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To: snoringbear; GrandJediMasterYoda
snoringbear: "Btw, our super carrier fleet is now obsolete much the same as battleships were going into WWII."

Battleships were far from "obsolete" in WWII.
They were very useful in shore bombardments and against smaller ships.
That's why they kept being brought back out of mothballs for the next 50 years!
Indeed, today's latest destroyers have all the capabilities of old battleships, and much more.

But the old battleships were ineffective against aircraft & torpedoes and the ranges of their offensive weapons, while accurate, grew relatively shorter & shorter.
So they could only be used under limited circumstances, and that may also become the fait of our older aircraft carriers.

For another example, think of the old B-52 bombers -- still in service, still work perfectly well, but can only be used where threats against them are minimal.
That's the future of existing aircraft carriers.
Whether future carriers can be designed for more... ah, "challenging" environments, is yet to be seen.

A modern battleship:


43 posted on 12/27/2020 7:53:07 AM PST by BroJoeK ((a little historical perspective...) )
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To: BroJoeK

For the most part no argument with your comments. The future of our current carrier fleet though is indeed in doubt, as you said remains to be seen. Even now our navy is reluctant to take our carriers through the Taiwan Strait or into the South China Sea due to their vulnerability.


53 posted on 12/27/2020 8:09:29 AM PST by snoringbear (,W,E.oGovernment is the Pimp, )
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To: BroJoeK

Carriers are not obsolete. However, they are out-ranged in the South China Sea, due to Obama allowing the Chinese to get a huge edge in Area Denial cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and hypersonic technology.

Only since Trump came in, are we attempting to close the gap. There will be no massive land war in re: to China/US.

It will be a Naval and Air battle in the South China Sea. Right now we will win, but it will be very costly. China will have a huge edge in Area Denial missiles until at least 2024-25.

The navy is just now getting online with the stealthy fuel tankers which will fill the gap and get our F18E/Fs and F35Cs within range.

I blame Obama and also the top echelon Navy planners for allowing this to happen. Right now, the Navy would have te rely on long range strategic strike and standoff bombers to deliver the shots that will knock out China’s surface Navy and key strategic bases in the SCS and in southern China.


80 posted on 12/27/2020 5:39:43 PM PST by rbmillerjr
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