Is the Navy’s $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier Obsolete?

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The U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carrier is the largest and most expensive naval ship-building project in the world maybe in history. It took 13 years and $13.3 billion to build the first of its class CVN 78 (also named) Gerald R. Ford. For context It was 6 times faster and cheaper to construct noah's ark This massive investment in time and taxpayer funding naturally turned the Ford into a magnet for criticism and doubt from reddit commenters to military experts themselves. Its price tag and size prompts the question: Is this aircraft carrier worth the money? In this video I am going to show you both sides of the argument, and by the end I guarantee you’ll understand why the Navy believes aircraft carriers are not obsolete.
Written by: Chris Cappy & Patrick Griffin
Edited by: Michael Michaelides
This is Newport News Shipbuilding. It’s only a few minutes drive north of Virginia Beach. Newport News Shipbuilding is the only shipyard in America that is able to build aircraft carriers. Visit it on google maps right now, and you can see two of the new Ford-class Carriers under construction at the pier. These are most likely the John F. Kennedy and the Enterprise, scheduled for commissioning in 2025 and 2028 each costing around $9 billion bucks to build. In response to the high cost, the U.S. Navy asserts that 600 fewer required crew members and less required maintenance will save the DoD an estimated $4 billion in operating costs over each carrier’s 50-year lifespan. But… Justifying a $13 billion project that could save $4 billion in future costs is like telling your wife you need to buy that red lambo to save money on bus tickets.
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  • @Taskandpurpose
    @Taskandpurpose8 ай бұрын

    After World WW3: "told you so they were so obsolete" Check Out: Check Out: RocketMoney.com/taskandpurpose Rocket Money is an all-in-one platform that helps you save more and spend less. Rocket Money is an all-in-one platform that helps you save more and spend less.

  • @ProfessionalPFChangsExpert

    @ProfessionalPFChangsExpert

    8 ай бұрын

    YAY

  • @brokeandtired

    @brokeandtired

    8 ай бұрын

    70--80 fighter bombers per carrier, 11 US fleet carriers ....thats between 770 to 880 fully operational fighter bombers....More than almost all but a few nations entire airforce and certainly more than Russia has in flyable condition. Not even close to obsolete. Just under a third of NATO's entire Air force. And thats not including Britains 2 and Frances 1 carriers. Or any of the escort carriers which means NATO could put 1000+ fighter/bombers in the air from carriers.

  • @Karma-wb7et

    @Karma-wb7et

    8 ай бұрын

    They're very much still useful! I mean a carrier is basically a mobile military base! How couldn't that be useful?

  • @swiftusmaximus5651

    @swiftusmaximus5651

    8 ай бұрын

    The Rand Corp predicted all Carriers( everybodys) would be sunk or out of commission within 3 weeks of WWIII, back in the 1970's. Carriers are obsolete against many countries now and the list is growing. have you seen what drones do to tanks? A Massive Drone swarm on a Carrier and her Destroyer/ Frigate escorts.would be indefensible. now theyre developing Drone Sub Killers.

  • @scottbattaglia8595

    @scottbattaglia8595

    8 ай бұрын

    I think damage control and design are very important when it comes to survivability

  • @wesleyfravel5149
    @wesleyfravel51498 ай бұрын

    Aircraft Carriers are vulnerable yes. But to paraphrase The Chieftain:” the Military is based on Capabilities, not vulnerabilities.” Until something comes along and offers the long range power projection and strike capability a Carrier can, it’s going nowhere.

  • @dumboi5369

    @dumboi5369

    8 ай бұрын

    Not to mention OTHER SHIPS exist in a goddamn fleet/carrier task force to prevent the vulnerabilities from being exploited, they have no idea how much shit the US can kick out of everyone else if they wanted to

  • @user-ot3wq2ru5d

    @user-ot3wq2ru5d

    8 ай бұрын

    carriers are not going into a fight with china, russia and may be iran. they can go to smaller nations tho (unless russia arms them as retaliation for ukraine)

  • @jamesc8709

    @jamesc8709

    8 ай бұрын

    They're going to get blown up by china's laser weapons. It's 2023. Steel stands no chance. China has a rail gun carrier. I'm.sorry, but I don't see it happening

  • @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    8 ай бұрын

    A barrage of missiles can take out any target even if the country has the best air defense, so it can certainly sink an aircraft carrier. The military tactic is called SEAD

  • @logicomega7

    @logicomega7

    8 ай бұрын

    @@user-ot3wq2ru5d That is true! Carriers will continue be very effective against any nation that lacks modern anti-ship defenses.

  • @onebridge7231
    @onebridge72318 ай бұрын

    As a submariner in 91-95, I can tell you that our #1 priority was to protect the underwater flanks of the Carrier Battlegroup even if we had to sacrifice ourselves in the process. Losing 100 mates to save 5000 sailors on a Carrier is an even trade in our book. Silent Service! 🇺🇸

  • @duke9555

    @duke9555

    8 ай бұрын

    These new ginormous carriers are massive super expensive targets for an attack by 100's of missiles at one time simultaneously the radars would be overwhelmed saturated & rendered useless kaput ..........sorry this is fighting the last war today and losing it of course

  • @TheLycanStrain

    @TheLycanStrain

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@duke9555this is why we have the Aegis combat defense systems. They're scary effective at taking down everything from planes to missiles to ballistic missiles and even satellites. That's why we never send a carrier by itself, but surrounded by 8 or more Aegis capable destroyers and cruisers.

  • @duke9555

    @duke9555

    8 ай бұрын

    @@TheLycanStrain Aegis cannot dispatch 100's of missiles maybe a few but lots would get through and render a carrier out of commission .........sorry I know fanboys are distressed over this tragedy

  • @victorsawyers6227

    @victorsawyers6227

    8 ай бұрын

    @@duke9555are u slow u know the Angie’s intercept rating actually pretty plus jamming and everything warfare them middles are useless theirs a bunch that goes into protecting a carrier then just ships silly boy 😂😂😂😂 now go along

  • @sichere

    @sichere

    8 ай бұрын

    @@duke9555 Any possible threat is closely monitored by many assets. A US aircraft Carrier battlegroup also relies on allies to keep an eye on all potential belligerents and they often flaunt some of their capabilities.

  • @MarkGardner66Bonnie
    @MarkGardner66Bonnie7 ай бұрын

    I served aboard the USS Franklin D Roosevelt and have to say…. They are not only NOT obsolete but a powerful deterrent… besides… as soon as they figure out how to extend the range of the aircraft on board so that the ship can remain outside of coastal misses (that drone refueler will be perfect) we will be gold…

  • @NH-yy3em

    @NH-yy3em

    5 ай бұрын

    @MarkGardner66Bonnie, thank you for your service! Got a question for you, I noticed in the video @ 5:18 the ship conductor I believe was wearing a venzuelan flag patch on his right arm, are you guys allowed to wear a foriegn nation's flag on your uniform?

