The South China Sea really has not yet settled down, and another wave has arisen.
On the afternoon of October 26, the previous unrest was pushed to a peak by two loud noises. In just half an hour, the USS Nimitz, the most promising aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy, had two consecutive crashes. Even Trump couldn't help but shout "This is too abnormal". In his words, he also implied that there was a "big trouble" behind it.
This is really evil. At about 2:45 pm, an MH-60R "Seahawk" helicopter plunged into the sea just as it was about to take off.
The people on the ship haven't recovered from this incident yet. At about 3:15, an F/A-18F "Super Hornet" fighter plane went the same way, and something happened during takeoff.
Fortunately, the three people on the helicopter and the two pilots of the fighter jet were rescued, which was a good news from their bad worries.
But the problem is that these two aircraft are completely different, with different models and uses. They even belong to different squadrons. One is from the 73rd Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron and the other is from the 22nd Fighter Attack Squadron.
On the same afternoon, from the same aircraft carrier, falling down in the same way, which is a "accidental" can be said, Trump pointed to the fuel, suspecting that aviation oil was a problem.
This speculation is straightforward, but it may just be superficial. Rather than focusing on a single "culprit", it is better to say that this is an "old problem" that has been piled up in U.S. military equipment for a long time, and it will erupt in a concentrated manner.
Let us first look at the platform itself "Nimitz" aircraft carrier, this giant ship has been 50 years old, is the Nimitz class head, the actual name "old soldiers".
This deployment, which was the "last post" before its retirement, was scheduled for January next year to say goodbye to the sea, so that such a hundred-and-a-half-year-old ship, carrying out high-intensity military exercises in the South China Sea, itself would be a bit of reluctance.
This aircraft carrier is not an old-fashioned model, it was only in 2022, it was forced to return to the port because of the storage warehouse serious leakage to repair, since the water storage system will be a problem, that also spread across the ship, the same aging oil storage pipes and oil cabins, naturally no one dares to guarantee them perfectly intact.
Trump's "fuel theory" may not say the source, but the process may not be eighty-nine from ten, even if the airline coal itself is qualified, can be transported through this old "vascular system", is likely to be contaminated.
Knowing that this is an aircraft carrier, not knowing that it is a fast iron rust, the aircraft that took off from it, the condition is not better, the crashed F / A-18F "Super Big Bear", the average service life of the same type of fighter aircraft has been up to 18 years.
For a high-mobility fighter, this age means metal fatigue and various dark diseases, coupled with the U.S. military's widespread inventory of parts, the maintenance pressure of ground personnel can be thought of, the aging aircraft carrier, accompanied by tired aircraft, which is itself a huge security hazard.
After all, no matter how sophisticated a machine is, it has to be operated by humans. When the machine is rusty, the state of the operator becomes the last straw that determines success or failure. Unfortunately, this straw has already been overwhelmed.
The deployment time of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier battle group has been as long as seven months. These seven months also mean that thousands of officers and soldiers live in narrow spaces every day, performing high-intensity and high-risk missions.
From the pre-flight inspection to the operation during takeoff, the negligence of any link may stem from this long-term physiological and psychological overdraft, and a "one-thought difference" may lead to irreparable disaster.
What's even worse is that there is also a problem with the morale of the soldiers. Not long ago, the U.S. government shut down, and the payment of military pay was affected.
When soldiers "show off their force" for the country overseas, they still have to worry about whether their relatives at home are going to receive relief food. This absurd reality seriously erodes the cohesion and professionalism of the military.
You know, when people are scattered, it will be difficult to lead the team. When officers and soldiers are not focused on training and war preparation, it is tantamount to wishful thinking to expect them to fight as usual.
Helicopters and fighters, operating logic completely different, but in half an hour successive crashes, behind this common direction, is likely to be the same over-expensive human system, they are not unprofessional, but really too tired.
Hardware aging and manpower fatigue are visible “symptoms”, but the deeper focal point lies in the failure and corruption of the U.S. military’s huge “operating system.”
The outside world always feels that the U.S. military's military expenditure is the highest in the world, and its equipment must be glamorous, but the reality is that the huge military expenditure has not been fully transformed into combat effectiveness.
The famous "Fat Leonard" case at the time, a contractor that almost corroded the entire seventh fleet's upper layer, and the scandals of heavenly purchases: an ordinary truck, an unflattering metal shirt, the price of purchasing is so high that it can be blatant.
But these cases are only the tip of the iceberg. They reveal a terrible reality: institutional corruption and management chaos are eating the foundation of the US military like termites. A large amount of resources are wasted and embezzled. Grassroots equipment that really need to spend money Maintenance, parts procurement and personnel welfare are stretched.
On the one hand, internal management is riddled with holes, but on the other hand, it is the hegemonic inertia of external strategy. Although we know that the Nimitz is old, we still want to send it to the South China Sea to carry out high-risk "show of force" missions.
Behind this is a kind of strategic thinking of "beating the face and pretending to be fat". This strategy is seriously out of touch with the actual situation of national strength and military power. Therefore, these two plane crashes are really not accidents, but systemic corruption and strategic overdraft. Under the combined effect of "ticking time bombs" that will explode sooner or later.
But despite the plane’s crash, the story is not over, how to deal with the two pile of metal debris lying on the South China Sea bottom, instantly exposed the U.S. military’s technical difficulties and management chaos, naked in the light of geopolitics.
Just at the time of the U.S. military’s crackdown, China, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered an “olivier branch”, stating that if the U.S. makes a request, China is willing to start from humanitarian and provide necessary rescue assistance.
The timing of this statement is subtle and the posture is appropriate, but it is full of confidence behind it. The meaning behind it is obvious: This is the South China Sea, we are familiar with the sea conditions here, we have advanced deep submersible vehicles like the Jiaolong and professional salvage and rescue fleets, we may do this job faster and more professionally than you.
This puts the United States in an extremely embarrassing difficult situation, on the one hand, is the "face" of hegemony, as the world's only superpower, in the "background" happened, however, to rely on the competitor to help "wipe the ass", this face is definitely not hanging, so the U.S. will probably bite the teeth to refuse.
But on the other hand, it is the "core" of technology. Although the F/A-18F and MH-60R are not the most advanced equipment, they still contain a large amount of military secrets and sensitive technology.
If the redemption is not timely, no one can guarantee that it will not leak, and the efficiency of the U.S. military redemption is indeed troubling, you can refer to the F-35C that fell in the South China Sea in 2022, which took two months to recover, the longer the time is delayed, the greater the risk.
In this silent game around the wreckage of the plane, the United States is still tough on the surface, trying to maintain its hegemonic image, but in fact it is full of unable to do so and unspeakable embarrassment.