i hope the navy will begin to develop smaller carriers and have more of them, i think with weapons technology these days big carriers make easier targets.

Originally Posted by therise21

i hope the navy will begin to develop smaller carriers and have more of them, i think with weapons technology these days big carriers make easier targets.

You have missed the defensive weapons that we now have that can stand off almost any weapon fired on us. A smaller carrier won't be any more or less of a target than any current ship we have. The stand off weapons systems are onboard all of the ships, the bigger the ship the more you have. I do agree that we need more carriers and carrier battle groups. I think that Ronald Reagan had the right idea, but he was going for too many. I think a 400-450 ship Navy would be about right.

I also think we need to increase the Air Force, Marines and the Army. There are more specialized fields in each service that are necessary to keep us safe from whacko's. The Navy is quick to respond and then the Marines and the rest come in with a little longer lead time to stabilize the region in question.

I think all of the personnel in the Military need SOME of the same training the special forces get, Rangers, Navy Seals, the Marines in general and whatever special forces the AF has.

and whatever special forces the AF has.

Pararescue Jumpers (PJs) Senior Chief.

Originally Posted by Maytime

Pararescue Jumpers (PJs) Senior Chief.

No offense intended, I'm just not up to speed with the AF.

Roger that, I'm sure no one took offense (maybe PJ ).

I know this is a little odd, but will the F 35s sent to the UK and Austrailia be as advanced as the US versions?I mean they are priced the same...

The CVN-21 is expected to cost $13 billion for the first unit ($5 billion R&D included) and, as with most projects of this type, less for each successive unit.

$40 billion is just plain wrong. The Nimitz design is 40 years old. It's certainly time for a replacement, even if they are still amazingly capable ships.

Originally Posted by Sukio

I know this is a little odd, but will the F 35s sent to the UK and Austrailia be as advanced as the US versions?I mean they are priced the same...

I've read that any aircraft exported is not equipped with the same avionics that our planes are. They are also not tyically equipped with the same power plant.

When we exported the F4J's to Israel in the 70's we were amazed that they were better pilots than our guys. We found out that they stripped most of the remaining avionics from the planes and used them as basic airframes.

Same with the Isreali F 15s.

Originally Posted by Sukio

Same with the Isreali F 15s.

You mean the Israeli F15's?

I don't know, I was out of the air side of the Navy when the 15's showed up.