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| US Navy’s Sea Hunter Drone Ship |
Although formally the US has not recognized Taiwan as a country, informally it seems otherwise. The US is one of the countries that often supplies military equipment to Taiwan.
Not only that, US warships also often cross the Taiwan Strait. What the US did this clearly angered China. Because Beijing thinks that Taiwan is part of mainland China. Although the Taiwan Archipelago insists on declaring itself independent from mainland China.
On the other hand, the US and China often seem to be competing against each other to show who is stronger militarily. This can be seen from the various capable defense equipment owned by the US and Chinese militaries. For example, if the US succeeds in developing the F-22 Raptor, China also has the J-20.
Both the F-22 and J-20 are in the fifth generation. So that both are equipped with stealth capabilities. Not only that, the US is also reinforced with the F-35 which is also capable of stealth.
As if not to be outdone, China is also developing another fifth generation. China is currently developing the FC-31 which is touted to rival the US F-35.
According to Western defense analysts, the Chinese and US warplanes have nearly identical designs. “Yes, the design of the F 35 Joint Strike Fighter is very similar to the FC-31. And not only did they cheat on their fighter planes, they also took various other defense systems, such as laser systems for space, missile guidance and tracking systems, nuclear-powered submarine designs, and anti-air missile systems,” said Defense Security Asia.
Although various sources judge that the FC-31 and F 35 have almost identical similarities in terms of design and components. But in terms of capabilities, these two fighter planes are not even worthy of being aligned. The capabilities of the FC-31 are still far behind the F-35.
Not only fighter planes, the competition between the US and China can also be seen from unmanned ships. A satellite photo shows a Chinese unmanned vessel similar to the US Navy's Sea Hunter.
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| China is Developing an Drone Ship similar to the US Navy's Sea Hunter |
Quoted from Naval News, the Sea Hunter itself is an unmanned surface ship designed under the Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program. Its main mission is to track down diesel-electric submarines which are notoriously “quiet”, very difficult to detect by sonar.
The Sea Hunter is designed to "lock up" submarines and track them constantly. While the Chinese-made system is believed to have additional capabilities, it was concluded that it has the same features as the Sea Hunter.
Compared to the Sea Hunter, the Chinese one looks longer and wider. Apart from the above, the Chinese and US militaries are indeed very capable. So it's not surprising that both of them are very strong.