Chinese Navy Exploiting American Carrier Gap in the Pacific
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
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The Pentagon has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group to the Middle East region to try and keep Iran from retaliating against Israel's latest assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, which leaves the western Pacific without an American aircraft carrier. Meanwhile the Chinese carrier Shandong has been operating in the Philippine Sea with impunity, which is concerning the United States' regional allies.
VINSON returning to port footage courtesy of San Diego Web Cam.
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whatever the u.s is doing in the south china sea, it's only having the opposite effect of deterring china. The more u.s posture against china via military expansion. The more china will invest and expand its own military capability to counter such move. Just like NATO expansion was a driving factor in the war in ukraine, south china sea and taiwan will be a driving factor for a direct war with china. This game will only end when china reach and or exceeds u.s military capability. Given the unserviceable debt u.s currently has, it's not a sustainable strategy for the u.s to "invest" via military as deterrence against china, who's manufacturing capacity FAR exceeds that of the u.s military industrial complex. The only way to sustainably live with china is to accept china as a regional power in asia and work with china to ensure peace, instead of agitating for war by propping up taiwan as an issue.
I want to know more about QUICKSINK. They dropped one during RIMPAC, and it was super effective.
Thanks for letting us know what is really going on.Found a old army 1776 acoustic guitar with the army symbol on back, that is what it has on it anyways.I had to gorilla glue it.I tuned it started playing it, when I first got it -saying yeah this thing sounds awesome then it split at the seams in 3 places.Gorilla glue saved the old acoustic guitar and gave it to a old army veteran.
Show respect to your Chinese-American community by correctly pronouncing Chinese words.
F-35Bs flying off the Wasp should always be called F-35Bees.
I’ll see myself out.
🤣
Comments section winner.
He’s here all week folks….try the prime rib and don’t forget to tip your waitress!!
That joke only works if the F-35Bs are carrying Stingers, which they can't.
Yuk yuk yuk says Rosie the beagle..😊
Another outstanding video. I was a 3MC on the Nimitz from 2014 to 2017. The planning and execution of these maintenance availabilities are a massive undertaking. One of the biggest challenges of long maintenance availabilities is the enormous personnel turnover. Moreover, you will receive many new sailors who have never been to sea. With that said, some qualifications can only be achieved at sea. Even with all those challenges, we still took the Nimitz safely to sea with a huge amount of new sailors because great leadership never fails. Many times we complain about our youth, but I have seen the best the country has to offer. Sailors find a way! Fair winds and following seas! GO NAVY!
This is a big reason I look at the Chinese navy as a paper tiger. Not only is the equipment a cheap copy, but they don't have a long tradition of sailing all over the world for long periods so there's just not the experience. Also any nation that has a volunteer force as opposed to mandatory will generally have better personnel with better morale in my opinion
@@briancrawford69 Indeed!
@@briancrawford69
Funny false narrative !
Chinese navy is oriented for self-defense on their home turf .
Good to hear, I wish I served when I was 18
9 suicides??? Where can we read about what went on with that? What a tragedy....
I’m right with you on that, this is worth looking much deeper into.
One time for each overcome and lost.
🥀🥀🥀 🥀🥀🥀
🇺🇸
🥀🥀🥀
Enlist and get assigned to a ship in the yard. Become a rust and paint chipping stooge. Never be able to sleep. Go Navy.
It got some attention at the time. You can search for articles. Living conditions during the maintenance period were not good (imagine sleeping inside a ship with no heat during a Virginia winter). There also seemed to be open contempt by senior leadership as to the conditions, along the lines of "You are sailors, you signed up for this, so stop whining." That kind of attitude destroys morale, and the consequences include low reenlistment rates and potentially suicides.
@@zirconic9 oh hell no, i was considering joining navy but with my highschool record i probably will score low on the ASVAB. i dont want that torture
The Frank E Peterson, DDG121 already has had 5 suicides and hasn’t even been on deployment yet 😂
The big grey carrier might not be there but I’m sure there’s a few extra quiet holes in the ocean keeping track of things now.
