Are we any good at ASW anymore?
I can’t see how we would be. All the S-3 Vikings are gone. Most of the P-3s are. Most surface ship focus on subs is gone.
YEs...we are very good with our sensors and policies. The best in the world...but the UK is right there with us..
But one of the major issues we have not resolved was the retirement of the S-3s from the carriers.
The Seahawks are great, but they do not have long legs and they are not as large as the S-3 Viking and so are limited in equipment and ordinance.
for the carriers, we need either to resurrect the S-3s from the boneyard where they are sitting in the desert...or come up with an ASW version of the Osprey so we have a longer range, longer loiter time ASW aircraft for the carriers.
The biggest threat to the carriers remains the sub-surface threat.