The U.S Navy released a photo that has got a lot of attention on social media platforms
because of the underlining message that it served.
In the photo, the commanding officer and executive officer of the USS Mustin destroyer can be
seen watching on as China's Liaoning aircraft carrier sails nearby.
The captain has his feet up in a nonchalant pose as the pair laid their eyes on China's
prized asset.
The photo was said to be taken on April 4.
The warships were just around a few thousand meters away from each other.
The message was clear - Liaoning is not a major threat for U.S Navy and USS Mustin can
handle it without much fuss.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why USS Mustin Arleigh Burke-class destroyer could
cripple the Chinese Liaoning aircraft carrier in battle?
Let's get started.
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Liaoning is no match to an American Nimitz class supercarrier.
But what about an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer?
An aircraft carrier is expected to have its own escorts which will include destroyers,
cruisers, frigates.
A direct one-to-one confrontation between an aircraft carrier and a destroyer is unlikely.
But in a certain situation, a confrontation can happen and the April 4 event one such
scenario.
Liaoning is much larger, displacing around 67,500 tons while USS Mustin displaces only
9,200 tons.
But size is not everything, there are 3 reasons because of which USS Mustin will potentially
have an upper hand.
Let's check them one by one.
While Tomahawk has been around for a long time now, the latest Block V variant of the
missile is a major upgrade.
The Block Va variant is called Maritime Strike.
It has a new seeker capable of hitting a moving target.
So, it could be used to target a rival's surface combatants.
The target information in the variant could be updated in flight.
The warhead will be geared towards destroying enemy warships.
Block V has crucial upgrades to the missile’s communication and navigation systems.
This will make it hard for the enemy to jam the missile with electronic countermeasures.
This will mean that more missiles will be able to navigate unhindered to the target
and hit them.
Raytheon’s Tomahawk program manager told reporters at an event at the missile plant
in Tucson, Ariz., that the navigation system upgrades will ensure the missile can strike
targets even if GPS is taken down.
This is a game-changer since missile the which has a range of around 1000 miles or 1600 km
will be able to take down enemy surface vessels from a standoff distance.
Deliveries have started since March and it is likely that USS Mustin is armed with it
since it deployed in a hotspot.
A barrage of Maritime Strike could see Liaoning going down in a jiffy.
The main power of an aircraft carrier is its air wing.
Liaoning can accommodate around 26 Shenyang J-15 which is its main strike force.
The Shenyang J-15 also known as Flying Shark is a 4th generation, twin-jet, all-weather,
carrier-based fighter aircraft developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and the
601 Institute for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's aircraft carriers.
J-15 which is basically an unethical copy of the Russian Su-33 uses indigenous Shenyang
Liming WS-10H engines which are underpowered.
It is thought to have a low maximum launch weight.
With this weight limitation, a J-15 carrier fighter cannot carry a full load of fuel and
weapons.
So, it neither has a good range or an effective weapons package.
China’s own media has come down heavily on it.
Beijing-based Sina Military Network (SMN) criticized the capabilities of the J-15 as
nothing more than a "flopping fish" incapable of flying from the Liaoning with heavy weapons,
“effectively crippling its attack range and firepower.
USS Mustin is armed with Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) which has a range of 31 miles
or 50 km and a speed of Mach 4.
The warship has 96 cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch system, a significant number of these are
reserved for ESSM.
Since ESSM can be quad packed, the USS Mustin carries an excellent payload of this missile.
This will be able to swat the underpowered Shenyang J-15 easily and take out Liaoning's main force.
The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6)
have been deployed by the US Navy to counter different kinds of threats.
It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes providing capability
against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship cruise missiles
in flight, both over sea and land and terminal ballistic missile defense.
It can also be used as a high-speed anti-ship missile.
The missile uses the airframe of the earlier SM-2ER Block IV (RIM-156A) missile and some
targeting elements from AIM-120C AMRAAM.
It can discriminate targets using its dual-mode seeker, with the semi-active seeker relying
on a ship-based illuminator to highlight the target, and the active seeker having the missile
itself sending out an electromagnetic signal.
SM 6 has a max speed of Mach 3.5 and has a 140 lb (64 kg) blast fragmentation warhead.
It has a range of 250 mi or around 400 km.
The SM-6 also sunk the decommissioned USS Reuben James in an 18 January 2016 demonstration,
displaying its anti-ship capabilities.
SM-6 is much harder to intercept than typical anti-ship missiles as it has supersonic speed
as well as the ability to take on high G maneuvers.
Also, the missile will be deadly to Liaoning's air wing.