  • @teresabarrett8676

    @teresabarrett8676

    4 ай бұрын

    They haven't detered the houthi's.

  • @user-bd5md5cm2j

    @user-bd5md5cm2j

    23 күн бұрын

    This argument is why we need a fleet defender capable of doing all the things the f-14 did only upgraded. Fly twice as far, carry twice as much weight and fly twice as fast as the f-18 air frame.

  • @ktms1188
    @ktms11886 ай бұрын

    This is like saying you could break into a Bank Vault easily with the right tools and you could walk right in. While yes that is true, it is not even a bit taking into account the fact of all the defenses you have to get through to get to that door and then once you do, the amount of sheer force, that’s going to be utterly dumped on you if you ever tried. Great vid!

  • @Lightning613

    @Lightning613

    6 ай бұрын

    Good analogy.

  • @gandydancer9710

    @gandydancer9710

    3 ай бұрын

    The analogy doesn't work in the vicinity of Taiwan.

  • @Werrf1
    @Werrf18 ай бұрын

    We've seen in Ukraine what happens when neither side can achieve air superiority in a modern conflict. Aircraft carriers allow a handful of countries to place an air force basically anywhere in the world, meaning that handful of countries has a massive advantage in almost any conflict. Yes, it's possible for aircraft carriers to be sunk, just as it's possible for helicopters to be shot down, tanks to be blown up, and infantrymen to be shot. Doesn't mean any of them are "obsolete".

  • @andreivaldez2929

    @andreivaldez2929

    8 ай бұрын

    Yeah, exactly. I think too many people are hyper fixated on it being vulnerable that they forget that fighting is a 2 way range and everything is vulnerable to anything when in range.

  • @deansmits006

    @deansmits006

    8 ай бұрын

    Right. Just need to adapt to the new reality. It may not be easy, but can always be done

  • @Mmjk_12

    @Mmjk_12

    8 ай бұрын

    Because Russia is incapable of forming Strike packages, that's why they can't achieve air superiority. The US is the best in the world at it but countries like China are also very invested with the doctrine. In a war with China the aircraft carrier is near useless. The only actual battleground would be the shallow chinese coast which is brimming with Chinese anti-air and anti-ship missile sites, as well as the entire chinese air force. Being obsolete doesn't mean what you say. Something becomes obsolete when something else does a better job. eg. Carriers did a better job than Battleships at Naval Warfare. Today missile launching vessels do a better job and have better utility than carriers. Now there are underwater drones and other new technologies. The gap is only going to widen as time goes on.

  • @Werrf1

    @Werrf1

    8 ай бұрын

    @@Mmjk_12 Firstly, I didn't say what "obsolete" meant, I said one thing that it _didn't_ mean. Secondly - missile frigates can't launch AWACS aircraft, can't maintain a combat air patrol, can't perform reconnaissance, or do any of the other thousand and one jobs an air force does. There is _nothing_ that can do the job of an aircraft carrier; until there is, the carrier will not be obsolete.

  • @Battleneter

    @Battleneter

    8 ай бұрын

    The fact China is building new carries is all we need to know, if carries were completely obsolete there is no way they would be doing it.

  • @SRFriso94
    @SRFriso948 ай бұрын

    I feel like a lot of the recent discussion of 'capital ships are obsolete' comes from the sinking of the Moskva, but that discussion neglects to mention some of the more unique factors that made the Moskva so vulnerable. It was out there alone, did not change its patterns over the weeks prior to its sinking, and the anti-air operating system was not very ergonomic so could have led to fatigue on the operators. Then there is the infamous maintenance report which I still don't know is real or not, but if it's real, it would explain how a ship with three layers of missile defense got hit by two non-stealth sub-sonic missiles. A combination of underestimating the enemy, neglected maintenance, and incompetence from command is what really sank the Moskva.

  • @jeremyl862

    @jeremyl862

    8 ай бұрын

    Aaaahh Vranyo.

  • @TK199999

    @TK199999

    8 ай бұрын

    Which is why the real question is, 'Is the Russian navy obsolete?'

  • @Scorpodael

    @Scorpodael

    8 ай бұрын

    @@TK199999 The answer is "Yes, because it's Russian."

  • @crazybox7326

    @crazybox7326

    8 ай бұрын

    @@lulzywizard7576in their defense, they do make the best artificial reefs

  • @jonathanpatrick8506

    @jonathanpatrick8506

    8 ай бұрын

    The Russian navy is mostly obsolete much off the Russian black sea fleet is over 25 years old and the Moskva was over 40 years old and was very outdated and even on her last major overhaul in 2009/10 that still meant she was obsolete in 2022

  • @awlhunt
    @awlhunt6 ай бұрын

    Direct from a former US allied pilot, he loved the joint exercises as his flight wing would almost always “sink” the carrier, regardless of the defensive capabilities within the broader carrier group.

  • @mojothemigo

    @mojothemigo

    5 ай бұрын

    Did he tell you those exercises are made extra hard on the carrier and they have a lot of limitations then what they otherwise have in war.

  • @markuhler2664

    @markuhler2664

    5 ай бұрын

    ​@@mojothemigoI think the Fat Electrician recently had a video on how the US military handcuffs 'blue' forces to stress our men, making real combat that much easier (not that any exercise is equivalent to war). And honestly I would put many of our allies on a substantially higher level than our strategic adversaries. There's little shame in UK forces for instance doing well against us.

  • @simonnachreiner8380

    @simonnachreiner8380

    5 ай бұрын

    @@mojothemigo That is kind of the point. I know the American taxpayer rightfully takes a backseat in any potential shooting war with a great power but I'd be out in the streets calling for the head of Naval command if I found out the military lost a multi-billion dollar carrier and 5k personnel because they decided they could afford to be careless where they decided to place the beating hearts of US naval doctrine.

  • @mojothemigo

    @mojothemigo

    5 ай бұрын

    @@simonnachreiner8380 Of course, no argument. Awlhunt sounded like he was taking the exercises at face value and though it was a lot easier than it actually is to kill a carrier.

  • @WatchDragon

    @WatchDragon

    4 ай бұрын

    the defending force is always with an arm and a leg tied, with one eye poked out

  • @dmh20002
    @dmh200023 ай бұрын

    Can the ESSM shoot down 300 modern anti ship missiles at once? Tom Clancy predicted this 30 years ago.

