Ok what do you suggest a better cost effective way is?
The guy claiming to be a seal was in no way a navy seal. Looked like he couldn’t even swim. He’d have been about 150 pounds wet while wearing clothes. When I checked with a mate that deals with US Veterans the name was nowhere to be found. Scrawny hillbilly is an apt description.
I doubt Taiwan’s Amphibious Recon Unit would last long seeing as how China has almost as many spies in Taiwan as Taiwan has businessmen in China. The easiest way to defend the island would be to install strafing guns and to invest in a number of mobile strafing gun units. Most Taiwanese would never even see themas they would be used from relatively high locations. Modern technology would allow remote operators to position elsewhere while unit commanders would be able to reposition at a moments notice.
The reality is that any attempt at invasion by China would be known up to 3 months prior to action. Again this is because of covert intelligence units. On both sides.
Laser tag?
1 Like
Most countries have excellent special forces, that’s why they are called special forces. It’s like SWAT teams, they’re called SWAT for a reason.
1 Like
I also served in the military, and though we crawled a lot, firing live rounds above you is stupid and dangerous. it looks good in movies, but has little benefit in training.
live ammunition drills are done in a different way.
Yes true. Always about 20 to 50 000 hard core soldiers willing to kill and be killed .
he he 
If the Chinese are say up to the level of the Israelis, or US Marines - an invasion can easily be mounted in less than a week or few days. If the invading army is aware of weather patterns and how the other army is prepared or will quickly mobilize defenses. And based on the what’s above Taiwan isn’t prepared.
Talked to a bud who did his stint as a conscript in 2013, he said his entire conscription stint he handled firearms about three times on the range and probably fired less than 60 rounds in 6 months. When asked about moral he said a war would be hopeless.
So I can probably understand why they’ve been phasing out the old model and going for a more full time professional force.
1 Like
Well the current status seems to be all about other countries stepping in to protect Taiwan. From the look of it the US and Japan are on board with that goal. The US would have air superiority within hours. They would also have multiple opportunities to disable China’s defense (remote island bases etc) while moving to take over the skies. With air superiority (planes coming out of multiple bases including Germany, South Korea, Okinawa, Philippines, Guam, and Hawaii) followed up with air refueling tankers and the 5th fleet on its way (maximum 5 days to reach Taiwan but able to send sorties during that time) that leaves it to a subversion war.
Infiltrators that have entered Taiwan and have the necessary weapons to cause major disruption. The problem with this is the geography of Taiwan itself. And the loyalty of Taiwanese people. I know plenty of older people that have had weapons training and don’t care about dying to stop the Mainlanders from taking Taiwan.
I think the most interesting move by China so far has been the circling of Whitsun reef by brand new Chinese fishing vessels. Over 200 of them.
There’s also the attempt to build a Chinese base in either Papua or PNG. And the Chinese owned port of Darwin. As well as Chinese government controlled mines within Australian most noted being Sino-Ironore. The trade pact signed with Australia basically allows the Chinese protect their assets on Australian land. There have been calls to take back the port of Darwin but the current government most likely wouldn’t pay out the lease as they’re part of the same political party that sold it in the first place.
Think you mean “morale”. Moral has limited relevance to current tactical doctrine.
1 Like
IIRC “strafing” refers to the use of guns and possibly rockets by ground attack aircraft, so your “strafing gun” term doesnt appear to mean anything much.
Shan Ganshan, near me, had obsolete M42 Duster flak tanks based on it up until a few years ago, with concrete revetted firing positions dispersed around the mountain to which I assume the tanks could be rapidly deployed, probably for local air defence of Tainan airbase. The tank bases are now abandoned and there is property development underway.
Good Firing Position = Nice View = Prime Real Estate
Oh, and most Taiwanese never see anything, unless it obstructs them en route to the night market for delicious food.
The other issue, that others have pointed out, is China’s reliance on fossil fuels. Shutting down oil and coal supplies to China would all but cripple the country within a month. Too many other countries around the world have also had enough of their posturing and then playing the victim. There’s plenty of other cheap/er places to get stuff made. Companies like Nike Adidas and others have already started to take advantage of this. Maybe this is why China has gone on their lend and subvert belt and road initiative? And the buying out of countries they see as fit for overtaking (Singapore comes to mind)? As it stands China’s allies remain at Russia, North Korea, and Myanmar. I doubt Russia would get involved. Who knows what Kim Jong Un would do but there’s always the possibility of dropping a nuclear bomb on either or both of South Korea and Japan. The Philippines, which seemed to be leaning towards China, has pivoted against them. China is, for all intents and purposes, contained. They would do better to just erase Taiwan from the Chinese consciousness and focus on turning Macau into a deep water port to try and get them blue water naval capabilities.
Taiwan also have one of the best air defenses in the world. That means the skies wouldn’t be safe for Chinese planes. Combined with American air dominance there is no way to mount a credible invasion, especially considering that the entire western half of Taiwan is an urban jungle with multiple high grounds to deal with invading armies.
I also read somewhere that China’s aircraft carrier is based on obsolete Soviet models that are essentially floating junk. Russia’s carrier is aging and is belching smoke since it’s running on Bunker C fuel (that thick black tar like substance). You know that fuel virtually nobody uses anymore.
1 Like
Really impossible to say a mid-air collision between fast jets “should have been survivable”. In the best of circumstances an ejection can be a debilitating event, so its quite likely these pilots were badly injured before they hit the water.
At least around Taiwan sea temperatures aren’t immediately life threatening.
Yeah the first one they bought was a used Russian aircraft carrier. I understand it’s been retired. The second one (the first one they built) was obsolete before it even entered the water. The third one was supposed to correct some of the flaws of the second but again it has shown it isn’t up to scratch.
If the rest of the world really wanted to win a war with China the easiest way is to just turn off the taps. Stop the inflow of Western money and manufacturing. Start placing it in other countries. Start blocking or limiting access to Chinese traveling overseas. They would be reduced to using recycled steel within 3 years. I noticed the UN has started pushing back a little bit. Expelling China from the UN, say for refusal to accept World Court judgements re territory claims, really would signal the end of China’s rise. The US has also recently backed Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO with observer status. That’s going to make Xi Jinping angry.
2 Likes
Strafing
Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such as fast boats,
It’s an ongoing problem over the years with the F5s.
There is absolutely no guarantee the USA will have air superiority. China will be flying from airfields in the region that means their combat time will be much longer, more likely to get downed pilots back in the air etc. if their carrier killer missiles work there won’t be a fleet in the region either.
Japan and the USA may come to Taiwans aid and they may not. I have no faith in the Taiwanese military at all. I also don’t see the general population having the stomach for a war. Maybe the Chinese would be the same I don’t know
1 Like
If china gets to that step there will be economic repurcussion. I mean like cutting off the flow of western money.
So pretty sure china will wait a few more decades while they use all that money to bide their time.