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> Without a carrier group, an overseas nation has no credible opportunity to bombard a far away theater, engage in air sorties, land troops, or any other expedi
by hackuser 10y ago
> Without a carrier group, an overseas nation has no credible opportunity to bombard a far away theater, engage in air sorties, land troops, or any other expeditionary action. ... Defense of carriers is a problem that must be solved, or the U.S. would have to accept a military stalemate for naval warfare.
That might be lacking in vision. The aircraft carrier is the current means, but nations have engaged in overseas expeditionary actions before and without aircraft carriers. Just because the current solution might no longer be available doesn't mean there is no solution.
Arial bombardment is tougher without carriers, of course, but the U.S. bombed Iraq and Afghan targets using planes that took off and landed in the U.S. And the most likely solution there is missiles, which have become exceptionally accurate and which many think will dominate future battlefields.
Finally, whether or not we feel the carriers are essential, if they are ineffective on the battlefield then another solution will need to be found. Necessity is the mother of invention.
- metaphor 10y ago> Arial bombardment is tougher without carriers, of course, but the U.S. bombed Iraq and Afghan targets using planes that took off and landed in the U.S. [citation needed]
- slapshot 10y agoHere's a B-2 that bombed Libya on a round-trip from Missouri. [1] Of course, doing it this way requires airborne refueling. Lots of airborne refueling. And if you thought the military paid a lot for jet fuel on the ground, wait until you see the markup for providing it in the air. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368337/Libya-crisis-B2-stealth-bombers-25-hour-flight-Missouri-Tripoli.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368337/Libya-crisis...
- burfog 10y agoThe B-2 bomber flew from Missouri, bombed the targets, landed on a British island in the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia) to swap out pilots with the engines still running, then flew home. I'm sure it did aerial refueling along the way too. Basically, the only limit is sleepy pilots with sore butts. At least one of the times, it visted an airshow along the way WHILE LOADED WITH BOMBS. This was the Air and Sea show, viewed from the beach in Fort Lauderdale, FL. I was there. For such a huge plane, it really is stunningly quiet. Most spectators didn't even notice until the plane was almost in front of the beach.
- creshal 10y agoAnd many more B-1B, B-52, and various strike fighters dropped bomb loads far exceeding those of the pitifully tiny B-2 force.
- metaphor 10y ago> [citation needed] http://usoonpatrol.org/archives/2014/11/13/b-2-pilot-flew-longest-combat http://usoonpatrol.org/archives/2014/11/13/b-2-pilot-flew-lo...