbearable consequence.

And, paradoxically, this method is still more "constructive" than sending few warships to defend the "freedom of navigation" that has never been violated by any of the countries concerned."

By Henri Kenhmann - East Pendulum (2016-11-24)
https://defence.pk/threads/south-china-sea-forum.196058/page-731#post-9003182

@hk299792458 - Hello Henri, how are you? Long time not seeing your presence in PDF Cheers!

Finally, among the post-World War II de-facto Triumvirate US RU CN, any engagement of serious conventional war among the three will quickly turn into the human civilization's Final War: the total annihilation nuke exchanges. There won't be such reality that one party swallows its conventional defeat while leaving its nuke heads untouched. The battle of attrition as experienced by the USSR vs Nazi German is just a legacy, it won't happen again.

Unlike the WWII there won't be any untouched continent like the fortunate Continental of US (CONUS), any lucky survivor and benefiting bystanders either (for those who survive the direct impacts won't last the aftermath's radiation and earth blackout)... there won't be any one left to rejoice the outcome or scavenge the leftover valuables. It does not matter with the imaginary belief that one side can lob 1,000 nuke heads or more while the other can only lob 300 or so... for the real & meaningful question is how many the Mother Earth needs to swallow before wiping out all her inhabitants???

Am I scared to death with this possible reality? Nope .. just try to be sane, realistic and rational amidst the increasingly insane world

Some side note: the new president, Donald Trump, might not well on the grip for this latest military showdown in the South China Sea. Trump is being occupied with so many problems and many enemies within the D.C.. Just look at the latest development: After questioning President Trump's sanity earlier in the week, it appears Democrats have found another narrative to cling to - invoke the 25th Amendment unless Trump "gets a grip." What does the 25th Amendment mean exactly? Well, it means Congress isn’t the only institution that can remove a president from office between elections. Under the 25th Amendment, a sitting vice president and a majority of the executive branch’s cabinet could, on their own, agree to transfer power out of the hands of a sitting president. At that point, those officials would notify Congress, and the vice president would assume the office as the acting president. Something about the soft coup. See, now the figure Michael Richard "Mike" Pence comes into the light. It looks so messy there... what a precarious moment for the world...

~~~~~~~~

"What has history said of eminence without honor, wealth without wisdom, power and possessions without principle? The answer is reiterated in the overthrow of the mightiest empires of ancient times. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome! The four successive, universal powers of the past. What and where are they?" - Orson F. Whitney

 

[jhungary]

The different with track satillite and longer range of antiship missile allow you to engage you enemy from a faraway distance, you no longer need in the face to face combat in a naval warfare.

Over-the-horizon scouting exist before WW1, what is the different between Satellite and Scout plane? Both doing the same job, infact, Satellite can only point to a certain point at each cycle, if you have to change the location, you will have to change the satellite orbit. Which take longer time to spot a target than using scout plane, in this end, Satellite is actually a technological backward (not about the technology, but the method) when compare to a scout plane.

Also, Gun to Gun fight are already over the horizon, Battle of Surigao Strait, 4 Battleships (2 US, 2 IJN) was battling each other at 32 km range (Out of Visual Range) at night. There are already no need for "face to face" warfare at the begining of big gun Dreadaut Phase.

How can it be if you use WW2 naval war engagement, 1st your battleship need to blindly searching out the adversary in the open sea then within a close distance allow you to firing the canyon at your enemy, then why would you utilize the tracking satilitte, anti missile and scraped all the canyon on the ship? Because WW2 equipments outlived their usefulness in the modern naval warfare.

Oh, so modern day navy can acquire a target just by clicking a button? Have you been using Satellite Tracking? Because I had.

You are oversimplifing the modernday ISTAR system, a complete ISTAR system today odn't just have Satellite Tracking, for you to use Satellite to pin point a target, and track it, you first need to have the target information feeded to the satellite, satellite is not intellegent enough to acquire a target and track it for you (in fact, the world aren't in that stage of AI yet) meaning if you want the satellite to track a target for you, you will need to pass on the target information for the Satellite to point to that direction and provide you with feedback.

