Russia and China

[darkbeaver]

What sort of *missile bases" might they be? Maybe, fifty years ago ...

But do those missiles actually work as advertized? No they don,t. The funniest thing now is how the American made junk has eclipsed what used to be Chinese junk. They never deliver on time they don,t work as per instructions on the box and they never come without huge cost overruns. The American fleets are being destroyed by collisions at sea with frieghters and fishing boats. And then there,s the F35.

 

[Curious Cdn]

But do those missiles actually work as advertized? No they don,t. The funniest thing now is how the American made junk has eclipsed what used to be Chinese junk. They never deliver on time they don,t work as per instructions on the box and they never come without huge cost overruns. The American fleets are being destroyed by collisions at sea with frieghters and fishing boats. And then there,s the F35.

Fixed missile bases went out with fins on De Sotos. You can launch a barrage of cruise missiles from a 5000 tonne Frigate ... and from a dozen or two other flying and floating platforms that move around and hide. You don't need to build, defend and man fixed bases all over the planet, anymore.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Believe it or not, the Chinese are in the midst of a massive naval building program and they are well on their way to having the biggest Navy in the world. It is also a modern one. Three decades ago, the Soviet Krasniflot was the largest but a lot of it rotted away in recent years. I don't know much about their air Force but the PLA Navy is a serious deal. It appears that the Chinese wish to project their power around the world.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a19634308/satellite-photos-chinese-fleet/

That might well be, but the US still outspends China three to one and China is still playing catch-up. However, I suspect that China is aiming at local superiority; not a world-wide fleet like the US.