  • @wcm8909
    @wcm89098 ай бұрын

    After WWI and WWII there were military “thinkers” who said infantry had become obsolete…

  • @bluemoon3264

    @bluemoon3264

    8 ай бұрын

    Infantry and all tanks,machine guns, and artillery are obsolete because WW3 will be a nuclear war with the MAD option being used causing 25 years of nuclear winter . ☢️☠️ .

  • @USSAnimeNCC-

    @USSAnimeNCC-

    8 ай бұрын

    Same with tank multiple time even now in Ukraine also unlike those carrier can be use for humanitarian aid

  • @mrguiltyfool

    @mrguiltyfool

    8 ай бұрын

    @@USSAnimeNCC-tanks pretty much got pwned by drones, mines, atgm in Ukraine

  • @dqdq4083

    @dqdq4083

    8 ай бұрын

    It depends on what you mean. If you look at the Iraq war then they were right

  • @PancakeBoi

    @PancakeBoi

    8 ай бұрын

    America once thought fighter planes were obsolete, that all warfare would be fought using bombs and long range missiles. Then they got 1-uped by MiGs in Vietnam, losing many pilots because they were out maneuvered and vulnerable during runs. … thats when they decided to produce the f-15

  • @tomriley5790
    @tomriley57908 ай бұрын

    Couple of errors - Moskva wasn't hit by Ukranian drone ships, it was hit by Ukranian Neptune missiles, The USS Ford actually displaces around about 100,000 tonnes (you added a 0 by mistake)

  • @brianv1988

    @brianv1988

    8 ай бұрын

    Yeah I caught that too

  • @MostlyPennyCat

    @MostlyPennyCat

    8 ай бұрын

    Also showed a picture of HMS Queen Elizabeth instead of a Chinese carrier!

  • @michaelccozens

    @michaelccozens

    8 ай бұрын

    Technically true, but IIRC (not sure how much of the detail on the attack has been confirmed), there were suggestions that drones were used to fool and deplete Moskva's anti-missile defenses (eg CISW-style systems), thus creating an opening for the Neptunes. Not sure how much of that success was due to deficiencies inherent to ship-based anti-missile defenses (eg. limited magazine sizes/ammo storages) as opposed to basic failures in Russian ship design and failures in crew training.

  • @dariusdareme

    @dariusdareme

    8 ай бұрын

    I thought it might be an imperial vs metric problem. I thought - Well, he didn't say metric tonnes...

  • @MostlyPennyCat

    @MostlyPennyCat

    8 ай бұрын

    @@michaelccozens Ultimately it turned out that pretty much zero of their weapons were actually functional.

  • @joelmccoy9969
    @joelmccoy99694 ай бұрын

    The Yamato was the penultimate `Gun Club Mentality´ IJN battleship class. It was built without RADAR or satellites for targeting, it was too big to use, and too expensive to risk in the Solomons battles of 1942-3. It had the biggest guns and was the biggest expense to the Imperial Japanese Navy it had very little effect in the war. It also was a power projection concept that was pushed too far for its vulnerabilities.

  • @scottmitchell3641

    @scottmitchell3641

    4 ай бұрын

    Yamato and Musashi should have been used in the Solomons. From August 1942 through November 1942 in particular, those two warships could have made a huge difference for Japan there. Big mistake.

  • @Rays326

    @Rays326

    3 ай бұрын

    It was too big, too coarse to be called a ship. Indeed, it was more like a floating mass of steel.

  • @bebo4807
    @bebo48072 ай бұрын

    In a US navy study after ww2 it was discovered that a Japanese naval special unit of divers was trained to attack US carriers using ju jitsu techniques. Demonstrations of this were studied and found that a single diver could cause significant hull damage using basic martial art attacks.

  • @amenbrother8818

    @amenbrother8818

    Ай бұрын

    Impressive.

  • @johnlee3899
    @johnlee38998 ай бұрын

    Just a little correction for you mate the USS Gerald R. Ford displaces 100,000 long tons not 1,000,000 (million). Still she is a giant of the sea, compared to the USS Texas, a huge battleship from WWII,that was only 27,000 long tons, you get the idea how truly big a super carrier is.

  • @lestermarshall6501

    @lestermarshall6501

    8 ай бұрын

    It is hard to imagine a carriers size until you are standing on a pier with a carrier moored on one side and 3 or 4 ships moored on the opposite side.

  • @tomascernak6112

    @tomascernak6112

    8 ай бұрын

    Any particular reason, why are you comparing modern supercarrier with one of first american dreadnought battleship? USS Iowa would be more fitting, but of course it will be not such difference right? USS Texas was tiny. Lengtwise comparable to Ticonderoga class cruiser.

  • @christophervandenberg4830

    @christophervandenberg4830

    8 ай бұрын

    When I heard him say 1 ion tonnes I had to rewind to make sure I heard him right. Never send a group pounder to do a brief about anything but which MRE has the best pudding.. .🙄

  • @trollmcclure1884

    @trollmcclure1884

    8 ай бұрын

    And Moskva was sunk by Neptune missile

  • @johnlee3899

    @johnlee3899

    8 ай бұрын

    @@tomascernak6112 It was just the first US battleship name that pop into my head.

  • @tristantully1592
    @tristantully15928 ай бұрын

    Aircraft Carriers aren't obsolete because they really aren't a weapon unto themselves, they are force projection for the real weapons!

  • @TheB00tyWarrior

    @TheB00tyWarrior

    8 ай бұрын

    Japanese also thought battle ships were a projection for real weapons

  • @logicomega7

    @logicomega7

    8 ай бұрын

    They are an easy target to modern hyper-sonic missiles. There is absolutely no way these missiles will be stopped. Additionally, assuming they can't track and hit such a large, slow target is delusional. Only one missile is needed but imagine if dozens are launched at staggered intervals etc? You still can't see it???

  • @JD-ft5zq

    @JD-ft5zq

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@TheB00tyWarrior and yet the Japanese used carriers for nearly every victory. Not to mention basically every military still believed battleships were the heart of their force at the start of WWII. When carriers can be taken out regardless of defenses they'll be obsolete

  • @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    8 ай бұрын

    An aircraft carrier is basically a weapons depot on a ship. If it blows up every rounds, bombs, missiles, fighter jets, helicopter will sink together with it.

  • @PantheraOnca60

    @PantheraOnca60

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@TheB00tyWarriorThe Japanese were ahead of everyone in realizing that the aircraft carrier was the most effective combat ship available, a lesson the U.S. learned soon thereafter.

