Then why didn't we do that in WWII? You dismiss the "false nostalgia for WWII" ( I may not understand what that even is), as if there isn't anything of value in the experience. How we dealt with those desperate days inform how we would deal with future desperate circumstances. Why wouldn't we look to similar scenarios?
"Historical Precedent", not "Nostalgia" was the point. In the initial stages of WW2, we suffered losses, heavy losses - but we continued to fight with what we had. That leaves 2 questions:
1) Would we come to Taiwan's aid? Well, here is the direct video without spin from President Biden.
The comparison of Taiwan to Crimea was an odd one, perhaps South Korea would be a better example. If we do not defend Taiwan, what will the Pacific nations currently aligned with the US do? A wildcard factor is TMSC. Far and away the biggest maker of cutting edge semi-conductors which underpin the modern economy, it importance and marketshare could be considered greater than Saudi Aramaco's oil production in the 1970's.
2) If both sides took substantial damage, along the lines of what transpired in 1942, what would we have left in comparison to China?
One measure would be the number of carrier borne fixed wing aircraft that could still be deployed. If the British Navy is the world's 3rd strongest surface fleet with 72 F-35B's from the 2
Queen Elizabeths and Japan is 4th with 2
Izumos (40 F-35B's), where do you place the estimated 150-200 F-35B's from the 10 US amphibs? The US gator navy can deploy 50% more 5th generation aircraft than the 3rd and 4th biggest navies combined. When added to the surviving US carrier fleet - and then combined with the previously mentioned British and Japanese carriers - that would still be a formidable fleet.
And what shipbuilding capability we have will be spent making new ships, not figuring out how to make a gator into a shitty carrier
Good question. Newport News build nuke carriers. I assume they would be at full capacity. Pascagoula builds big amphibs. Would you take years to design a smaller carrier that yard could build? Or would you prioritize immediately modifying the big deck amphibs you already have to support fixed wing aircraft and UAV's? In the past, fleets began to convert / modify whatever ships they had to fill the mission required. We are actually doing that now to convert a tanker design into ESB's. (The USS Lewis B Puller, based on the hull of an
Alaska class tanker, is below)
Late edit: UAV catapults for the
Queen Elizabeth?
Royal Navy seeking information on cats and traps to launch drones
Delve into the technological marvels of the UK's carrier-based aircraft operations, examining the innovative 'cats and traps' system.
www.naval-technology.com