Now, look at this image.

This is an google earth satellite image. Now this image is zoomed to fit an area you are given to the program. Which is a birdeyes view of Sydney (include suburb of Millers Point, The Rock, Circular Quay, Woolloomooloo and so on) say I want the satellite to now focus on Kings Cross. in a specific street. The Satellite would not just zoom in to Kings Cross (which is on SE corner of the map) as the word Kings Cross mean nothing to the Satellite, you either need to pan the satellite (matching your eyes to the grid) or provide the satellite with the coordinate of Kings Cross. Then you can have the satellite to pan into Kings Cross.

But how would the satellite know the coordinate? It's easy for location because location is fixed, Kings Cross is always at -33.87373S; 151.22357E and it won't ever move (actually they move a little as earth crust displacement), you can store the coordinate of Kings Cross in your Satellite and when you input "Kings Cross" the satellite will know where to look. However, if the target is moving, how do your satellite tack it at the first place?

ISTAR have 4 component, Intelligence/Infomration, Survellience, Target Acquirsition and Reconassiance. What Satellite can do in ISTAR? Satellite can be use to surveil the target, that's it, however, Target information (what is your target) Target acquirisition (where is your target) and Reconassiance (What your target looks like) have to be input to the satellite otherwise they can't track shit.

In WW2, Survellience parts was done by Scout Plane, basically, it is a satellite, just they have a shorter ranger compare to a satellite and at lower orbit than a satellite. However, using Satellite and scout Plane itself is not important, the necessarity to satisify the ISTAR during an engagement is. Because in WW2, there are no Satellite for both side, where both side uses scout plane, in modern day, everybody uses satellite, so the advantage of Satellite vs Scout Plane is basically cancelled out.

Sure for now as I said US still held military advantage over China but don't talk like there is no way to win the war against US as they're invincible, that was how Mongol and Turk thought themselves that they could out maneuver Chinese army with their archer skill and horse skill but we managed to overwritten the myth that they're undefeatable and make them pay at their own homeland: When US is within China reach mean we' have "better than nothing" chance to deal with US military confrontation, it's a crucial step to deal with US and make them think twice. As a second world economy power, we will have better chance to reach military parity with US in the short coming 50 years and then we will make them offer that they can't refuse. Only future will tell how China will put an end to US military supremacy as our historical foes...for over 5000 years we Chinese always prevail...and we will prevail when facing US in the future.

............You don't understand what I said.

I am not saying China cannot deal damage to the US, i am saying if a War between US and China happened in South China Seas, Chinese will lose. and Chinese cannot succeessfully defend the island, in fact defending the island at this stage is quite dumb move, because it draw away resource to defend these untenable island.

As I said, I have no intent to discuss with you or anybody about whether or not will US and China goes to war, would the American think twice? I dont know, what about if we have a madman superhawk like fat Kim in charge of the white house? Or what if China have installed a dictator like Hilter and Stalin on the throne, War can start that way. Again, that is political decision made between the Polituro in China and White House, with whoever in charge. That's for people better than you and me to decide, I am just saying if a War do happen, US will win, and China will lose, as there are no way CHina can fend off 10 CBG and 9 AAG strength US navy and when the Navy is gone, these island is going to be cut off.

 

[yantong1980]

lol, "unsinkable" air carrier. I'm keep hearing this term every day from gullible journalist. A mobile moving stealthy air carrier can be chased down and sunken, let a lone a fixed "air carrier" target that does not move. Any fighter jets and SAM batteries parked on this artificial island will be wiped out in a few minutes from missiles launched from submarines, destroyers, B-2, F-35, F/A-18E/F. Where can you hide your fighter jets and SAM batteries on these islands? LOL. You have no where to hide them, their real estate is too small for you to conceal anything. All of your assets on these artificial islands will be taken down before they even have a chance to face the F-22 or F-35, LOL.

