What Aircraft Carriers Reveal About the Military Tech Race | WSJ U.S. vs. China

The best ship is friendship :)

Speaking as retired US Navy and having spent 8 years on carriers …. there is far more to effective carrier operations than simply specs on a data sheet. The biggest advantage, and most important imo, the US has over China is experience. All of our systems have been tested for decades, new systems are designed with decades of research and experience to draw on, our crews are at sea every day of the year across the globe. Our carrier groups are well oiled machine. We know what works.

3:24 "The larger the hull, the volume inside grows geometrically " Every 60 seconds in Africa a minute passes

How smartly you use what you have (strategy and tactics) will always beat a greater force (like David versus Goliath). That's why greater focus on training in both army and navy academies is SO important. Advanced hardware capabilities are important yes, but without well-trained, strategic, outside-of-the-box thinkers, that advanced capability can be easily lost on the battlefield against a foe who may posses better training (more tools in the mental toolbox). And training is the least cost when compared to the price of military or naval hardware.

Both vessels won't get into head to head combat in the near future. In a Taiwan scenario, Fujian will stay under land-based airforce's protection, and support/guide area denial missiles. Ford is also likely to stay behind Japanese island chain and protect cargos in and out of Taiwan. Neither sides can risk losing one airplane carrier.

0:18 dude checking his watch while in formation always cracks me up

Great video, very well-informed!

It's great to see so many expert military analysts in the comments.

the video didn't mention anything about the EMALS system the two ships use. Fu Jian uses DC powered EMALS, whereas Ford uses AC. This is a big difference. These two ships are nothing alike beside basic shapes.

Carriers rely on a dedicated and experienced crew for flight ops. It takes decades to build that kind of knowledge and training. You have to build a professional culture around it. That's not the way the Chinese or the Russians do things. It takes one mishap to shut down the deck and the ability to launch and recover aircraft. The US Navy has been in training and development of flight ops since before WW2, I've seen a carrier flight deck crash first hand and it's a nightmare, but our sailors are so well trained for just such an incident. We trained like we meant it, serious business. It took decades and countless mishaps just to get the training right. I guess my point is that you can't just build one of these and put to sea with newbies and expect anything but a horror show.

How well you train your men, and women. From operations, to damage control.. Years of experience in the Navy, operators of equipment, devises.. experience helps, green crew...make my day.

Just note that USS Langley was not definitely first at anything but being first cargo ship converted to experimental carrier by US

The UK drama, "Years and Years" feels more real than ever. "Is this China thing for real?" "It's just Americans going nuts."

It’s not about the capability, it’s about with or without it. The big countries use these ships to bargain for greater interest

Why does everyone forget about the real reason carriers are powerful. It is the ability to launch airplanes and the capability of the airplanes greatly affects it's power.

All countries urgently need to express peace through diplomacy

In Dec, 1942, the US had trouble getting three fleet carriers together for Midway. In 1945, there were 11 off Okinawa, and another 19 light carriers and escort carriers. All had a full complement of aircraft and pilots. Who supposes we can't do it again?

We need big planes that can carry lots of boats. They're called boat carriers.

Interesting but the number, quality, and range of the rest of the ships in the battle group are extremely important. Carriers don’t operate alone…or if the do, they don’t survive very long.

My monitor underwater drone has completed all sea trials with flying colors. The Chinese Navy has no chance against my drone