Bullet Points:
** The Golden Fleet needs an expensive flagship or three. (or does it?) (Bloomberg) — The first of the Navy’s proposed “Trump-class” battleships could cost up to $22 billion, a price tag that would make it one of the most expensive US military vessels in US history, according to an early analysis. The initial cost estimate for the ship was released on Thursday by Congressional Budget Office naval forces analyst Eric Labs at a Navy surface warfare conference in Virginia. He acknowledged that the final price for the first vessel will depend on decisions yet to be made regarding tonnage, crew size, and weapons. His lowest-cost scenario was $15.1 billion. The guided-missile battleship would be twice as large as any cruiser or destroyer the Navy has built since World War II, but about one-third the size of the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, which is now the most expensive US warship. The Ford was delivered in 2017 at a cost of about $13 billion. I’d rather see the US build three CG(X) cruisers as a follow-on to the Ticos. But that’s just me. We also need more aircraft carriers if we want to police the world. Possibly smaller than the Ford Class, but it’s not so much the ship as it is the air wing. And if you plan to defend the carriers, you’ll need more submarines. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie…
New information on the BBG(X) Trump Class battleship. (h/t Claudio)
Hard figures surrounding the Trump Class BBG(X)s armament were also somewhat solidified by the presentation, with the ship carrying 128 MK-41 VLS cells, 12 Conventional Prompt Strike missile rounds, 2 300kw or 600kw lasers, and 32 Megajoule Railgun with high-velocity rounds. It was confirmed that 128 MK-41 cells are split across 3 blocks, with the stern VLS bank above the helicopter hanger being the largest, followed by the amidships and bow allotments. The figures will be firmly in place by the time the design is selected in 2028.
Physical figures peg the capital ship as being second only to the Nimitz and Ford classes of carriers in terms of size, with a length of ~860 ft and a beam of ~110 ft. Speed requirements peg the +35,000-ton vessel at a maximum speed of 30 knots, raising questions about the type of power plant it is equipped with, especially given the power draw from weapons systems and likely sensors, on top of the energy required to get a large vessel up to speed.
The BBG(X) is influencing the design of the follow-on to the DDG51 Class. A vision of the new DDG(X) is shown below.
In Peru
(Bloomberg) — The US State Department has approved a potential foreign military sale to design and build infrastructure for Peru’s main naval base, which is located less than 50 miles from a Chinese-owned port.
The proposed sale, valued at up to $1.5 billion, is subject to congressional review and could require lengthy negotiations between the Peruvian government and potential vendors. The final contract value may be lower than the maximum amount approved by the State Department.
“This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of an important partner, which is a force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South America,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
Plans for the US to support construction of a new naval base in the Peruvian city of Callao, near Lima, date back to at least late 2024. Callao is also Peru’s main commercial port city, and the naval facility is being relocated to allow the trading port to expand operations.
If the deal moves forward, up to 20 US government or contractor personnel could be stationed in Peru for up to 10 years to provide construction management and oversight, according to the announcement.
The US has previously criticized Peru for allowing China’s state-owned COSCO Shipping to build and operate the $1.3 billion Chancay port, located just north of Callao, citing concerns that the facility could eventually be used to host Chinese military vessels.
China is Peru’s largest trading partner, and the South American country has so far maintained cooperative relations with both Beijing and Washington.
The US has also recently designated Peru a major non-NATO ally and sworn in a new ambassador to the country.
Bullet Points:
** Cause-and-effect sequencing (see If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) above also comes into play when you begin modifying your stock 4×4. You want larger tires, which means more robust rims, which puts strain on the tie-rod ends and the rack-and-pinion. You’ll want to upgrade that suspension to cope with the larger tires, too – coil overs, shocks, upper and lower (front and rear) control arms, and so forth. And if you’re taking the rig where there is no road, or not much of one, there is the belly armor and the winch bumper and so forth. There is no end. I have a friend who spent $250K modifying his 07 Toyota FJ that cost around $20K new… And it broke down on a trail/mining road (Imogene Pass at 13,114 ft), and I had to tow him out with my rig, which had about $20K in upgrades at the time.
** (Reuters) Britain to boost military reserves by raising maximum call-up age to 65. That’s one way to increase your numbers. Soon, they’ll raise the call-up age to 80 to show they have a robust military force. They already accept people into combat arms that are incapable of deploying to face an actual enemy (they’re fine in parades – I admit that) and non-citizen types, with dubious loyalties.
** Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA), a low-IQ, blind, negro, muslim, identifies as female, is one of those people who checks all of the protected class boxes. Yes, she represents Oakland. Figures. She is stepping into Jazmin Crockett’s (dead woman’s) shoes as a democrat leader now that Crockett has been bounced in Texas. The new voice of California in the national legislature.
** Errata – Thank you to those of you who have e-mailed me about three typos that you found in The Confederate Cipher. Because it’s digital, it’s an easier fix. Given that there are over 93,000 words and I did it myself, 3 words that spell check wouldn’t catch is not bad, but it’s not perfect.
Writing – Hudson’s Scouts is finished, and I just made an editing pass. It’s 91,500 words. Travel through the war theaters during the 1860s was very unlike travel today. In some places, there were trains, but many rail lines were destroyed (primarily by cavalry), and there was somewhat reliable steamship travel on the rivers, which became more common as the war progressed. Continuity requires that the time to travel is taken into account, and I paid particular attention to that, with one exception where it might have taken our hero longer to travel than is recorded. If you find that, it’s not an error per se – just an author exercising the perogatives that one gives oneself at times.
I have started on the third book, The Crow Creek Expedition. I will try to have it finished by early summer, and then we’ll see how the series is received. Boron may get his wish for a Sci-Fi book sooner than he thinks. Originally, I hoped to have five books in the Duelist Series. There is room for that or more, but I don’t want to flog a dead horse either. I have done significant research into this time and have walked over some of the turf where I want to take the series, as well as delving into newspaper morgues – reading accounts of events in local papers that have been preserved online and in some small town libraries on microfilm.
Hollywood has glossed over the role mules played in America’s development. They’re not as flashy as horses, but they’re stronger and more reliable for the most part. A mule would get you across a desert, and the horse would be long dead. I would like to write “The Secret History of Mules,” but I don’t think that anyone would read it. As with elephants in history, they are underappreciated.
Black Scorpions is a sequel to White Powder and is incorporated into the last book of stories, Conduct Unbecoming. Originally, there was another book in that series that I started but didn’t finish, based on a true story. It’s the story of one of Chapo Guzman’s operational centers in Mexico, “The Mountain.” I ran into this while working in Mexico, and while it’s historical, it has been overshadowed by so much that has gone on in Latin America. While I maintain an interest in that part of the world and keep in touch with friends in that arena, I don’t know how much public interest there is (enough to devote six months to a year of my life to writing).
My spellcheck software shows that I’ve written over 500,000 words in the past 18 months, in addition to doing everything else I do. I enjoy the creative process of writing and entertaining, because that’s what being a novelist is. If you’re not entertained, I didn’t do a good job. I can write on an airplane, in an airport departure lounge, and at home. I take a notepad wherever I go, so it’s not all sitting down in one place. I also read – a lot. If I’ve written that much, I’ve read 5 times that much.
Good books are character-driven, which is why I’ve been writing first-person stories. Red Mist and Loki’s Fire, with Jules Smith, were a lot of fun to write because they were he-said/she-said. We played off each other in the writing. We’ve been discussing a concept for 8 years, which is a big departure for me because it’s satirical comedy. Depending on how it plays out, there may be something to that. British comedy is not American comedy (two peoples separated by a common language), and it’s something I can work with. We’d have to publish it in the US because the UK locks people up for satire these days.
** Elsa talks about Canada’s new alignment with China. Alberta doesn’t seem to agree with Canada’s new direction, and Elsa doesn’t go there in this YouTube short.
** Good review of the BAR.
** (h/t Claudio) A discussion of the heat shielding for the upcoming Artemis mission to the Moon (and hopefully back). I think NASA is getting back on track, but I still don’t want to ride an Orion re-entry vehicle.
** Thank you to those of you who tuned in to WAAM Radio 1600 AM & 92.7 FM Ann Arbor with Ed Bonderenka, host of Your American Heritage. I know some of you tuned in but didn’t call in. Calling in to a radio show (and being on it and hosting it) isn’t always easy. For those of you who missed it, you can listen to it here if you’d like to.
Toothpaste Marketing
The following information is from Children’s Health Defense. How much is too much…
Procter & Gamble (P&G) agreed to change how it markets Crest fluoride toothpaste to young children following an agreement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Under the agreement, P&G’s advertising aimed at children under age 6 must reflect age-appropriate amounts of toothpaste. The changes took effect this month.
Health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), recommend that children under age 3 use no more than a “smear” of fluoride toothpaste, and that children ages 3 to 6 use only a “pea-sized” amount. Paxton said Crest’s marketing materials often showed toothbrushes covered with a full strip of toothpaste, implying that the amount was appropriate for children.