Hillariousy clowns, if the US is so tough bad boy like your say, why they don't do it since yesterday? Your beloved 'big bad invincible' US army even stuck in in country like Iraq and Afghanistan, how much this two countries safari suck-up your tax payer money? You can play 'war' or 'threat' to small country, but to big player like China, you CAN'T.

 

[Oldman1]

im surprised us aircraft carrier dont sink because of enormous weight of american people

We already had that planned long before since the creation of aircraft carriers.

There is no such of wishful thinking on my part, those artificial island also have the air fuel storages and all the support needed to sustain the deployment of Chinese naval fighters in SCS, those island are the unsinkable Chinese aircraft carrier. Even with only 1 percent chance of defend those island, China still place all of it defensive measure on those island in case of those island under attack.

Those China artificial island are there to stay, no amount of naval threat from the US navy will force China to vacate those island in the SCS.

So what you said by pointing out destroying radar sites and air fuel storage, those artificial islands can be taken out and are sitting there useless without any resupplies or repairs. I mean you guys talk about knocking out unsinkable carrier military bases in Japan or in Guam or other territories in the Pacific Ocean and making them useless right?

 

[jhungary]

Hillariousy clowns, if the US is so tough bad boy like your say, why they don't do it since yesterday? Your beloved 'big bad invincible' US army even stuck in in country like Iraq and Afghanistan, how much this two countries safari suck-up your tax payer money? You can play 'war' or 'threat' to small country, but to big player like China, you CAN'T.

You are actually the one being hilarious.....

You are comparing an INVASION of two country, and the invasions WE HAVE WON by the way, to a possible limited war engagement.

Invasion is never an easy task, especially if you do not have ground route directly link your country and the country you want to invade, people keep saying American are stupid or NATO are crap that they got blogged down by Taliban Farmers or Insurgency, in fact, do you even know how Invasion work?

Invasion works when you have to force to fight your enemy's war, they are on that location you want to invade, and by launching an sea/land borne invasion, you are actually playing their game and try to turn their game. That mean they will have the initiative. and you are always on receiving end.

Yet despite this, NATO force captured Saddam, Osama Bin Laden, Defeated the Sadr and Taliban regime and installed their regime and most important, BOTH REGIME US INSTALLED STILL STANDS. That mean the NATO have won, all the while NATO death is minimal compare to Afghan and Iraqi insurgency death. On the other hand both china and russia failed to invade their neighbor vietnam and afghanistan, and even tho both share a border with that country they want to invade. That alone should have show you how strong US and US Led NATO is.

Again, if you think these Taliban numbnuts are stupid, maybe you should try fight them in Chinese border, if you come back alive, then we will talk.

 

[phancong]

Over-the-horizon scouting exist before WW1, what is the different between Satellite and Scout plane? Both doing the same job, infact, Satellite can only point to a certain point at each cycle, if you have to change the location, you will have to change the satellite orbit. Which take longer time to spot a target than using scout plane, in this end, Satellite is actually a technological backward (not about the technology, but the method) when compare to a scout plane.

Also, Gun to Gun fight are already over the horizon, Battle of Surigao Strait, 4 Battleships (2 US, 2 IJN) was battling each other at 32 km range (Out of Visual Range) at night. There are already no need for "face to face" warfare at the begining of big gun Dreadaut Phase.



Oh, so modern day navy can acquire a target just by clicking a button? Have you been using Satellite Tracking? Because I had.

You are oversimplifing the modernday ISTAR system, a complete ISTAR system today odn't just have Satellite Tracking, for you to use Satellite to pin point a target, and track it, you first need to have the target information feeded to the satellite, satellite is not intellegent enough to acquire a target and track it for you (in fact, the world aren't in that stage of AI yet) meaning if you want the satellite to track a target for you, you will need to pass on the target information for the Satellite to point to that direction and provide you with feedback.

Now, look at this image.

