Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

We Are Going To Lose The Coming War With China
Townhall.com ^ | March 21, 2019 | Kurt Schlichter

Posted on 03/21/2019 3:31:52 AM PDT by Kaslin

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-132 last
To: UCANSEE2

121 posted on 03/22/2019 6:52:52 AM PDT by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: nathanbedford

While great against savages and second-tier enemies, against China our carriers are as useless as the Prince of Wales and Repulse were against Japanese land-based bombers.

Our carriers cannot get close enough to China to launch land-attack missions without being sunk.

But our admirals are such PC-whipped cowards that they can’t even enforce high enough standards to keep our best warships from being rammed by tankers.

Good luck against salvos of hyper-sonic missiles.

Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse


122 posted on 03/22/2019 6:57:48 AM PDT by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 117 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee; nathanbedford
While great against savages and second-tier enemies, against China our carriers are as useless as the Prince of Wales and Repulse were against Japanese land-based bombers.

So would you guys be in favor of sinking all of our navies carriers tomorrow(immediately), you know make artificial reefs out of them?

Gentlemen, that is a yes or no question.

123 posted on 03/22/2019 7:13:52 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: central_va; Travis McGee
Gentlemen, that is a yes or no question.

So is, have you stopped beating your wife? But that does not make it a worthy question. Nevertheless, I will play along.

The answer is no because carriers still are effective against third world countries and they still project a great deal of power even against China as it exists today. So long as China has doubt carriers have great deterrent value. So we don't sink them all, we scrap them according to an intelligent schedule knowing that we should have some remnant of a carrier fleet for at least 40 years.

Rather than sink them we begin to compensate for their growing obsolescence with other platforms. We take the money that we would have devoted to building two (count them, two!) Carriers at the same time and spend it more effectively. As much as I admire a Bull Halsey and the men who served under him on Enterprise from Pearl Harbor through Okinawa, as much as I respect the first skipper of the nuclear powered Enterprise, we must let go of the romance of the flattop and move into the 21st century.


124 posted on 03/22/2019 7:53:10 AM PDT by nathanbedford (attack, repeat, attack! Bull Halsey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee; central_va
As our present class of aircraft carriers become more and more obsolete, we should be thinking more and more of turning these platforms into drones. Historically, carriers were made of converted ships with a flat retrofitted deck to accommodate airplanes. So history suggests that it is quite likely that the Navy will take one of our carriers and modify it so that it can operate with a skeleton crew as a drone. They are already launching and recovering drone airplanes.

As the modification of old carriers progresses, it is quite possible to anticipate that as artificial intelligence continues to advance we will reach the point where new carriers which are 100% drones can be launched. Presumably they would be not just cheaper to operate but also cheaper to build. Certainly, their destruction would be much cheaper in human life and therefore not necessarily Casus Belli for nuclear war if the Chinese get frisky and sink one.

It may be that carriers will be abandoned altogether for submarines with missiles and satellites with lasers. Much of the change must come from evolution as well as technological revolution. God help us if we get it wrong.


125 posted on 03/22/2019 8:12:27 AM PDT by nathanbedford (attack, repeat, attack! Bull Halsey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: nathanbedford

It was a yes or no question.


126 posted on 03/22/2019 8:20:51 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: central_va
And you got your direct yes or no answer.


127 posted on 03/22/2019 8:34:38 AM PDT by nathanbedford (attack, repeat, attack! Bull Halsey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: nathanbedford

I will take that as a no. You think, as do I, we still need carriers. Thanks for the input. Again I agree. I will ignore all of your other poppycock.


128 posted on 03/22/2019 8:38:45 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: central_va
I will ignore all of your other poppycock.

That remark was gratuitous and it characterizes your whole approach to this and other exchanges.


129 posted on 03/22/2019 8:41:44 AM PDT by nathanbedford (attack, repeat, attack! Bull Halsey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: central_va

What Wardaddy said.
Reefs? No.
Useless targets when they are in range of China? Yes.
The next Prince of Wales and Repulse? Yes. Everybody knows it except the heirs of the “Battleships Forever!” crowd.

Billy Mitchell tried to warn the battleship dinosaurs. They refused to listen. Prince of Wales and Repulse proved Mitchell’s point.

I hope we don’t suffer an equally ignominious lesson with our dinosaur flattops. What a waste of treasure and lives that could have been better invested.


130 posted on 03/22/2019 9:35:09 AM PDT by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

What’s so hard? A simple yes or no.


131 posted on 03/22/2019 9:36:14 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee; All
It is amazing how little the fiasco of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse are mentioned in American histories.

It was primarily Winston Churchill's fault.

He was, in many ways, fighting the last war.

We should be putting much more into the Space Force than into new Carriers.

132 posted on 03/23/2019 5:20:05 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-132 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson