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It seems to me that the super-giant container ships these days would not be optimal in the role. Presuming the VLS containers are standardized, I'd expect it w
by ansible 8y ago
It seems to me that the super-giant container ships these days would not be optimal in the role.
Presuming the VLS containers are standardized, I'd expect it would be better to have more smaller ships. If that's the case, the Navy could pick up some of the older container vessels relatively inexpensively, because they aren't as economical to operate as the Maersk Triple-E class ships.
- rtkwe 8y agoI think those smaller ships are the types they're talking about. The Maersk Triple-E are way more expensive than the 25-50 million quoted as the per ship cost in the article. Maybe they fall a a lot on the used market because new Triple-Es are $190m. > In heavily trafficked areas, a missile merchant without sensor masts would be hard to discern from other merchant ships at range. Electronic emissions that could be correlated to U.S. Navy assets pose risks that must be mitigated as much as possible. Automated ship reporting systems should be used judiciously. This seems dangerous to me, it seems like it will inevitably get a regular cargo ship sunk. Especially considering this second line where they also suppose that these missile merchants could draw fire from more traditional ships because of their threat. > Drawing enemy fire could become an important function, perhaps protecting higher value, more-densely manned combatants.