Quote Originally Posted by Joe McCarthy View Post
Saber rattling, but an alarming reminder of what China will be capable of once it has the military muscle. The US though has vital interests in preventing China from turning the South China Sea into a Chinese lake, so Chinese aggression will be met by force, and China will get their asses kicked in a naval war.
It's unlikely the US will actually do much more than saber rattling in the south china sea, the purchase of russian high tech anti ship cruise missiles and the chinese stealth aircraft, like the one that just flew actually, could keep the US out in a few years.

Lets not forget the issue with carriers is they are big, expensive, and have a lot of people on them, they are not something the US will throw away if the odds dont meet what the navy wants.