  • @RW-ik6ij
    @RW-ik6ij3 күн бұрын

    You have a great site. Please keep up the good research &and work. Thx

  • @daleadkison3349
    @daleadkison33495 ай бұрын

    I served as a boiler technician on the USS Ranger, CV63. At that time I was informed that the this carrier set a speed record of over 50 knots. I'm not exactly sure if this is true. If so, perhaps the power of oil fired boilers used to propel these smaller carriers out perform the nuclear powered steam propulsion of this behemoth. Perhaps size matters or the Ranger is a special case. I saw a different type of screw on it (Ranger) when in dry dock at the PSNS which didn't look anything like the depicted screw of the JRF.

  • @MrRainrunner

    @MrRainrunner

    5 ай бұрын

    I refueled the Ranger numerous times from the USNS Kawishiwi as a rig captain. You may have been aboard her then... mid 1980's? And as a 3rd Mate I had a conventional carrier, I believe it was the USS Constellation or Kitty hawk, designated on our radar doing over 50 Knots for @ 10 mins in the Indian ocean...so yeah. I believe you! The length of the hull is a limiting factor in top ship speed. The conventional carriers I listed above were @ 1000 feet...so the main limiting factor for them is the power plant. I believe the Ranger was smaller, but I know she was damn fast to. The Ranger was the Carrier we worked with the most.

  • @BRUCEFOURAKER-oz4wy

    @BRUCEFOURAKER-oz4wy

    4 ай бұрын

    The 30 knots is likely a disclosed and the CSG generally transits at speed comfortable for all participating vessels.

  • @lordInquisitor
    @lordInquisitor8 ай бұрын

    A military airport that can travel the world and carry dozens of highly capable aircraft is by no means obsolete. A infantryman or a f16 can both br destroyed but why that can do in the process makes it worth it.

  • @theangrypenguin3014

    @theangrypenguin3014

    8 ай бұрын

    Soon they gonna make em fly or some shit 😂 marvel fr

  • @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    8 ай бұрын

    That military airport is also a weapons depot that carries tons of missiles, bombs, round and dozens of fighter jets, helicopter and transport planes. As the saying goes, never put all your eggs in 1 basket. A lone submarine ambusing the carrier strike group can sink the aircraft carrier like the simulated battle in 2005 when the Gotland-class submarine sunk the USS Ronald Reagan, a carrier worth a staggering $6.2 billion.

  • @theangrypenguin3014

    @theangrypenguin3014

    8 ай бұрын

    @@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko how is a lone submarine gonna get past all the destroyers. Small radar boats. Other submarines surrounding the carrier…..it’s a Fleet not just the carrier…..

  • @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    8 ай бұрын

    @@theangrypenguin3014 That's what happened during a simulated battle between Swedish submarine and US aircraft carrier. They were shocked how the submarine quietly sneak passed the strike group to destroy the aircraft carrier. Go look it up, it's not a "what if" situation but a real simulated battle

  • @Randomusername56782

    @Randomusername56782

    8 ай бұрын

    @@ViolentCabbage-ym7koyeah but military exercises don’t reflect actual combat and the escorts weren’t allowed to use active radar in that exercise you know that right?

  • @jeffbeck8993
    @jeffbeck89938 ай бұрын

    2 things I always say in this context. 1: Carriers weren't bullet proof in WW2 either, but we kept them around. 2: China is doubling down on aircraft carriers. Enuf said.

  • @dough6759

    @dough6759

    8 ай бұрын

    I read that they have canceled their aircraft carrier building program. Smart move.

  • @pbdye1607

    @pbdye1607

    8 ай бұрын

    @@dough6759 Yeah, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the Russian engine tech they've appropriated leads to airframes having to launch with diminished payloads, combined with poor carrier landing performances. If their naval pilots were crushing it, they'd be posting countless videos of it as proof.

  • @duke9555

    @duke9555

    8 ай бұрын

    China will use their carriers against small nations incapable of launching a mass attack of anti-ship missiles nuff said

  • @paulrasmussen8953

    @paulrasmussen8953

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@retiredbore378they had to borrow because at that point we only had 1 viable carrier in pacific service

  • @tritium1998

    @tritium1998

    8 ай бұрын

    Also Britain, France, India, and Russia, although China has the better carriers and planes.

  • @gj8550
    @gj85507 ай бұрын

    In a war against a lesser adversary, an aircraft carrier may be a daunting weapon. But against another super power such as China, it’s simply a high value asset that they can focus on. Despite defensive missiles on board, they are of limited supply and no match against China’s seemingly bottomless supply. As portrayed in this video, a carrier would be used as a floating airbase in support of the hundreds of aircrafts that would fly to mainland China. It would take hours for a few hundred planes to take off, giving China its exact location and plenty of time to respond. China would immediately overwhelm the carrier with massive quantities of low cost missiles and exhaust its defensive missiles, then simply fire a couple of hypersonic to finish it off. This would not only wipe out an $80 billion asset, but several thousand military personnel and several hundred planes that are still on deck or otherwise out of fuel and have no base to return to.

  • @gandydancer9710

    @gandydancer9710

    6 ай бұрын

    Ships sink, ground-based missile launch platforms don't. The countries that can't overwhelm an aircraft carrier's defenses can be dealt with less expensively than with aircraft carriers. And the bit at the end of the video touting aircraft carriers' functionality in providing humanitarian aid was really pathetic.

  • @bocrillz2488

    @bocrillz2488

    6 ай бұрын

    China Can't build a road, bridge, or skyscraper without it flooding, collapsing, and or catching fire... I'm sure the US Navy is terrified of those mighty Chinese missiles...

  • @henli-rw5dw

    @henli-rw5dw

    6 ай бұрын

    Actually there is value to a carrier. Imagine a carrier carrying planes that can launch 1000 mile+ hypersonic missiles. Basically you can draw a massive 2000 mile circle around the carrier as your effective combat range. The real issues right now is that US is behind on hypersonic missiles.

  • @gj8550

    @gj8550

    6 ай бұрын

    @@henli-rw5dw Hypersonic missiles can be launched from anywhere and strike any target on earth. No need for planes or carriers to launch them. Carriers are 19th century war machines, retrofitted to fight a 21 century warfare. Once their locations are detected by satellites, they can be swamped by tens of thousands of suicide drones. Carriers are useful in intimidating second or third tier countries, but sitting ducks against superpowers.

  • @gandydancer9710

    @gandydancer9710

    6 ай бұрын

    @@henli-rw5dw Why on earth would you want to build carriers in order to launch hypersonic missiles instead of from much less expensive long-range aircraft or ground bases or get much the same functionality from ballistic missiles?? E.g., the US has two carrier groups in the eastern Med at present. How would planes with hypersonic missile carrying capacity add much to their capabilities? Don't just wave your arms-- be specific.

