Chewkw, they’re about 30 years behind the yanks…they’re still stuck in the 1980’s. For example that carrier is a heap of shit, the fighters that will be launched off it are based on ageing Su-27’s – most of the avionics are derived from ageing Russian stuff. Meanwhile the yanks are rocking the latest versions of the F-18, stuffed with every electronic gizmo that you’ve never heard of. And to boot, they’ll be getting F-35’s over the next few years.
What’s more is that they don’t have the 70 odd years of carrier ops experience that the Americans have. It’s going to take them years to catch up. To add to all of this their military is massively corrupt, in fact the only way I see this kicking off is if the Americans don’t actually realise the PLA is potentially corrupt, undisciplined and stupid enough to actually start something.
What they can do now and in the medium term is potentially make it too risky for the Americans to want to get involved unless they really really have to. Losing even one carrier would be a costly mistake. The Chinese will bank on this and spend the next 20 years bluffing, doing their utmost to bring the Americans and it’s pacific allies to the negotiating table.
As usual, the reports of World War Three being imminent are entirely exaggerated/hyped up.
