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Comment by s_q_b | Hacker News Reader

This should also be discussed in the context of the first combat usage of an Admiral Kuznetsov-class carrier, which Russia began today. After passing through the English Channel, the Admiral Kuznetsov, accompanied by a Russian carrier group comprising most of the Northern Fleet including a nuclear-powered battlecruiser, established station, and began a renewed aerial bombardment on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Over the next few months, we can expect the dominance of the United States Navy to be increasingly challenged, as the other great powers try to determine the limits of the President-Elect's isolationism.

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The USN isn't really up for threat just yet. They still have more carriers than the rest of the world combined, and their half has twice the tonnage as the ROW half. Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's one carrier, is 55kton. The ten US Nimitz-class carriers average around 105kton.

Take away the carriers from the US's allies, and you have a total of around 7 (to the US's 20-odd) - and these non-allied are generally around 25kton (China and Russia have one carrier each at around 55k).

The US is a long way from being realistically challenged at sea. Russia's "power projection" in Syria is only a short distance from its supply ports in the Black Sea. The US can put a carrier group anywhere on the planet (well, on the watery bits) and keep it there; neither Russia nor China can do that, either militarily, or politically (local supply).

If you include the USMC attack ships that have Harriers and will take the F35 and helicopters - the gap is even wider.

> we can expect the dominance of the United States Navy to be increasingly challenged

In terms of military power, the Chinese and Russian navies in no way challenge the U.S. A low-end aircraft carrier is almost meaningless; the two ships are symbolic. It's American political aims and capability that raise questions.

Russia only has 1 Carrier. It is followed by a Ocean going tug since it breaks down quite frequently. The US would have scraped a like carrier 30 years ago.

Reading the article, it took the US 40 years, 12500 aircraft and the death of 8500 pilots to get the Navy and Marines to a point where carrier landings were as safe as land based landings. Russia and China have a long way to go. A very long way to go.

It's a lot easier to catch up than to lead. Especially if your willing to "not play fair".

> Over the next few months, we can expect the dominance of the United States Navy to be increasingly challenged

Maybe over the next few decades. Months...nope.

Here is aircraft carries. No-one is even close to challenging US. And those closest by number are US aligned. Also look at what is on the carriers. US carriers are in a league of their own for their strike capability. Sort the individual carrier list by tonnage and you will get a perspective on the scale difference of US carriers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_by_c...

Always an interesting fact. The largest air-force in the world is naturally the US airforce. The second largest is the US Navy.

I think this is the link you want:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_in_s...

Something just struck me -- one day, there's probably going to be a U.S.S. Donald J. Trump.

For a comparison the Kuznetsov is carrying 3 Mig-29K and maybe twice as many Su-33 [1]. And here's what a USN CVN looks like on its way to deployment [2]. I'm too lazy to count the aircraft.

[1]: http://i.imgur.com/egMni6q.jpg

[2]: http://i.imgur.com/IRlG9ti.jpg

Yes, there's no comparison between the Kuznetsov-class and any of the United States supercarriers, or the Charles de Gaulle. But the Russian actions are a means of power projection, saber rattling against the other great powers.

After all, whenever there's a world event, one of the first questions asked by the United States leadership is, "Where is the nearest carrier group?"

There is no longer a unipolar hegemony in Eurasia. That's the message these maneuvers, and indeed the Chinese acquisition of this carrier itself, are intended to convey.

For a Nimitz-class, it looks like ~90 aircraft, or in terms of squadrons, 4 fixed-wing attack squadrons, an electronic attack squadron, an early warning/command squadron, and two helicopter squadrons [1].

While it looks like the Kuznetsov may be capable of carrying twice as many aircraft as pictured, that's the equivalent of one helicopter squadron and one mixed attack/air superiority squadron. Then again, there's a reasonable assumption that Russia's main force projection is due to how much of the populated world is nearly immediately accessible via Russian-controlled land bases, with much less need for force projection across oceans compared to the US.

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_C._Stennis

> For a comparison the Kuznetsov is carrying 3 Mig-29K and maybe twice as many Su-33

Though they dropped one of the MiG-29s in the ocean a couple of days ago...

But that's still a magnitude more powerful than what most second / third-tier countries can summon from their entire armed forces. For example in Africa, perhaps only Algeria, Morocco, Angola and South Africa would have any hope of taking-on such a force, and that's not even considering the carrier's escorts.

Erm. Isolationism = not helping ISIS (which is in hold of Aleppo) ?

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