China’s progress highlights US maritime issues: Weapons and Warfare

May 08, 2024 at 03:00 AM CDT

In this week's Weapons and Warfare, learn how China's advancement in naval tech is drawing attention to the U.S.' shipbuilding struggles. — Image credit: DVIDS

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In this episode of Weapons and Warfare, China’s newest aircraft carrier may be closer to being ready to hit open waters. Learn why that news is putting a bigger spotlight on America’s shipbuilding and maintenance struggles. Host Ryan Robertson visits with an industry leader to get their take on potential answers to the problem.

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Also featured in this episode:

Ukraine has new funding from the U.S., now the question is how will the money be spent to fend off Russia’s illegal invasion?
North Korea shows off some conventional weapons on some very unconventional platforms in a parade featuring tractors pulling rocket launchers.
The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) newest tank project is fast, agile and autonomous. See why the RACER is turning some heads.
In this weapon of the week, all hail the King — the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion, to be exact.

You can subscribe to the Weapons and Warfare podcast on the platform of your choosing here.

Ryan Robertson is the anchor of the Straight Arrow News video podcast Weapons and Warfare. He wore many hats in his career — from photographer to news director — and firmly believes honest journalism will save our Republic.

Tags: China, Navy, North Korea, Ukraine, Ukraine aid, Weapons

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO FROM TAMPA, FLORIDA, AND WELCOME TO WEAPONS AND WARFARE. FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M YOUR HOST RYAN ROBERTSON.

WE ARE HERE FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES WEEK, OR, AS IT’S MORE COMMONLY KNOWN, SOF WEEK 2024. STARTING NEXT WEEK WE’LL BE TAKING A LOOK AT THE STATE OF THE SPECIAL FORCE COMMUNITY. COVERING EVERYTHING FROM LEADERSHIP TO NEW TECH, AND MUCH MUCH MORE.

ON DECK FOR THIS WEEK, THE STATE OF SHIPBUILDING IN THE U.S. AND WHERE INDUSTRY LEADERS THINK IT NEEDS TO GO.

PLUS WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE MARINE CORPS’ NEW HEAVY-LIFTING CHAMP IN OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK. AND AN UPDATE ON RISING TENSIONS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.

TWO YEARS TO THE DAY AFTER AN INITIAL MEETING BETWEEN WHAT WOULD BECOME THE UKRAINE DEFENSE CONTACT GROUP AND AMERICAN LEADERSHIP, THAT SAME GROUP MET TO IRON OUT DETAILS OF AMERICA’S LONG-TERM $6 BILLION MILITARY AID PACKAGE.

AFTER THE DEAL WAS WORKED OUT, MANY WONDERED WHAT HAPPENS NOW. DURING A BRIEFING AT THE PENTAGON FOLLOWING THAT MEETING, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN LAID OUT A TWO-PRONG PLAN OF ACTION.

[Lloyd Austin, Sec. of Defense]

“On that first track, we pushed especially hard today to rush in more air defense systems and Interceptors. And on the second, this contact group is working with Ukraine to help it move forward — help it move toward a robust, efficient and self-reliant defense industry.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ACCORDING TO PRESIDENT BIDEN SHIPMENTS OF AID BEGAN WITHIN HOURS OF THE MEETING, BUT THE DELIVERY OF EQUIPMENT WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER. THAT’S BECAUSE RATHER THAN DRAWING FROM AMERICAN STOCKPILES, THIS AGREEMENT MEANS WEAPONS AND SUPPLIES WILL BE CONTRACTED DIRECTLY WITH INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS. THE HOPE IS THAT WILL ESTABLISH A LONG-TERM SOLUTION TO UKRAINE’S NEEDS.

THIS IS VIDEO OF A RECENT PARADE HELD FOR NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JUNG UN. INSTEAD OF TANKS OR ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS…THE PARADE FEATURED TRACTORS PULLING ROCKET LAUNCHERS, AND LAUNCHERS HIDDEN INSIDE VEHICLES DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE CIVILIAN GRAIN OR DUMP TRUCKS.

