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Understood...and that is probably a big part of the reason that the Chinese are pushing for developing their own systems...using the Russian stuff to bridge the gap.

But, by all accounts, the SU-27 and the Sovremenny vessels are very capable platforms and the Sunburn and Yahkont missiles are giving our people some headaches.

The Chinese have to address our CBGs in order to be able to project any appreciable power into the China Sea and beyond and make it stick. It is a nut no one has been able to crack and they are certainly not there yet. In fact, short of some very significant breakthrough similar to what I talk about in Dragon's Fury with the supercavitating weapons, they are not going to do it trying to match us stroke for stroke with carriers and missiles IMHO. (Unless they can bankrupt us first). That plays to our strengths. They will have to come up with some mixture of asymetrical means and conventional means and you can bet they are working on it and we need to be prudently prepared and maintain our advantage.

In reality, neither the Russkies nor the Chinese have any naval battle experience. All this stuff looks really good but what will happen in a battle? I think it will all be sub bait.

The main thing they have to worry about, naval-wise, is that our Los Angeles class vessels are still light years ahead of their ASW. Don't even get into the Seawolf class.

In 1981, when the Ohio conducted its first sea tests vs. our own ASW, it was so quiet our own ASW couldn't find it. We knew then that the Soviets had no chance of ever detecting these boats. It was one main reason we did not press for the longer-range Trident II missile . . . the extra range simply wasn't needed.

>>the SU-27 and the Sovremenny vessels are very capable platforms and

SU-27 is a capable fighter but without excellent pilots it's a moot point. Our own pilots suffered at the hands of MIGs in Vietnam untill we implemented better training. Once we did that our pilots fared far better.

In terms of the SU-27 vs F14, I don't think there is any issue. The F-14 will take it out before the SU-27 can utilize any advantages in manuverablity. (The F14 uses the Phoneix missile which has a range of over 100 miles. The SU-27 has no equavalent.) People underestimate the maneuverability of the F14. The fact that it's wings remain spread in low speed flight gives it alot more manuverability then the traditional delta wing.

>>Sunburn

The SeaRam will destroy a SunBurn. Think of it as sun block lotion for a naval vessel! (SEA Ram will replace Phalanx on Navy ships. It features dual mode Radar/Optical tracking, and it's missiles fly at speeds of over mach 2.)

The Chinese are simply trying to catch up to us. The problem is that while their technology is good, it isn't enough to stay up with us. What we are trying to field in the next few years will offset any advantages they have now or in the future.

While we do have much in development at the moment, if we went to war you'd see the R&D cycle be reduced. Right now there isn't an urgent need for a mach 6 anti-ship missile. But if we went to war with China I think you'd see a production line rolling off such missles in less than a few months.

With limited budgets, a lack of urgency, and more time than anything else, R&D is painfully slow. If things got urgent, you'd see money flow and R&D cycles shorten. (It's often said that tasks take as much time as is alloted to them. )

What they face in the future are:

* Lasers. US Navy is rather close to fielding laser based weapons.

* Super-cavitation CIWS: Originally designed to take out mines, this system can be modified to take out supercavitation torpedoes.

* Stealth aircraft: Though not invisible, reaction time is severely reduced for ship defense. Joint Strike Fighter and F-22, paired with EW measures, are a big problem for naval vessles. Though they can be seen with powerful ship-based radar, delivering a missile to the target is a much more difficult proposition.

* Aegis SM3 anti-missle protection. This is close to implemetation. Very strong anti-missile platform.

* Rods from God: Tungsten rods dropped from space. The impact is so severe that no warhead is required. If we can steer these things, a "stealth" rod from God will sink any Chinese vessel -- or ANY other vessel for that matter.

* Hypersonic missiles: Mack 6+ missiles with ranges of 400 miles. We'll be sinking their ships before they can even come close. (Probably fielded around 2012)

* Hypersonic intercontinental missiles: Mach 12+ missles used to deliver conventional/nuclear warheads. (Fielded 2020)

* Lasers Again. Airborne anti-missile lasers. This system while in R&D, could quickly be put into production.