I wonder if you can launch a “loyal wingman” class drone from a submarine?
USS Connecticut 🙄
Small correction, the first two chinese carriers do not have steam catapults, they just have a ski jump.
The nuance was "the first two PRC built carriers". The first PRC carrier (Liaoning) was constructed outside the PRC. The first PRC built carrier has a ski jump, but the 2nd one built in the PRC has catapults.
Small correction, the first 2 HAVE steam catapults, the 3rd has electromagnetic catapult.
@@SrChief The Chinese have skipped steam cats altogether, gong straight to an "EMALS" like system on Fujian
Their 2 first carriets don't have catapults at all
They only have a test facility with steam cats
@Wannes_ has it been confirms the electric cats actually work?
Yes, but with ski jump you also get egg roll. 😁
I appreciate your consistent big picture view Mooch. Keep up the great work.
Those billions sent to Iran would have been better spent on new carriers!
Too bad he is such a prick on X.
Having worked on upgrades and refits for the Royal Australian Navy for 18 years now, I have the greatest admiration for how the USN maintains and supports these incredible platforms. A lot of great content in this little vignette, Ward, particularly the recovery period required after Desert Storm. 🤩Love your channel!
Not all aircraft carriers needed a recovery program after being in desert shield/storm. USS Saratoga did 8 months 90/91 then was right back in the Mediterranean sea a year later. Prior to all that it did an 18 month cold iron, overhaul 1987 to 1989
I always learn so much on your site. Suicides from COVID-era dockside working conditions ? Stressing carriers with extended deployments compromises them for the remainder of their service lives ? Your site gives me the third dimension of naval activities.
Thanks for the update Ward. My two take aways: Ground News ( good to know..will check it out), and the state of our carrier fleet. It truly is a monumental effort to keep these ships in top shape.
My dad and brother both work at the N.N shipyard. They both have said since the navy started these extra long deployments the ships are taking much longer to turn around jn the yard. They come in a hot mess and need a lot of work compared to when they were strictly on a 6ish month deployment cycle.
Whatever navy we have must be mostly deployed. On vacation every summer in the Outer Banks, which is a military corridor. For the first time this year, I saw a very few aircraft, which was telling.
I was at RIMPAC. I got to watch Carl Vinson leave-first time I'd seen a carrier move. Bloody impressive.
Very interesting video. The fallout on the carriers from the Desert Storm deployment would make a good video.
Impressive that you included how much Allied efforts are working to cover the gap, something we will never hear about on the networks or mainstream media. I was impressed at both the JSDF capabilities, as well as how much the Italian Naval Air has improved. Less capable perhaps, but good to see them lending a hand.
A lot of very detailed information contained in a relatively short video, which I found fascinating.
It was a mistake to move the carrier group. We already have enough in the area. These were just show, moves.
Being a Musician, you might get a kick out of this:
I met a sonarman that would play Hendrix' Star Spangled Banner during breakaway. Mid eighties.
And another that tracked a Yankee from Bewee to GIUK gap. Using the "dipper" sonar and hull mount, they were never out of track mode.
The sub surfaced and requested that they back off as the crew really needed rest.
Did they also play Pavarotti or Paganini?
😆
@@user-sc6sr2zz5z "Way the Hell out at Pearl."
So, 20% availability? Something's not right...
5:22 Neither Liaoning nor Shandong have steam catapults- both have ski jump ramp launch systems
Just a suggestion maybe you can do a episode in the near future about how the retention rate is on these returning ships especially the ones spending nine months at sea thanks for all that you do
Meanwhile the US still has two virtual "Supercarriers" in the region - named Okinawa and Guam. But they aren't USN, obviously ;-)
Not to mention the Philippines are now missing our presence, and I believe the both Clark and Subic runways are still active.
You mean big fixed targets.
You can add Saipan to that list. Maybe we should look at reopening Midway Island.
@@sherwoodskiClark and Subic open for Commercial Air Traffic. New PAF Tactical Bases are to be built or upgraded elsewhere to be “shared” with the U.S.
