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“If the U.S. doesn’t want this, fine. But why not let us sell to friendly nations? We’ve had so much interest from countries like Japan, Korea, Qatar.” My gues
by hudibras 10y ago
“If the U.S. doesn’t want this, fine. But why not let us sell to friendly nations? We’ve had so much interest from countries like Japan, Korea, Qatar.”
My guess is that he's blowing smoke on both the capabilities of the ship and the interest from other countries.
- gruez 10y agoHow so?
- Retric 10y agoAircraft generally beat boats in an offensive role. The advantage boats have is the amount of stuff they can take with them. This loses out on the benefits of boats without any real clear benefit over aircraft.
- M_Grey 10y agoHe's certainly blowing smoke on the stealth capabilities, given the racket this thing will produce in the water.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- usrusr 10y agoQuite likely. Describing it as an "attack helicopter of the sea" sounds a lot like a hand-wavey excuse for not really having a clear idea what naval role the technology would actually fill. Just demilitarize the thing and sell as a billionaire's toy for the confidential getaway from the swimming Versailles of a superyacht you already have. "The dinghy? Yeah, it was so advanced the Navy did not know what to do with it so I got it on the cheap", I imagine it would make a great conversation piece. Edit: I might be basing my mental model of billionaires too much on the writings of Neil Stephenson though..
- geezerjay 10y ago> Quite likely. Describing it as an "attack helicopter of the sea" sounds a lot like a hand-wavey excuse for not really having a clear idea what naval role the technology would actually fill. That sounds about right. I would also add that it may indicate that it has a very limited payload capability and very limited speed for its size. The Juliet Marine Systems' marketing brochure mention their Ghost achieves speeds above 30 knots, which in practice indicate that its top speed is 30 knots. That's the speed of a Zumwalt-class destroyer. Meanwhile, the US Navy's littoral class ships have a top speed that goes above 50 knots, and the US navy has an assortment of small fast-attack crafts whose speed reaches 80 knots. In fact, fast attack boats designed decades ago typically reach speeds above 40, and nowadays there are several military transport ships that reach higher speeds.
- travisty 10y agoMy guess is that your guess or opinion isn't valued at all anyway. So if you're going to add something valuable to the conversation then don't say anything at all.
- dba7dba 10y agoI'm note sure Korea/Japan really has interest in such patrol crafts. Pricey for what it offers. Qatar? Maybe since they have oil money.