Research cited in the case shows that such images prompt parents to use excessive amounts of toothpaste. A 2024 study published in Nature found parents routinely overloaded toothbrushes by six to seven times the recommended amount.
“When parents are teaching their kids the basic habit of brushing their teeth, they shouldn’t have to worry about deceptive marketing endangering their children.”
— Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General
Paxton said misleading images showing excessive fluoride toothpaste pose risks to children’s health and brain development.
“This settlement is an important step in ensuring that large corporations like P&G no longer engage in these deceptive practices.”
— Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General
The agreement followed an investigation Paxton launched in May 2024 into toothpaste manufacturers accused of misleading parents and children. In September 2025, Paxton reached a similar agreement with Colgate-Palmolive.
Attorney Michael Connett, who represents plaintiffs in several class action lawsuits against fluoride toothpaste manufacturers, praised Paxton’s action but warned the agreement leaves a significant loophole.
“The agreement contains a major loophole that will allow the company to continue deceiving parents of young children.”
— Michael Connett, attorney, Siri & Glimstad
Connett said the agreement still allows companies to show “pea-sized” amounts of fluoride toothpaste for children under age 3, which he said exceeds even pro-fluoride recommendations. Multiple class-action lawsuits against major toothpaste and mouthwash manufacturers are ongoing. Courts have denied motions to dismiss in several cases, allowing them to proceed to discovery.
Connett said the rulings bring manufacturers closer to being held accountable for deceptive marketing practices targeting parents of young children. For more information, read the full article here.
From Ammo.com
Although the state has the second-highest number of homicides, California’s large population size makes the state look safer than others in the U.S.
We analyzed murder trends in California and published a report on our findings. If you’re in a hurry, here are the highlights from that report:
- California’s homicide rate was 26% lower than the national average in 2024.
- There are approximately 3.3 million gun owners in California.
- Los Angeles contributed 20% of the state’s homicides in 2024, while making up only 11% of the state’s population.
California’s homicide stats provide a deeper insight into the state’s crime policies. Please read and share the full report, linked here:
https://ammo.com/research/california-murder-rate
***
Identify the Ship
1
About 20 built
2
30+ built
3
2 built
Parting Shot
h/t Frank
End
Identify the Ship:
1. Chinese Type 055 destroyer Nanchang
2. Chinese Type 052D destroyer Guiyang
3. Chinese Type 051C destroyer Shenyang
Very good Surly. Nailed them.
Surly got the jump on me today
—
Navy buildup – Perhaps if we seize all the Minnesomalians bank accounts we would have a decent payment towards a carrier, couple of cruisers and subs.
—
“The Secret History of Mules” – You might sell a few extra copies to purchasers thinking it would be some type of insider view to the modern day drug trade.
Or I can write about the modern day drug trade and call it that.
I would buy the “secret history” book that is actually about quadrupeds
(and the other one), but aiming a business model at my tastes is probably
a poor choice. Especially considering how often products I love fall off
of the market.
– Kle.
Hickock45 BAR Part 2
https://youtube.com/shorts/G9OyjmOoAp4?si=S1dlV8sKWvRz792-
On the $22 billion cost of the Trump-class battleships: how much of that is the battleship and how much is the devaluation of the dollar by inflation? After well over a hundred years of inflation, it’s hard not to expect the next generation of anything to be the “most expensive evah!”
Good point.
My problem is not the cost, believe it or not. It’s the idea of putting all of your eggs into one basket with aspirational technology (see Zumwalt Class) that never fully matures. I’m not stuck in the mud, but if you decommission 5 Ticos, you should commission 5 Ticos. The BBG(X) is a luxury we can’t afford at the moment. Bring the fleet up to snuff with a CG(X) or a CCGN(X) if you want the power to run energy weapons, add 2 fleet carriers and I’m your Huckleberry for a golden battleship. We lack the capacity to build FFGs and you want to tool up for aspirational battleships?
Where is the crew for this ship coming from?
We’ll impress them from the British 😒
Since the Brits have about three ships that can go to sea, are you sure that would work?
Conversely, I may have to rethink my travel plans to the UK for anther 8 years, lest they claim I am still a viable warrior.
Britmil: “Can you still fly a plane, Mr. Differ”
Me: “Er, yes ..”
Britmil: “Jolly good. Now here’s a rifle, off you go to the Ukrainian.front.”
