Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronsonic
If you recall, naval funding was a part of the Presidential debates in 2012. Unfortunately, the candidate who very smarmily dismissed the need for a larger navy because we now have ships that go under water and can launch airplanes and missiles won. The problem being we've never invented a ship that could be in two places at once.
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Trump ran on a 350 ship Navy but it's not achievable at this point. The mission hasn't changed and it has actually increased in the western Pacific. China is playing us in the South China Sea by claiming territory and interrupting freedom of navigation, the primary purpose of a peacetime navy. Our mission was North Korea and what we had there was sufficient, but along came China. China's navy is inferior to the US as far as technology, but they have more ships in the area and the logistical support of operating near their shores.
Like I stated previously, we're continuing to build ships that don't support any mission we're currently doing. Littoral Combat Ships are an answer to a question not asked, and the Zumwalt Destroyers don't have a mission, but they look cool. The best solution is to buy frigates from the Netherlands or Italy but that would never fly politically.