Skip to comments.
BATTLE ISLAND
popular mechanics ^
| april 2003
| JIM WILSON
Posted on 04/17/2003 1:05:11 PM PDT by Lokibob
|
Larger than a city, the Joint Mobile Offshore Base will keep freedom fighters safe in hostile terrain. |
|
|
|
|
|
BY JIM WILSON |
|
|
Illustration by John Berkey |
|
|
|
|
|
Experience in constructing ultralarge vessels and deep-water offshore drilling platforms has convinced naval architects it is possible to build a floating military base by connecting individual, self-powered modules. |
|
Early in 2003, as the buildup for a war with Iraq shifted into high gear, American diplomats began calling on their counterparts in the Middle East and southern Europe. They asked a simple favor: permission to use local bases for attacks on Iraqi weapons factories and military installations. As the classified cables reporting on the lack of progress in working out agreements flowed back to the State Department, it slowly became evident that America had fewer friends than once thought. It became equally apparent that if the United States wanted sure footing for future battles against terrorism, it would have to look beyond diplomatic arrangements. And so, almost overnight, an idea that had hovered in the shadows since the mid-1990s began to make sense. If American forces could not count on friends, they would have to rely upon technology in the form of a new type of naval vessel, a mobile offshore base. |
|
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: battle; island; military; technology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-22 next last
1
posted on
04/17/2003 1:05:11 PM PDT
by
Lokibob
To: Sparta
Thought you might be interested ping|
2
posted on
04/17/2003 1:09:29 PM PDT
by
MattinNJ
To: Lokibob
Looks like a giant sitting duck to me, but what do I know?
3
posted on
04/17/2003 1:10:16 PM PDT
by
Cyber Liberty
(© 2003, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
Comment #4 Removed by Moderator
To: Lokibob
Interesting, but it had better have top notch defenses and each module better have multiple uses in case one is sunk on the way to the operating theater.
5
posted on
04/17/2003 1:13:14 PM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
To: BeechF33A
Sure sounds like a "Death Star" too me.
To: Lokibob
To: Lokibob
looks like one of those toys for kids,that when open have helicopters,tanks,planes,hhhhmmm,old technology then.
To: Media Insurgent
??????
9
posted on
04/17/2003 1:19:36 PM PDT
by
Lokibob
To: Cyber Liberty
Looks like a giant sitting duck to me, but what do I know?
So do aircraft carriers, but with all their high-tech stuff, I'm sure they're pretty safe.
I'd say what COULD wreak havoc on such a platform would be Mother Nature. Ain't no stopping a typhoon!
10
posted on
04/17/2003 1:20:32 PM PDT
by
ErnBatavia
(Bumperootus!)
To: Media Insurgent
Never mind, I got it. Call me slow.
11
posted on
04/17/2003 1:21:16 PM PDT
by
Lokibob
To: ErnBatavia
Read the article, they address the hurricane problem.
12
posted on
04/17/2003 1:22:23 PM PDT
by
Lokibob
To: Lokibob
Another "Quagmire"
Another "Vietnam"
Wrong thread, sorry.
BTW: read the article on this, thought it was a cool idea.
13
posted on
04/17/2003 1:22:25 PM PDT
by
husky ed
(FOX NEWS ALERT "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" THIS HAS BEEN A FOX NEWS ALERT)
To: Lokibob
It will be commanded by Admiral Darth Vader. By that time the Constitution will be a distant memory.
To: green team 1999
Think of the B-52. That plane was designed to be a very rugged platform to put a lot of stuff in. It's still being flown fifty years after it was first deployed. Same thing here. Weapons technology can change five times from the time the keel is laid to when it is first deployed, it won't matter. A design like this s/b very flexable and easy to update with the latest in technology, just like a B-52.
15
posted on
04/17/2003 1:26:11 PM PDT
by
Billy_bob_bob
("He who will not reason is a bigot;He who cannot is a fool;He who dares not is a slave." W. Drummond)
To: Lokibob; Cyber Liberty
Jihad Magnet Obsessing Bombers
16
posted on
04/17/2003 1:30:28 PM PDT
by
WaveThatFlag
(Run Al, Run!!!)
To: Cyber Liberty
Possibly not. If you put it reasonably far out to sea, you could just tell all small boats "don't even thinking of coming within a mile of us." A U.S.S. Cole attack would be impossible.
An AEGIS system could shoot down incoming missles.
Internal sabatoge is always a possibility. However, the thing is so big that a dissident sailor could do only so much damage.
Basically, it's like taking a regular base, and surrounding it with miles of water.
To: ErnBatavia
So do aircraft carriers, but with all their high-tech stuff, I'm sure they're pretty safe. carriers move and try to hide on a big ocean,but by the looks of this base,is like an oil platform.
now that is a sitting duck.
To: Lokibob
This is the kind of concept I read in a book a couple of years ago called
SeaFighters by James Cobb, in which a floating offshore base was used to support LCAC's which had been modified and turned into a new class of gunboats.
Maybe reality is starting to catch up with fiction.
19
posted on
04/17/2003 1:44:08 PM PDT
by
JMK
To: Lokibob
Offshore platforms are dangerous enough without being on one that is a target.
Serving on this thing would be like serving on a first generation submarine. Best stick to personel with no dependants.
So9
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-22 next 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.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson