Posted on 01/14/2024 9:18:40 AM PST by hardspunned
The US Navy is ramping up delivery of its new Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers just as there is demonstrable increased strategic and operational need for the capability an aircraft carrier provides, the Executive Director for the USN’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Carriers told the Surface Navy Association annual symposium in Arlington, Virginia.
(Excerpt) Read more at navalnews.com ...
Military schools for elite units used to do that, the object was NOT to keep you from dropping out.
Even a basic school like Jump School used to sincerely and warmly ask anyone who wanted to drop out before the day’s training started to do so and it was promised that no one would know and you would quietly be processed out without facing embarrassment because they only wanted the true ones to stay,
Many special ops people have complained over the decades about the movies attracting the wrong men to their field during their unit’s turn in the Hollywood hero cycle, which is currently SEALs.
FRiend, the war dogs would be completely unleashed. It might take a week or so to get going but the end result would be WWIII. A swarm of hypersonic missiles would put the entire battle group on the bottom of the ocean. Another tripwire for Armageddon.
“How do you track and destroy a submerged submarine from space?”
That part remains an AF secret. The MIC loves to spend money on sub hunting and subs so no one will ever stop it. Anything in the water can be destroyed in minutes. But, the arms race isn’t about national defense, it is about military spending, so, we get these trillion dollar military budgets.
Just because I won’t tell you, doesn’t mean bravado on my part, so you can KMA. I don’t take to childish challenges like that. My ego isn’t fragile as yours.
I spent some time on the USS Higbee late 70s it had urinals on deck
Yep....as targeting improves the carrier becomes more vulnerable. The big one?
Look up the naval exercise in the thirty simulating an attack on Colon, Panama. It was supposed to be a traditional battleship engagement with carriers used as an adjunct for scouting etc. One of the commanders of the attacking force took the Sarasota and a destroyer screening group broke away from the main battle group and launched an air attack from the south and destroyed the locks on the south end of the canal. The navy brass ruled he didn’t play fair and stay within the parameters of the exercise. They learned nothing.
Obviously, the Japanese observers learned a lot as did the British who launched a Pearl like attack against the Italian fleet at Taranto.
It ain’t the “US Navy” -its all the defense contractors who can’t give up the revenues a carrier battle fleet spins off
You got it.
Visualize a swarm drone strike on a carrier where the drones fly into every open hatch and detonate well inside the ship, as well as targeting every aircraft on the flight deck.
I won’t get into game of saying they’re obsolete since they are obviously giving the Houthi’s a few blows, and who knows, maybe some day we’ll get some ADULTS into high-level positions at DOD who realize that 1991* was over 30 years ago and that it might be a good idea to take seriously the need for DEFENSIVE weapons.
*1991 was the year we became invincible after the fall of the Soviet Union and therefore had no need to further modernize our military.
In any case, I do wonder if ‘stepping up’ the production of carriers means making one every 15 years, rather than one every 20 years or so. And, by the way, at our peak, we were building one carrier EVERY MONTH during WW2 (as I recall reading).
I saw a photo once from a defense worker I met that showed a soviet sub looking suspended in mid space in the Red sea. This was late 80’s early 90’s. It looked like the water had been vacuumed out of the red sea showing the sub seeming in suspension in the empty red sea basin.
Yes we can track them from space under certain conditions. The other guys can probably find us now. But back then, we had the Soviet triple hog tied and ready for killin’ and barbeque-ing. Not so much now I think....alas Babylon! Let us sit down and weep!
Smaller, nimble, and powerful is going to I win the next sea war.
I have not read comments beyond this and someone might have brought this up but small Jeep carriers, escort carriers, or drone carriers (choose a term) may well be the future for the Navy. They will resist this because bosses want to boss big ships, but the conflict in the Ukraine has demonstrated with certainty that drones will be a giant part of the next conflict and “hypersonic missiles” are here to stay.
Drone torpedoes with long range and loiter capability and sea mines with limited propulsion and quiet operation are not far off to include those that can be dropped to the sea floor much like mines from commercial ships. Taiwan should be on a crash program for these - major deterrent.
Putting so many eggs in one basket is risky and it reflects a WWII model based on WWII technology. As you said, smaller and more nimble may be the best answer to project force effectively and avoid a catastrophic loss AND much smaller carriers can facilitate the use of drones or VTOL aircraft for offense, aerial refueling, and fleet protection.
The oceans are very big but satellites are cheap and plentiful and they only have to get lucky once. The Ukrainian conflict has demonstrated that cheap drones with competent operators can take out mega-million dollar assets. Adapt or die.
When WWIII comes, satellites will be the first things to go.
It ain’t the “US Navy” -its all the defense contractors who can’t give up the revenues a carrier battle fleet spins off
Respectfully disagree with you about the Navy. Admirals want to command carrier battlegroups. Captains want to Captain big ships. Pilots want to fly fancy planes and command air groups.
Commanding a Jeep carrier with drones or a drone squadron is not as sexy as the Gerald R Ford with air wings.
You are 100% correct about defense contractors though - carriers are mega-bucks.
Maybe, but I suspect they can put up a lot of them and are we going to shoot down google satellites or those of the tech industry that may also be used?
I don’t know the answers on this one but China has also smartly worked on balloons that are very cheap and can carry a good sized sensor pack.
Ukraine has shown that we may not win a war using million dollar missiles to shoot down 10k targets. We do not have the inventory for this so cheaper alternatives must be found and quickly.
I do not know the answer. I do think that the navy will eventually have to size up to cruiser weight to have the range and firepower necessary.
That’s not exactly the point I was making. I was suggesting that there is a possibility that Russia might choose to give the USA a dose of its own medicine by providing weapons and targeting information to its proxies. I certainly hope that does not happen (and I actually do not think it will) but surely it is a risk worth considering as we tangle with the Houthis (and as the Neocons wish take on the Iranians next).
As far as moral equivalency goes, it’s been long demonstrated that open, respectful discussion of those issues on this forum is not possible so I will not engage on that subject.
A dose of our own medicine?
We aren’t Russia and we aren’t conquering new territory to add to our empire.
Maybe drone subs carrying flying and/or smaller sub drones, both capable of remote human control or local AI control.
Our empire can’t grow any larger. It’s been falling since 1975, it takes a long time to happen but the end is inevitable.
Literally every move mad win the past 3 years hastens the end.
They had better get laser weapons operating soon and effectively. Otherwise, we get creamed in the Western Pacific.
Our airbases are all in range of Chinese ballistic missiles launched from land.
Our carriers too are sitting ducks to Chinese ballistic missiles and submarines unless we completely eliminate China’s satellites in the first day or two of the war. Even then, I don’t know how safe they are from swarming reconnaissance drones.
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