Latest news with #TomShugart
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘Game-Changing' Anti-Ship Weapon Tested by US Stealth Bomber
An American stealth bomber recently tested a "game-changing" weapon designed to sink warships amid China's rapid naval buildup to challenge the United States in the Pacific. The new weapon-known as Quicksink-is capable of "rapidly and efficiently" sinking maritime targets, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory said in a news release on Wednesday. Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment by email. China has the largest navy in the world by hull count, according to the Pentagon, with more than 370 ships and submarines-including two aircraft carriers in active service-enabling Beijing to expand its military reach and presence within and beyond the western Pacific. Facing China's growing naval threat, the U.S. has been arming its allies and partners in the Pacific-Australia, Japan and Taiwan-with various anti-ship weapons and deploying the Maritime Strike Tomahawk, the ship-sinking variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile. The test-which took place at a Gulf test range near Eglin Air Force Base in northwestern Florida-involved a B-2 stealth bomber and the 500-pound variant of the Quicksink maritime weapon. Official photos indicate the test was conducted in late April. Quicksink is a U.S. Air Force weapons program aimed at creating "air-delivered, low-cost, surface vessel defeat capability" to enhance Washington's power projection and maintain freedom of navigation in critical waterways, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory said. The weapon itself is a modified Joint Direct Attack Munition-a family of precision-guided bombs-enhanced with anti-ship capabilities. The 2,000-pound Quicksink variant was successfully tested during an exercise in the Pacific last year, according to the news release. The new, smaller Quicksink variant is modified from the GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition and is set to expand the B-2 bomber's targeting capabilities. The bomber is designed to penetrate the "most sophisticated defenses" and can carry up to 40,000 pounds of weapons. This capability provides a rapid response to maritime threats, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory said, significantly bolstering the Air Force's counter-maritime deterrence and operations. However, it remains unclear whether the weapon has been officially fielded. Tom Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submariner and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he would be "pretty surprised" if the stealth bomber flew within range of Chinese warships to drop the bomb. "Are we 1,000 percent sure that their air defense systems aren't going to get a sniff?" he asked. The B-2 bomber is one of the U.S. Air Force's most valuable assets, with only 19 aircraft in service. General David Allvin, the U.S. Air Force's chief of staff, wrote on X on Wednesday: "We unleashed a new QUICKSINK weapon, which significantly enhances our ability to strike stationary or moving surface vessels. This is a true game-changer for the [Department of Defense] and is exactly what [President Donald Trump] means by PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!" The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory said on its website: "QUICKSINK is an answer to the need to quickly neutralize menacing maritime threats over vast areas around the world. … QUICKSINK is unique because it can provide new capabilities to existing and future DoD weapons systems, giving combatant commanders and our national leaders new ways to defend against maritime threats." It remains to be seen whether the U.S. Air Force and other service branches will develop entirely new weapons or modify existing armaments to neutralize enemy warships. Related Articles Iran to Counter US Nuclear Offer as Trump Sends New WarningHooters Closing Locations Across US: Full List of Restaurants Shutting DownJeffrey Epstein Video Release: What Footage Shows of His DeathImages Show U.S. Patriot Missiles Deployed for Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Our Best Look Yet At China's New ‘Invasion Barges'
New imagery has appeared of one of China's new 'invasion barges,' which involves a temporary pier that can be connected to other vessels via a barge, or series of barges, with jack-up supports for more stability. The development of jack-up barges is widely seen as part of preparations for a possible invasion of Taiwan by the People's Republic of China. At the same time, they also reflect the growing use of ostensibly non-military maritime assets to support amphibious operations by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). A new video showing three of the jack-up barges deployed in tandem on a still-unidentified beach began to circulate recently on social media channels. Fleet Of Special Barges Suitable For Taiwan Landings via WeChat Channels@观诲长郎 — 笑脸男人 (@lfx160219) March 13, 2025 What seems to be the first look on the ground at the special barges built by GSI in Guangzhou. These designs are tied to amphibious operations in support of a notional invasion of Taiwan. Screenshots from footage shared by @lfx160219 on Twitter. — Alex Luck (@ 2025-03-13T08:26:30.865Z Meanwhile, recent satellite imagery from Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) on Longxue Island, just southeast of the city of Guangzhou, confirms that three of the jack-up barges that were seen under construction there have departed. This development was identified by Tom Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank. In this 9 March image, we can see that three of the LPTs have left (numbers 6, 2, and 1 from the previous thread).As such, one 4-, one 6-, and one 8-pillar LPT have departed, with one of each still under construction. — Tom Shugart (@tshugart3) March 13, 2025 Shugart refers to the barges as T-LPTs, for civilian-crewed auxiliary landing platform — transfer. According to his analysis, the three barges in question left Longxue Island sometime after March 9. Another three are still under construction at the GSI facility. 'After seeing the departure of these vessels, I went back and observed AIS data to see if the vessels were using AIS,' Shugart wrote on X, in reference to the automatic identification system that uses transceivers on ships to monitor their movements. 