What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 65 Helicopter Attack Ship
"To be honest, in my opinion, this exercise is doomed to fail."

The topic had just started when Tang Wen dropped a bomb.

Originally, Uncle Yan Hai just came to play a friendly match, but the young man showed no respect for the game and threw out four twos at the start.

This is a very controversial conclusion. If it were someone else, they might immediately say "bullshit", but Yan Hai patiently waited for Tang Wen's next answer.

Even thirty years later, this large-scale exercise was occasionally brought up by online military bloggers for review, so Tang Wen was naturally confident that he could offer some insights:

"For cross-sea landing operations, the most important thing is undoubtedly air superiority, not only high-altitude counterattack capabilities, but also low-altitude support capabilities."

“First is high-altitude air superiority, which needs to be achieved by attacking enemy airfields, air defense positions, air defense destroyers, and fighter squadrons.

This requires us to be able to form regional anti-access denial capabilities with powerful fighter groups, missiles and air defense destroyers to provide air defense protection for ground forces.

We didn’t do that.”

Regional anti-access denial.

Yan Hai was quick to notice this novel word and understood its meaning after a little thought.

If you think about it carefully, the country now only has the first batch of imported Su-27s, and the main force is the outdated Baye and Flying Leopard, and the fighter's air-to-air capability is indeed very poor.

Not to mention missiles and warships, it is almost impossible to form an effective air defense network.

"Secondly, low-altitude support firepower. We already know from the Gulf War that if an assault force centered around armed helicopters hovers over the battlefield, it will be a devastating blow to the enemy's ground forces.

In a subdivided battlefield, an armed helicopter can reach the support location in just 10 minutes, and can cover an area of ​​dozens of kilometers around at any time. Two missiles can destroy a ground stronghold.

Tanks and armored vehicles are difficult to defend against attacks from the air, and battlefield clearing is extremely efficient.

In addition, under the cover of armed helicopters, medium and heavy helicopters can also carry light armored vehicles and assault forces to conduct deep penetration and disperse and disintegrate the imaginary enemy positions.

Unfortunately, we are even further behind in helicopters than in fighter jets.”

Tang Wen's tone was helpless, and this did not change until he traveled through time.

What helicopters does the army have now? The Mi-8 and Mi-171 helicopters bought from Big Brother, and the Gazelle light attack helicopters from France, are simply not enough to form a systematic assault force.

What's more, the helicopter has a limited range. How much time can it stay in the air after flying hundreds of kilometers?
“So from the perspective of high and low air supremacy, we are completely incapable of firmly controlling it.

The ground forces not only have to face the imaginary enemy's air force's precision munitions attacks, but also have to avoid the threats of helicopters and various missiles and large-caliber artillery.

Under these circumstances, a successful landing would be almost impossible."

Yan Hai remained silent.

He tried to find an angle to refute, but everything Tang Wen said made sense.

Nowadays, war is a game of air supremacy. How can we fight without air supremacy?

If the army alone could have made up for the loss, there would have been no tragic sacrifices in Kinmen, and both main regiments would have been wiped out.

However, if we want to make up for these shortcomings, we have to wait for the Air Force to grow. We need more advanced third-generation fighters and missiles, and a large number of helicopter assault aircraft.

The Air Force has already received the first batch of Su-27s and will continue to receive more in the future. The localization process is also proceeding simultaneously. In a few years, the Air Force will have a large fleet of third-generation aircraft.

But it’s different for helicopters. Crossing hundreds of nautical miles will seriously consume the helicopter’s range. How much fuel will be left when it reaches the destination?
Even for advanced foreign helicopters, it is difficult to achieve both high performance and ultra-long range.

In fact, even the future Z-10 fighter jet sacrificed armor indicators for range, resulting in a significant decrease in protection. Unless...

"In the future, we should develop a combat force with amphibious assault ships carrying helicopters as the core and air defense ships as the cover."

Yan Hai thought for a moment and quickly found the key point.

If helicopters are moved onto landing ships, assaults from the sea can not only expand the radius of activity, but also effectively improve the flexibility of helicopter deployment.

Tang Wen was not surprised by Yan Hai's keen sense of smell. Flat-deck amphibious assault ships specially designed to carry helicopters have already appeared. The "Iwo Jima class" was put into service by the US Navy in the 1960s and 1970s.

But this is still a new concept. It was not until 2009 that the world's first amphibious assault ship that abandoned the dock and used helicopters as its main means of assault appeared.

As for the domestically produced flat-deck attack ship, the Type 075 will have to wait more than 20 years.

Now that Tang Wen has introduced this concept, it happens to be the area he is good at.

“That’s right, compared to aircraft carriers, the requirements for helicopter attack ships are much lower.

It does not need to take off carrier-based aircraft, so the speed can be reduced to about 25 knots. The hull of about 30 tons is enough to carry more than helicopters, and even more if the dock is not needed.

A helicopter attack ship is equivalent to a mobile army aviation regiment. It can deploy forces faster than traditional landing, has a wider strike area, and has higher survivability.

And most importantly, it’s inexpensive to build.”

The last point hit the nail on the head for Yan Hai. He knew exactly how poor the navy was.

The most expensive parts of a missile destroyer are the power system, radar and electronic warfare system, and various types of missiles, which are much more expensive than the hull.

But helicopter landing ships are different. A speed of 25 knots means that the power system only needs to be makeshift, and they do not need expensive weapons. Their only function is to launch helicopters.

Yan Hai: "You just said to cancel the dock and only carry helicopters?"

"The navy has plenty of ships capable of carrying landing troops. It would be better to let the helicopter attack ship serve helicopters wholeheartedly. The freed-up space can accommodate at least 10 more helicopters."

Yan Hai tried his best to imagine what it would look like if a 20,000-ton ship with a full-length deck was sailing on the sea, cutting through the waves, according to Tang Wen's description.

Wait, why does it feel like a small aircraft carrier?
The Iwo Jima class still retains the dock, and carrying helicopters is just one of its uses.

But according to Tang Wen's idea, it is completely a light aircraft carrier with helicopters as carrier-based aircraft.

Since it does not participate in frontal landings and moves around the battlefield, can the helicopter landing ship also take on some of the responsibilities of an aircraft carrier?
For example, as a command ship or as the center of a strike formation?

The country certainly cannot afford to build an aircraft carrier now, and there is no foundation for carrier-based aircraft.

But deploying helicopters on ships is not complicated. We already have Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters. How difficult can it be to build a -ton helicopter attack ship?
"And there's another use for helicopter landing ships."

Tang Wen continued to (plagiarize) and (copy) his imagination:

“If we can one day manufacture a vertical take-off and landing fighter like the Yak-141, we can also deploy it on helicopter attack ships.

It doesn't take a lot, but just two squadrons can provide considerable air support for the assault troops and helicopters.

At the same time, fixed-wing aircraft can also carry precision-guided munitions and provide support to the front line."

(End of this chapter)