The Chinese have jets and airplanes (nothing close to our fighters, but some sturdy old planes). The P-3 is not a new aircraft, just a strong one built for long, steady flights. I bet the Chinese know about engines and avionics pretty well.
This will probably hurt a little, but as with all related issues we will simply have to work around it. Build better machines and better software. Which we are pretty damn good at doing. The Chinese are damn good at reverse engineering. By the time they figure these goodies out, we will likely have better goodies.
But you can bet that whenever China turns out a new submarine/fighter/naval vessel, the US of A will know 1001 ways to destroy it.
I’m on of these guys that puts more importance on the skill of the men/women behind the controls of the craft. No matter what high tech goodies you have to play with, they are worthless if you do not have trained, skilled men using them. And that is where the US shines.
I mean, how many pilots do you know that could land a P-3 with two damaged engines, a damaged wing, a torn tail, and no nose cone?!
Doc Nickel, I won’t argue with you. It’s a windfall, all right, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it could have been. Things you may want to consider:
As far as the aircraft itself goes, it’s a very old airframe nearing the end of its maximum service life. Inside it’s full of old equipment. For example: Our display screens are submarine surplus parts which weigh an astounding 150lbs each. The cockpit is poorly arranged, with no advanced instrumentation or even autopilot… it’s all stuff you could find on a vintage 1970-era aircraft. Same with the engines. Good engines, no doubt, but it’s just a standard turboprop engine.
The GPS… I could be mistaken here, but I’m pretty sure the DoD has decrypted the signal so all can enjoy accurate data. In any case, all they’ll get there is equipment you could probably buy off the shelf at any electronics shop (assuming, of course, that there was no crypto fill in it by the time they landed).
They’ll no doubt get some good intel from checking out the antennae, but my guess is that it’ll only confirm their theories rather than give them anything brand-spanking new. After all, we’re not talking phased-array, state of the art equipment here.
The best stuff they’ll get is any paper or computer (laptop, specifically) material the crew didn’t get around to destroying. I’m hoping they got it all, but you never know.
And you’re right about the sub stuff… for much more dirt (we’re talking Russian cable-tapping), I highly, highly recommend Blind Man’s Bluff.
One of the more amusing stories my navy friend had to tell me was how they got rid of the hard drives in the cryptotechs’ computers. I doubt he’s actually seen it, and this is probably pure BS, but it is amusing. According to him, the drives are demagnetized, then opened up, then set on fire, then acid is poured on the remnants, then tossed overboard into the ocean.
That’s surely true and I think that is the reason they use this plane for these missions. All the plane needs to do is fly smoothly and pick up whatever data it was sent to do. No special moves or action is needed, thus you could outfit any large plane to fit such needs. That’s likely why the Navy uses it. And that’s also why it is completely absurd that the Chinese blame our plane for the accident.
But in war times this plane would never be used. It’s too easy a target. You would need several fighter escorts to even have hope of protecting it from the enemy.
China does not give a lick about the plane itself. I doubt they care about the radio tech inside. They would LOVE to get their hands on the data on the drives, but I’m sure that is all but destroyed. The best bet they have is to simply come away from this aware of what we can pick up. And maybe take actions to hide a little bit more from our ears.
Of course, I’m not reading the Chinese newspapers. They probably have quite a different story. Har-har.
My only nitpick is the “never be used in war” idea. We’d definitely be used, and used heavily. The EP-3 is a stand-off platform, which means we do our little thing behind the fray. If it’s determined that we need fighter escort, it’s provided. I can tell you that any High-Value Asset that feeds the intel system is a high-priority item, e.g., RC-135, AWACS, EP-3, UAV’s, and other platforms which I can’t discuss. It may be old, but the product it provides to the fight is crucial.
I think (and hope) that everything else you said is dead on.
I was wrong, indeed. I seemed to get my idea from an interview I heard on CNN about which spy tech is used for what. They talked about those newer unmanned craft being used in battle situations where the craft would be at risk (but those are mainly for photo recon, I think). I also just heard a report that they are considering providing escorts with future P-3 recon flights by China. Maybe just rumor.
What I am curious about is what we would do with the plane even if we got it back? Congress is all talk about the price tag and how we need to get that expensive bird back. But whatever damage was done both inside and out would be a huge factor even after we got it back. And wouldn’t the US go over the craft with a fine-tooth comb looking for possible bugs or sabotage? Would this particular plane ever go in service again because of those factors?
I swear I always get choked up whenever I see those patriotic Navy or Air Force commercials. That ‘No One Comes Close’ line gets me every time.