[Matt Shoemaker, Retired Intelligence Officer]

It is part and parcel for how North Korea operates. You know, they are an incredibly poor country that focuses most of the vast majority of their economy on its military abilities.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

MATT SHOEMAKER IS A RETIRED INTELLIGENCE OFFICER WITH THE US MILITARY. HE SAYS BECAUSE OF SANCTIONS, NORTH KOREA HAS LIMITED ACCESS TO CREATE THE MILITARY HARDWARE THEY WANT. SO, THEY OFTEN RELY ON DUAL-USE TECHNOLOGY SCARE THE WEST.

SO SHOULD THE WEST BE SCARED? PERHAPS…BUT NOT NECESSARILY BECAUSE OF THESE WEAPONS. SHOEMAKER IS QUICK TO POINT OUT NORTH KOREA HAS A HISTORY OF HYPING UP ITS WEAPONS TECH…ONLY FOR THE WEST TO DISCOVER THE HYPE EXCEEDED REALITY.

AND FINALLY, IF YOU LOVE ACRONYMS AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES, THIS IS THE STORY FOR YOU.

THIS IS THE DARPA RACER. DARPA, OF COURSE, IS THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY, AND RACER IS THE ROBOTIC AUTONOMY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS WITH RESILIENCY PROGRAM. RECENTLY THIS 12-TON ROBOTIC TANK WAS PUT THROUGH EXPERIMENT FOUR TESTING.

BUILT ON THE TEXTRON M-5 PLATFORM, THE RACER WAS PUT THROUGH THE PACES ON A 15 SQUARE-MILE PATCH OF LAND WITH A HOST OF NATURAL OBSTACLES LIKE TREES, ROCKS, AND CREEK CROSSINGS. HERE’S A LOOK AND LISTEN AT WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE COCKPIT OF AN EARLY RACER MOCK-UP,

ULTIMATELY THIS VERSION OF THE RACER MAY NEVER SEE ANY ACTION, BUT THE INFORMATION LEARNED WILL NO DOUBT END UP IN WHATEVER U-G-Vs, THAT’S UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLES, END UP BEING USED IN COMBAT.

——————————-

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN APRIL SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS OUT OF CHINA POINTED TO A POTENTIAL MAJOR STEP FOR THE CHINESE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY NAVY. IF THESE IMAGES ARE ACCURATE, THEIR NEWEST AIRCRAFT CARRIER IS SET TO BEGIN SEA TRIALS–

PUTTING THE FUJIAN CLOSER TO OPERATIONAL STATUS.

IT’S A DEVELOPMENT THAT NO DOUBT HAS THE ATTENTION OF AMERICAN MILITARY LEADERSHIP. NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GROWING THREAT FROM CHINA, BUT THE U.S’s CURRENT SHORTCOMINGS WHEN IT COMES TO ITS OWN MARITIME FORCES.

IN FEBRUARY RETIRED MARINE CORPS MAJOR JEFFERY SEAVY WROTE A PIECE FOR THE U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE TITLED ‘T ’. THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE ARTICLE WAS THIS LINE:

“The United States does not have the shipyard capacity to build new ships and fully maintain or repair ships it currently holds in inventory. Given current shipyard capacity, the Navy is estimated to be 20 years behind in maintenance work.”

IT’S A SUBJECT THAT RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION AT THIS YEAR’S ‘SEA AIR. SPACE 2024’ SYMPOSIUM.

[Vice Admiral Frank Morley]

“Shipbuilding is a key challenge for this decade. It’s really our generational challenge for those of us now in this business to set the stage. And this is a pretty daunting task that the vector is pretty clear.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

BUT IT’S NOT JUST MILITARY LEADERSHIP THAT IS SOUNDING A CAUSE FOR CONCERN. IT’S AN ISSUE THEIR COMMERCIAL PARTNERS ARE ALL TOO FAMILIAR WITH.

