Navy ships unfit for war


Ian McPhedran
January 01, 2008 11:00pm

AFTER a $1.4 billion "upgrade" the navy's front-line fighting ships cannot defend themselves and are unable to be sent into battle.
A navy whistleblower says sending the 4000-tonne Adelaide Class Guided Missile Frigates to war would be like sending a VK Commodore to race at Bathurst.
Senior officials admit the 1997 FFG upgrade project was a "debacle" created by the Howard government's decision to maximise the sale price of the Sydney-based contractor Australian Defence Industries when it was sold to the French firm Thales.



Full story
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...l?from=mostpop

Some good helicopter action as well.

I'm trying to get more info on the breakdown on the bridge but can't seem to find any. I found some useful links explaining a little better what went in the region and tanker wars but nothing directly saying what happen or what failed.

http://www.navybuddies.com/cg/cg49.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...rnest_will.htm

This was a good read
http://www.nightstalkers.com/history/4.html

Good reading
http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhono...nestwill.shtml

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m..._87779050/pg_1

I could go into this but better keep my mouth shut.

The sailor said the navy could have bought virtually new and more capable US Navy Kidd Class Destroyers in the late 1990s for a bargain price.

I was stationed on one of those FOUR Kidd class destroyers. Since Australia passed on the oportunity, China took the US up on it's offer. Whatever.

Oh yes...the four Kidds that were originally to be sold to Iran.

I remember when Ingalls offered the ships to the US Navy...and they said hmmm no thank you, we have enough more capable spruance class destroyers (the kidds were strpped down spruances...sort of). So leonard erb, president of ingalls shipbuilding that was going to take a bath on those ships...put the ships on the open world market...and the navy went batst. They wound up buying them for the price leonard wanted for them, to keep them out of the wrong hands.

I didnt hear anything bad about them, so i trust the yard did a good job on them.

Originally Posted by Mark Conley

Oh yes...the four Kidds that were originally to be sold to Iran.

I remember when Ingalls offered the ships to the US Navy...and they said hmmm no thank you, we have enough more capable spruance class destroyers (the kidds were strpped down spruances...sort of). So leonard erb, president of ingalls shipbuilding that was going to take a bath on those ships...put the ships on the open world market...and the navy went batst. They wound up buying them for the price leonard wanted for them, to keep them out of the wrong hands.

I didnt hear anything bad about them, so i trust the yard did a good job on them.

Sounds like Blackmail to me. I wonder if the President of Ingalls ever worked with the mob? It sounds like exactly the same scam they would do.

This is how our tax dollars get pissed away buying useless weapons that we either don't need or don't work. All to make certain industries rich. Look up "Missile Shield" if you don't believe me on that one.