You Don't Bring Super Sonic Missiles to a Gun Fight

[Gawd]

Gawd, why don't you go over and solve the problem. Put your own ass on the line for once. REMF.

Give me the money you spend on single aircraft carrier and I will.

[Don't Panic]

Zilla or Ian, development of new vessels in the navy, from deciding there is a need for the class of vessel to it entering service, how long?

I will take a very charitable guess at 10-15 years.

[Ian]

You guys have no imagination nor are able to visualize the benefits of a mass deployment of hovercraft versus most centralized warships consisting of thousands of people each. And if you think it would take decades to even get started building hovercraft in numbers, then might I suggest you stop using American contractors.

There are plenty of countries making hovercraft, but for the US military to start deploying them would take decades.

Read up on the development of the Bradley sometime.

Stop building 1 single aircraft carrier and you would have all the resources needed to build vast numbers of hovercraft. The hovercraft isn't the problem, it's the American military.

Brilliant strategic thinking, Admiral. So after we build large numbers of an entirely new class of vessel capable of swarming all over the crucial, lifeblood-threatening problem of Somali piracy, what are they going to do once that's done? And suppose that piracy decreases during the construction phase - a very reasonable possibility?

[Gawd]

You guys have no imagination nor are able to visualize the benefits of a mass deployment of hovercraft versus most centralized warships consisting of thousands of people each. And if you think it would take decades to even get started building hovercraft in numbers, then might I suggest you stop using American contractors.

There are plenty of countries making hovercraft, but for the US military to start deploying them would take decades.

Read up on the development of the Bradley sometime.

Stop building 1 single aircraft carrier and you would have all the resources needed to build vast numbers of hovercraft. The hovercraft isn't the problem, it's the American military.

Brilliant strategic thinking, Admiral. So after we build large numbers of an entirely new class of vessel capable of swarming all over the crucial, lifeblood-threatening problem of Somali piracy, what are they going to do once that's done? And suppose that piracy decreases during the construction phase - a very reasonable possibility?

Same goes for your aircraft carrier.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Zilla or Ian, development of new vessels in the navy, from deciding there is a need for the class of vessel to it entering service, how long?

I will take a very charitable guess at 10-15 years.

Depends. The escort carriers in WWII came in like stripedy-ass apes. Brit design, of course, but we perfected it. The Ayatolah Class destroyers were about ten years in the making, start to finish.

[Ian]

Brilliant strategic thinking, Admiral. So after we build large numbers of an entirely new class of vessel capable of swarming all over the crucial, lifeblood-threatening problem of Somali piracy, what are they going to do once that's done? And suppose that piracy decreases during the construction phase - a very reasonable possibility?

Same goes for your aircraft carrier.

Er... no.

[Ian]

Zilla or Ian, development of new vessels in the navy, from deciding there is a need for the class of vessel to it entering service, how long?

I will take a very charitable guess at 10-15 years.

Littoral Combat Ships are a decent recent example. The USS Freedom (LCS-1) had its contract ordered in 2004, was launched in 2006 and commissioned in 2008. These things aren't exactly supercarriers, but that's not bad for even a small class of modern naval ships.

LCS-type ships in large numbers (that do not yet exist) would be good in this type of situation, much more than any hovercraft that currently exist on earth.

[Don't Panic]

Zilla or Ian, development of new vessels in the navy, from deciding there is a need for the class of vessel to it entering service, how long?

I will take a very charitable guess at 10-15 years.

Depends. The escort carriers in WWII came in like stripedy-ass apes. Brit design, of course, but we perfected it. The Ayatolah Class destroyers were about ten years in the making, start to finish.

Arleigh Burke class were 11 years, They've been working on development of the Zumwalt class since '94, 17 years.

So, hovercraft by 2025 anyone?

[Ian]

The Zumwalt-class has been re-designed I don't know how many times. And its funding has been cut down to only two or three ships - definitely the right call, IMO.

[Gawd]

Zilla or Ian, development of new vessels in the navy, from deciding there is a need for the class of vessel to it entering service, how long?

I will take a very charitable guess at 10-15 years.

Depends. The escort carriers in WWII came in like stripedy-ass apes. Brit design, of course, but we perfected it. The Ayatolah Class destroyers were about ten years in the making, start to finish.

Arleigh Burke class were 11 years, They've been working on development of the Zumwalt class since '94, 17 years.

So, hovercraft by 2025 anyone?

The American military already have ocean going hovercraft used for landings. Use those designs. Sheesh, am I the only one capable of doing something without taking decades?

[Gawd]

The Zumwalt-class has been re-designed I don't know how many times. And its funding has been cut down to only two or three ships - definitely the right call, IMO.

And those Zumwalts are already useless, they can be taken out with an ICBM.

[Don't Panic]

The Zumwalt-class has been re-designed I don't know how many times. And its funding has been cut down to only two or three ships - definitely the right call, IMO.

But that's part of it, how many times will some bureaucrat in DC decide to redesign Gawds hovercraft?

It needs go faster stripes to begin with.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The American military already have ocean going hovercraft used for landings. Use those designs. Sheesh, am I the only one capable of doing something without taking decades?

"ocean going"? You don't know what that term means.

[Don't Panic]

The Zumwalt-class has been re-designed I don't know how many times. And its funding has been cut down to only two or three ships - definitely the right call, IMO.

And those Zumwalts are already useless, they can be taken out with an ICBM.

Gawd, the list of things that can't be taken out by an ICBM is fairly short.

[Ian]

Zilla or Ian, development of new vessels in the navy, from deciding there is a need for the class of vessel to it entering service, how long?

I will take a very charitable guess at 10-15 years.

Depends. The escort carriers in WWII came in like stripedy-ass apes. Brit design, of course, but we perfected it. The Ayatolah Class destroyers were about ten years in the making, start to finish.

Arleigh Burke class were 11 years, They've been working on development of the Zumwalt class since '94, 17 years.

So, hovercraft by 2025 anyone?

The American military already have ocean going hovercraft used for landings. Use those designs. Sheesh, am I the only one capable of doing something without taking decades?

The idea of LCACs or a similar design used for counter-piracy operations might be the funniest tactical idea I've ever heard. Do you know anything about these things, or just that the US has had hovercraft for several decades? First and foremost, they're not ocean-going on their own.