Concur. This is NOT the time for another new class.
Great show yesterday, kept thinking while listening to you and Ed “I need to do more, feel a bit like a slacker”. Seriously though, terrific dialog…and Ed never ceases to amaze.
***
Toothpaste….now there’s something really important to get all lawyered up about, especially considering ‘everything is sales and marketing’, most of which today is bogus claims (YT ads for one, like, ‘drink warm water and cinnamon before bed to reduce your enlarged prostate’. Really?) More parents need to think for themselves like mine did and do what they feel is right for their children, quit believing BiG Ag and Big Pharma.
***
Sidebar: Walz’ing Matilda just called up Minnesota’s NatGuard as a preemptive move against PDJT potentially invoking the Insurrection Act over the eacedul protrsts”…more smoke-n-mirrors to try and obfuscate his fraud mess. This came to mind, by the great Molly Hatchet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN1NnCp0TVE
Ed’s a machine. He really is. An energizer bunny that keeps going and going despite hardship and obstacles.
He is, and fun to chat with to boot.
Ps. ‘Three editing errors’ is essentially zero when compared to me, I easily do that every day commenting. 😉
😂
I have three unforced errors in my main comment above, and the day is not over yet.
I’m currently using a prescribed toothpaste, high in fluoride.
1) Fluoride in high amounts is by prescription?
2) I was never told to use a certain amount, but I figured it’s costing me more, how little can I get by with?
Turns out a little dab’ll do ya. The rest in the ads is (of course) to encourage consumption. Most goes down the drain.
I use the toothpaste that I buy (in four tube packs) from Costco and hope that it will keep my fangs sharp and glistening.
Exactly, sometimes more is just, more. It’s common sense to use only what you need in an economies of scale aspect, no reason to dump most of it down the drain afterwards, which is what manufacturers want so you buy more sooner.
Watch a Hallmark movie (NOT sayin’ I do!🤣) and EVERYONE must rotate weekly between the dentist and whitening outfit for their blinding perfectamundo smiles. I make myself feel better by saying they get that by DNA luck and got caps and/or implants. Me, brush twice a day and use the water flosser (because dental floss is medieval grade archaic.)
LL … Thanks for the BAR video. I’d remind the video narrator that the weapon served well in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam even though it was designed as a WWI weapon. It’s a fun weapon to shoot at the range.
*
Typos in the “Confederate Cypher”? I was too busy enjoying the book to notice.
*
Artemis mission. Not sure the entire rocket package is really ready to go to the moon and back. But I hope for them a safe journey. As to the heat shield I read they have a version two that fixes the issues of golf ball sized chunks coming out during reentry. But the Artemis mission is still going to use version one.
1. back in dental school ’62-’66 we were provided with the current research demonstrating quite unequivocally that fluoride was incorporated into the enamel and the dentin matrices as fluorapatite (replacing the hydroxyapatite; 96% of enamel and 70% of dentin) while the child was in utero, thereby making fluoride toothpastes (almost, but not quite) ineffective. If the mother didn’t absorb the fluoride ion in some form while pregnant, the degree to which the hydroxyapatite in child’s enamel converted to fluorapatite was minimal. The periodontists teaching that section were adamant that it was the brushing and flossing (and diet, to a degree) that maintained tooth (as well as gum and supporting bone) health. I haven’t read any contradictory research over the past 60 years.
2. Persia (AKA Iran):
The rebelling populace has no outstanding leader like, (I hate to say this) Volodymyr Oleksandrovych; please don’t tell me about the Shah’s son; he stands up like a limp noodle; they have no singular (in all aspects of the word) person to rally behind.
>outstanding leader like, (I hate to say this) Volodymyr Oleksandrovych
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwSts2s4ba4
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That cocaine-addled, peter puffing [literally, this is not a libel], petulant little shit is HARMING the Ukrainian cause. His three-day stubble and ridiculous OD green tracksuits are the least of his problems. The entitlement, the pouting, and the try-hard tough guy posing are the opposite of leadership.
—
How the HELL did Zelenskyy and Denys Shmyhal (former Prime Minister, former Minister of Defense, and current Energy Minister) end up in charge of Ukraine? A total population of 44 million (ante bellum at any rate) and they have to tap the SAME guy to be PM (and Deputy PM), MinDef, AND Energy Minister? WTF? Are all the other Ukrainians (yes, “other” is a substitution) too stupid to participate in government? It seems that Hunter Biden is not the worst scandal with respect to UKR and especially its energy sector.
