Posted on 02/14/2011 11:29:19 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) -- A senior U.S. Navy commander says a new "carrier killer" missile that has become a symbol of China's rising military might will not force the U.S. Navy to change the way it operates in the Pacific.
Defense analysts say the Dong Feng 21D missile could upend the balance of power in Asia, where U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups have ruled the waves since the end of World War II.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
SM-3
“The Admirals themselves are destroying the Navy by allowing gays to serve.”
Seems to me as though it’s the politicians doing it.
What would a Navy Admiral say? “We are Doomed”?
I wouldn't hang too much on that threat.
When Germany invaded France in WWII, France was Germany's largest trading partner.
When Japan attacked the United States, we were their largest trading partner.
Aggressive wars aren't launched by men who are being guided by reason.
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ASW detection is all about training. Despite all of the hoopla about how well trained our military is, the facts are: The Navy was better trained and more dedicated 20 years ago than they are now. Many sailors are just in it for the paycheck. As a 21 years Navy Vet, I can speak from experience, and we will be declining even further with openly serving gays. Women onboard ships has been a fiasco from the start, and it will get even worse when they get onboard submarines.
Many years ago I was following a story about a tank mounted laser missile killing system. I looked like a big searchlight mounted on an M1.....to test this thing, they fired a 155mm round from 23 miles away. This thing tracked the projectile, and shot it down with a laser beam while in flight...they did this 3 times in a row...then, suddenly, all info on this weapon system just diappeared...I would have to assume that this system is active, thereby making any and all missiles a non threat. If it can track and shoot down artillery rounds in flight, a missile is a non issue....the torpedoes are also a non issue (just because a sub surfaces anywhere on the ocean, does not mean we did not know it was there) Can a carrier be sunk? Damn right it can. I just think they are a little more protected than what meets the eye..
DEW(Directed Energy Weapons) systems in testing are not operational/deployed combat systems yet. A combat environment poses challenges that cannot be duplicated in testing, especially on the high seas.
That having been said, the Navy Labs/DARPA recently completed a successful test of what could be Holy Grail of DEW, the Free Electron Laser(FEL). The difficulty with using lasers in free space is that certain wavelengths are attenuated by the atmosphere at differing altitudes. If I understand this correctly, a laser is tuned to a fixed, specific frequency before use and the effectiveness is restricted accordingly. The FEL can be tuned on-the-fly to overcome this handicap. Not only this, as opposed to the chemical lasers of the Air Force's Airborne Laser which must have their chemicals reconstituted after twenty firings, the FEL can fire as long as there is sufficient electricity to power it. Arm a nuclear carrier with one of these powered by its reactor and it has an unlimited magazine with the potential of also being an effective satellite killer. Supersonic and even hypersonic ASMs would not stand a chance an FEL.
An interesting side note is that a laser is also known as a high-frequency photon maser, which contracts to phaser.
That is a very solid rundown.
Not only all that but if we somehow lost one carrier we would still have about a dozen to pummel anyone to dust.
Yes, but five of the six were lost in the first twelve months of the war, when the Axis were ascendent and the correct tactics and countermeasures to defend carriers had not been fully worked out. The Brits lost five carriers in WW2 (Courageous, Glorious, Ark Royal, Hermes and Eagle) and all of them were lost before mid 1942.
The carrier probably couldn’t, but the carrier group, with its layers of anti-sub and anti-air defences, probably could. I am decidedly dubious about these Dong Feng ballistic antiship missiles. Sure they have huge range and enormous destructive power, but how on earth are they going to be able to guide them?
That's just plain false.
First, Yorktown survived survived 3 heavy bomb hits and was saved and returned to action due to excellent damage control. She launched strike and CAP aircraft after the damage was repaired. Second, she received two aerial torpedo hits, starting fires and a severe list. Although excellent damage control efforts put out the fires, the list became severe, and she was ordered abandoned. A repair party re-boarded, and corrected the list sufficiently that she could be taken under tow. While under tow and being repaired, she was attacked a third time, by IJN submarine ... two torpedo hits, plus concussion from USS Hammann's depth charges (Hammann was sunk by the same sub) re-started the list, leading to Yorktown capsizing and sinking.
Yes, Yorktown was sunk by enemy action ... in spite of heroic and highly effective damage control efforts.
Thanks for another great post!
Our next constitutionally required "coup" is scheduled for November 6, 2012.
Be there!
Compare Yorktown which was lost in June, 1942 with Franklin, which was saved in March 1945, and you have to realize that a whole lot was learned in a short time about how to design, build, fight and save a damaged aircraft carrier.
USS Franklin, March 19, 1945
At Mach 6, would you have time to say anything?
Yep. "You owe the bank a hundred thousand, it's your problem. You owe the bank a hundred million, it's the bank's problem."
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