The Navy Thread

President Donald Trump’s choice to be secretary of the Navy, businessman Philip Bilden, said Sunday he was withdrawing from consideration for the post, citing concerns about privacy and separating himself from his business interests.

edited 26th Feb '17 10:14:07 PM by AFP

This is getting to the "what's the best kind of popcorn to eat while I'm drinking cheap super-market sugar free fizzy pop" stage.

W. T. F.

I mean, I'd rather he get some competent support, but it's telling that so many people seem disinclined to work for him. Especially with the "two hundred generals" supporting him that he could choose from.

^ Just one problem with that. You'd have a General running the Navy.

Well Trump did call Marines soldiers, so I guess that him appointing a General for the Navy wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.

Ships are not that different from really big, slow, low-flying airplanes, so I think an Air Force general could run it.

Does that mean Trump should nominate a Navy Admiral to run the Air Force? Planes aren't much different than ships that are merely above the water.

Dibs on Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Swift. He's got a cool name.

My dad and I were making jokes on him being the hero of early 20th century sci-fi adventure literature. Admiral Swift and his Atomic Submarine!

Must've been in port for inspection, I swear the skipper of a submarine isn't ranked any higher than Commander. Ah well, as long as he fights a Kraken it should be worth it!

I think by definition all of the ships in a fleet belong to the commander of that fleet.

The design of the Chinese Navy's new frigate looks awfully familiar Do these people have no sense of shame?

[1] Anybody else note the resemblance to certain Japanese designs. The ships appear to large and to stealthy to survive in the straits for long. Plus they have way to few anti air missiles. The Chinese navy will eat them alive.

Edit: Fixed

edited 28th Feb '17 1:53:50 PM by JackOLantern1337

...for some really odd reason, your last link is to the add post button, jack.

A long read but worth it. It is about a Naval interdiction of clandestine drug smuggling by sea. This was a catch for the UK and they netted over a metric ton of Cocaine.

I went looking for Rod Stewart's Sailing due to running across a mention of Sailor elsewhere, and I found this:

The design of the Chinese Navy's new frigate looks awfully familiar Do these people have no sense of shame?

Reminds me of that final mission in Battlefield 4 where your player character, Irish and Hannah try to blow up Admiral Chang's ship—a copy of the Independence-class—before the enemy blows up the USS Valkyrie.

Life Imitating Art? (While BF 4 was/is Banned in China, who's to stop determined digital pirates from playing it?)

[1] Anybody else note the resemblance to certain Japanese designs. The ships appear to large and to stealthy to survive in the straits for long. Plus they have way to few anti air missiles. The Chinese navy will eat them alive.

That design does look a lot like the 2010 Akizuki-class (incidentally an anti-surface/anti-sub warfare ship, which does explain the scarcity of AAM batteries).

Makes me wonder if it's a licensed copy of the Japanese design, or Taiwan just following the lead of their mainland rivals in making unlicensed copies of stuff.

"If the design/concept works..."

That makes sense, Taiwan has to stop the PLA from landing their troops.

Then pray the Chinese never learn the art of airborne operations.

Taiwan does have the Kidd class destroyers, of course. So they're not exactly defenseless against air attack.

Taiwan also has an expectedly extensive SAM network. Many of the ROC's own domestic designed weaponry are actually air defense based.

Invading and putting troops into Taiwan's coastlines is one thing, but securing and destroying the ROC forces that will withdraw and entrench themselves in the mountains that cover the majority of the island is another.

IIRC, that's the actual Taiwanese strategy: fight a series of delaying actions a la the Germans in Italy into the mountains, prolong the war as long as possible with a grueling mountain campaign, and buy time for the US military to launch a Korea-style sweeping counter-offensive from Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.

That's why the PLA has invested a ton into missile and TBM's that can kill PATRIOT and AEGIS ships. Taiwan has PAC-2 and HAWK, the US Navy has AEGIS and carrier groups.

Congressional debate on the future of the fleet. Some are talking about brining back non-nuclear submarines.

Will they burn coal?

Hydrogen Fuel Cells.

They actualy make much quiter subs then nuclear, and are much more dangerous at the cost of a massive range reduction.

I believe that's what the German Type 212 uses. Combination diesel and hydrogen fuel cell engines.

Granted, the odds of that kind of tech being sold to America right now are about the same as a snowball's survival odds in Hell, so I guess navy R&D will have to start hoofing it.

edited 15th Mar '17 6:14:13 AM by math792d

You could mitigate the range issues using tenders. I'm picturing a "Milk Cow" nuclear tender sub.

edited 15th Mar '17 7:51:49 AM by AFP