Dems got involved in Ukraine to protect Fauci’s GoF labs, so they propped up Zkyy with war support using WTP’s confiscated taxes. When that was waning amongst the thinking portion of Americans (who saw the criminality a mile away) TPTB released a manipulated cold virus then told people their special sauce shot would fix ‘em up (and right it did…dead), while demanding we stay away from each other, our jobs, our businesses, our churches…except unless you were part of the special French Laundry special class, then compliance was elective or nonexistent. Mass psychosis theater on all fronts for those who wouldn’t think for themselves, Zkyy was a part of that, some dufus thespian ruining a country. Been years with no end insight, and until PDJT gets fed up with these two idiots sending their people to die for some asinine playground bully baloney (to be polite)…and not unlike the Walz/Frey s***show…this idiocy will continue. (Zkyy took our billions and enriched himself…that in itself should find him in a Siberian “camp”.)
Now we have toothpaste…and it can never be put back in the the tube once squeezed out.
Brit manpower – yeah, the Nazis did that “old men and little boys” recruitment thing
too, but geeze. At least they were getting the ass-whipping they deserved at the hands
of most of the rest of the planet at the time.
*
Britain has made itself into the magical self-whipping ass from a Great Power,
in only a bit more than my lifetime.
– Kle.
It’s painful to watch their decline. To their credit, they were able to send one soldier (economy class) to Greenland as a token effort at defiance.
BREAKING: 24 police Minneapolis police officers just resigned from the force and 18 have joined ICE. Sweet. Wonder what Timmy Boy is gonna do now.
In a 600-person department, 18 (to ICE) is about 5%. I don’t know what the turnover is, but if you are a police officer, why would you work there? I realize that some may have seniority and pensions to think about. Others may have such bad backgrounds that they cannot go anywhere else. But there have to be around 30% who could lateral out of the place to anywhere else.
Might be nothing as you point out, could be the start of a flood after years of police officers taking it in the chin. Once officers bail for greener pastures or transition to, in this case, ICE, usually that gives others on the fence ‘permission’ to take the bold step. Nevertheless, it’ll be interesting how the Minneapolis nutzoid activity gets resolved, if at all (a church Don Lemon? Really?).
“And it broke down on a trail/mining road (Imogene Pass at 13,114 ft)”
yet my semi-junker mid-70s 4×4 doesn’t have any trouble with Imogene (though I did bust up the front end of a 2015 4×4 coming down Engineer on the Ouray side)
Imogene isn’t particularly difficult. This was a snow year, and it had just opened, so it was a little more challenging. Engineer (Alpine Loop) isn’t all that tough either. The only trail in that area that might be considered challenging is Poughkeepsie because most drivers use the winch point to get over the wall. That’s not to say that a rig won’t have a problem on any given day or that a rock won’t dislodge above you and ruin your day. Black Bear is considered difficult, and there is one point before the switchbacks where it’s tippy with loose shale that scares people.
Like a nut I did Imogene from Ouray on a mountain bike with a friend, before lighter weight full suspension bikes…had a Jeep pass me at one point when I had to carry the bike over some rocks. That was weird. Once making the miles longs decent into To-Hell-You-Ride ate an entire extra large pizza myself with a side of wings. I was a lot younger then.
>an investigation Paxton launched in May 2024 into toothpaste manufacturers accused of misleading parents and children
This is either 5D chess (like 4D chess but only much, much smarter) or kayfabe to distract us from serious issues.
I’ll preface this with admitting that I know pretty much nothing about fluoride and children’s health (plus boron has already weighed in, so what am I going to add to that?) than any regular person. I’m not claiming to have any gnostic insight because I’m an MD.
—
That said, is excess toothpaste use a serious risk to children’s health compared to, say: other food additives, the MASSIVE amount of vaccines (and “vaccines”), many of which are given simultaneously, at that. And if you define public health as including socioeconomic factors, what about the shameful and shocking decay in morality overall? Children are taught to be ashamed of their heritage, to hate themselves if they are white, for example. And how can a society survive if de facto prostitution is not only tolerated, but held up as something to emulate? (Yes, that means Only Fans, and the Kardashians, among many many others. And while on this topic, something we are not supposed to Notice is the astonishing amount of prostitution in the degenerate and non-German Weimar Republic. And it would clearly be a Hate Crime to Notice parallels between Weimar and the America of 2026, Trump or no Trump.) Anyway, if you are worried about excess fluoride intake due to toothpaste, then do it right and ban fluoride from toothpaste. As boron pointed out, the primary time when exogenous/supplemental fluoride matters is in utero. Give it as a prescription to pregnant women. (Yes yes, that’d be racist because Negro women almost certainly have inferior prenatal care compared to white women. Of course it is, because what isn’t racist? You know something? I don’t give a single greasy shit if someone thinks it’s racist.)
