Captains have their hands tied. What used to be routine, regular and relatively unburdensome rust maintenance under way is today hamstrung by various international treaties (on releasing waste at sea) that the US is a signator to; as well as various US regulations, EOs and Naval regs that collectively make it either next to impossible to deal w rust except when at port; or when underway prohibitively costly in man hrs (on ships already attempting to manage being under complement)
Intel prep of the battlefield. Digital is the new "high ground". Need networks powered by "digits" to move the information that allows for precise targeting, navigation, etc. Not new to anyone...but being prepared to "cut the cables" that provide the "digital backbone" will degrade bandwidth. Having satellites as backup is key...seem to recall PLA having their own version of Starlink or will soon. Hope our Space Force has some rabbits to pull out of hats that the other side doesn't see coming. If not, it might actually be a "short victorious war"...or we'll test that theory of a "containable nuclear exchange" to avoid disaster. Fingers crossed.
U.S. Navy undersea capabilities in something other than an SSN or FBM simply must increase in capability and prolificity. The ESD already has designs that can support these operations with a moon pool and should be constructed in numbers. The Russians have vehicles they have been using in the Black Sea, Baltic, and other places for decades for such activities and we should too. Undersea cable protection in addition to other undersea activities simply must be in our capability.
Have a friend that rode on its last underway period. Well aware of NR1 . . . which was a ONE OFF. If we have an inventory of them it is BLACK. However, Russian vehicles similar have been in existence since the 80's, and they have only improved. We should have such a program.
Well Taiwan just shut down their last nuclear power plant through their green initiative. With their energy economy now completely dependent on imports and their coastline easily blockaded, they've made their position indefensible.
I regularly get the feeling that defending Taiwan is more important to the US government's permanent state oligarchs than it is to the Taiwanese. (It feels to me like volunteering to help my neighbor mow his field and when I get there w my tractor and start in on it, he is relaxin' in a beach chair w a fruity drink.) And that is why I am unwilling to support throwing away US lives and treasure to defend it.
We don't need to be working hard to find fights, there are plenty enough for us that do threaten our vital interests... But, Taiwan does not seem to be one of them. Altho I don't mind helping out our allies in need when they have demonstrated taking their own security threats seriously. Give me a call when the Taiwanese are spending north of 7% of their GDP on defence and I will reconsider my position.
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1. Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR - a Taipei-based think tank) 2024 survey of ~1,200 people found 61% of Taiwanese believe a Chinese military invasion is unlikely or very unlikely, with the remainder unsure.
2. Taiwan’s defence spending for 2025 is projected to be 2.45% of GDP (US$20.24 billion).
Precision bathymetry near a hostile state's shore?
That's 100% an indicator of hostile activity. The PRC is being about as subtle as a sledgehammer with this information warfare effort.
Recall, the charts for NEPTUNE issued to landing craft coxswains included a view of exactly what the coastline was going be they were heading to. That was done at great risk by photo recon aircraft, whose pictures went to artists, and the charts were then printed. And the bathymetry was based on what was available. And for many Pacific Ocean operations, the best charts were from the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842.
This? The PLAN will be ready to go when ordered in 2027. I'm wondering what we can get on the water in two years. I'm afraid it won't be enough.
The characters on her bow are “Jia” and “Geng”.
No apparent running rust on that ship.
I think the U.S. Navy is the only major navy in the world with decrepit looking warships.
Captains have their hands tied. What used to be routine, regular and relatively unburdensome rust maintenance under way is today hamstrung by various international treaties (on releasing waste at sea) that the US is a signator to; as well as various US regulations, EOs and Naval regs that collectively make it either next to impossible to deal w rust except when at port; or when underway prohibitively costly in man hrs (on ships already attempting to manage being under complement)
And yet a containership spending 5 straight years at sea looks better.
Sorry, all I hear are excuses. Same old, same old.
