Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

"This Ship Was Built to Flee, So You'd Better Know How."

At least one writer is celebrating the contract to award construction of Littoral Combat Ships, even though the ships are being built to commercial specifications, not military specs.

I know that some folks will point out that the Navy has not fought a red-on-blue ship-to-ship fight in 65 years. That misses the point.

A warship is built to go into harm's way, other than some exceptions like PT boats (which were made of wood and ran on high-octane aviation gasoline). The LCS seems more like a PT boat than an ocean-going warship. The LCSs will be able to go very fast over fairly short distances. They will not have the survivability nor the crew size to take damage of any consequence. So not only will an LCS not be able to take damage and keep on fighting, it may not even be able to continue to float.

This is not a concern that evaporated when Japan surrendered. The USS Stark was hit by two Exocet missiles and the USS Samuel B. Roberts hit a mine, both in the Persian Gulf, and both ships survived. USS Cole took a direct hit from 700lbs of explosives which detonated next to the hull and stayed afloat.

The LCS is a fighting ship with a glass jaw, designed to engage forces equipped with only small arms. They probably should be handed over to the Coast Guard.

4 comments:

Don Brown said...

-- It makes about as much sense as an island nation -- that can't feed itself -- cutting it's navy down to nothing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/8072041/Navy-aircraft-carrier-will-be-sold-after-three-years-and-never-carry-jets.html

The middle of a world economic crisis is a *great* time to disarm (not).

Don Brown

Comrade Misfit said...

The Argies chose the wrong decade to pick a fight over the Falklands. The Royal Air Force has no long-range bombers and the Royal Navy has no carriers. They can't even put Harriers on merchant ships, since they got rid of the Harriers.

Anonymous said...

The Argies will probably try it on again sooner or later, especially if it is proven that there is substantial oil and gas in the area.

Anonymous said...

Yet more evidence that corporate economic interests trump all other interests; what a surprise.