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This seems like an odd decision given recent developments in the area of supersonic missiles. China and Russia seem to have to technology to easily sink carrie

This seems like an odd decision given recent developments in the area of supersonic missiles. China and Russia seem to have to technology to easily sink carriers from quite a distance. Aircraft carriers are almost obsolete.

sgregnt 6y ago
The goal might be to deter and project power on lesser military capable nations than Russia or China (e.g. nations in Africa)
- mytailorisrich 6y ago
  Indeed. The defense against Russia and China is the nuclear deterrent. There is not going to be any direct war between France (or the West for that matter) and Russia/China.
jandrewrogers 6y ago
I don't know about the French Navy but the US Navy has long had mature and adequate defenses against supersonic missiles. The US has been iterating on that kind of defense tech since the 1980s and has been a regular part of their planning.
- dirtyid 6y ago
  OP probably meant hypersonics, of which USN / everyone else has no current defenses against. TLDR of a recent panel on state of anti-hypersonics is Pentagon hopes to have a "workable" defense against hypersonics by mid-2020s.
  - ISL 6y ago
    How many rods from god can SpaceX loft at a time?
EliRivers 6y ago
They allow you to project power, as the saying goes, anywhere in the world, for extended durations, without needing the permission or assistance of any friendly nation (i.e. airstrips in a nearby country) [0]. If you're going up against any nation that doesn't have the ability to sink an aircraft carrier (which is almost every nation in the world) they are very far indeed from obsolete. [0] So long as you have a serious logistics chain and serious support vessels including protective warships; if all you actually have is one aircraft carrier, you're going to find it pretty useless for long-term power projection.
ggrosbois 6y ago
I think guiding a hypersonic glider on a moving target is a difficult task. I thought waves could not penetrate the plasma around the glider, making the last phase of the flight unguided ?
shrimp_emoji 6y ago
Make those missiles [semi-]autonomous, and they're swarms of suicide drones: https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/firefly-israels-loitering-munition-or-kamikaze-drone/2020/05/17/ https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/firefly-israels... I've heard people say that this obsoletes large surface vessels and even manned fighters.
justapassenger 6y ago
They aren’t there to project power directly at other big military powerhouses. They’re used to project power indirectly, by proxy wars in less developed countries (and sometimes for direct wars with them, without proxy of other empires, at least at start).

sgregnt 6y ago

The goal might be to deter and project power on lesser military capable nations than Russia or China (e.g. nations in Africa)

mytailorisrich 6y ago
Indeed. The defense against Russia and China is the nuclear deterrent. There is not going to be any direct war between France (or the West for that matter) and Russia/China.

jandrewrogers 6y ago

I don't know about the French Navy but the US Navy has long had mature and adequate defenses against supersonic missiles. The US has been iterating on that kind of defense tech since the 1980s and has been a regular part of their planning.

dirtyid 6y ago
OP probably meant hypersonics, of which USN / everyone else has no current defenses against. TLDR of a recent panel on state of anti-hypersonics is Pentagon hopes to have a "workable" defense against hypersonics by mid-2020s.
- ISL 6y ago
  How many rods from god can SpaceX loft at a time?

EliRivers 6y ago

They allow you to project power, as the saying goes, anywhere in the world, for extended durations, without needing the permission or assistance of any friendly nation (i.e. airstrips in a nearby country) [0]. If you're going up against any nation that doesn't have the ability to sink an aircraft carrier (which is almost every nation in the world) they are very far indeed from obsolete. [0] So long as you have a serious logistics chain and serious support vessels including protective warships; if all you actually have is one aircraft carrier, you're going to find it pretty useless for long-term power projection.

ggrosbois 6y ago

I think guiding a hypersonic glider on a moving target is a difficult task. I thought waves could not penetrate the plasma around the glider, making the last phase of the flight unguided ?

shrimp_emoji 6y ago

Make those missiles [semi-]autonomous, and they're swarms of suicide drones: https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/firefly-israels-loitering-munition-or-kamikaze-drone/2020/05/17/ https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/firefly-israels... I've heard people say that this obsoletes large surface vessels and even manned fighters.

justapassenger 6y ago

They aren’t there to project power directly at other big military powerhouses. They’re used to project power indirectly, by proxy wars in less developed countries (and sometimes for direct wars with them, without proxy of other empires, at least at start).