First its communications suite is NATO compatible so modifications to it for US specific gear should be relatively straightforward. Its been cleared for operations for CH-53, CH-47, AH-64, CV/MV-22 and other NATO helicopter ops.
It has berthing spaces to allow enough space for a Ranger or MARSOC company to be carried with ease and it has a variety of weapons on board that will allow the ship to defend itself against small boat attacks in congested water.
Last but not least, the Brits are about to scrap it for peanuts and SOCOM could make better use of this ship than the USS Ponce.
Its really a no brainer.
SOCOM needs the Ark Royal.
Sister ships Illustrious and Ark Royal were both retrofitted to be able to swing back and forth between sea control and LPH roles. In the LPH role they carried a full Marine Commando (500 men).
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ReplyDeleteit's been stripped, gutted, disembowled, minced, any other disrespectfull discriptive word you'd want too use.
ReplyDeletewhat i'd have liked too see happen, was to have her sunk & turned into a reef/ dive site to play a another duty to serve out the rest of her important live, helping local communities next to her have a fighting chance to weather the economic storm.
That would have been a fitting end to such an important asset.
but the mod is so broke that, a couple million is more important.
That would be too logical and therefore completely unrealistic for the US to consider.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a great idea. We already have their Harriers, why not the carrier, too?
At that price, it is well within SOCOM's budget. It would be oddly cool...SOCOM with its own carrier.
more than cool.
ReplyDeleteit would allow SOCOM to achieve power that few other special operations outfits could match. it would be a statement that SOCOM in its current form is here to stay. it would scare the shit out of the Marines, Army and Navy.
and yet it makes sense.
Aren't two navies enough? To say nothing of four air forces.
ReplyDeleteOnly problem i can see with this suggestion is lack of any dock capability so it would be limited to helicopter and Harrier use only.
ReplyDeleteOh, and when given the choice the Navy opted to keep Lusty and not Ark Royal even though its the newer ship. To me this suggests some maintainance issues might be round the corner making a purchase of Ark potentially expensive.
the Royal Navy has been acting weird lately. i wouldn't believe that anything is necessarily wrong with the ship.
ReplyDeleteMikey, there have been occasions when the British have disposed of newer vessels due to slightly differing equipment fits. When it comes to these ships, I can't remember the details but i'm sure it had something to do with Illustrious not having all the equipment still needed for Harriers, and would therefore be cheaper to keep.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about SCUBA. But surely Ark Royal being as big as she is if she is to be sunk and not to be hazard to shipping she would have to be sunk in very deep water beyond the reach of a good number of divers.
ReplyDeleteCheap to buy but *Not* cheap to operate.
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