@@flyingsword135 On the plus side, they can have much more extensive air defenses deployed on them that do not depend on the limited (and not easily reloaded) VLS capacity of escorting ships.
The USN has no capacity in increase the size of the carrier fleet unless they decide to build smaller non nuclear ships. The building capability of CVN's is a at maximum capacity. At best we can keep up with our present numbers and given our many issues with maintenance etc, this is not a sure thing by far.
Most assured you have contacted your local Congressmen about this issue.
Considering the USN's 10 to zero zilch nada advantage in operational CATBAR carriers compared to any plausible adversary, there is little justification to operate more.
The shipyard issue is real. But additional production in escort or sub hulls would be much more useful increased CV production.
China is out producing the US in ships 10 to 1
Thanks for the broadcast 👍 and I look forward to the next one
Reagan headed to "PIA" in Bremerton means, dry dock.
Could be OOC for about 1-2 years
Fantastic reporting as always. It's a shame this isn't the standard. Professional, factual, information dense, and no nonsense. Thank you.
I don't know how they can decommission the Nimitz when we are short on carriers and can't meet our responsibilities
Because it's getting worn out ? I beleive the Nimitz has been in commission since 1975 or so...
They don't last forever.
Well, to keep her in service would require a refueling and complex overhaul as she’s due for that now. This takes years - assuming dry dock space is even available but considering a refueling wasn’t planned I wouldn’t be surprised if it took 7+ years to make it happen. None of us on the outside know if that could be delayed a few years but one thing is for sure - either way it would take a lot of money.
If we truly have a need for more carriers I think we should look to augment the super carriers with a fleet of smaller carriers, perhaps built off the Queen Elizabeth class but nuclear powered and of course with catapults.
This is the result of over 30 years of policy based on hopes and dreams and not on facts.
@@cruisinguy6024 Americans need not copy anything from the brits... We always do it better.
Appreciate all that you do to keep us folks informed Ward. It would seem many folks do not quite fathom the setbacks of our military. There cannot be an underinflated value, there cannot be options for failure when speaking about the existence of this country. Find the sources that causes of the many inflated military contracts, hold their feet to the fire. We are so bent on an american front screw our fellow patriot, we disregard our adversaries believing all is good, so long as our immediate needs can be met. Completely disgusted with this country's fallacies and the bleeding hearts. Earmarking any and everything to get attention. Well folks, while you are friggin moaning about this and that for your special needs, our country is getting flushed. Keep it up and I will guarantee you will singing to a completely different melody once all that our country has stood for, almost 250 years, down the toilet. Yep!....The writing is definitely on the wall. All of the men and women who through the ages that have fought for this freedom will be flushed like yesterdays bad meal. The thanks will be non discernible for most, to whom the different never really was known, no, only to those that absolutely had an idea what was fought for, ever know the legacy of freedom. Better start speaking Mandarin or some other Chinese dialect. Thought you could stay out and party like it's 1994, think again, cameras on every lite post, chips in the back of your head, back to your 20x20 abode by 6ish, up and to your factory position by 7am. Yes folks, think again of how you conduct your daily business, your so called freedoms now will be never seen again.
Sorry for the Rant Ward. I grew up in the fifties and sixties with an appreciation for freedom, morals, respect, and values for the country I live in and cherish. It is very hard to watch what it has become, yet as it fails, I almost cherish the thoughts of watching those that have taken to it's downfall, achieve what they will undoubtedly deserve.
7:44 NINE SAILORS....wtf man...how the hell?
Three key points re this video’s content: 1) No other available LHDs but the Wasp? (None mentioned here.); 2) Poor Navy planning to not get the GW carrier to Japan-BEFORE bringing the Reagan to San Diego; 3) Explainable, but poor USN planning, to only have 2 (of 11 total) CVAs deployable. My two cents.
Way to go, you put out better information than the News does… awesome! I miss my six years onboard the USS Enterprise CVN 65… but I was grateful to deployed the last two cruises onboard before the Big E was decommission… sad to see her go...great channel keep it up.! … nice ball cap, can’t wait till the New Enterprise cap is out!