  • @randybentley2633
    @randybentley26338 ай бұрын

    The SinkEx that was done to the USS America, took place over 25 days. It intended to test how much damage a Supercarrier could take as well as what vulnerabilities these ships have so that the in-development Ford class could be made even more resilient. After 25 days, they had to use internal scuttling charges to bring the Big A beneath the waves.

  • @user-tt6il2up4o

    @user-tt6il2up4o

    8 ай бұрын

    It might not sink it, but the kinetic energy slamming into a carrier would render most of the ships systems unworkable.

  • @tomhenry897

    @tomhenry897

    8 ай бұрын

    Then back to base to fight another day

  • @explosivehotdogs

    @explosivehotdogs

    8 ай бұрын

    Technically one of the reasons it took so long was by deliberate choice as it was a research exercise to improve the Gerald R. Ford class - the Navy could gather much more data if they didn't just press kaboom on enough firepower to send it to the fishes in some hours. Regardless, even an old design was able to take it on the chin and I can imagine that $13b and 13y didn't yield a paper boat.

  • @duke9555

    @duke9555

    8 ай бұрын

    @@explosivehotdogs One needn't sink a carrier to deny its use to us just FUBAR it

  • @fladave99

    @fladave99

    8 ай бұрын

    I do not believe that a hyper has the accuracy to hit a ship At that speed even a minor course mistake from 10 miles out would be a miss and course corrections are impossible because of the speed

  • @drfelren
    @drfelren8 ай бұрын

    That Vulcan part "I am completely and mentally stable" was too funny. Also, it was a couple anti-ship missiles that sunk the Moskva. Also, also, the Gerald R. Ford class carrier displaces 100,000 tons, not 1,000,000 tons. 100,000 tons is already insane enough (for now.) Edit: I can understand the confusion for both. The Russians lost several ships to both drones and missiles this Summer. Also, numbers are hard. Numbers, in addition, words. Postedit-edit: All 11 combined would be over 1 million tons.

  • @Kokoshi

    @Kokoshi

    8 ай бұрын

    And the Moskva sank after many of it's systems failed or were accidentally incapacitated (like locking fire extinguishers because they were frequently stolen & sold off). Contrary to popular belief, it is hard to sink most warships.

  • @alex_ob1

    @alex_ob1

    8 ай бұрын

    Also he showed a UK Queen Elizabeth class carrier in place of a Chinese one....

  • @collinwood6573

    @collinwood6573

    8 ай бұрын

    @@liamanderson9104if there’s people who are corrupt enough to steal fire extinguishers from their own ship, there are also people who are corrupt enough to buy cheap (illegally obtained and potentially non-functional) fire extinguishers to comply with governmental safety regulations without having to spend much money.

  • @jeremywerner9489

    @jeremywerner9489

    8 ай бұрын

    The Moskva was sunk because it was a ship full of broken or insufficient equipment. It wasn't operating anywhere near its full stated capabilities. The US military doesn't tend to suffer from those kinds of problems, at least not to such a devastating effect.

  • @07szim
    @07szim7 ай бұрын

    Everything has a use case. Carriers will grow and learn how to be a dynamic part of a war. Obviously adding air support is important to any ground mission.

  • @orangehairbrain8733
    @orangehairbrain87336 ай бұрын

    Excellent analysis. The point of consideration is that Nimitz class hulls could be upgraded to equivalent ships for half the price.

  • @es83stevenson88

    @es83stevenson88

    6 ай бұрын

    Doubtful. Most of the Nimitz are near the end of thier service life and certainly have thousands of small maintenance problems. Much more efficient to replace them and upgrade at the same time

  • @orangehairbrain8733

    @orangehairbrain8733

    6 ай бұрын

    @@es83stevenson88 I totally agree, but I am speaking of the hull of Nimitz class. Yes, of course the ship must be rebuilt, but using the Nimitz class hull saves at least 4 billion dollars!

  • @es83stevenson88

    @es83stevenson88

    6 ай бұрын

    @@orangehairbrain8733 I am no engineer but the existing hulls must have some wear and tear by now. Also I thought the ford class has major internal change to accommodate new technology and future improvements? Is there a video break down of the cost of the 4 billion? I would be interested in seeing it. Not trying to cause online grief or anything just interested in the subject

  • @orangehairbrain8733

    @orangehairbrain8733

    6 ай бұрын

    @@es83stevenson88 You make a good point! Did the Navy do a cost analysis of my point? No. Why not. The Nimitz hulls are fine and could be refurbished to last another 50 years. Saving billions.

  • @davedixon2068

    @davedixon2068

    4 ай бұрын

    @@orangehairbrain8733 Sounds like armchair supposition from here. New ships are built in sections these days and put together with everything already plumbed in. Trying to strip a hull then retro fit would definitely be more expensive and less cost effective than building new from scratch. Could it be done, yes, would it be worth doing or cheaper, unlikely, unless you wanted to do a quick upgrade of a limited scope to increase the number of ships available quickly(you are at war or have lost ships and need quick replacements). Wars are fought with what you already have initially and you only get new things if you do not lose straight away, and can expand manufacturing to a war footing, America had 2 years at the start of WW2 to increase their war production, and many projects/ships were started well before Pearl Harbour.

  • @XieRH1988
    @XieRH19888 ай бұрын

    In 2005, wargame exercises demonstrated the capability of a swedish gotland-class submarine to sink a US nimitz-class carrier. It didn’t mean that carriers were now suddenly obsolete, it just meant that the US had to relook at its anti-submarine warfare strategy to deal with stealthy diesel subs. Everything in military is always an arms race. Any weapon designed to kill aircraft carriers will eventually end up having something to counter it as well.

  • @strykrpinoy

    @strykrpinoy

    8 ай бұрын

    That also served as a wake up call to revive the ASW program which was minimized in 1999. I never understood why the moved away from it when they were so gung ho about Soviet attack boats for decades.

  • @lestermarshall6501

    @lestermarshall6501

    8 ай бұрын

    @@strykrpinoy According to some people when the Soviet Union fell it was the end of history. A lot of politicians believed that and congress controls spending.

  • @Werrf1

    @Werrf1

    8 ай бұрын

    Carriers are _routinely_ 'sunk' in exercises. That's because the exercises are designed to identify weaknesses in specific systems, not to just "let the good guys win" every time. That's how _Russia_ runs its exercises, not NATO. In NATO exercises, Bluefor routinely loses, because you learn best by failure.

