New Nuclear Surface Combatants for the USN?

fatty · 01-12-07, 02:47 PM

Two reasons why I vote no:

1) Several ports in the world are established "nuclear-free" zones and forbid the operation of such vessels.

I think it is more important for the Navy to maintain geographical flexibility - the ability to deploy their most powerful surface warships to any coast in the world.

Imagine if New Zealand was struck by a natural disaster and the USN deployed ships to provide aid (think Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004). Any nuclear-powered vessels would have to detatch and idle in the distance.

2) Almost spot on what baggygreen said; terrorists have already punched a nice big hole in a conventionally-powered DDG. It is naive to think that this can never happen again. It would be quite a coup for a nuclear-powered vessel to be stricken while making call in an angry foreign port.

View Poll Results: Should the Navy build new nuclear powered surface ships?
Yes	15	55.56%
No	12	44.44%
Voters: 27. You may not vote on this poll

01-12-07, 02:47 PM	#9
fatty The Old Man Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 1,448 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Two reasons why I vote no: 1) Several ports in the world are established "nuclear-free" zones and forbid the operation of such vessels. I think it is more important for the Navy to maintain geographical flexibility - the ability to deploy their most powerful surface warships to any coast in the world. Imagine if New Zealand was struck by a natural disaster and the USN deployed ships to provide aid (think Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004). Any nuclear-powered vessels would have to detatch and idle in the distance. 2) Almost spot on what baggygreen said; terrorists have already punched a nice big hole in a conventionally-powered DDG. It is naive to think that this can never happen again. It would be quite a coup for a nuclear-powered vessel to be stricken while making call in an angry foreign port.