View attachment 378627

This is an google earth satellite image. Now this image is zoomed to fit an area you are given to the program. Which is a birdeyes view of Sydney (include suburb of Millers Point, The Rock, Circular Quay, Woolloomooloo and so on) say I want the satellite to now focus on Kings Cross. in a specific street. The Satellite would not just zoom in to Kings Cross (which is on SE corner of the map) as the word Kings Cross mean nothing to the Satellite, you either need to pan the satellite (matching your eyes to the grid) or provide the satellite with the coordinate of Kings Cross. Then you can have the satellite to pan into Kings Cross.

But how would the satellite know the coordinate? It's easy for location because location is fixed, Kings Cross is always at -33.87373S; 151.22357E and it won't ever move (actually they move a little as earth crust displacement), you can store the coordinate of Kings Cross in your Satellite and when you input "Kings Cross" the satellite will know where to look. However, if the target is moving, how do your satellite tack it at the first place?

ISTAR have 4 component, Intelligence/Infomration, Survellience, Target Acquirsition and Reconassiance. What Satellite can do in ISTAR? Satellite can be use to surveil the target, that's it, however, Target information (what is your target) Target acquirisition (where is your target) and Reconassiance (What your target looks like) have to be input to the satellite otherwise they can't track shit.

In WW2, Survellience parts was done by Scout Plane, basically, it is a satellite, just they have a shorter ranger compare to a satellite and at lower orbit than a satellite. However, using Satellite and scout Plane itself is not important, the necessarity to satisify the ISTAR during an engagement is. Because in WW2, there are no Satellite for both side, where both side uses scout plane, in modern day, everybody uses satellite, so the advantage of Satellite vs Scout Plane is basically cancelled out.



............You don't understand what I said.

I am not saying China cannot deal damage to the US, i am saying if a War between US and China happened in South China Seas, Chinese will lose. and Chinese cannot succeessfully defend the island, in fact defending the island at this stage is quite dumb move, because it draw away resource to defend these untenable island.

As I said, I have no intent to discuss with you or anybody about whether or not will US and China goes to war, would the American think twice? I dont know, what about if we have a madman superhawk like fat Kim in charge of the white house? Or what if China have installed a dictator like Hilter and Stalin on the throne, War can start that way. Again, that is political decision made between the Polituro in China and White House, with whoever in charge. That's for people better than you and me to decide, I am just saying if a War do happen, US will win, and China will lose, as there are no way CHina can fend off 10 CBG and 9 AAG strength US navy and when the Navy is gone, these island is going to be cut off.

You stated US navy used the WW2 experience as the basis for naval training in the present or future naval warfare, in any battle the idea is to seek out your enemy and attack them 1st without giving up your own position in the battlefield, the tactic of search and destroy developed base on the equipment you field at that moment. The idea of search and destroy will never changed but tactic are changing with time and advance of military technology. You don't train with short distance recon self propeller airplane to implement the war tactic in the modern time. You train how to use drone, tracking satillites, AWAC to spot your enemy with real time data link. I'm not a military person but logic dictate you learn the lesson of the pass war and fully train the tactical of war in the present or future environment, there are reason country develop stealth capacity for their naval ship and fighter jet because advanced of technology allow your adversary to located your position without expose themselves to your hostile firepower.

 

[jhungary]

You stated US navy used the WW2 experience as the basis for naval training in the present or future naval warfare, in any battle the idea is to seek out your enemy and attack them 1st without giving up your own position in the battlefield, the tactic of search and destroy developed base on the equipment you field at that moment. The idea of search and destroy will never changed but tactic are changing with time and advance of military technology. You don't train with short distance recon self propeller airplane to implement the war tactic in the modern time. You train how to use drone, tracking satillites, AWAC to spot your enemy with real time data link. I'm not a military person but logic dictate you learn the lesson of the pass war and fully train the tactical of war in the present or future environment, there are reason country develop stealth capacity for their naval ship and fighter jet because advanced of technology allow your adversary to located your position without expose themselves to your hostile firepower.

