Actually SPORT, I have been shot at and HIT, not from my couch, but on a street in Chu Lai, RVN, Oct. 1, 1966. While I honor your service, I see we are narrowing your argument..You have a problem with the C-130? State it. German subs, almost as good as nucs. The qualifying word is "almost". And you don't think our government has a say, along with NATO, the end point of German sub sales(they don't move about like used cars), nor do we not monitor (your job) their movement..By the way, how many of these subs have been constructed and who bought them? You seem to know everything, answer me that(suggest Jane's), SPORT.
The 130 is a great aircraft, no doubt one of the best cargo aircraft in the world, ever. It was investigated for the ASW role back in the '50s alongside the Lockheed Electra (which became the P-3). It was found too cumbersome and clumsy for the role. P-3's were lighter and had better handling, and had plenty of room inside for electronics to boot.
"State it. German subs, almost as good as nucs. The qualifying word is "almost"."
Think of it like this...these subs are as quiet as a flashlight (they too run on batteries underwater). They can be purchased for what amounts to ten for the price of one SEAWOLF or LAI or VIRGINIA. Are they AS good? No, but they can do something the others cannot...they can be in ten places at once.
China, for example, is willing to lose ten subs just to sink one carrier, and they know that the odds favor them. If they're really lucky, they might even get an LA. They are using a version of the Russian "Cavitating" torpedo that can reach speeds of 300 knots. They are every bit the threat that a nuke can be. Recall the damage the German U-boats (diesels all) did during WWII, or the fact that U-boat attacks brought us into the First World War. Subs do not have to be $3 billion and run on neutrons to be dangerous to the free movement of ships and cargo.
Plus, they can and are being bought by countries like Iran (KILO class), Indonesia (German type 209), Argentina (German type 1700), Chile (German type 209), Turkey (German type 209), Israel(German type 540), and a host of others. When AIP becomes available, those third-world nations will have technology that can match the advantages of a nuke. They'll have it for a LOT less money, too.
Oh, and you asked about ballistic missiles on diesels? The GOLF-class owned and operated by North Korea is an SSB, or Diesel Ballistic Missile Submarine. Now, why would they have bought that?
"By the way, how many of these subs have been constructed and who bought them? You seem to know everything, answer me that(suggest Jane's), SPORT."
I don't have a JANE's here right now, but my most recent course of study claimed that the Germans had manufactured almost a hundred of their 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, and 540 types. The French have put out about 20-30 DAPHNEs and AGOSTAs. As for the Russians, they have exported, and use themselves, about 30 KILOs. Some of these could be wrong, as I said, I don't have the reference available right here. However, there are certainly over 150 highly capable submarines out there, built with the latest technology available. And they do not belong to us. As far as what say our own government has over the German and other foreign sales, sadly not all that much. They are, after all, foreign countries with their own laws on weapons sales. The Russians couldn't care less what we think.
And by the way (and I say this with the highest repect possible), it was you, not me, who came on this thread with an attitude. You made statements which were, to someone experienced otherwise, ignorant of the facts. It would've been as if I had come on to a thread about the Viet Nam war huffing and puffing about stuff all wrong. You'd have rightly gotten your dander up, too.
The fact is, our country faces a myriad of threats to our safety and economy, to say nothing of our ability to wage war overseas. The threat of submarines not only remains, but is even more dangerous, as we no longer have only ONE enemy to worry about...we now have to watch them ALL, and guess what? A certain recent President from Arkansas chopped out six of our active squadrons. As the birds age, more will either be decommissioned or will have to be replaced with new airplanes.
And I haven't even mentioned all our OTHER missions yet. ASW is only one small part of our mission.