US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

vincent said:

What if Korean shipyards build the hulls with wiring and send them to American yards using sem-submersibles for furnishings?

Click to expand...

I don't know if it is feasible, but I think it would be easier to just build the whole thing in Korea and / or Japan and ship the electronic components over to be installed. They could also have the Korean and Japanese yards compete for contracts.

The US yards could then focus of submarines, aircraft carries and repair work. Considering that they have limited resources in shipbuilding, something will have to change if they want to keep pace (or at least stay relevant) with China.

Again though, who knows how feasible any of that is? I don't even think the Pentagon is legally allowed to contract foreign countries to build ships. On top of the fact that you would be changing how many of these industrial institutions function on top of the optics of it all.

SlothmanAllen said:

I don't know if it is feasible, but I think it would be easier to just build the whole thing in Korea and / or Japan and ship the electronic components over to be installed. They could also have the Korean and Japanese yards compete for contracts.

The US yards could then focus of submarines, aircraft carries and repair work. Considering that they have limited resources in shipbuilding, something will have to change if they want to keep pace (or at least stay relevant) with China.

Again though, who knows how feasible any of that is? I don't even think the Pentagon is legally allowed to contract foreign countries to build ships. On top of the fact that you would be changing how many of these industrial institutions function on top of the optics of it all.

Click to expand...

OPSEC would be an issue if the electronics are shipped outside of US. Having a completed hull with all the engines, wirings and mechanical components, and maybe basic navigation elements (to sail back to the US) may be feasible. Like a civilian ship without all the military components.

gpt said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

2nd rate copy of Xian H20.

gpt said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Northrop released their own photo of the B-21 which I cannot add because it is too large. You can find it . Also, the aircraft is currently doing engine ground tests.

I don't know if it is just the angle of the photo, but it looks like to me that the flaps merge seamlessly with the rest of the aircraft?

vincent said:

How can a US Air Force commander be so confident about their ability to take on Chinese air force when their pilots can’t even get 200 flight hours per year?

Click to expand...

To avoid going off topic in the flagship thread I'll answer here.





It's not really the air force or the pilot's fault, it is Congress's decision.

In a Heritage Foundation event June 1, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said, “I’m not happy with where we are” on flying hours. He said the Budget Control Act forced the Air Force to restrict hours for a decade, and the service “never recovered” from that pattern. The Air Force is now able to “do more with simulators,” though, because that technology has advanced rapidly and can now deliver extremely high fidelity virtual presentations of the flying environment. Simulator hours are generally far less costly than real-world flying, and allow aviators to rehearse dealing with emergencies that can’t be practiced in a real, flying airplane.

Click to expand...

The navalists at Cdr Salamander examine the lies and failures of SecNav Del Toro on Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii The facility is a tragedy waiting to occur:

The report was required by Section 331 (c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. The provision states that the secretary of defense must first certify to the congressional defense committees that defueling the facility won’t adversely affect the military’s ability to fuel its Pacific operation before the military can begin draining the 104 millions of fuel in the tanks — which sit just 100 feet above a critical aquifer that most of Honolulu relies on for drinking water.

Click to expand...

As the good Cdr reminds us:

I will remind everyone that the disaster at Red Hills derives from the same problem that begat the fires in Lahaina this summer. Anyone who has lived in Hawaii knows what it is and that this to true. The strategic stability of the entire nation in the Pacific is being sacrificed to avoid upsetting the system of political and union corruption, patronage, cronyism, and incompetence that characterizes the state, local, and federal civilian controlled projects in that one-party [Democrat] state.

Click to expand...

Biden is sending America's badly needed shipbuilding and shore construction funds to Ukraine while the Gas Station to the Pacific is about to poison Honolulu's water supply as war West of the International Date Line approaches:

“Ukraine reminds us that without a robust combat logistics fleet for the Navy, aerial refueling, and heavy lift, we just flat out won’t be able to sustain and shift combat power around the theater in the ways that will be required before and during an intense military operation,” [former senior advisor to PACOM Eric] Sayers said.

Click to expand...

I read a several articles seemed to have this consensus that even the most cutting edge radar in China has a difficult time detecting B21.
I got this idea. Since China wants to replicate what starlink did by building their own 13k internet constellation satellite I was thinking they should focus on building a 13k miniature constellation of SAR or remoting sensing rather than internet satellite (starlink). Any stealth aircraft would have a difficult time hiding in the sky included b21. These satellites can provide the coordinates for a missile launch. Satellites can pick up when the b21 take off as well as the location in the sky. It makes more sense to build a massive 13 or 20k or 30k constellation of SAR/remoting sensing satellite.

bebops said:

I read a several articles seemed to have this consensus that even the most cutting edge radar in China has a difficult time detecting B21.
I got this idea. Since China wants to replicate what starlink did by building their own 13k internet constellation satellite I was thinking they should focus on building a 13k miniature constellation of SAR or remoting sensing rather than internet satellite (starlink). Any stealth aircraft would have a difficult time hiding in the sky included b21. These satellites can provide the coordinates for a missile launch. Satellites can pick up when the b21 take off as well as the location in the sky. It makes more sense to build a massive 13 or 20k or 30k constellation of SAR/remoting sensing satellite.

Click to expand...

B21 not even flying yet...never met a radar yet... hard to have a level headed consensus.

Sure that low observable plane will have an edge but even in a B21 I would not fly blind over Ukraine right now.

bebops said:

I read a several articles seemed to have this consensus that even the most cutting edge radar in China has a difficult time detecting B21.
I got this idea. Since China wants to replicate what starlink did by building their own 13k internet constellation satellite I was thinking they should focus on building a 13k miniature constellation of SAR or remoting sensing rather than internet satellite (starlink). Any stealth aircraft would have a difficult time hiding in the sky included b21. These satellites can provide the coordinates for a missile launch. Satellites can pick up when the b21 take off as well as the location in the sky. It makes more sense to build a massive 13 or 20k or 30k constellation of SAR/remoting sensing satellite.

Click to expand...

A flying wing will have all aspect stealth so it will be very difficult to detect. No surprise there. The B-21 will be the most important asset in a potential Pacific War.