Nope......even with today advacement of Beyond Visual Range technology, across all discipline, you are still require to PID your target before you fire. PID stand for Positive Identification. Meaning you need to be able to see what you are shooting at BEFORE You shoot. It's has been a core value of Army since 1990 and for the Navy and Air Force since after vietnam war. Watch this youtube video the Fighter Pilot himself is talking about how he have to PID the target even after AWACS feed him the information. (At 25:32, he is talking about Identify the Friendly and Hostile on a F-15C)

Yes, you do not train with short range propeller plane anymore as the US does not operate Kingfisher or Swordfish or SBD anymore, but you do train with visual scouting, and the carrier group is still trained with sending out Scout Planes (F-18/EG-18F) or Helicopter (SH-60 Seahawk) and work with EWACS (E-2D Hawkeyes) and gain visual sighting first, then organise an attack package regardless of Air or Sea Threats.

PID is not necessarily done by the ship, you send planes or helicopter ahead with the Battle Group in column to fulfill the ISTAR need, this part (sending planes ahead to prep a strike) is the same as in WW2.

And by you saying You need to learn to use drone, satellite and datalink, didn't you realise what you said itself is a WW2 era tactics? Didn't you realise it is the same way how Carrier work in WW2? Just replace drones with Scout planes, Satellite with map and sortie record, and datalink with radio communication? I am not saying the Navy should train with WW2 era euipment, I am saying the tactics is the same one we use in WW2.

 

[phancong]

Of course the pilot himself need to confirm the target by himself and not just fire the missiles at the target without his own positive ID on the target. Real live data feedback minimized the risk of your force stray into your enemy position without prior knowledge and shorten the time lapse your enemy change their position.

 

[52051]

Well, it maybe easy to take out China's islands in SCS, but not so easy to survive the conseqence...

I dont think the american military planners want to pick a fight against China in SCS since they know their chance of winning is slim at best, I think all they count on is their nukes atm

 

[gambit]

Well, it maybe easy to take out China's islands in SCS, but not so easy to survive the conseqence...

It is not 'maybe'. It IS.

I dont think the american military planners want to pick a fight against China in SCS since they know their chance of winning is slim at best, I think all they count on is their nukes atm

You may think so, but you are wrong. It is China who knows her navy's chance of winning in the SCS is slim at best.

 

[52051]

It is not 'maybe'. It IS.


You may think so, but you are wrong. It is China who knows her navy's chance of winning in the SCS is slim at best.

Believe whatever make you sleep.

Knowing it is you, I dont want to waste thousands of replies trying to convince you that the earth is not flat

 

[lonelyman]

US aircraft carrier group deployed for ‘routine patrols’ in S. China Sea

https://twitter.com/x/status/760802505433444352

Ignoring repeated warnings from Beijing not to aggravate tensions in Southeast Asia, the US Navy has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group for “routine” maritime patrols in the vicinity of the disputed South China Sea waters.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, together with aircraft from the Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer started “routine operations in the South China,” the US Navy announced.
The deployment of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 began Saturday, just days after China issued a stern warning to stay away from the area.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters,” China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday. “China respects and upholds the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea which countries enjoy under international law, but firmly opposes any country’s attempt to undermine China’s sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom of navigation and overflight.”

Despite the warning, US patrols got underway in the disputed waters, right after an American flotilla held drills off the islands of Hawaii and Guam to “maintain and improve their readiness and develop cohesion as a strike group.”

“The training completed over the past few weeks has really brought the team together and improved our effectiveness and readiness as a strike group,” said Rear Adm. James Kilby, commander of CSG 1. “We are looking forward to demonstrating those capabilities while building upon existing strong relationships with our allies, partners and friends in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.”
As tensions between US and China intensify, the US Navy appears to continue disregard Beijing’s interests in the immediate proximity of the disputed islands, claiming the moves are designed to ensure the principles of freedom of navigation in international waters.
The Spratly Islands, or Spratlys, comprise more than 750 islets, atolls, and reefs, and lie off the coastlines of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and China, with all the claimants having their own national names for the archipelago. Beijing persists in claiming the reefs in defiance of a ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague.

