USN service men will have a heart attack when they see this….

LAST EDITED ON 22-05-01 AT 07:17 PM (GMT)[p]THE TIMES

TUESDAY MAY 22 2001

US may scrap its fleet of vulnerable carriers

FROM LAURA PEEK IN WASHINGTON

AMERICA’S 12 aircraft carriers could be taken out of service because of fears that they are vulnerable to smart bombs and new anti-ship missiles.
Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, is said to be debating the future of the ships — once thought to be invincible — under his review of the US military. His advisers have said that within the next 25 years potential enemies such as China, Iran and Iraq could develop ways of tracking the carriers and could sink them with long-range, “sea-skimming” missiles.

The main threat is the increasing availability of weapons designed to destroy ships. The Russian-made Sunburn anti-ship missile flies at 1,500mph, skimming 60ft above the water and can be fired from 155 miles away. Other dangers include new silent submarines and sophisticated underwater mines.

Officials said that the Pentagon had considered cutting the number of carriers in the fleet. It had also explored building smaller carriers that would be harder to hit.

The US Navy said that the threats had been exaggerated. “The aircraft carrier is the toughest, most robust ship ever built,” Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn told USA Today. “Nothing is invulnerable,” he said, but the probability of a future enemy sinking a carrier was “very, very small”.

The fleet has been crucial to America’s response to overseas conflicts since the Second World War. Captain Rich O’Hanlon, commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, said that whenever a crisis erupted in the world the White House would ask: “Where’s the nearest carrier?” Mr Rumsfeld says that he favours a high-tech military focused on air power and space. The days of heavy artillery and battle tanks are also said to be numbered. He is expected to complete the review this summer.

Carriers patrol for six months at a time, accompanied by a carrier battle group, including six to eight cruisers, destroyers and submarines. Unlike overseas military bases, aircraft carriers do not require the permission of foreign nations to launch attacks. Once at sea they are also extremely difficult to locate. According to a navy study, an enemy would need at least 138 low-orbiting satellites to keep track of the US carrier fleet.

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Even if it is a pile of political sh!te its still pretty shocking isn’t it?

Ivan