Thanks, Mr. Carroll. Informative as usual. Sounds like CVN-68 (my first boat), may need to stay on the job a bit longer prior to decommissioning.
Well the Commander in Chief is TAD on his Weekend at Bernie's detachment.
And yet somehow the world keeps turning and the military keeps operating. 🙄
"Where are the Americans?" From a place you will not see will come a sound you will not hear.
Excellent comment.
All seeing space eyes
Both Russian and Chinese can see USN and USAF.
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165but they can’t do nothing about it either
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165 Only when they want to be seen. Can Russia see Ukraine invading?
Frustrated with the MSNM is an understatement……
Rejection of the free press is essential to “dear leader worship”.
Derelict.
when the press don't print what they want to hear they get frustrated 😏
Great video Ward! Always proffesional, well spoken, greatly edited and beautifully done. Factual, current amd intriguing. Keep up the great work. Subscribed for a while now, comment for the algorithm and share for the love!
Thanks for the update.
Our naval readiness looks horrible.
better than your naval capabilities.. bet.
Imagine how our allies look
What's horrible about it? Serious question. It takes about a 3-to-1 ratio (so four total) to maintain a ship - whether a carrier or any other - continuously forward-deployed at a high state of training/proficiency, material condition, and morale. 11 carriers pretty much means being able to keep at least two carriers - and often but not always three - deployed at any one moment. Some occasional gaps of that third carrier. Seems we're in a "gap" period right now...at a time when international events are really highlighting it. I am by no means saying "all is well"...clearly it is not. Just saying that "naval readiness" of the existing force isn't the problem. "The Navy is just too damn small for what we ask of it" is closer to the mark.
The other side is worse though.
Thanks, Ward. Not sure if you have updated the icebreaker situation, but may be a good time.
Never retire F-15s (Damn you McDonnell-Douglas for selling!).
I was hoping Lockheed would buy them at least
Thanks for the solid information, Ward. Take care, keep safe.
Another excellent breakdown Ward. Every time I hear someone mention the words budget cuts with regards to our military it just makes me want to cringe. That is something that never should be skimped or cut back on. Especially In times like we are going through right now.
You can bet our adversaries and enemies are studying and watching the movements of our Navy quite closely and it is guaranteed they probably know what a ship is going into port for and how long it's going to be there before it returns to service. Their spy satellites can tell them where the ships are at and they can be easily monitored.
While They may know the status of carrier groups and what not is going to be very difficult for them to know the status of the Navy's submarine fleet Which is the largest and most advanced in the world.
USS Connecticut 😁
China and Russia has mapped undersea floor and temperatures in their front yard : Kamchatka, East Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
I always appreciate your deep dive into current events. It goes way beyond anything we can see on the news and keeps us informed. Thank you sir!
@@scottharris5714 my only source for Naval news! Great channel
So awesome to see the Pitch Black footage as an Aussie. I'd love to see you cover more Australian military topics :) Keep it up, your videos are great!
6:40 I never knew there was a “Aircraft Carrier “ that held both Av-8B and F-35B’s. That’s going to be iconic soon.
I'm preaching over a well dead horse, and I think the higher-ups know a problem exists, but stating it again, dedicating near complete crews to a ship in dry dock is not efficient; it's not good for sailor development; and it's not good for moral. A knowledge base,(in the form of a skeleton crew), familiar with the ship needs to stay to help with the overhaul. But that is all. The ships are nothing but scrap metal without well trained crews to man them. The Navy needs to understand sailors become sailors to sail. Not to become cheap labor in naval yards.
Always happy to see your updates Ward. Thank you
Speaking of aircraft carriers.... the former Russian aircraft carrier, Minsk is on fire in China...... currently in an unused state. It was part of a tourist attraction that went out of business. One of the Soviet era Kiev class.
There’s a glorified ski jump in the Pacific? Fun!!!
Tell that to the crew of USS Connecticut...crashed F-35 and Ospreys !
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165 aw, that “naval fleet” of fishing boats is great at catching sharks for their fins, Im sure. Kung Pao, chicken.
