Article

2016-03-07 Government

Yes, the Aircraft Carrier Is Still Viable

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-03-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 The problems associated with the South China Sea are not best solved with sea based naval power. Instead they should be addressed with land based naval aviation and satellites.

As for every other place we want to deploy force, the air craft carrier is good. It can dump $10K bombs on targets that destroyers and submarines need to use $10M cruise missiles on. So, fundamentally, it is an expensive delivery system for cheap bombs. And since it lasts for about 50 years, it is really not that expensive. Less than $100M per year in capital costs.

On a cost benefit basis, if a carrier delivers somewhere between 10-100 bombs on enemy stuff during a year, then it is straight up cheaper than every other ship in the fleet. And that doesn't count the FUD factor it causes in our opponents' plans.

Posted by rammer 2016-03-07 02:35|| 2016-03-07 02:35|| Front Page Top

#2 There's no substitute for your own little mobile island that requires no haggling with host nations or 'mother may I' launch requests.

Posted by Procopius2k 2016-03-07 08:34|| 2016-03-07 08:34|| Front Page Top

#3 A sovereign mobile embassy with force projection.

Posted by Skidmark 2016-03-07 12:05|| 2016-03-07 12:05|| Front Page Top

#4 dunno.. have a feeling that carriers are the Battleships of 12/7/1941

Posted by Clineth the Anonymous4966 2016-03-07 13:26|| 2016-03-07 13:26|| Front Page Top

#5 Could be, but then what represents the 1941 aircraft carrier?

Submarine? Littoral ship? Has Champ opined yet?

Posted by Bobby 2016-03-07 13:42|| 2016-03-07 13:42|| Front Page Top

#6 I think we'll be seeing more amphibious carriers full of Marines, helicopters, and drones, and less supercarriers.

Beyond that perhaps some drones launched from Boomers.

Posted by rjschwarz 2016-03-07 14:55|| 2016-03-07 14:55|| Front Page Top

#7 Bobby, only sure of one thing, it ain't the LCS. I look forward to the upcoming shock test.

Posted by Shipman 2016-03-07 17:45|| 2016-03-07 17:45|| Front Page Top

#8 Even so, Missouri and Wisconsin served in Desert Storm, 1991. Iowa and New Jersey were also re-activated in the '80s.

Posted by swksvolFF 2016-03-07 17:54|| 2016-03-07 17:54|| Front Page Top

#9 "Problems wid the South China Sea" > not just the SCS but the East China Sea + ultimately China's de facto recovery of Taiwan.

As per VARIOUS OLDER NET NEWS ARTICS, the East China Sea is Japan's #1 National Security problem + focii, while TAIWAN as above is Mainland China's = Beijing's.

I have argued or said that China will NOT allow or accept any de facto or formal Inter-Korean Reunification between NOKOR + SOKOR [DPRK + ROK] unless it first gets back Taiwan, + that Pudgy = NOKOR is well-aware of this. IFF THE COLD WAR "STATUA QUO" ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA + NE ASIA DOES NOT CHANGE, IT IS MORE LIKELY THAN NOT THAT MAINLAND CHINA, AS NOKOR'S ALREADY PREDOMINANT TRADING PARTNER [read, "Sole"], WILL SE ITS EXCESSIVE SHARE IN BILATERAL TRADE WID NOKOR RISE TO NEW HEIGHTS POTEN EVEN TO NEAR OR AT 100%. Iff the latter occurs, it won't be long for China = Beijing to formally take over the NOKOR Govt + Army.

CHINA WILL TOTALLY CONTROL NOKOR IF NOT ANNEX IT AS A ITS NEW NE CHINA SOVEREIGN PROVINCE.

The Kim Regime doesn't want any takeover of NOKOR by China for any reason, and neither does SOKOR.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2016-03-07 20:33|| 2016-03-07 20:33|| Front Page Top

#10 Yes, I remember, back in 69 or so, that we ran a simula90 9tion of nuclear war with the carrier my air wing was assigned to blasting off its planes. We figured we had about 90 minutes or so AFTER the launch codes were sent to exist; then we would be some radioactive dust settling on the sea bottom. But, the planes would have launched and a lot of other places would be radioactive as well. Yet, the carriers are still able to project power, not just bombs, over a very wide expanse of the ocean and the world.

Posted by Crurong Elmeque1754 2016-03-07 20:38|| 2016-03-07 20:38|| Front Page Top

23:59 Zenobia Floger6220
23:55 JosephMendiola
23:53 Zenobia Floger6220
23:36 JosephMendiola
23:06 JosephMendiola
23:00 JosephMendiola
22:58 JosephMendiola
22:56 JosephMendiola
22:51 JosephMendiola
22:40 SteveS
21:54 Frank G
21:45 regular joe
21:40 SteveS
21:39 chris
21:29 Blossom Unains5562
21:28 lord garth
21:07 badanov
20:41 Lowspark
20:38 Crurong Elmeque1754
20:33 JosephMendiola
20:32 Lowspark
20:06 JosephMendiola
20:05 JosephMendiola
19:57 JosephMendiola