Diamond Jim wrote:
"Ricardo" wrote in message
o.uk...

Kyle Boatright wrote:

"Harry Andreas" wrote in message
...


In article ,
wrote:



China sub stalked U.S. fleet
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published November 13, 2006



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in
the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its
torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has
learned.

Where's the evidence that the US fleet did not detect it?
For all the WT knows there was a LA class sub sitting 500 yards astern
the Chinese sub the whole time.

--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur


Even better, the Chinese probably don't know if they were detected
either. Making no public comment is a very clever move by the Navy. Maybe
the Chinese got close to a nuke carrier with a sub and it didn't get
detected. On the other hand, maybe it was detected and tracked for a week
beforehand.

The Chinese will probably never know. Which would make it that much
harder for them to decide how to use their subs if a conflict erupted...



Of course, the balancing thing is that until America provokes a conflict
with China, she won't know either!

It was in July when we were told of the despatch of the US aircraft
carrier USS Bonhomme Richard to the Pacific - just one of 41 vessels and
160 aircraft - as a 'warning' to China!

I'm sure China really appreciated that - if they had done something
similar the USA would still be cowering in its bunkers.

Ricardo

--
"Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice, and fear, walk hand in hand ..."


You don't have a clue! The USS Bonhomme Richard is an Amphibious Assault
Ship, not an aircraft carrier. It carries a battalion of Marines,
helicopters, landing craft, and occasionally a few AV-8 Harriers (called the
jump jet by some). I doubt China is worried about being invaded by just one
battalion of Marines.


I was merely quoting a press release at the time! It's not my fault if
US Government agencies get their arses in a twist with facts - I was
just passing it on. Presumably this is the same group that the Chinese
have been shadowing and the relevant aircraft carrier is the Kitty Hawk.
The fact that America is sufficiently frightened of China to send 41
naval vessels of any type to "warn" them sends its own message.

To quote from my original posting:

"China, which has a rampant economy, has raised military spending by
more than 10 per cent a year for 15 years. That has given the People's
Liberation Army a bristling array of high-tech weaponry, including
carrier-killing weapons. They threaten the vessels that have kept the
Pacific a United States lake for more than half a century and that could
block China's long-cherished dream of snuffing out the small democratic
breakaway state of Taiwan.

Mr Schmidt suggested that the growing rivalry had parallels with the
dreadnought-building race between Britain and Germany in the years
before the First World War. He said the Chinese, after watching this
summer's demonstration of American power, had probably concluded: "Yes,
we see how powerful you are and that is going to make us work twice as
hard."

"Michael Pillsbury, a China expert who advises Donald Rumsfeld, the
defence secretary, and who helped to craft the hedging strategy said:
"There is no real explanation for why China is doing all this, what the
limit is, or how much longer it will go on. What is the purpose of it?""

Proof of American inability to understand 'the real world' is in Michael
Pillsbury's comment: "There is no real explanation for why China is
doing all this, what the limit is, or how much longer it will go on.
What is the purpose of it?"

The reason is patently obvious: the Chinese will not tolerate American
bullying or intimidation and seek to defend themselves in event of
attack - or perhaps they are ready to take on the role of the 'world's
policeman'. "

By the way, the AV8 Harrier was called the "jump-jet" by its British
inventors.

Ricardo

--
"Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice, and fear, walk hand in hand ..."