The story is definitely newsworthy as the Navy’s latest over budget boondoggle became disabled at sea and had to be towed back to port in Virginia.
However, two of the three pictures of the ship USS Milwaukee are in Wisconsin, where the ship was built (pork?). It is in transit to San Diego. It is not an innovative ocean going battleship – it is a small frigate intended for close to shore patrols for jobs like protecting against submarines, and minesweeping.
The third picture (and the confusion by the journalist) is a picture of the USS Zumwalt, which just started sea trials in Maine.
http://www.popsci.com/americas-most-futuristic-warship-is-boldly-going-out-to-sea
The over budget is par for the course. The missing point is that they design ships without redundancy. This has been a practice for years now – accept a design that meets the specs of the RFP and then pay through the nose as it is built. This is a jet boat – water jets and therein lies the rub. The engines that power the water jets are an “improved” design over the other two Freedom class ships. It’s a nice thought – a fast ship with missiles that can fly up a river and launch and retreat. Unfortunately it can’t hang around as a simple RPG can pierce its armor. Another piece of unwanted technology? The SSN Rickover. Obsolete before it left the drawing board.
Any politician against this is called “unpatriotic”, “weak on defense”, and an “isolationist”. In this environment, expect the next President, if Republican, do double the order and buy more of these.
Politicians have a way of demanding the military build things (in their district) they don’t want. The combination of drones and cruise missiles makes much of this unneeded. However if we refight the war again in Vietnam again, this time John Kerry will control the Mekong River!
The navy has been creating drones that can take off and land from aircraft carriers, but that’s not necessary. Without a pilot, there is no need to protect the pilot, G forces are not a limiting factor in air to air combat, the cost is so low, keeping it from being shot down is mostly a waste of money.
If the Air Force no longer needs pilots, in a generation, commercial airlines no longer have a work force they didn’t have to pay to train.
That’s right. And the poor people’s side is using automation too. Car bombs with timers are now car bombers detonated with a text message, or made with pressure cookers from the department store.
Look at the damage to the economy as a result of 19 package opener blades, 38 plane tickets (the dry run) and 19 pilot training courses. Forget the planes, WTC, Pentagon and lives lost for a moment. As a response to that tragedy, the Fed drastically reduced the interest rates, created the housing bubble and the resulting “Great Recession”.
News just reported that the “coalition” bombers just killed 12 Iraqi soldiers by accident. ISIS supporters and Iraqi soldiers are not necessarily mutual exclusive. We were told who to bomb by the Iraqi army.
Lurch has announced agreement that in six months there will be a cease fire In Syria, even though nobody has control over the people who are fighting