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Originally Posted by Kapitan
Do you think that the USN should have 10 carriers?
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I think it is unwise to build new ones, they are an outgoing platform, I favour submarines over carriers. Think they should phase them out over the coming two decades or so.
I think manned platforms in general are a dying species both on sea, and in the air. So, even in submarines I only put limited trust for the longer perspective. Neal recently posted a link to how China tries to force subamrines out of their hiding - if that kind of technology succeeds, the time of being able to justify the heavy investments into submarines are over. I think further that any future war against an equal opponent, namely China, will show that espcially carriers have exceeded the timespan of usefulness in such conflicts. Too vulnerable, too expensive, and not fit to deal with the raising new threats.
What I fear most in near future technology, are swarm weapons. Contemporary technology provides no defence against these, and maybe never will. Thus I conclude that concentrating on own offensive swarm weapon technology is the top priority, with defence being provided by the same principle that made nuclear deterrance a working option: the perspective of mutual assured destruction. Since swarm weapons are not primarily aimed at cities and civiolian population, but enemy military platforms, deterrance however will not work as reliable as with nuclear weapons: the war remains to be possible, fightable, managable, survivable. With nuclear exchange scenarios, the deterrance is total.
My view on these things have almost u-turned over the past 10 years or so.
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Do you think Germany should have a light carrier?
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No.
Heck,
what for? We currently have just one submarine in service, all others still are off duty! Currently the German navy has 0 destroyers, 9 frigates (in theory, they are off duty quite often), 5 corvettes, both frigates and corvettes suffer from serious limitiations in their operation profiles and are not as versatile (anti air and anti submarine especially) as international competitors in both ship classes, and there are one dozen mine sweepers and two dozen support ships, mostly tenders and tankers.
A german carrier would be good only for helping in the protecting of the Helgoland homeland. LOL