While freedom of navigation and military drills accelerated under President Barack Obama's administration, Trump and his team appear to be heading on a collision course with China.

US-China relations, already frosty over the disputed South China Sea islands, became more strained after Trump’s phone conversation with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, which immediately followed the Republican’s victory. The exchange infuriated Beijing, who considered it running against the bilateral protocol of the so-called 'One-China' policy, under which Washington views Taiwan as part of China.

And just over the last two weeks, both Trump and James Mattis, the current US Secretary of Defense, vowed to protect Japan in any territorial disputes it has with China in the East China Sea.

The situation has been further exacerbated by China’s militarization of the South China Sea. Chinese State media Xinhua announced on Friday that China's Navy had completed a week-long exercise there. The “scheduled” maneuvers entailed sudden attack drills and had three Chinese warships participating, including a destroyer.

https://www.rt.com/news/377841-us-carrier-china-sea-patrols/

USA don't have money to fix broken dams, collapsed bridges, etc, but busy wasting money giving away government handouts like food stamps or this kind of stupid shows. If they are serious, then start to bomb China's island, if not everything else is a stupid show.

 

[BHarwana]

USA don't have money to fix broken dams, collapsed bridges, etc, but busy wasting money giving away government handouts like food stamps or this kind of stupid shows. If they are serious, then start to bomb China's island, if not everything else is a stupid show.

Trump has so many protest going against him in the USA he is just trying to divert attention to a foreign enemy it is just a political move. You and I both know USA neither has the capacity nor the ability to go to direct war with China. They can only bomb the stone throwers not Military. My evaluation says it is more of a political attempt not a war move. You will soon see this ship docking at japan or some other secure location and rest there for a while.

 

[Tiger Genie]

Crazy trump probably is giving nightmares to Beijing.

 

[gambit]

Nope......even with today advacement of Beyond Visual Range technology, across all discipline, you are still require to PID your target before you fire. PID stand for Positive Identification. Meaning you need to be able to see what you are shooting at BEFORE You shoot. It's has been a core value of Army since 1990 and for the Navy and Air Force since after vietnam war.

The reason why we had to perform so many PIDs back in Desert Storm was precisely because of the overwhelming air superiority we had over Iraq. The order and planning from General Horner, the overall air commander under the single manager concept, was that no allied ground forces are to be vulnerable to Iraqi air. The result was that everybody was under pressure and produced overlapping 'air boxes' for their patrols. AWACS tried to sort them out but even so, there was an incident where an F-15 lead, under AWACS guidance, actually targeted his wingman. PID saved the day.

The way the Navy operates its sub is to assign a sub a 'waterspace management' box where inside that box, no friendly sub is supposed to be, so the sub is free to assume that any underwater contact is at least uncertain, if not hostile. If the sub's patrol time is up, it must receive authorization to depart its assigned area and must do so within a certain time period. The replacement sub is supposed to wait for confirmation of departure before it can enter the box and assume responsibility for patrol.

The speed of operations by aircrafts make the Navy way almost impossible to implement. It can be done, but only with 'set in stone' air operations submitted by all the squadrons scheduled to fly for that day. It did not happened in Desert Storm and it was great credit to the AWACS crews that fratricide was not a common occurrence.

Believe whatever make you sleep.

Same to you.

Knowing it is you, I dont want to waste thousands of replies trying to convince you that the earth is not flat

Considering your lack of military experience, in this forum and your mentality, it is YOU for whom the flat earth attribute is applicable.

Trump has so many protest going against him in the USA he is just trying to divert attention to a foreign enemy it is just a political move. You and I both know USA neither has the capacity nor the ability to go to direct war with China. They can only bomb the stone throwers not Military. My evaluation says it is more of a political attempt not a war move. You will soon see this ship docking at japan or some other secure location and rest there for a while.

Your 'evaluation' ? And we are sure you speak from extensive personal experience in national security and foreign affairs.