—
Back to socioeconomic factors. Making single-family homes, and home ownership in general, unaffordable to normal people is bad for families, and therefore harmful to children. I’d argue that growing up in shitty rental housing, or in a bad neighborhood with schools full of ferals and 3rd worlders with zero common culture, or growing up latchkey even in a “nice neighborhood” because both parents are working 60+h/week to afford the house, is worse than some excess toothpaste use.
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Scientifically, it’s also crap. The linked article says that something like 5x to 7x toothpaste is used by kids, vs the “pea-sized” dab. So what? If a “pea” of toothpaste is safe, and 5-peas is dangerous, then it’s an inherently dangerous product. Anything where a 5-fold greater dose is seriously dangerous should at a minimum be prescription only.
—
This is insultingly-stupid kayfabe to distract us from things like Blackrock buying up hundreds of thousands of units of single-family housing. Or Paul Singer’s interests in Citgo, and therefore Venezuela. We must not Notice Finks or Singers, or their ilk. So let’s make a lot of smoke and noise over distracting bullshit like toothpaste.
Excellent.
X2
What do you have against a/the Fink? I think of him as Rat Fink – the cartoon famous in the late 60s -, but I lived through the 60s, so the association is strong. He’d tell you about all the wonderful things he does in our new world order. Your lack of appreciation of your betters is somewhat disturbing on this enlightened (but not quite Illuminati) blog.
I may be a mere bipedal talking animal (speaking of my betters), but I’m not incapable of gratitude. I love the Finks who selflessly “force change” for our own good, because we are too stupid, racist, homophobic and generally bigoted to be allowed to have our own preferences. I now understand that it’s Hate to want to be among people who share your values and heritage, IF you are white or Christian. But other racial or religious groups are not only allowed, but positively encouraged to discriminate and to harass and to exploit. (/sarc=off: This infuriates me even though I am neither white nor Christian. Because it’s unfair and it’s hypocritical. I purely HATE hypocrisy.) I love the Singers who, well, that’s a rant for another time.
Force change:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwwN5kwjAtQ
There you go, Fink forces change because he loves his children, Like the Great White Father he is to us all including you, Mike. I’m sure he forgives for your many trespasses including thought crimes.
I’m rather looking forward to the GOLDEN FLEET. Some wags have pointed out that we’ll need a shipbuilding industry and all that goes with that to turn the Trumpian dream to reality. Hey, right on.
Good work on the books, let’s see a best seller.
PS. Best to Jules.
I read a report, I think on Cmdr Salamander’s blog, that smaller fleet carriers use about the same number of crew as the bigger fleet carriers. Cutting the air arm in half doesn’t mean you get a smaller ship, either, as big planes need big flight decks.
–
So smaller fleet carriers flying the current and future mix of aircraft is pretty much a no-go.
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This is also backed up with the Navy’s experience with Fleet and Light and Escort carriers during WWII. Want the big fleet planes and you have to have big fleet carriers.
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Though we could build more flattops designed for the F-35 and such, but, again, there’s a minimum size restriction even on a jump-jet ship if you want an effective air wing or squadron. Though building up the helo-decks of cruisers and other large ships to handle 1-2 F-35s isn’t a bad idea.
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Though, again, if the twin-engine version of the F-35 (as proposed by Trump) actually comes around, then the larger plane will need heavier decks to fly off so there goes the built-up helo decks on non-carriers.
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As to the BB, it’s really a BC, and most likely will shrink in armor and in size as the class shapes up.
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And it may be moot, with the administration floating the BBs and then offering CCGs instead.
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As to the Ticos, we could build an enlarged Tico and make up most of the capabilities of the Zumwalt or the proposed BBG. And we used to know how to build them.
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And arsenal ships are still a decent idea. Slower, firing from long range.
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The thing is, we need ships in design and construction now, not 10 years from now. We need to do much better and faster than what we have now. We need frigates and destroyers and cruisers and we need to explore and define new weapon systems and new nuclear power systems and it’s all the things that haven’t been done seriously for the last 30+ years, since starting with the destruction of everything by the Clintons.
We should also make it inexpensive and easy to American-flag vessels.
Assassination is probably the only enterprise where private industry is not more efficient.