Would it be possible to scrap the idea of a massive aircraft carrier for the United States entirely, and start off new?
Here is the idea. A V/STOL carrier. This would be about half the size of an American supercarrier, have half the aircraft compliment and would be limited to STOL aircraft (such as your JSF) and helicopters. Perhaps it could have spots for X number of aircraft, to be divided up to what the player builds for the carrier. A mixture of JSF or helicopters for ground suppoort of an amphib invasion, or a full compliment of JSF for air superiority and deep strike, or all helicopters for the Marine's "vertical envelopment" and ASW work?
For the ASW helicopter, you could use a naval version of the UH-60 Blackhawk equipped with torpedoes. It would also carry men, and be used to land the troops.
The Americans' light naval unit could be a frigate or destroyer type. Minimal capacity to attack land targets via gunfire, using missiles instead. These would also be effective against enemy naval surface units. This unit could be an AEGIS destroyer, Burke class, and would have solid anti-air coverage for the other ships, and a clever player may even build them to keep near their shores to augment base AA defense.
As for submarines, I agree with the person who said the Americans would not use nuclear weapons from submarines (I am new to forums, so please forgive..not sure how to quote
). From a realistic aspect, and storyline-wise, the American SSBNs would probably be far out to see, making sure the Russians do not launch a strategic nuclear strike on the Americans, or the Chinese to American allies in the region. The SSBNs are simply to valuable for a small conflict (as are giant supercarrier battle groups, if you think about it).There are SSBNs being converted into cruise missile submarines in the American fleet, as someone said. These are the size of the ballistic missile submarines but carry a staggering 154 cruise missiles (the same as an entire battle group). For the game, the SSGN (maybe call it Ohio class or something, as the first boat to be converted was the USS Ohio) would carry cruise missiles that would have the range of about 2 screens...enough to give a lot of firepower near the water, but balancing enough that a player could not level an enemy base with two submarines. Perhaps add the upgrade to these to drop the missile armament entirely for the ability to land Special Operations soldiers.
The other submarine for the Americans you could add would be the SSN, in the role of the American's main anti-ship unit. Stealthed while moving, enemy able to see torpedoes only unless they have a unit that could detect it, and able to split a gatling cruiser in half with a single salvo of a pair of torpedoes.
Thus, an American fleet would be a V/STOL Carrier (if you want call it the Ark Royal class, as if the British loaned them one
), a handful of frigates/destroyers and underneath the waves a pair of submarines guarding the fleet.Upgrades
Mk.48 ADCAP: Increases firepower of the American torperdo by x%. Increases speed of American torpedo by x% (which would make it more agile, too, to let it kiss GLA speedboats, mentioned later).
PHALANX - Close-in defense of American ships. Destroyers would get one, the carrier, two. Grants the ability to lock and shoot lasers at incoming missiles (yes, they actually did this in the 1970's!)
Countermeasures - same as the American aircraft upgrade. Shoots flares and chaff to confuse incoming missiles.
Dry Deck Shelter (as a previous poster mentioned) - click on an already existing Ohio submarine to buy this. Dumps all cruise missiles for the DDS which transports Spec Ops to the shore.
Towed Sonar Array - increased range of detection (sight) for American submarines, allows them to see the Chinese subs further than they can be seen.
Damage Control - Either increased regeneration rate for American naval units, or upgrade all to some veterancy level. American ships have always had great damage control.
Increased Speed.
Increased Armor.
---------------------------------
As for the Chinese, don't give them a carrier. Give them the really big battleship, instead. Perhaps their navy was not built to challenge the Americans', but to support World War II -style amphibous invasions of, say, Formosa. Thus, they have a lot of cruisers and battleships with guns instead of missiles, and the gatling frigates to swat aircraft out of the sky.
Aircraft carriers are expensive and quite vulnerable. I believe I read somewhere, though I could be wrong, that the Chinese aquired a carrier of 1950s-1960s English vintage (much smaller than an American ship), but sold it to Brazil because of the cost of converting it to their needs and technology. The aircraft the Chinese have are not capable of STOL takeoff, so this would probably have been for helicopters only. So instead of the carrier with helicopters that the Americans enjoy, give the Chinese a ASW destroyer or cruiser they purchased from the Soviets. Armed with torpedoes and ASW helicopters, this cruiser would be a thorn in the side of the USN submariner.
Submarines. The Chinese submarines should be inferior to the American subs, but far cheaper. 'Kilo' class diesel subs (perhaps they have to surface to fire) or primitive nuclear submaries of Soviet 'November' or early 'Victor' class, which take less hits to destroy than the American subs. The American subs would be faster, too. But the asset the Chinese enjoy is quantity over quality.
Upgrades:
Market. Decreases cost of Chinese naval units.
Radiation or napalm shells. Gives naval guns the ability to fire napalm shells, causing persistant damage to the targets.
Helix ASW - Increases range (or payload) of the Chinese ASW helicopter.
Active Sonar - Allows Chinese subs to more easily detect moving American subs.
Exocet - Equips the "lesser" Chinese surface unit with Exocet missiles, giving them increased anti-ship capability.
Engine Speed
Armor
----------------------------------
GLA naval units. This is far tougher to address. Perhaps the GLA decided they cannot hope to counter the overwhelming naval superiority of the Chinese and the Americans, so they opted for an alternative. They could have but one naval unit: a suicide speedboat. Equipped with fast engines and a few armed artillery shells, this would be used to not deny the enemy use of the seas, but simply harass them. If you want them to have AA defense, put an RPG trooper on the boat. These should be cheap and used in mass attacks.
Upgrades: RPG boat. Adds that RPG soldier to harass air units.
Additional engine: Increases speed by x%.
--------------------------------
Let me know what you all think....thanks for reading this long post
I know I paid more attention to the American side of the naval aspect, and I know this thread was for the Chinese...sorry.I am going under the theory that the Chinese naval units would be operating closer to their naval yards than the Americans would be, and they would be cheaper...the GLA boat, would of course, be dirt cheap
