Monday, March 25, 2019

Does The U.S. Navy Still Want 12 Aircraft Carriers?

Top to bottom: USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) alongside Nimitz class carriers USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) & USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). Pinterest

Warrior Maven: Does the Navy Still Seek 12 Aircraft Carriers? - Better Armed & Ready for War

Threats from long-range guided missiles, surface ship fire-power, submarine-launched torpedo attacks and incoming air assaults all inform the Navy’s vigorous push to further weaponize its fleet of aircraft carriers - while assessing its plan to expand its number of carriers up to 12.

The service is putting carrier-development and weapons modernization on the fast-track, indicating confidence in the carrier-platform’s combat survivability in coming decades as it shifts focus to blue-water warfare against technologically sophisticated adversaries.

The Navy approach is defined by two interwoven trajectories; the service is performing “sea-based developmental testing” of carrier-based offensive and defensive weapons -- while also hoping to speed up acquisition of Ford-class carriers through two-ship buys and long-term fleet goals. In short, the Navy wants more weapons on carriers and may simply want more carriers - faster. The hope, according to formal Navy studies as of 2016, is to grow the fleet to 12 aircraft carriers, moving beyond its current size of 11.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: If Congress continues to allocate money for 12 carriers, it will happen even if the Pentagon has other ideas .... The Navy Wants to Shrink Its Aircraft Carrier Fleet (J. Bachman & D. Merrill, Bloomberg).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

DoD does studies unlike Congress. Congress most often does witch hunts.

As far back as 1991 generals have been worried about making payroll and constantly retooling the force (hardware and manpower) to meet the threat. They actually worry about projected retirement funding and calculate it. State legislatures not so much.

Giving the DoD a carrier that takes 3,000 people to man plus logistics skews their planning and their ability to meet those threats. Threat assessment starts with the QDR most days liberals never heard of a QDR or pretend that they have not.

Anonymous said...

Without a doubt, i think the addition of the British carrier with its F35's to the pacific is a huge moral booster for the acquisition of new carriers. It really highlights the notoriety a carrier fleet has, the real test is if the aircraft they carry are up to task. I mean Vietnam had like no airforce...

Anonymous said...

Did you just fart or did you just utter dribble?

"In 1965, the NVAF were supplied with supersonic MiG-21s by the USSR which were used for high speed GCI controlled hit and run intercepts against American air strike groups. The MiG-21 tactics became so effective, that by late 1966, an operation was mounted to especially deal with the MiG-21 threat. Led by Colonel Robin Olds on 2 January 1967, Operation Bolo lured MiG-21s into the air, thinking they were intercepting a F-105 strike group, but instead found a sky full of missile armed F-4 Phantom IIs set for aerial combat. The result was a loss of almost half the inventory of MiG-21 interceptors, at a cost of no US losses. The VPAF (NVAF) stood down for additional training after this setback."

When you air war, you have to discuss anti-aircraft defenses as well.

Anonymous said...

The U.S. has a 2.4 advantage in aircraft.

Some of those aircraft were on mission in South Vietnam.

The North Vietnam had lots of SA2's (S-75 Dvina) and anti-aircraft artillery.

There are pictures of art soldier Jane Fonda becoming rather amorous with one. It is unknown where she is hiding the offspring or if the birth was difficult.

So the airspace over Vietnam was anything but permissive.

Bob Huntley said...

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