Coastal defense - Meta-Defense.fr

China builds replicas of US aircraft carriers and destroyers in the desert

November 8, 2021November 24, 2021

The Taklamakan Desert, a desert and very hostile space of more than 270.000 km2 in the middle of Uighur territory in northwestern China, was proposed in 2010 to enter the natural world heritage of humanity. This arid space, which sees temperatures of 50°c during the day rub shoulders with -40°c at night, is also a privileged training area for the People's Liberation Army, which has been testing its ballistic missiles there for many years. Recently, however, forms incongruous for this environment have been detected by Western observation satellites. Indeed, the Chinese armies have built simplified replicas of several…

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The weight of geographic constraints on Chinese naval military development

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

Guest article by Noam Hakoune in permanent full access For the months of July and August 2021, the very influential journal Foreign Affairs asked itself the question of whether China could continuously grow.[1] It is indeed the inevitability of Beijing's growth that has haunted all American strategists since the intrusion of the Thucydides Trap concept by Graham Allison in 2012.[2] Comparing the Chinese and American powers cannot be done without a fine analysis of the naval and maritime balance of power. Because given the distance between the two powers and the geography of the region, a potential conflict between China and the United States...

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Coastal defense batteries return to center stage

April 29thApril 23th

Traditionally, until the mid-60s, ports and military arsenals, as well as certain strategic locations on the coast, were frequently protected by coastal batteries, both anti-aircraft and anti-ship. But the erosion of the threat, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as the appearance and democratization of missiles on board combat ships, led many countries to do without these defenses. However, in recent years, several armies have undertaken to acquire new capabilities of this type, in particular by acquiring coastal batteries equipped with anti-ship missiles. How can we explain this return to favor of defense batteries…

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Is the island of Taiwan going to have to turn into a fortress?

27th OctoberDecember 19, 2020

During the Second World War, the island of Malta, under British mandate, was transformed into a defensive fortress which allowed Great Britain to hinder the ambitions of the axis in North Africa, playing a preponderant role in the final collapse of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, running out of raw materials, especially fuel. The island was so reinforced that the Herkules invasion operation, scheduled for November 1942, and which was to mobilize more than 60.000 men, 1600 vehicles and nearly 600 combat aircraft, was canceled in the face of some 26.000 defenders of the island, to a dozen tanks, and to 60 to 80 Spitfires and…

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Japan deploys anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile launchers to counter Chinese incursions between Taiwan and Okinawa

April 7thApril 9th

In recent weeks, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan have chained demonstrations of force after the proclamation of the TAIPEI Act by Washington. However, the strengthening of Chinese naval and air deployments in the East China Sea is also worrying Tokyo, which has deployed several missile units from its ground defense forces (JGSDF) on the island of Miyako. Mobile firing platforms for Type 12 anti-ship missiles and for Type 03 anti-aircraft missiles have therefore been deployed to control Chinese deployments between Taiwan and the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. While Taiwan's proximity to mainland China is generally well known,…

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USAF and US Navy use AC-130W gunship to counter new naval threats in Persian Gulf

March 19, 2020March 21, 2020

From March 8 to 9, the American armed forces demonstrated in the Persian Gulf the possibility of using a “gunship” aircraft for maritime support operations. The test involved US Air Force AC-130W Stinger-II gunships as well as a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and Cyclone-class light patrol vessel. Seemingly anecdotal, this test nevertheless makes it possible to validate the joint use of air and naval means to counter swarms of light and maneuverable surface targets. By carrying out the demonstration not far from the Strait of Hormuz, the American forces are also sending a message...

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The US Marines Corps wants to quickly acquire new generation anti-ship missiles

March 16, 2020March 17, 2020

As we often mention in our lines, it seems that the strategic initiative has changed sides, after three decades of American superiority in military affairs. In China, Russia and with their main customers, the generalization of anti-aircraft and anti-ship access denial systems (A2/AD) has gradually reduced Western air and naval superiority. At the same time, the emergence of a Chinese ocean-going navy has represented, for the US Navy, an unprecedented challenge since the end of the Cold War, prompting the American armed forces to adapt their strategy of means to these new threats hanging over their expeditionary forces. As we explained…

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First test of the Tzirkon hypersonic missile from a Russian frigate

February 27 2020March 2, 2020

Of the modern weapon systems under development in Russia, the 3M22 Tzikon hypersonic anti-ship missile is probably one of the most likely to cause a long-term technological shift. Given to reach 1000 km, the missile would evolve at Mach 9, which puts it virtually out of range of all the anti-missile systems existing today which protect the buildings of Western navies. The program has just taken a big step, since according to the TASS agency, the Russian Navy has carried out the first firings of 2 of these missiles from a ship, in this case the new Admiral Gorshkov frigate. The test, involving two…

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The hypersonic missile Tzirkon could take place in Kalibr naval cruise missile launchers

February 22 2019May 19th

In his annual address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin gave details on the progress concerning the weapons systems that he himself had presented during a speech last March during the Russian presidential campaign. Among these systems, the Tzirkon anti-ship missile continues to be developed, "according to forecasts" according to the Russian president, and should therefore enter service by 2021. More specifically, the Russian president specified that the new hypersonic missile, capable of reach mach 9 for a range of 1000 km, can be implemented by all present and future buildings equipped with Kalibr missiles. This leaves…

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DF26 missile can hit moving targets, but is not the ultimate anti-aircraft carrier

January 28 2019May 19th

On numerous occasions, Western authorities had questioned the reality of the ability of the Chinese DF-21 and DF-26 ballistic missiles to hit a moving target, while China maintained that these missiles were designed to eliminate aircraft carriers. long-distance Westerners. It seems that the latest tests of the DF-26 missile provide some clarification on the operation of its guidance, and on its ability to hit a building such as an aircraft carrier. Indeed, during this test, the Russian forces would have controlled the trajectory of the missile in flight, so as to redirect it towards its target. According to the elements put forward, the warhead…

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