A capable aircraft by all descriptions but this from Galrahn is ... just plain weird...
This is just smart. It is my belief the EA-18G is the best aircraft on the planet being built today, and one of the main reasons the British have chosen exactly wrong to not put EMALS on their CVFs.I mean really?
Did he say that out loud before he typed it?
It is my belief the EA-18G is the best aircraft on the planet being built today, and one of the main reasons the British have chosen exactly wrong to not put EMALS on their CVFs?
I had to immediately go get info the EA-18 because I must have missed something. I went to the Boeing website, Naval Technology.com and Wikipedia.
What I found was hardly ground breaking. To be honest its just the EA-6 in a new wrapper with a bit of automation added and an AESA array. The second part of it is just him playing to the anti F-35 crowd.
But read the entire article he has up 'cause he takes an unwarranted swing at the Gator Navy. This is especially insane because he's commented before that amphibs are some of the most in demand ships in the fleet and that we don't have enough....
Here is what you need to know about AFSB - it is basically a MLP with a module that converts it into a LPH. The AFSB has a fairly large aviation capability that makes HMS Ocean look like a baby cousin. AFSB + MLP is a remarkable capability that I for one hopes to see get built and tested thoroughly, because it is a two ship system for a legitimate forward operating base at sea, and it can scale well with existing Sealift capabilities and by plugging in T-AKEs. It is certainly an 80% solution, but if it works it is an appealing capability that will go well beyond what the US Navy is using Ponce for - indeed the combination would finally get folks in the expeditionary space to start really thinking about what is possible with Sealift capabilities when you aren't married to the enormously expensive enormous amphibious ship designs.
First the AFSB is a Marine Corps concept. The MLP is a Marine Corps concept.
The idea about getting the other services to buy into the expeditionary capability that will come with sea basing IS A MARINE CORPS CONCEPT.
Policy blogs.
They ignore real life and focuses on the Congress and Pentagon. That's not where the real military is. If you choose to focus on those places...if you love forums and think tanks....if you get off on Washington dinners then fine. But that ain't where the real Navy, Marine Corps, Army or Air Force lives.
Not even close.
