Navy proposing high-tech destroyer with long-range guns

[MaineDem]

WASHINGTON — The Navy, seeking a greater role as the United States wages wars far inland, is pushing an expensive, experimental destroyer it says will be able to bomb targets well away from shore.

The Navy is trying to improve its ability to conduct fire support _ using heavy guns to assist Marines or soldiers ashore, much like land-based artillery does. The frequency of such naval fire support missions have declined during conflicts of the last half-century, and the Navy has turned to expensive cruise missiles instead of guns to hit targets farther inland.

The proposed destroyer, called the DD(X), would fill a gap opened with the removal from service of the last battleships more than a decade ago, Navy officials contend. But the DD(X) has its critics, who say the Navy is betting on technologies that aren´t fully developed and argue the ship is too expensive.

http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D8C07NS00-226.shtml

[SteppingRazor]

1. The first ship will cost $3.3 BILLION, according to CNN...

Isn't that a little much for one (1) destroyer?

[depakid]

18. A little too much considering

that a few advanced cruise missles will send it straight to the bottom!

[Pepperbelly]

25. not quite that easily ...

I think they'd better bring their lunch for even an Arleigh Burke class DDG.

[depakid]

29. The next generation Yahonts

should have a pretty good chance of taking one out...

We're talking about a ship that's said to be getting into artillery range....

[Pepperbelly]

30. Aegis and the SM-2 are formidible...

against anything flying, particularly things flying on a steady course and constant speed.

[Burried News]

2. Will it be able to sail up the Euphrates?

Sounds like a pocket battleship. The USS North Carolina is docked in Wilmington. Take it and kick back a few mil to the pols up for reselection - why go to alot of trouble cutting in the contractors.

[ironman202]

3. wtf was wrong with the battleships???? duh....

[flyingfysh]

9. their aim was bad

the charges that propelled the shells were old and produced uneven propulsion for the shells. So they often would up hitting friendlies instead. This happened in Lebanon.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. I remember when we called in 16" battleship guns in Vietnam.

They were pretty damn' accurate. I don't remember the range, but it was probly something like 20 miles, with 3000 lb. projectiles iirc.

assume they're planning longer ranges for these new guns, but in any case the solution to the old-propellant problem would seem to be new propellant, not new ships.

[endarkenment]

17. The charges were from WWII if I remember correctly.

And are not only old but run a real risk of just lobbing the entire gunmount 10 miles, not the shell. Plus it costs a freaking fortune to keep those things floating. Any how - what a surprise, it seems we need a lot of gunboats to lob shells deep inland as part of our ongoing efforts to win the hearts and minds of those pesky surgeons and furry fighters while we bring them all that freemon and moxy. And at 3.3b they are a real bargain.

[achtung_circus]

4. See also here:

<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/dd-x.htm>

and associated links.

[saigon68]

5. Its good to know all seniors have drug coverage

Its also good to know we have conquered hunger and illiteracy in the usa

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MaineDem]

7. Welcome to DU

Hint...that term won't endear you to many around here.

[Kipling]

12. I think he was being sarcastic. Anyway...

This is a bloody stupid idea because Afghanistan is landlocked and the seaside area of Iraq is relatively peaceful, small, and controlled by the British.

Uh oh. Iran has a long, populous coast. I smell doom.

[saigon68]

33. ADIOS TO HIM/HER

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. and they hate us for our freedoms

our freedoms from social programs, literacy, education, pension funding, fair priced medical access for all, but $3.3 Billion for a new bathtub toy? or 8 Billion for an untested star wars pROGUEram? Sure.

[endarkenment]

19. nonsense - proven false

we gave up all our freedoms and THEY STILL HATE US. They hate us for our SUVs!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. bravo, or brava, which ever works

I noticed a total absence of Hummers today - for the first time in ages.
It is a small, but important start.

Yet, GM announced that they would be going back to heavier rear wheel drive vehicles.
just in time to declare chapter 11, I'll bet. And a year after they dropped their efficient hybrid research.

[saigon68]

11. Operation "KILL THE BROWN ISLAMIC MAN"

and those little "brown" children too

"FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH"

freedom to steal the oil that is.

[Robeson]

27. But thats what makes us free....

...we have the freedom to cut and end domestic programs, not provide universal healthcare, and dismantle the New Deal. Meanwhile, we also have that special freedom to watch the Pentagon suck our national treasure dry. Thats what makes us better than everyone else! God bless America....

:sarcasm:

[OKthatsIT]

10. This is a waste of tax payers money...Navy = sitting ducks

Really...who stands to profit the most from this?

The russians and iranians are said to have nuke-tipped missles that can take out aircraft carriers. That makes the Navy obsolete, right?

[Pepperbelly]

26. horseshit ...

I think that it is actually the Russian and Iranian Navies that are vulnerable.

[Oerdin]

13. Interesting

This destroyer is designed to take up the battleship's old role as shore battery? I can't help but think missiles are the better way to go since they're more accurate, longer ranged, and cheaper then designing a new destroyer class. I suspect the navy is trying to find new roles for many of its ships since the ending of the cold war has meant there is no longer a large naval force which can seriously contend with the US and allied navies. Normally, destroyers are used as screening ships for carriers or for ASW type missions since they're so small they need speed more then brut fire-power because they'll never go toe to toe with a capital warship.

This smells more then a little like pork for some congressman's district with a shipyard in it.

[MaineDem]

16. I think there are only 2 shipyards

Mississippi and Maine. Sounds more like pork for GOP Senators to me. (Although, building them in Maine would be a very good thing, as far as I'm concerned.)

[endarkenment]

21. I thought Bath was BRAC'd. eom

[newblewtoo]

22. NO.

Ok. For what it is worth, only PUBLIC facilities can be BRAC'ed. It is Base Realignment and Closure. Bath is a private shipyard which belongs to General Dynamics as does Electric Boat in New London Conn.

Groton Conn. is home to the Naval Submarine base, a government facility. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is located in Kittery, Maine and repairs only submarines.

Portsmouth and Groton are on the BRAC list. Not EB and Bath. They are private ( can you say contract out ).

[The Sushi Bandit]

15. The Navy has reduced their $$ request for DDX in this years budget

DDX has been on the drawing boards for years now. There has been two shipyard consortiums (grouping of yards) working on the design and all the cost estimates are way overboard (no pun intended).

because of this and the need for other ships in the fleet they have reduce their request (I dont have the numbers because I tossed my last efition of Maritime Reporter) and are thinking of delaying the award of the lead ship for a few more years.

DDX was first concepted at the end of the cold war and has no real value in todays world.

[bribri16]

23. Why all the money spent on sophisticated military toys?

Everyone know that we can be taken out with box cutters and some other common items that no one has thought about.

[newblewtoo]

24. Another new ship

This is an interesting link for another new ship, note where it was built.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20050522-9999-1m22launch.html

[The Sushi Bandit]

32. Very cool when they go down the ways...

I spent 13 years working in shipyards... still love it!

[blindpig]

28. ie gunboats

for Gunboat Diplomacy.

[bemildred]

31. Put some wheels on it. Then it can get really close. nt