  • @Pushing_Pixels

    @Pushing_Pixels

    8 ай бұрын

    Subs are the biggest danger to carriers. They can pop up anywhere, including right next to them. There's no defence against a salvo of heavy torpedos launched at close range. Sure, the sub will be toast afterwards, but so will the carrier.

  • @joshs.5937

    @joshs.5937

    8 ай бұрын

    Gotland class move at 5 knots on AIP, and lack the range to do deep water patrols. That exercise is only valid if a carrier happens to run right into a sitting sub while for some infathomable reason choosing to operate in littoral waters. Its very unlikely in the expansive pacific ocean.

  • @Redisia
    @Redisia8 ай бұрын

    I can see drone carrier ships becoming a thing... smaller but with tons of high tech drones.

  • @thingamabob3902

    @thingamabob3902

    8 ай бұрын

    accompanied and protected by remote controlled ocean going swimming AA-drones or their equivalent as do destroyers/cruisers now ... an expendable protection screen controlled by the carrier

  • @kamilpotato3764

    @kamilpotato3764

    8 ай бұрын

    And I can See pin point direct energy weapons being used against those, drones, hypersonic missiles

  • @magnem1043

    @magnem1043

    8 ай бұрын

    dosent have to be high tech, low tech hulks filled with cheap drones could be effective in its own way

  • @cesaravegah3787

    @cesaravegah3787

    8 ай бұрын

    Turkey Is already building one of those bases on an helicopter carrier.

  • @Redisia

    @Redisia

    8 ай бұрын

    @@kamilpotato3764The concept of a rail gun can be used to puncture any ship or missile... including aircraft carriers

  • @wfjr997
    @wfjr9976 ай бұрын

    I was on the USS Kitty Hawk back when it was new. And I can tell you it was the safest place on the planet.

  • @williamfankboner4206
    @williamfankboner42064 ай бұрын

    I was surprised Chris made no mention of Aegis Combat System and SPY-1 radar which are critical to a task group's air defense.

  • @rossjamison8888
    @rossjamison88888 ай бұрын

    A friend of mine was working on the development of the phalanx gun. This was at general dynamics in Pomona Calif. they had an aluminum target that they were getting the system to track. Then a southern pacific train came by & the unit locked onto the rotating wheels of the engine. If anyone on the train was paying attention, I bet they would have had a very surprised look on their faces. This was sometime in late ‘70’s

  • @paleoph6168
    @paleoph61688 ай бұрын

    Yes, aircraft carriers are big targets. But who said they themselves were defenseless and are undefended by the rest of the fleet?

  • @krisfrederick5001

    @krisfrederick5001

    8 ай бұрын

    They're a "big target" because they're a threat! Lol

  • @vicdiaz5180

    @vicdiaz5180

    8 ай бұрын

    They are really not big targets they have lasers they can shoot missiles down from miles away. Also, a crew of submarines underwater protecting them

  • @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    @ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

    8 ай бұрын

    Bro, it's not Battlefield V. Even with the best air defense, it will eventually run out of missiles and rounds if it's attacked by a barrage of missiles. That's the whole point of SEAD

  • @theangrypenguin3014

    @theangrypenguin3014

    8 ай бұрын

    @@ViolentCabbage-ym7koyou have to overwhelm not on the carrier but it’s entire defense force. That’s like 8 destroyers. 3 cruisers and 5-7 submarines…..it would be less expensive to just send ships at that point

  • @Contractor48

    @Contractor48

    8 ай бұрын

    The first casualty of war is the planning. We have to wait and see on how China fights. The worst part is now that Russia is the enemy, they will definitely give recon info to China. We can’t even shoot them because that would mobilize them to war.

  • @zpowderhound
    @zpowderhound2 ай бұрын

    At the risk of being labeled a nitpicker, the Ford's displacement is not one million tons, but 100,000 tons. That little zero there makes a big difference, in this case. Other than that, great video!

  • @paulsmith1981

    @paulsmith1981

    2 ай бұрын

    It makes it float rather than sink to the bottom.

  • @Saiphes
    @Saiphes6 ай бұрын

    Error correction: There's an article called "Enterprise moves so Newport News Shipbuilding can upgrade 80-year-old pier" that, along with a Nimitz / ford comparison, shows that the carrier shown at Newport News at ~7:00 is actually the decommissioning of the original "Big E" Enterprise on pier 2. Pier 3 is the Kennedy being built according to an USNI article "Ford Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy to Deliver a Year Later"

  • @Saiphes

    @Saiphes

    6 ай бұрын

    Enterprise was not a nimitz, but point stands.

  • @RahmatHidayat09
    @RahmatHidayat098 ай бұрын

    No matter how strong you fleet is. You'll never beat the power of friendship

  • @ZenPepperClub

    @ZenPepperClub

    7 ай бұрын

    Ain't that the bitter truth

  • @jeremyh3567

    @jeremyh3567

    7 ай бұрын

    Absolutely correct, As long as that friend is the US, China, or (maybe) Russia.

  • @hiddenname9809

    @hiddenname9809

    7 ай бұрын

    Wouldn't that be nice? Except not everyone wants to be friends.

  • @Fantabiscuit

    @Fantabiscuit

    7 ай бұрын

    Allies are everything

  • @KevinCovington5453

    @KevinCovington5453

    7 ай бұрын

    I agree. However America is Always READY For The "Friend" Thats Holding A Knife Behind Their Back. Sometimes, We Have Not been As Ready, But We Did Ok. AMERICANS ACTUALLY LIKE IT WHEN YOU PISS US OFF. We Stop Fighting Each Other And Start Kicking Ass.

  • @LeopardplusWindowsUH
    @LeopardplusWindowsUH8 ай бұрын

    As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly but carry a big stick” isn’t any better said than with this vast amount of cold hard steel. Id argue that the range of our stealth fighters and older fuel tankers with no stealth ability (should be changing soon) is the only thing making the carrier obsolete in a war against another super power.

  • @iii-ei5cv

    @iii-ei5cv

    8 ай бұрын

    Stealth fighters don't have as long a range as non stealth That's why the F15 EX exists

  • @VuLamDang

    @VuLamDang

    8 ай бұрын

    @@iii-ei5cv it's more like stealth fighters can't expand their range as much as non-stealth. clean F-35 have more range than clean F-16, but with drop tank F-16 range got further

  • @piotrd.4850

    @piotrd.4850

    8 ай бұрын

    I'd argue that B-2s should be reskinned, re-engined and left in stealth tanker capacity.