[George Whittier, CEO Fairbanks Morse Defense]

“If we look at the world today, with the what the situation is in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels, a potential conflict and the Pacific, obviously, what’s going on in Ukraine with Russia, there’s significant risks that are in the in the world today.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

NAVAL DEFENSE SUPPLIER, FAIRBANKS MORSE DEFENSE, STARTED WORKING WITH THE NAVY MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO. AND WHILE THAT RELATIONSHIP REMAINS HEALTHY, C-E-O GEORGE WHITTIER SAYS GETTING THE GOVERNMENT, AND THEIR CIVILIAN PARTNERS, ON THE SAME PAGE IS THE FIRST STEP IN SOLVING THE COUNTRY’S CURRENT SHIPBUILDING DEFICIENCIES.

[George Whittier, CEO Fairbanks Morse Defense]

“The challenge, I think that we’re facing as an industry is that the demand signals coming and the budgetary process are not matching the rhetoric and dialogue and discussion that’s out there. And so as an industry, we need to say, what are the things we can do to try to get increased demand that’s out there to provide more commonality for us for the future?”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS FROM THE UNITED NATIONS, THE U-S AND CHINA ARE ON EQUAL FOOTING WHEN IT COMES TO ECONOMIC OUTPUT. WHERE THE U-S IS FALLING SHORT IS SHIPBUILDING. AND NOT JUST TO CHINA, BUT SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN AS WELL.

[Vice Admiral Frank Morley, Principal Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy]

“There is no single smoking gun or easy fix to any of this. But it’s all a part of transparent, ruthless pursuit of improving performance. They’re in a measured, very measured fact based data way.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION? ACCORDING TO WHITTIER, PART OF THE ANSWER CAN BE FOUND AWAY FROM THE COASTS.

[George Whittier, CEO Fairbanks Morse Defense]

“The biggest labor constraints are at the shipyards themselves, and the reason for that is they tend to be the dominant employer in their area. And that makes a lot of sense. However, if you think about the Midwest of the US where we operate, we again I have about 1500 employees, we are not labor constrained. And there is a tremendous opportunity to take work out of the shipyards and bring that into the Midwest, and start to get more work done. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S AN IDEA THAT CARRIES SOME HISTORICAL WEIGHT. A MAJOR PART OF AMERICA’S EXPANSION WESTWARD WAS A 2,300 MILE NATURAL RESOURCE THAT STILL EXISTS TODAY.

[George Whittier, CEO Fairbanks Morse Defense]

“I don’t think we’re utilizing the Mississippi River at all. The Mississippi River is a gem, and we’re just not using it. I mean, St. Louis is one of the biggest cities in the country. And there’s doing no work for the Navy. I mean, it’s right there. Right. There’s labor available in the Midwest. We just have to be smarter about how we apply it.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AND JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE HOW, IS THE WHEN. BECAUSE IF THE TIME COMES, AMERICA LIKELY CAN’T AFFORD TO NOT BE ON THE STARTING LINE WHEN THE GUN SOUNDS.

——————————-

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND CHECK OUT THIS BEAST OF A HELICOPTER. WE WERE ALREADY PLANNING TO SPOTLIGHT THE SIKORSKY CH-53-K KING STALLION WHEN A LINK TO THIS VIDEO CAME ACROSS OUR DESK. TALK ABOUT MULTI-TASKING.

THIS MARINE CORPS CREW IS MERELY REFUELING WHILE TRANSPORTING AN F-35 TO A NAVY UNIT IN NEW JERSEY. THAT IS IMPRESSIVE.

AND REALLY, IT JUST SCRATCHES THE SURFACE ON THE LATEST VERSION OF A PLATFORM THAT’S BEEN IN USE SINCE 1966. FROM THE SEA STALLION TO THE SUPER STALLION, TO THE KING STALLION, THE CH-53 IS AS VERSATILE AS IT IS DEPENDABLE.

THE KING STALLION’S PRIMARY USER IS THE U-S MARINE CORPS AND RIGHT NOW THERE ARE 14 IN THE FLEET, WITH ANOTHER 79 CONTRACTED TO BE BUILT.

