Posted on 08/21/2005 8:20:31 PM PDT by KneelBeforeZod
Damn Clinton...
We need our 600 ship Navy back that we had in the mid-1980's.
Are those 300 missing ships now razorblades?
We will be damn lucky to be ready for China. Assuming our next president doesn't slash our defense budget to ribbons like 42 did.
I wonder if they hire out tp dp old car restoration work?
There was a story on History channel about this boneyard just the other night. Many of the aircraft there are kept in for just this purpose.
This writer does not understand what the whole mission and purpose and *daily* work of the boneyard is all about.
Calling them "worn-out" is just plain wrong. A *lot* of work is constantly ongoing at the boneyard to keep thousands of aircraft in various levels of servicability. The airframes that are candidates for return to service are NOT "worn-out". They are actually in excellent condition.
The whole *function* of the boneyard is to store and inventory fleets of aircraft in a low-corrosion environment in between times when we need lots of them and times when we don't need so many.
To counter what enemy? We currently have the most powerful navy in the world. Do the terrorists have any ships other than small speedboats? Pure foolishness - the money it would take to update 300 ships can be MUCH better spent elsewhere.
Besides, those old ships take personnel to man them. Which, again, would be better deployed elsewhere.
SW
I'm not so sure the Osprey will turn out to be foolhardy at all. The early problems seem to have been worked out, just like what happens with any new design. Nobody knows, but I hope it works out well.
The concept of the Osprey is a good one. Higher speed transit than a CH-46, longer range, but still about the same lifting capacity and mission capability. I hope it works.
In Vietnam, my 155mm self-propelled Battery was usually down to 3-4 guns (out of 6) at any given time. Spare parts, I learned at a very early age, can win or lose a war.
China is going to have a great deal of shopping money in about 15-20 years,thank to the US consumer.
V22's are being flown all over the place here in the Panhandle of Texas. Bells final assembly for em is in Amarillo and they are working very well thus far.....
As to the boneyard birds being brought back that's why they are there....The system works as designed.
I would tend to agree. It's not the number of ships anymore so much as it is what those ships can do. The stuff we're doing nowadays with amphibs, and with missle cruisers... not to mention carriers and subs... is just orders of magnitude beyond what we could do a few decades ago.
My only regret is the loss of the big battleships. I'm fully aware of the bad budget voodoo that is required to keep them running, and that they don't make sense. I'm completely willing to admit that it is a completely emotional argument that I make. But dammit... there is just nothing on the water that is or may ever be as cool as the profile of an Iowa-class BB on the horizon. Then all the 16-inchers cut loose... ooooohhhh... :-)
I count myself lucky enough to have been in a live-fire exercise along with the USS New Jersey a few years ago in one of the annual assaults on San Clemente Island. My little CG cutter was in between NJ and the shore and they were firing the 16's over our heads. In the name of all that is Holy-- it was inspiring. :-)
I would support the idea of keeping at least one Iowa-class running, nomatter the cost. Just because we can. :-)
Pull all the B52s out too! The old ones that COULD carpet bomb, all the current ones carry but a few precision eggs
I suspect the last Super Stallion pilot has been born yet.
hasn't ?
During WWII the eight airforce was happy if 25% of the B-17s were combat ready.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.