Earlier this month, China tested a new helium-filled airship that will soar to great height to offer the government new and broad surveillance capabilities. Called Yuanmeng, the ship is expected to be able to stay aloft for up to 48 hours.
The airship works via a combination of lighter-than-air gases and electricity. Helium lifts the ship to the near-space region (65,000 to 328,000 feet). Once Yuanmeng is at altitude, solar panels mounted on the surface provide electrical power to propellers that guide the airship into position. Solar power is ideal for high-altitude drones and airships because it reduces the need for an internal fuel supply, reducing the overall size of the aircraft and freeing it from the task of carrying its own fuel.
Yuanmeng measures an enormous 18,000 cubic meters (635,664 cubic feet) in volume. The airship is equipped with communications and surveillance gear, including wide-band communications, digital data links, high-definition “observation” (HD cameras), and spatial imaging technologies.
The Gaofen-4 geostationary earth observation satellite will be launched by the end of this year with the express purpose of hunting US aircraft carriers. The satellite is equipped with a visible light imager at 50 meters and infrared staring optical imager at 400 meters.
China has created the means of holding at risk US aircraft carriers with two new anti-ship ballistic missiles, the DF-21D and the new DF-26. However, locating US aircraft carriers is not easy, and China has developed a variety of airborne and space-based sensors to ease the search
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Extra large, stationary objects, hovering in the air by themselves make for very easy targets. It should be a simple matter to reconfigure existing Navy missiles to shoot down these blimps.
Even still, China seems to be preparing for a battle that might never happen. If the USA ever declared war on China, the first step would be to shut down all oil tanker traffic from the Persian Gulf. Now China has no oil.
There would never be an opportunity where a US aircraft carrier is close enough for these blimps to target.
Capitalist countries understand the power of "speculation". When a resource runs out, or is threatened, the value goes up considerably, based on projected future availability. This occurs near-instantly. This why something happens to an oil field in the Persian Gulf in the morning, and gasoline prices in the USA spike by the afternoon. It causes ripples throughout the supply chain. This isn't "price gouging" but speculation, based on the current data set.
China is a communist country, and only dabbles in capitalism. These things confuse their leaders. If the US Navy set up a blockade at the southern point of India, they could intercept, impound, destroy, or do whatever else to Chinese oil tankers. The end result would be the same – No new oil for China.
China loses the war.
Hold up oil shipments for one week and it would cripple their economy. Hold up oil for a month, and their country would likely collapse.
This blimp doesn't impress me.