@@JoshJones-37334
2 American nuclear-powered submarines sank in all crew onboard in the 1960s.
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165 Fifteen years before I was born?😂🤣 You’re struggling, General Tso
Those availability numbers are scary. Maybe there is something to the idea of smaller STOVL carriers bulking up the fleet.
Shocker
In Viet Nam, our CO put a stop to reporting 20-21 aircraft ready for our tasked missions. He ordered that we were only going to report aircraft that were truly ready which was more like 10-11. Meanwhile maintenance would work off all of the yellow sheet issues. Group and Wing were POed but soon we were flying 19-20 birds a day and completing not only our tasks but those of other squadrons. The other squadrons continued over reporting readiness and having to dump missions back to MAG 16. It was also a relief to us as pilots that all of our systems were up and doing what they were built to do. Extending and procrastinating on maintenance is always going to bring diminishing returns, eventually. I was actually shocked by this report that so many carriers are unavailable at one time.
Best, most accurate, and most informative material available. Thanks, Mooch.
I having Tailhook next week should keep the media attention away from it this year...people just may be paying more attention to the one in Chicago 🤣
Great video as usual. Thanks to you, I'm starting to understand the complexities of military deployments. I'm just glad no one ever asked me to do stuff like that when I was a young A1C in the Air Force.
What I want to know is, why is the US government publicly announcing the movements of US submarines?? I can answer my own question, but it strikes me as frankly shameful.
Stunning that these ships -- and I -- are so old now, and that only two of 11 are at the front. Scary. Thanks for the update, Commander.
Great update on our naval readiness situation, Ward. Thank you.
Thanks again Ward for the straight skinny. So good to have a source that is able to tell is how it is without all the garbled special interest and FUD.
Thank you I was hoping you would do this video. Things are changing quickly.
Ward, you and I both know the requirements of 12 operational carriers are required by law and the system worked just fine until it didn't. the delays on starting the refueling of the Nimitz class carriers and the delays in the shipyard during the refueling, and the delays on launching the Ford have cause the fleet to have 6 to 8 operational carriers at best. The same can be said about the F35 program. The military industrial complex is falling apart and a $hit show on its best day.
The
A victim of it's own bloat, over budget and past due.
We cant be everywhere, all the time.
Yes we can.
@@edwardgongsky8540 With satalites from musk, i guess you are right!
This was very informative and positively uplifting. thanks for being such a great RUclips host.
Thanks for the update Mr. Carroll! 🇺🇸
i wonder how proficient the Chinese are recovering aircraft at night and in the pouring rain..
All's they need is a Magic Carpet like we have.
I think they are working on it.
Not sure you can count an under construction asset as part of the fleet.
I saw Roosevelt & Lincoln together in San Diego over News Years. Wild to think they will now be “in the thick of it”.
I was flying into Tacoma not that long ago and the approach brought me over Bremerton. Looking down I had an outstanding view of carrier row, it looked like a big junkyard... Now I know why, thank you for your reporting Ward!
Excellent work Ward.
Thank you That is one of the best explanations I have heard No BS just straight info thanks again Bottom line up front...👏👍
Thanks for the update in the pacific. Can we get an in depth review of recent and current events on Ukraine and what are some of the likely outcomes? Thanks!
Coming next week.
Thanks Mooch, for the current CVN status. 🇺🇸 ⚓ 🦅 CVN-68 (Nimitz) is approaching 50 years old, now. Sorry to see it in the pre-retirement stage.
Thanks Mooch, good info.👍❤️
Why is it that the AV-8B Harrier II still look "majestic"?
It would seem the only way to be sure we have enough deployable carriers. Is to up our inventory to 16 carriers, this would allow for more deployable carriers while RCOHs and PIAs are going on.
So the bottom line question is: Do we want to continue with discretionary spending by Congress on things that have nothing to do with defending this country. Like it or not. If you really don't want to fight a war. The only answer is a strong and capable defense. We need to remember to pay attention to history. We saved a lot of money in the late 30s by cutting defense. And all those savings and an enormous amount of new money went into building up to protect the free world. And while the money can be replaced millions of lives lost around the world can not.