  • @plainText384

    @plainText384

    8 ай бұрын

    No shot we would ever have real full on warefare with China (or any other superpower) and NOT have it escalate to full on thermonuclear warfare. Nuclear weapons and ICBMs already made all other forms of direct conflict between superpowers obsolete back in the late 1950's, when ICBMs were developed. The only thing that matters is having enough advanced modern nukes to prevent the enemy from shooting most of them down. Everything else, that the US military does is either A) to enrich the military industrial compex (the people -lobbying- bribing the politicians that approve more and more spending) B) to flex on the haters (China) C) for counterterrorism/ counterinsurgency/ peacekeeping, fighting against significantly less technologically advanced enemies D) to give to Ukraine or Taiwan or any other country we want to help fight our "near peer" enemies. The only reason we are paying to develop this "near peer capability", is because we don't want to give away our newest and best shit, so we need our second best, 10-20 year old shit to be good enough to fight China and Russia. If they develop a 5th gen system, we need a 6th gen system, so that we can give away all of our old 5th gen systems to Taiwan without dipping into the good stuff.

  • @unatco6554

    @unatco6554

    8 ай бұрын

    Hypersonic missiles will make quick work of this carrier considering America has ZERO countermeasures against it. China also has 200x the shipbuilding capacity that America does.

  • @robertamann2093
    @robertamann20936 ай бұрын

    i am not a real sailor. i served as a Registered nurse for Naval Hospital 410, then recalled for Desert Storm Desert Shield. USNS m Mercy TAH-19. i moved hospital supplies mostly. Naval officer's one one was an aide to Admiral Zumwalt. my grandfather my father said the Navy has submarines the rest of the fleet is targets. i read the same sentiment throughout the WWW.

  • @advertisercommerce6990
    @advertisercommerce69907 ай бұрын

    Valuable tool, absolutely. 13 of them is not enough, when you look at the world and all the issues that we face today. 20 or 25 would be a better target number for the U.S. to have in its fleet. IMO.

  • @karenwang313

    @karenwang313

    7 ай бұрын

    And whose going to be paying for all that?

  • @Western_Decline

    @Western_Decline

    6 ай бұрын

    why 25? Why not infinity?😂

  • @imrekalman9044

    @imrekalman9044

    6 ай бұрын

    Most issues the US is facing are created by the US to justify the money transfer to the MIC. Obviously there is not as much profit in securing the southern border, providing affordable housing, healthcare and education as in war war war.

  • @suryatallavarjula3184

    @suryatallavarjula3184

    6 ай бұрын

    @@karenwang313us😭

  • @chrismason6857
    @chrismason68578 ай бұрын

    When I was in Afghanistan there were f-18's in our airspace that had come from an American carrier. It was sailing off the coast of Pakistan. They were transiting over Pakistan, air to air refuelling in theatre, before supporting ground operations. Then they would get more fuel before flying back to the carrier. It’s insane that they essentially sailed a whole airforce in to the region. It would then be replaced with another carrier so that one was always operating. This went on uninterrupted for years. Only the American navy could keep that tempo up. Not to mention how much it must have cost!

  • @vijayarajan3276

    @vijayarajan3276

    8 ай бұрын

    You are right, but Americans were peerless in Afghanistan so their strength have not been tested in a war with someone who can take countermeasures in air and sea. It's alike watching Brazil at their best trashing Singapore in football match.

  • @maximilliancunningham6091

    @maximilliancunningham6091

    8 ай бұрын

    What would be more effective and vulnerable ? 1 supercarrier, or 5 smaller carriers, deployed in diverse locations ?

  • @maartilium

    @maartilium

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@vijayarajan3276America doesn't have a peer. Look at Russia. The entire Russian fleet could be wiped out in 3 days.

  • @vijayarajan3276

    @vijayarajan3276

    7 ай бұрын

    If you say so.

  • @scottfay3553

    @scottfay3553

    7 ай бұрын

    all to fight a few goat jockeys with 80 year old rifles. 20 years 3 trillion dollars and got chased out of afghanistan like woman . What a disgrace! US hasn't won a war in 75 years

  • @epicjourneyman2145
    @epicjourneyman21458 ай бұрын

    I'm an ex- submarine guy and can tell you that aircraft carriers are ridiculously vulnerable to submarine attack. That said, they are great against opponents who don't have a modern submarine force and do have something of a chance if the attack subs in their task force are able to detect submerged enemies before they get in to firing range. In surface warfare, even an overwhelming missile attack has little chance against a modern carrier task force and the cost of such an attack would be in the billions - so no, Iran can't send a bunch of speed boats out to overwhelm it.

  • @kthq

    @kthq

    8 ай бұрын

    My submarine got pictures of men and planes on deck. The Admiral did not believe us so we put a flare on the deck

  • @AB-nu5we

    @AB-nu5we

    8 ай бұрын

    'I'm an ex- submarine guy and can tell you that aircraft carriers are ridiculously vulnerable to submarine attack.' And so we pay you submariners to guard carriers against submarines.

  • @theangrypenguin3014

    @theangrypenguin3014

    8 ай бұрын

    I think that’s because I’m a real scenario the carrier would depend on its escorts to detect submarines and deal with them accordingly. Don’t think a carrier would be operating alone without counter measure against below surface attacks like Virginia class subs or destroyers.

  • @AADP

    @AADP

    8 ай бұрын

    If the soundtrack of Iran start banging, that carrier will be gg

  • @theangrypenguin3014

    @theangrypenguin3014

    8 ай бұрын

    @@AADP lol where’s the rest of the Iran navy again? Oh at the bottom of the sea 🌊

  • @mjorge2565
    @mjorge25657 ай бұрын

    Cappy as a former combat medic as dual military experience I think it’s ok you wearing the. DD 214 sweat shirt , do appreciate your enterprise addressing issues ex mil people can’t get out of their souls . Wanting the best for our country…….!

  • @jamesfriesen191
    @jamesfriesen1916 ай бұрын

    My guess is that the replacement for the carrier will be a highly automated carrier with drones and autonomous aircraft, thereby reducing casualties if it gets sunk. But the power projection capability is one that any superpower needs, so I don't see the ship type goimg anywhere soon.

  • @BMF6889
    @BMF68898 ай бұрын

    While you touched on some of the ways a carrier strike group can defend itself, I think more discussion could have been placed on the Navy's primary means of protection which is to interrupt the enemy's "kill chain". In order for an enemy to hit a moving target over long distances like a ship, the weapon must have the ability to continuously track the target vessel. And in order to do that, the weapon must be continuously updated as to where the target vessel is. The Navy has both classified and unclassified means of interrupting the enemy's kill chain by destroying or otherwise neutralizing the command and control of the missiles, the ability to use radar, the ability to use satellites, and / or the ability to communicate with the missile in flight. On board weapons are really weapons of last resort if the enemy's kill chain can't be broken for some reason.

