US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

LCS getting cut, again

It should never have been built to begin with.
The whole LCS program is pure braindamage.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

Yes H6 has been updated as the Chinese build new ones, yes the engines are old on B52 (talk of being replaced) the Cockpit has been updated a few times and is said to be again. However it really doesn’t matter.
H6 isn’t anymore survivable vs moder air defense than B52. You can’t Dale Brown Mega fortress either one. As such they are comparable as peers just as Tu95 is. Since military forces comparison for bombers of going to be based on survival, doctrine, payload. Without stealth Both jets end up in the same role hauling cruise missiles. It’s the missles that really are the deciding factor.

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The whole idea that bombers are survivable on their own against a credible adversary is disputable to begin with.

gelgoog said:

The whole idea that bombers are survivable on their own against a credible adversary is disputable to begin with.

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I dont think anyone proposes that H-6 should go and penetrate the enemy's airspace. I more-or-less see them as missile-trucks

You put them in the air (friendly airspace), and have them fire missiles to whoever your target is. If they get anywhere close to any enemy then .... not a good end

IMO H-20 and stealth (and maybe expendable) drones will take the mission of coming close to enemy forces

LCS is a hold over from the late 90s early 2000s when most people in the defense community were fighting to remain relevant. As a platform it was tailored for anti piracy anti smuggling missions. As such it’s better suited to the Gulf of Aden, Med or Gulf of Mexico.

Back when B52 was new back when Tu95 was new and so on, they were potentially survivable. Even into the early 1980s they could still potentially survive as very low level penetration is still relevant to this day. But increasingly it’s loosing credibility. The old bombers moved to cruise missiles. Penetration bombers became first super sonic and now Stealth.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

LCS is a hold over from the late 90s early 2000s when most people in the defense community were fighting to remain relevant. As a platform it was tailored for anti piracy anti smuggling missions. As such it’s better suited to the Gulf of Aden, Med or Gulf of Mexico.

Back when B52 was new back when Tu95 was new and so on, they were potentially survivable. Even into the early 1980s they could still potentially survive as very low level penetration is still relevant to this day. But increasingly it’s loosing credibility. The old bombers moved to cruise missiles. Penetration bombers became first super sonic and now Stealth.

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I even have some reservations on the general role of Penetration bombers as we know them. I am expecting that with the whole 6th gen coming we might see tremendous changes on how this mission is performed

For example I doubt that these big new stealth bombers will remain as relevant as we think they will by 2035. IMO by then swarms (or small stealth swarms/drones) will take over these big aircrafts' missions

I know that this is all theorycrafting and that both the US and China are working on these new stealth bombers but I cant help but think that ultimately they will get replaced by unmanned autonomous drones much more quickly than we think

Anyway, thats going a bit offtopic so I will stop here. Just wanted to share some thoughts on this matter

Reason I doubt that is range and payload. The small drones don’t have the range and unless they are suicide drones they don’t have the payload of explosives either. Rather it more likely that such swarms could be dropped by well B21 or H20 types.

anzha said:

Readiness rates in 1999 and 2000 were, iirc, 51% each. Those were before the ongoing wars in the Middle East.

I'll hunt down a cite. It was on FAS, iirc, since the US gov didn't put out the regular reports on readiness until relatively recently.

Even so, 1994 51% nine years after introduction. 1999/2000, 51% which is around 13/14 years later and in 2017 31 years later...51%.

The bird is a lemon and always has been.

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I've been unable to find the old FAS links. Here's what I did find:

Sept 2001: 52/93 were combat ready. A bit higher than I said: 56%.

Well


Here goes another super weapon.
Rest in pieces.

Nobaron said:

Well

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Here goes another super weapon.
Rest in pieces.

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Don't worry: the PLAN has one.