'What I saw was indications of tugs getting these ships underway, but no AIS from the ships themselves, unlike other commercial vessels.' Clearly, China either doesn't want these vessels to be tracked or they are actually PLAN vessels. There is a precedent for the former, with dual-purpose ferries that take part in Chinese military exercises also not using AIS. Most interesting, perhaps, is the way that the jack-up barges are deployed. Initially, analysts predicted that the three different-sized barges would likely be used independently, creating different-size mobile causeways leading to the beachhead. In the latest imagery, the three barges are coupled together to create one long causeway. Shugart calculates that this should be around 850 meters (930 yards) long. Images from Chinese social media show newly constructed 'invasion barges' operating at a beach in the South China Sea, SAR imagery helps pin point the location & the ongoing amphibious landing exercise ! read more about the barges here – — Damien Symon (@detresfa_) March 13, 2025 Having much longer reach means that the causeway can be extended farther out to sea and into deeper water, where loads can be transferred onto them off of larger displacement vessels. The latest development follows a previous image that appeared in January, showing a Chinese commercial roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) ferry linked to a temporary pier via a different type of barge, with at least two — and possibly more — jack-up legs. TWZ provided an analysis of this earlier image at the time. An illustration of the approach for PLA over the beach-landing tests and training. The vessel connecting the ferry to the pontoons is not one of the recently revealed new designs, but obviously related in overall concept. Via 人畜无害遥感星/Wb. — Alex Luck (@AlexLuck9) January 14, 2025 Before that, satellite imagery had emerged, showing multiple jack-up barges in various stages of construction at the GSI shipyard. Analysis of GEOINT on 08 January 2025 shows new possible amphibious operations support vessels at the Guangzhou shipyard in China. Report – Critical intelligence delivered to your inbox. #China #Guangzhou — AllSource Analysis (@AllSourceA) January 10, 2025 As we have noted in the past, there is a precedent for these kinds of temporary piers or causeways in a military context. Only recently, the U.S. military made brief use of a temporary pier system to help increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. However, a squall broke apart that pier, putting it out of action for a while and demonstrating the potential vulnerability of such structures to severe weather. Where the Chinese system differs, however, is in its use of struts, which literally jack the barge up, making it more stable and resilient to bad weather and able to remain in action in heavier sea states. This should also result in a much higher throughput of cargo, vehicles, and personnel. On the other hand, the construction also makes for a notably large target and very static high-value target, suggesting that it would be most relevant after an initial landing, supporting the arrival of mass follow-on forces and supplies after a degree of tactical stability has been established. As can be seen in the new video, the barge closest to the beach has four prominent jack-up legs, the second barge has six, and the third and final one appears to have eight. At the same time, jack-up barges are not new, with perhaps the best-known military example being the employment of so-called Mulberry harbors by Allied forces following the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, during World War II. China, meanwhile, has at least a decade of experience using both semi-submersible and jack-up barges to connect ships, including ostensibly commercial RO/RO ferries, and temporary piers/causeways. By now, there's little doubt about the size and scope of the PLAN's amphibious warfare aspirations and the fact that it expects to rely on commercial capabilities as well as distinctly military vessels. Having access to this kind of additional capacity is widely seen in the context of supporting an invasion of Taiwan, although it has relevance in many other potential scenarios. The advantages of a hybrid military/civilian amphibious force could be leveraged for future military operations elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, as well as for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance activities. The importance of civilian vessels to China's expanding amphibious capabilities is also underlined in the Pentagon's most recent annual report on Chinese military developments, released in December last year. This states: 'Although the PLAN has not invested in the large number of landing ships and medium landing craft that analysts believe the PLA would need for a large-scale assault on Taiwan, it is possible the PLA assesses it has sufficient amphibious capacity and has mitigated shortfalls through investment in other operational capabilities, such as civilian lift vessels and rotary-wing assets to address this gap. The PLA may have confidence in the PRC's shipbuilding industry's massive capacity to produce the necessary ship-to-shore connectors relatively quickly.' The value of temporary piers in this context has also not gone unnoticed. 'An over-the-shore capability like the floating causeway will be a critical capability in a Taiwan invasion, giving the PLA the capability to bypass damaged or sabotaged ports and harbors with an independent, relocatable off-shore loading and unloading capability,' a report from the independent China Maritime Studies Institute published last year explains. 'At least through 2030, the PLA's reserve civilian merchant fleet is probably unable to provide significant amphibious landing capabilities or the maritime logistics in austere or challenging environments necessary to support a large-scale, cross-strait invasion of Taiwan. That said, if current trends in training and exercises continue, the PLA may be able to effectively leverage civil maritime shipping on a large enough scale to support a major amphibious operation by the mid-2030s.' Why a Chinese Mulberry concept makes sense, if they are serious about preparing for a possible invasion of Taiwan. Worth saying again that a full scale invasion would be the most complex operation in history, especially against the spectre of US and poss Japanese intervention. — Thord Are Iversen (@ 2025-03-13T09:47:57.647Z An invasion or some other kind of military intervention against Taiwan on this kind of timeline is something that U.S. military officials have warned about for some time now. In the past, it had been suggested that Beijing might be able to launch such an operation by 2027, if not before, although U.S. officials have since stepped back somewhat from this more pessimistic analysis. Nevertheless, the broad consensus in U.S. military circles is that Beijing remains committed to 'unifying' Taiwan with the mainland and that the Chinese military is working toward achieving the capabilities required to do this, however long that might take. The continued development of jack-up barges suggests that these — as well as RO/RO ferries — will likely have an important role to play in any future Taiwan intervention. On the other hand, they are also relevant for a host of other potential applications as the PLAN continues to rely on commercial capabilities to boost its amphibious capacity. Contact the author: thomas@
