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Posted on 09/21/2017 8:10:26 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
PT boats don’t automatically fall to the bottom of the ocean if hostile fire or malfunction takes out the engine.
My thoughts exactly.
Feel free to click the link.
True enough. Too many Jesus nuts on a helicopter.
Sadly after the war in the pacific most of the torpedo boats that survived were all lashed together and burned in manila bay. Wasn’t cost effective to bring them back to conus. Its one of the reasons they are so rare today.
“PT boats don’t automatically fall to the bottom of the ocean if hostile fire or malfunction takes out the engine.”
That was my thought, however, perhaps a specialized support boat could carry just one or two helicopters. It would be stealthy, have computer aided landing and securing for rough seas and be automated for quick fueling and mission loading. As for fire support and defense there are several fast, tough and relatively small boats that are themselves the equivalent of modern PT boat. We never see anything like this in Navy presentations because admirals want big, expensive and prestigious boats. It’s not about the mission. It’s about prestige.
Off subject but .......What ever came of the idea for a super chinook CH-47SD that was supposed to be outfitted w chin gun, 4 door gunners with M2’s or M134T’s and weapons mounts on each side for everything from 2.75 rocket pods to Hellfire’s or 20mm gun pods ?
The weakness of this analogy is the range of the weapons carried by the helicopter. If you can’t stand-off from a potential target, then the helo has no real survivability. Any attack on a a surface combatant with a modest air defense becomes a suicide mission. Come to think of it, the PT’s with their light-weight torpedoes faced a similar situation on the occasions where they went up against warships.
Helicopters might be great for colonial wars but missile technology is getting better and cheaper. These are slow and low flying targets. Soon anything flying close to the ground will be easily shot down.
Hm...
NavSpecWar may be once-bitten, twice shy in this regard.
That thing looks an awful lot like this thing: http://www.warboats.org/sbs1seabrick.htm
I actually participated in the tow of the floating shell to NAB Coronado. Walked on the deck.
It was a catastrophic waste of money and resources.
But I don’t really know anything - been out of the business for a long time.
I am certainly no expert. I just found that as an example of what a substitute for a PT boat might look like today. The advantage is, one exists. It could be tested and evaluated.
Having been involved in military contacting for an entire career, I can tell you that how suitable the equipment is for the task is only a peripheral consideration. The deciding factors are politics and money. I have seen contracts given for totally unsuitable material that is later removed from inventory, simply bought because a Senator can force it to happen. Senators don’t give a crap about the soldier or sailors. It’s all about votes, favors and money.
Your last sentence is spot on.
Just see the fiascos that occurred during the design of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
I was a twenty year old boat guy at the time - didn’t really get the ramifications of the “Sea Brick” until much later.
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once upon a time 
