If you follow the auxiliary cruiser analogy, the historical model indicates they will be most valuable as gap fillers in the vast reaches -- the Indian Ocean, Wake-to-Hawaii--where aggressive Chinese commanders could easily send scouting forces. And instead of a 256-cell target, I'd rather take a ship that already has a helopad and tack on 36 VLS.
COSCO - based in China - owns about 80% of the cargo shipping fleet, and a ton of port facilities around the world, lots bought by debt-trap diplomacy. Here's a possible solution - "Compared to the situation at the end of World War II, there are very few U.S. flagged vessels left. However, American President Lines (and its predecessors) have been a partner to the U.S. government for “ocean transportation and in-country logistics.” APL has a U.S.-flagged fleet of ships that provide secure, efficient services to key foreign military locations. The APL fleet of U.S.-flagged commercial vessels with military utility provide reliable support that is essential for national defense. APL’s U.S.-flagged fleet is manned by a pool of trained U.S. mariners." https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-fallen-flags-american-president-lines-still-lives-under-new-ownership-part-2
This is the company that owns APL now - https://www.cma-cgm.com/ - they're based in Marseilles, France...
Isn't this a roundabout way of going back to "Arsenal Ships"? The main problem that I see is targeting data. I don't see us throwing missiles at a set of GPS coordinates, which means that we need a spotter close enough to validate a target. This is the same argument that I use on the Russian and China fanboys who are all hyped up about their "carrier killer" missiles.
Missile purchases are upstream of VLS cells. You have to buy the missiles to fill the VLS cells. The Biden Administration cancelled the Trump Administration's increased tactical missile purchases, because Trump. To hold the 1st island chain you need several thousand new Tomahawks, JASSM-ER, LRASM, SM-3 & SM-6 per year. The DoD buys a few hundred of each of those missiles a year, at best.
If we want to help the Navy then we need t removed It’s about brain cells not VLS cells.
If you follow the auxiliary cruiser analogy, the historical model indicates they will be most valuable as gap fillers in the vast reaches -- the Indian Ocean, Wake-to-Hawaii--where aggressive Chinese commanders could easily send scouting forces. And instead of a 256-cell target, I'd rather take a ship that already has a helopad and tack on 36 VLS.
COSCO - based in China - owns about 80% of the cargo shipping fleet, and a ton of port facilities around the world, lots bought by debt-trap diplomacy. Here's a possible solution - "Compared to the situation at the end of World War II, there are very few U.S. flagged vessels left. However, American President Lines (and its predecessors) have been a partner to the U.S. government for “ocean transportation and in-country logistics.” APL has a U.S.-flagged fleet of ships that provide secure, efficient services to key foreign military locations. The APL fleet of U.S.-flagged commercial vessels with military utility provide reliable support that is essential for national defense. APL’s U.S.-flagged fleet is manned by a pool of trained U.S. mariners." https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-fallen-flags-american-president-lines-still-lives-under-new-ownership-part-2
This is the company that owns APL now - https://www.cma-cgm.com/ - they're based in Marseilles, France...
Isn't this a roundabout way of going back to "Arsenal Ships"? The main problem that I see is targeting data. I don't see us throwing missiles at a set of GPS coordinates, which means that we need a spotter close enough to validate a target. This is the same argument that I use on the Russian and China fanboys who are all hyped up about their "carrier killer" missiles.
Missile purchases are upstream of VLS cells. You have to buy the missiles to fill the VLS cells. The Biden Administration cancelled the Trump Administration's increased tactical missile purchases, because Trump. To hold the 1st island chain you need several thousand new Tomahawks, JASSM-ER, LRASM, SM-3 & SM-6 per year. The DoD buys a few hundred of each of those missiles a year, at best.