I have actually designed an Australian navy on an excel doc.
Main thing for me is you need a large patrol fleet. With long-range patrol, coast patrol, (fast patrol and interceptors which can be armed with ASuW missiles and torpedo's. And I am not talking about heavy missiles, I am talking...
I agree with you. In my view Canada and Australia should be working to fill the gaps in the American and British navies, rather than building their own capabilities. Do the Australians really need LHA's and AAW destroyers? Or do they need more smaller SSK's, corvettes, missile boats and...
What the hell. Just looked at the numbers. The Australians are paying 2 billion pounds per unit and the Canadians 3 billion per unit? WTF? The entire Zumwalt program including R&D was 3.3 billion per ship and only three were built? This is just some sort of spiv thing right? That can't be real...
Are the Conservatives for or against the program? As they seem likely to win at the moment.
You have the same problems or politicians and civil service as we do. The Type 45's are only now getting working engines and the AAW upgrades they were meant to have been built with. With that they...
You can build the ships, you can train the crews, but you can't develop the overall technology, systems and weapons improvements. Your building ships is just that, you aren't doing entire R&D programs which cost billions and take a decade. Surely you should be able to get ships cheaper because...
Ah, sorry I thought it was based in the UK. The Israeli's actually protect their technology from the Americans/Chinese/Russians, the British and Americans don't. The Chinese-Russians-Israeli's will know more about American technology than any western nation. We have to beg the Americans for it...
For me its clear that the US navy isn't fit for purpose anymore after 30 years of mistaken ship design and not evolving from the cold war.
If the Americans want to turn this around they would need a bold strategy, one could say a crazy strategy.
The problem for the Americans is the carriers...
I see. Nice summation of the history.
However I disagree with Russians main issue being warm water ports. The Russians issues is lack of in-land inter-connected waterways. So it could cheaply transport its goods within Russia, allowing it to generation more capital within its internal market...
Historically, going back to Medieval times a three major naval powers with Spain/Venice/Ottoman Empire. Then you had England/Portugal/Holland. Then there was Britain/France/Spain. Then it was Britain/Italy/Germany. Now its Britain/France/Italy in Europe. Russia has never really been a naval...
I was just making a point about how much European power has fallen. When the entire EU has a less powerful navy than the second naval power, it enforces that point. Even with Britain and Norway its still very close.
As for the Russians, their navy is the weakest part of the Russian armed...
Its about half as capable as the British navy in terms of blue water stuff. But more capable in terms of brown water stuff. So its about even overall. However compared to the Chinese navy, the French one is nothing. Only the British have a decent navy in western Europe. And its shrinking.
I think the answer is yes. Only the Italians and French have a navy of note, the Spanish/Germans/Dutch have professional navies but aren't very capable. Apart from that the Swedish have subs and stealth corvettes which can't operates outside the Baltic. I can't think of anyone else with more...
Strikes me that China is doing everything right. I mean I wouldn't want to live in China, but they are doing everything correctly. As a ruling class and nation should. The American Empire is doing nothing right.
If the Americans want to turn this around they would need a bold strategy, one could say a crazy strategy.
The problem for the Americans is the carriers, submarines and destroyers, all highly complex, very expensive and taking up much of the US ship building capacity.
So I would put the entire...
