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October 30, 2013
Replacing Armageddon with Armageddon 2.0
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the research and acquisition costs for the fleet could total over $100 billion through the mid-2030s. This expense threatens the rest of the Navy’s long-term shipbuilding plan. Viewing the SSBN fleet as a national strategic asset and not merely another line of Navy ships, the Navy has requested that the Pentagon and Congress top up its shipbuilding account with an extra $60 billion over 15 years to pay for the new SSBNs.
Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 30, 2013 9:02 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Better to build those strategic assets than to maintain 15 carrier battle groups. The carrier battle groups are handy for showing the flag. Not so great, however, when the enemy has effective airpower. The SSBNs are the real big stick. Without them we have much less deterrent credibility.
Of course the will to use the capability is also required.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at October 30, 2013 11:16 AM
Spend! spend! spend!
Posted by: Potsie at October 30, 2013 12:40 PM
It's not clear to me why this has to be an either/or proposition. The lack of a significant threat to the existing Ohio SSBN force (which have the luxury of hiding in fairly friendly waters, given the range of the Trident missile) would seem to make it less than urgent to replace them. Are figures available on what keeping them operating another decade or two would cost? The savings could be applied to new surface assets that are actually intended to go into harm's way, and need whatever enhancements to survivability we can provide.
Posted by: Umbriel at October 30, 2013 12:45 PM
Our entire Navy is smaller now than the Navy CINCPAC had under Reagan. In unrelated news, China is on a naval expansion program unseen since the US in WWII.
We can surrender our way to victory and weaken ourselves to strength.
Posted by: Scott M at October 30, 2013 12:52 PM
What will those new SSBNs be carrying as armament? Answer: decades-old W76s and W88s. Will they work as designed? Good question, especially for the former; see http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/W76.html
The "corporate memory" at Los Alamos and Livermore and (probably to a lesser extent) at Sandia is going away. And that's just how liberals like it. It's called unilateral disarmament over time. When the Chinese, or the Muslims, want to take over, with the debt we have and the inability, or will, to defend our country, they won't have to attack. They'll just walk in and start shooting. But hey, when that happens, that day "The Poor" will still be collecting food stamps. And PPACA will be taking care of everybody. 'Cause that's government's job, right?
Posted by: dhmosquito at October 30, 2013 2:37 PM
I wish I understood all this. I am aware that since BO has been in office, the military has been gutted of its senior experienced personnel. We will again be caught unprepared, but in this new age of warfare won't be given the time to crank up
and unleash.
Posted by: Grace at October 30, 2013 2:37 PM
Stalin purged the Generals.
0zero is purging the Generals, Admirals, and every other rank of brass who are even remotely suspected of disagreeing with him.
At the onset of hostilities, the results will be similar, if not worse.
Notice I didn't describe what manner of events may constitute "hostilities". Your imagination should suffice to feed your nightmares.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Posted by: Jim at October 30, 2013 3:08 PM
re: "I am aware that since BO has been in office, the military has been gutted of its senior experienced personnel." Umbrie
We will be saved by the law of unintended consequences. Most if not all of our high level officers ( above Bird Col. and equivalent ) are POLITICAL not Military: politicking not soldering gained them the rank. Read: The Path to Victory: America's Army and the Revolution in Human Affairs by Donald Vandergriff.
Dan Kurt
Posted by: Dan Kurt at October 30, 2013 3:26 PM
At least with military spending you get something, ie. hardware. With welfare spending you get an increasing population of people who don't contribute and are rife for agitation by community organizers.
Posted by: tripletap at October 31, 2013 4:01 AM
If we have to build them, when do we get to use them?
Posted by: cchoate at October 31, 2013 6:47 AM