The Best Defense is a good defense budget. Right now the US Defense spending is 5.509% of gdp while China is spending 7.544% of gdp, that it talks about. It's thought to have a lot of black spending going on. In the mean time western countries like Norway is spending 22% of gdp on defense and Romania is spending 14% of gdp on defense. What do they know that we do not?
Our defense budget should be a lot closer to 10% (of on the books spending, not including black budget spending) of gdp.
Once a war starts it's too late!
Cavour integrated for a joint exercise with the Lincoln CSG last week before making a stop at Guam on the 11th. Currently it should be underway for Japan with a complement of 6/7 F-35Bs (two from the Air Force) and 6 Harriers
I can remember in my day we 7 carriers stationed in Norfolk alone: Nimitz, Ike, JFK, America, Saratoga, Coral Sea, and Independence
Of course, they were not all inport at the same time but I think I remember a phot from mid '80's that had 5 at one time.
Sure, there were 15 carriers then, and Atlantic Fleet carriers were more heavily concentrated in Norfolk compared to the Pacific where there were a couple more carrier-appropriate bases (North Island, Bremerton, Alameda, Yokosuka...maybe even Pearl? Not sure). Keep in mind all was not necessarily well then either. Served in AMERICA during the early '90s. She was at the end of her service (like the other conventional-steam carriers), but unlike her sisters, had never gotten the SLEP overhaul. The maintenance backlog was substantial, and as mentioned in another post this video, we were holding her together by the skin of our teeth at the end. Proud and gallant as she was (loved that ship, still do), AMERICA was decommissioned not a day too soon. It's always what I think about when I hear the various forms of "Keep NIMITZ longer!" often heard these days.
The Chinese carriers are not capable of long range excursions, being conventionally powered nor are her crews experienced...so what are the actual threats?
Chinese navy is working on those issues
Facts. I remember reading earlier in the year about how china set a record by launching like 310 planes in a ten day deployment. The writer never bothered to mention the U.S. can do that in a 24 hour period.
@@phillipbradford6976😂...and nobody typed how many of them made a safe recovery onboard... maybe their planes are floating in the Pacific with the pilot dead in the cockpit.
@@williamlloyd3769cool, almost 2025 and they're still behind where Japan was in 1941 😂
Well, the US navy is definitely outnumbered. China has the numerically LARGEST navy of the world, most of which are stationed around the South China Sea.
Love your channel man.
With maintenance schedules and deployment swapping, only a 3rd of our carriers are deployed at a time. We need to double the carrier capacity to stay ahead of the game. With how small the ship building capacity is, we won't even be able to keep current ship numbers on the water. What is the government doing. Smh
As always, you are a wealth of information. Thanks so much for your channel👍👏
The Block III SH's from VFA-25 look pretty cool with the AAM load out.
Indeed they do!
Ground News has the colors backwards, i couldn't handle it 😅
It's American colors for left vs right.
I don't understand, didn't our newest and most delayed and expensive aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford just enter active service recently, and now it is to be worked on and out of active service for over a year? These things are supposed to be around for ~ 50 years, but how much of that 50 yrs. is in the dock yard?
Tailhook Convention interviews -- highly anticipated. Thanks Mooch.
Thank you Ward.
Thanks for the update Mooch. What an honor and privilege it is to have Rear Adm. Verissimo coming aboard. You're really booking the top talent now. Wow! ;)
6:41 Italian Harrier and Italian F-35. Cool pic.
Harrier II
The PI politicians who are whineing about the US carriers moving to the mid-east should remember they wanted to look good politically by running the Americans out of Subic/Cubi and Clark AFB.
Great info. Thanks, Cdr!
Thank you Sir. As always, great intel.
Remember the question: "Where are the carriers?"
Well, it turns out that we do not have enough....or enough of anything.
I guess the "Peace Dividend" and "Peace in Our Time" are inoperative.
Anybody with any knowledge of history would have known that the swingeing defense cuts during the 90's were premature and unwise.
By the way, the Growlers aboard the Lincoln are equipped with the next generation ECM pods. What do you know about them?
