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Mitt Romney, the United States Navy does not need more ships!
Anything and everything anytime
During the third Presidential debate which focused on foreign policy Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, put forward the notion that President Obama was neglecting national defense, and more specifically the U.S. Navy. The Republicans are always hawks when it comes to foreign affairs. Carry a big stick, as the old saying goes. Gunboat diplomacy, intimidate other nations with you massive aircraft carriers.
The Republicans with Romney at the helm are again demonstrating their inherent paranoia, they are terrified of the foreign other. The hordes of commies, South American socialists, Russian neo-bolsheviks and Muslim suicide terrorists are out to kill every American man, woman and child. And therefore according to the Republicans, the U.S. must maintain military forces that are 10 times bigger than the next biggest military in the world. It is complete and blatant overkill!
In terms of the U.S. Navy: There are more than 430 ships believed to be in active service with the United States Navy, on reserve, or under construction, based on public reports compiled in this list. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. This number includes both U.S. Navy owned and leased ships; both ships that are formally commissioned and other ships that are used by the U.S. Navy without the ceremony of commissioning. Non-commissioned U.S. Navy ships are crewed by merchant mariners (civilians), not Navy personnel. Commissioned ships are crewed by U.S. Navy sailors.
And the U.S. Navy is pushing forward with more powerful and technologically advanced vessels. As Obama said during the debate, we are a long way from horses and bayonets Mr. Mitt. The newer ships are more technologically advanced than anything preceding them.
A couple examples:
Danger Room
Navy’s Newest Assault Ship Moonlights as Pint-Sized Aircraft Carrier
She’s 844 feet long, 106 feet wide and displaces 45,000 tons of water. The future USS America, christened in Mississippi on Saturday, is technically an amphibious assault ship, a type of vessel optimized for carrying Marines into battle. But subtle changes under America‘s steel skin mean she can double as a small aircraft carrier, capable of sustaining a short air war all on her own.
The changes to America and her sister ship Tripoli came at the cost of some of the usual amphibious capabilities possessed by assault ships. By investing a combined $6 billion in America and Tripoli, the Navy and Marines are betting that future warfare will involve more aerial combat and fewer potential beach assaults.
It’s not a totally reckless wager, but it does involve some risk. With the America class, the Pentagon is taking a chance on air power and, more to point, on the Marines’ version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. When America‘s sister ship Tripoli enters service in 2018, the Navy will (in essence) possess 13 carriers — these two smaller, newer models, plus 11 of the big, nuclear-powered variety. That’s up from the 11 nuke flattops in today’s fleet. Commensurately, the number of old-school assault ships will drop by two.
The sailing branch’s other assault ships — currently numbering nine — can also support dozens of helicopters plus a handful of Harrier jump jets apiece. But they lack the facilities for sustained flight ops, meaning they’re more assault ships than classic carriers. The older vessels are built around cavernous “well decks” — in essence, giant swimming pools that open to the sea through the ships’ sterns, allowing them to launch and recover landing craft, hovercraft, swimming vehicles and river boats. These small craft are the primary means of moving Marines onto shore, complemented by helicopters and V-22 tiltrotors taking off from the flight deck.
The Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is a planned class of United States Navy destroyers, designed as multi-mission ships with a focus on land attack. The class is a scaled-back project that emerged after funding cuts to the larger DD-21 vessel program. The program was previously known as the “DD(X)”. The class is multi-role and designed for surface warfare, anti-aircraft, and naval fire support. They take the place of battleships in filling the former congressional mandate for naval fire support, though the requirement was reduced to allow them to fill this role. The vessels’ appearance has been compared to that of the historic ironclad warship.
Despite being 40% larger than an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the radar signature is more akin to a fishing boat and sound levels are compared to the Los Angeles-class submarine. The tumblehome hull reduces radar return and the composite material deckhouse also has a low radar return. Water sleeting along the sides, along with passive cool air induction in the mack reduces thermal emissions.
2012-10-25 11:20:31
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