Wednesday, October 17, 2012

70 acres of mobile "diplomacy"...,


globalsecurity | Sometimes it is difficult to understand the scope of American military power relative to that of the rest of the world. This graphic illustrates America's aircraft carriers, and those of the rest of the world. Each icon is an accurate depiction of the flight deck of the ship as seen from above, all to a common scale. Each of the middle column of ships is roughly the size of the Empire State Building.

10 comments:

umbrarchist said...

And how many countries are using military planes designed by the US.

So why do we need this much military stuff? We can't find better things to do with our money?

CNu said...

small, heavily armed and armored, self-contained, nuclear powered mobile cities capable of providing all their own needs are one helluva survival strategy....,

umbrarchist said...

A floating target for an ICBM that cannot be stopped. So I presume the first step in all out war is take out all of the satellites.

CNu said...

Which part of "ballistic" in intercontinental "ballistic" missile did you misaprehend? Dood, countermeasures on aircraft carriers insures that no such incoming will be of any consequence, less'n of course we're talking about EMP strikes which may or may not take out the hardened electronics on a carrier.

No, the primary threat to aircraft carriers nowadays are the hyperfast russian cruise missiles that skim just above the water at mach 5 or something ridiculous like that. Too low to easily detect, and too fast to deploy countermeasures absent early detection.

umbrarchist said...

Did a little ICBM research. It says the reentry vehicle comes in a 4 km/s. I suppose a tactical nuke might be able to get in front of one and still detonate far enough from the carrier. But I assume they would use a MIRV and multiple warheads would be approaching from somewhat different directions.

But who has that kind of weaponry besides the Russians and maybe the Chinese?

Ed Dunn said...

Keep in mind nuclear submarines are more than capable of taking these floaters down...

Big Don said...

It's easier than learning to read/write Russian, Chinese or Arabic....

CNu said...

My point is that targetting of ICBM's takes place at launch. If an aircraft carrier can't move out of the way of something launched 40 minutes in advance then...., a Sunburn missile otoh is something completely different. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-N-22

CNu said...

Well, that exigency has evidently been taken into consideration as well http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/ssn.htm
The US Navy has more nuclear-powered attack submarines - 54 - than all
other countries combined, which have a total of 40. Over the past
century there have been several classes and types of submarines which
performed a variety of missions. These include attack submarines, guided
missile submarines deployed, and ballistic-missile submarines which
provide strategic deterrence. Attack submarines are part of the
conventional forces and have capabilities in several mission areas
including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, undersea
warfare, strike warfare, and special operations warfare. Ballistic
missile submarines are part of the strategic forces and are capable of
launching strategic nuclear weapons upon short notice.

makheru bradley said...

Per several sources when the Enterprise returns the US Navy will have three carriers in Arabian Sea/Persian Gulf area. The Stennis and Eisenhower are already there. Why?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-17/us-aircraft-carrier-john-stennis-arrives-iran

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