Posted on 04/15/2017 6:06:44 AM PDT by meatloaf
Are there alternatives to the Navy's direction?
When an enemy can launch a fusillade of anti-ship missiles or several air burst tactical nukes is there a better way? In the 60's McNamara, of Ford fame and fortune, was given credit for the DDG class which ended up being top heavy along with the vulnerability of having an aluminum superstructure to compensate and poor sea keeping ability.
Now the Navy wants to build a new frigate with more capability. What are your ideas?
Battleships are obsolete.
A stealthy submersible aircraft carrier sounds pretty cool. /s
Ships which launch rockets. And room for a helicopter.
Whatever the NYT does not want.
Photon torpedoes
Sails.
There is not one answer. Different missions require different capabilities. Maybe we need to recognize that some missions are not achievable. For standoff land attack, submarine-launched missiles seem to be the ticket.
I’m not sure anything is close to the aircraft carrier for surface dominance. You can do a lot more on the surface than you can underwater.
Lasers and railguns. SM-3 and Tomahawks. Front and rear Phlanx. Front and rear 5” or larger selfloader deck guns. Aegeis (?) . Hardened against EMP. Triple redundant elect system. 35+ knots. Steel. Not aluminum.
Star Trek type shields and Clingon type stealth, obviously, I thought everyone knew that!
Smaller, conventionally-powered platforms for drones. Drones are the future of naval aviation.
I’m no engineer, but can we call the first one made the “U.S.S. Chris Kyle?” “Kyle Class” sounds really cool.
Small and modular. Made out of steel and composite materials. Not aluminum. Capable of taking a hit and staying in the fight. And then being swapped out of the line and replaced by another. Frigates. Like Old Ironsides during the days of sail. And lots of them.
The day of massive warships firing 16” shells is past. What the Navy needs is many dozens of medium size ship, like a WWII light cruiser, bristling with ship killer missles.
These cruisers proved their sea-worthiness, and with a plethora of missle launchers replacing very large triple turrets, its fire power and targeting range would be awesome.
Add a fantail with a copter pad (or 2) and there would be a capable fighting ship at a low cost when compared with the price of a single super-carrier.
With the fitting of shorter range smaller rocket launchers the Navy would have a serious Anti-Aircraft ship which could do screening duties protecting the large carriers.
Remove pilots from the cockpit and the need for aircraft carriers goes away.Build dozens of lethal, wickedly fast and agile drones for the cost of each F35. Build vessels to launch the drones, including subs.
My great-etc grandfather was the captain of the USS Constitution. I Watched her sail under her own power in 2012...Quite a stirring sight.
And/Or.....as Gen Mattis says, Have a plan to kill everyone you meet, etc, etc.
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I guess, but nothing says ‘brotherly love’ like a shell that weighs more then a Volkswagen coming straight at you!
The left will take power again. From what I have seen of their next generation, it's time to start stockpiling sticks and stones.
Flying submarines. The Japanese had them in the 1960s.
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