Intel prep of the battlefield. Digital is the new "high ground". Need networks powered by "digits" to move the information that allows for precise targeting, navigation, etc. Not new to anyone...but being prepared to "cut the cables" that provide the "digital backbone" will degrade bandwidth. Having satellites as backup is key...seem to recall PLA having their own version of Starlink or will soon. Hope our Space Force has some rabbits to pull out of hats that the other side doesn't see coming. If not, it might actually be a "short victorious war"...or we'll test that theory of a "containable nuclear exchange" to avoid disaster. Fingers crossed.
and deploy CCP SOSUS, and perhaps Captive torpedoes?
U.S. Navy undersea capabilities in something other than an SSN or FBM simply must increase in capability and prolificity. The ESD already has designs that can support these operations with a moon pool and should be constructed in numbers. The Russians have vehicles they have been using in the Black Sea, Baltic, and other places for decades for such activities and we should too. Undersea cable protection in addition to other undersea activities simply must be in our capability.
You should read up on Rickover's NR-1.
http://www.hisutton.com/NR-1.html
Have a friend that rode on its last underway period. Well aware of NR1 . . . which was a ONE OFF. If we have an inventory of them it is BLACK. However, Russian vehicles similar have been in existence since the 80's, and they have only improved. We should have such a program.
The only folks NR1 was hidden from were the Navy and Congress.
YEAH . . . LOL . . . hear the whole story!
In the 80s she was parked in plain view in Groton. Her section of the pier was fenced off, though.
We can’t build SSN or SSBNs on time or on budget so highly doubt it
The list of "simple musts" that we are lacking is sobering.
I hope the USN & USAF are building up a large stockpile of mines.
Trump asked for $500 million for mine procurement.
Well Taiwan just shut down their last nuclear power plant through their green initiative. With their energy economy now completely dependent on imports and their coastline easily blockaded, they've made their position indefensible.
This is another item on the long list of reasons why we cannot be more concerned about Taiwan's security than they are.
I regularly get the feeling that defending Taiwan is more important to the US government's permanent state oligarchs than it is to the Taiwanese. (It feels to me like volunteering to help my neighbor mow his field and when I get there w my tractor and start in on it, he is relaxin' in a beach chair w a fruity drink.) And that is why I am unwilling to support throwing away US lives and treasure to defend it.
We don't need to be working hard to find fights, there are plenty enough for us that do threaten our vital interests... But, Taiwan does not seem to be one of them. Altho I don't mind helping out our allies in need when they have demonstrated taking their own security threats seriously. Give me a call when the Taiwanese are spending north of 7% of their GDP on defence and I will reconsider my position.
------------
1. Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR - a Taipei-based think tank) 2024 survey of ~1,200 people found 61% of Taiwanese believe a Chinese military invasion is unlikely or very unlikely, with the remainder unsure.
2. Taiwan’s defence spending for 2025 is projected to be 2.45% of GDP (US$20.24 billion).
The US doesn’t care about Taiwan. It only cares about TSMC & protecting it from West Taiwan.
We should have built NR-2.
Precision bathymetry near a hostile state's shore?
That's 100% an indicator of hostile activity. The PRC is being about as subtle as a sledgehammer with this information warfare effort.
Recall, the charts for NEPTUNE issued to landing craft coxswains included a view of exactly what the coastline was going be they were heading to. That was done at great risk by photo recon aircraft, whose pictures went to artists, and the charts were then printed. And the bathymetry was based on what was available. And for many Pacific Ocean operations, the best charts were from the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842.
This? The PLAN will be ready to go when ordered in 2027. I'm wondering what we can get on the water in two years. I'm afraid it won't be enough.
Wouldn't sweat it. The Chinese will use 2028 to plan the celebration of retaking their runaway province in 2029.
I wish I could be that optimistic!
They will own Taiwan by 2029. (Fixed typo.)
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So funny - this writer got confused by Jia Geng and Tan Kah Kee. They are the same thing, dude. Do some work.
Or Forces need to engage in the CNSOs surface /subsurface concepts. C2/ISR, etc etc. That will do the job. M2
If you look at the name on the bow, below the Chinese characters, it says Jia Geng. You need to open the image in a new tab and then embiggen.