Thanks for the update Ward...Big iron = big maintenance. At least we are still capable of projecting power without the big nuclear flat tops.
I always find your chats about strategy with a naval focus interesting. Some things that the US is doing or not doing puzzle me. While large nuclear carriers are a good and effective naval strategy against most nations, a near peer conflict especially against China, would likely find the carriers vulnerable. And at $13 billion to purchase one and a lead time of 3-5 years, it is hard to figure that the US can move the needle on increasing the numbers of these large carriers.
To be able to win in a conflict with China, the US needs to increase the readiness on islands in the Pacific which would be unsinkable in a battle. I know that some of this is happening now, like reopening old WW 2 airfields. But to do it effectively, you need to add a lot of infrastructure like air defense, radar, building revetments that are camouflaged, power, etc. And it needs to do it quicker.
To both defend and be able to have offensive operations from these forward bases, you need a quantity of planes. The cutting back of the purchase of new F15-EX planes is not a good decision. The production rate of F-35 have slowed due to the delay of the block 4 variant and unable to increase the production. I think the US has halted purchase of F-16 planes although the production line is still open for overseas orders. The F-18 production line is still going but slated to close in 2026. The US quantity of planes is way down, and the age of the fleet is alarming old. Then you need tankers and AWACS in order to operate effectively and the E7 Wedgetail program is starting, but it will be a few years before they get any new planes.
Then there is the US naval fleet. The CNO has slowed down the purchase of the baby carriers while they evaluate what ship they want in the future. They did not order the replacement of the Bonhomme Richard yet, nor think about increasing the numbers of them while letting ship building capacity go to waste when they need numbers. And the baby carriers could be used to fill in the gaps where you don't have large carriers, and if you lose one, it does not have the strategic impact that a large carrier lost would be. Of course, you might need more tankers as they are conventionally powered, and would need more escorts. And the Navy is short of destroyers and are just now trying to get a frigate program underway. All the while, retiring the AEGIS cruisers which could be put into overhaul and put back into the fleet as a short term solution, maybe as reserve ships with a skeleton crew filled out by reservists in an emergency.
The only area of the US defense that seems to be forward thinking is the Marine Corp with the restructuring of their battalions with more air defense and less tanks and artillery. Of course there is no way to know if they are correct but they are thinking and doing.
These things are not cheap, but I do not see a winning strategy yet in place to defend Tiawan, the Philippine shoals, never mind be able to take the battle to China in a future conflict.
Keep up the content Ward. I do follow and watch.
Hey Mooch, Ground News is really good, but you are better. Why would I work my way through Ground News when I have your channel. Your aggregation and cogent narrative reporting is excellent. It's the "goldilocks balance" of detail and essential issues. BZ!
Small correction, Super Hornets on USS Theodore Roosevelt are attached to CVW-11 NOT CVW-8.
This story is a great example of why the USN with the largest carrier force in the world is still short handed without enough decks.
People look at the fact that the next largest carrier Navy in the world has 2 with a 3rd on the way and ask why 11 isn’t enough. It’s not about a force on force matchup. It’s about how many places in the world NCA wants a carrier 24/7/365 and how many decks it takes to make that happen.
It’s also a good illustration of the fact that successive administrations from both sides of the aisle have badly mismanaged both the Navy and our defense industrial base. The numbers of both ships and shipyards simply aren’t there to support the operational tempo that NCA keeps demanding. This is where you see the can do spirit of the Navy actually doing it harm. Instead of stepping up and being willing to say privately and publicly if required that the Navy simply doesn’t have the resources to do everything that’s being asked of it we continue to run ships and sailors harder and harder and put them away wet pretending we can still do everything the 600 ship fleet did. News flash we can’t.
This highlights the very short-sighted decision the UK made with its two carriers. Had they been fitted with CATOBAR (as was planned at one stage) thereby enabling the USN to inter-operate from them, the UK could have offered some spare boat availability to the USN as it works through the maintenance schedule. Sure, they are not a Nimitz or a Ford but they are not a bad second.
"turn down the tempersture" LMAO
Great update, Sir!