[Newsbot]

Title: Navy to Gates: Yes, we need 11 aircraft carriers
Category: Military
Posted By: Scape
Date: 2010-05-07 11:30:54

[Scape]

And this could be a major reason why

Analysi: �How the US Lost the Naval War of 2015�

[bootlegga]

Scape Scape:

And this could be a major reason why

Analysi: �How the US Lost the Naval War of 2015�

Haha, I just finished reading the 2015 article half n hour ago!

The biggest hole in that story is that it assumes that the George Washington would be sailing by itself, when in reality, a carrier always has elements of its battelgroup in the immediate area, protecting it from aerial, surface and sub-surface threats.

It also glosses over the carrier group's Aegis cruiser/destroyer's capability to track and shoot down ABMs, which is being developed as we speak. Even if they 'missed' and didn't shoot the ABM down, they'd have tracking data (and maybe even video files) that proved the carrier was hit by a missile, not sunk by accident as the story claims Beijing would say.

I think the whole scenario is implausible and pro-military propaganda more than anything.

[Scape]

I think the whole idea is based on the age old axiom of the navy of the future is equipped and trained on winning the wars of the past. The whole idea of China attacking the US is being used to prop up the big ticket items.

Submarine Sneaks into Beirut? Why That’s Bad

Stuff like this is the real threat to modern navies. The heyday of the AC was in the 1980's and now they are more and more ending up like the battleships they have replaced.

[Dragom]

2015 isn't a sound argument for an 11th unarmored multi-billion dollar target.

2015 is a sound argument for a cruiser sized submersible drone carrier.

[Proculation]

Didn't we have a thread about the use of aircraft carriers some months ago ?

We are not in 1950 anymore. They are costly to maintain, costly to protect in a war, costly to build and if destroyed, you loose billions for the ship AND the aircrafts.

They are OK for early missions like in Irak and Afghanistan, before you get a base. But in the Top 10 of countries with aircraft carriers, the second position is hold by multiple countries with only TWO carriers. Even if they keep only 6, they will be OK. Plus, there are other types of ships that are more technologically advanced. We are in 2010. Imagine an aircraft carrier goes to North Korea. Even them will have the "technology" to destroy it (well, if the missile strikes the target..).

[Proculation]

$1:

The defense secretary is to speak about "political will and the defense budget" on Saturday. He will be visiting the presidential library in Kansas of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned against a "military-industrial complex" in his farewell speech of January 17, 1961.

Love that final sentence of the article.