WHILE IT MAY LOOK SIMILAR TO ITS PREDECESSORS, THE KING STALLION IS SADDLED WITH SOME SIGNIFICANT UPGRADES. THE THREE ENGINES ARE CAPABLE OF GENERATING 7,500 HORSEPOWER, GIVING THE PLATFORM THREE TIMES THE LIFT CAPABILITY OF THE PREVIOUS VERSION. IT ALSO COMES EQUIPPED WITH COMPOSITE ROTOR BLADES AND A WIDER CABIN.

AS FOR ITS PERFORMANCE, ACCORDING TO THE PROGRAM MANAGER, MARINE COLONEL KATE FLEEGER, THE KING STALLION IS ALREADY SHOWING WHAT IT’S CAPABLE OF IN THE HANDS OF MARINE PILOTS.

[Col Kate Fleeger, Program Manager, H-53 Helicopters]

The ch 53k, was called upon to lift a downed H 60. In Bishop, California, right on the border with Nevada, that had gone down up in the mountains, just for some context, that aircraft, the h 60, weighed 15,000 pounds, and was up at an altitude of or I’m sorry, a elevation of 12,000. Right. So extremely high, and extremely heavy. And 53k is the only aircraft in the DoD inventory that could make that lift.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE OF THE REASONS WHY IT CAN MAKE LIFTS LIKE THAT, IS ITS CONSTRUCTION. PARTS THAT USED TO BE MADE OF METAL ARE NOW, AT LEAST IN PART, MADE OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS THAT ARE AS STRONG AS METAL, BUT CONSIDERABLY LIGHTER.

ANOTHER NOD TO TECHNOLOGY CAN BE FOUND IN THE ALL-GLASS COCKPIT. A FEATURE THAT PUTS IT ON PAR WITH MOST OTHER AIRCRAFT BEING PRODUCED TODAY.

WITH A TOP SPEED OF 230 MILES PER HOUR, THE KING STALLION CAN CARRY A SLING LOAD OF 27,000 POUNDS FOR MORE THAN 100 MILES.

OF COURSE ALL OF THIS DOESN’T COME CHEAP. WITH A PRICE TAG OF $122 MILLION, THE CH-53K COSTS AS MUCH AS AN F-35. BUT WITH AN ESTIMATED 50 YEARS OF LIFE EXPECTANCY, UNCLE SAM SHOULD GET PLENTY OF BANG FOR THE BUCK.

——————————-

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR COMMS CHECK AND THIS WEEK WE HAVE AN UPDATE ON A STORY WE FIRST BROUGHT YOU BACK IN MARCH WHEN A CHINESE SHIP, WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA, INTENTIONALLY COLLIDING WITH A SHIP FROM THE PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD. WELL, IT’S HAPPENED AGAIN, THIS TIME WITH A REPORTER ON BOARD.

THIS IS VIDEO SHOT BY REPORTER NICOLA SMITH OF THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. SMITH WAS ONBOARD A PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD SHIP NEAR THE DISPUTED SCARBOROUGH SHOAL IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA WHEN A SHIP FROM CHINA’S COAST GUARD PULLED ALONGSIDE AND TURNED ON ITS WATER CANNONS.

[Nicola Smith, Reporter, The Daily Telegraph]

“The water cannon was coming down very fiercely for at least five minutes. We had to rush inside the boat where we were sheltering inside a little corridor.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S A SITUATION THAT’S BECOMING ALL TOO COMMON INSIDE THE PHILIPPINES’ 200-MILE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.

[Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard Spokesperson]

“They (Chinese Coast Guard) don’t hesitate to use brute force, to violate international law, to show the international community that they are really going to blatantly disregard UNCLOS.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR THE UNINITIATED, UNCLOS IS THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA, AND FOR THE PAST DECADE CHINA HAS CLAIMED MUCH OF THE DISPUTED AREA AS ITS OWN. A CLAIM THAT WAS REJECTED IN AN INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL.

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHY CHINA WOULD CONTINUE TO PRESS THE ISSUE, THE SCARBOROUGH SHOAL OFFERS SOME PRIME FISHING AND, PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, IS CLOSE TO SOME MAJOR SHIPPING LANES USED BY SEVERAL COUNTRIES.

SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? THAT REALLY IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION RIGHT NOW, SO STAYED TUNED.

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