  • @Taskandpurpose

    @Taskandpurpose

    8 ай бұрын

    Yes I’m going into the “kill chain “ doctrine more in the Zumwalt video I’m working on , I think they’re updating the term to “kill web” to better illustrate the way the new technology works

  • @hyokkim7726

    @hyokkim7726

    8 ай бұрын

    ''the ability to use satellites,...'' Defending the space, and dominating the space should be the highest priority.

  • @mrvwbug4423

    @mrvwbug4423

    8 ай бұрын

    @@hyokkim7726 The DDGs escorting our carriers can shoot down satellites. They have the best missile defense system in the world.

  • @peterisawesomeplease

    @peterisawesomeplease

    8 ай бұрын

    I think this is an oversimplification. Less of one than the video but still problematic. Interrupting kill chains is hard and getting harder. It may require things like like shooting down satellites which would be a massive political escalation because its a strong sign of nuclear warfare. It might also require hitting targets in mainland China. Again a giant political escalation. Truthfully we don't have an independent way to verify how vulnerable carriers are because the needed information is classified(as it should be). It is also not a good idea to trust what the US military says. The US military has a long history of building massively expensive projects of little military value due to pressure from politics or the military industrial complex. We desperately need better oversight organizations that have enough access to classified data to make reasonable determinations but that are also independent of the huge amounts of money involved. But videos about how to create such organizations and even about the organizations that currently exist are boring. But I do really wish videos like these were at least honest. I hate that this video by implication says the ships are not vulnerable rather than stating the obvious that we don't actually know because the data is classified.

  • @hyokkim7726

    @hyokkim7726

    8 ай бұрын

    @@mrvwbug4423 ''They have the best missile defense system in the world.'' Yes, they do. ''The DDGs escorting our carriers can shoot down satellites.'' They can as of now. If you're talking about RIM-161, they are guided by GPS, radar, and infrared. But not the satellites to be coated stealth coating against radar, and infrared, especially radar-lock resistant stealth coating, without radar lock, radar guided missiles are useless; all very recently developed. You can google Hahn Jae Won, stealth, or Jae Won Hahn, stealth.

  • @rubiaragagon7722
    @rubiaragagon77228 ай бұрын

    T and P hit the nail on the head. Aircraft Carriers don’t operate alone and always escorted by its on strike group flotilla. The carrier is the dame of the ball, but there are other guards that ensures that she doesn’t get destroyed.

  • @paulrasmussen8953

    @paulrasmussen8953

    8 ай бұрын

    The only exception was just after 9 11 Enterprise for the only time in her life used all her reactors at once and her escorts could not keep up

  • @Excudebat-gk6pj
    @Excudebat-gk6pj7 ай бұрын

    W O W !!! What more can be said. Your videos never disappoint. Thanks again!

  • @wannabegeek519
    @wannabegeek5196 ай бұрын

    Carriers are very sturdy. It would difficult to sink one, even with large multiple hits. Our dry docks have great difficulty dismantling decommissioned aircraft carriers. Unfortunately, they are needed to carry the jets and their missiles closer to targets. They also serve as a giant "We are here" billboard.

  • @scottn1405

    @scottn1405

    6 ай бұрын

    Multiple hits ar

  • @scottn1405

    @scottn1405

    6 ай бұрын

    E not required. Just a DF26, perhaps mounted on a hypersonic missiles, both of which China has, and Russia likely has such weapons

  • @kwonekstrom2138

    @kwonekstrom2138

    4 ай бұрын

    Only one US super carrier has ever been sunk. The USS America was used as a weapons test target for 4 weeks before they needed to scuttle the ship. I seriously doubt carriers are as easy to sink as people believe. Mission kill likely, sunk vessel… less so

  • @johntowers1213

    @johntowers1213

    3 ай бұрын

    you get the best effect by setting off its own carried ordinance rather than trying to knock a big enough hole in it to sink it directly. the trick is getting to it

  • @starkparker16
    @starkparker168 ай бұрын

    Great to see KZread's best average infantryman covering the best and most important branch.

  • @TRAZ4004

    @TRAZ4004

    8 ай бұрын

    This video is about the Navy not, SPACE FORCE.

  • @starkparker16

    @starkparker16

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@TRAZ4004 I forgot all about the Spacers.

  • @IDBTitanosaurus

    @IDBTitanosaurus

    8 ай бұрын

    🤔 the League of Women Voters?

  • @lucasworden1017

    @lucasworden1017

    8 ай бұрын

    Bold statement from a semen

  • @Seemsayin
    @Seemsayin8 ай бұрын

    For anyone who's never had the opportunity to see one, up close and personal... Never think for a second that even an old aircraft carrier is obsolete. As long as aircraft can take off and land on them... they are BAD ASS. I know this because I served on one of them. And the people who keep them ready are brashly phenomenal. They, like all of our service members, take their jobs seriously. Thank you all for your service! You are appreciated far more than you could know.

  • @protorhinocerator142

    @protorhinocerator142

    8 ай бұрын

    Add to this the fact that US carrier crews have tens of thousands of years of combined experience, all recent, in using carriers during war. Russia and China have no relevant corporate experience using carriers. They would be guessing what to do at first.

  • @jonbbbb

    @jonbbbb

    8 ай бұрын

    Battleships are also badass but they are obsolete. Aircraft carriers as they are right now I think are obsolete for peer or near peer conflicts, but of course like the video mentioned they are adapting. If we get really capable directed energy weapons that can take out swarms of drones and missiles, then aircraft carriers will be given new life. But from what I've heard that's not really on the table.. like one laser I saw in a recent video (not this channel) took 3 seconds to destroy an incoming missile. That's nice, but it's not going to help when China launches 100 missiles at the same time... most of them will get through. I think we're moving into an age where you have to be small, cheap, and distributed to be most effective. And it's perfect timing that we're getting stronger AI to go with that, because protecting people is part of what makes our weapon systems so expensive (e.g. tanks). Without worrying about a crew, it should all get cheaper and more capable at the same time.

  • @SeattlePioneer

    @SeattlePioneer

    8 ай бұрын

    Similar kinds of things might have been said about the Japanese battleship Yamator ----the biggest battleship ever built. But it was sunk without a chance to get in the battle. Suppose the Chinese launch 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 missiles at a US carrier? How many will get through to hit their target?

  • @hkfoo3333

    @hkfoo3333

    8 ай бұрын

    @@protorhinocerator142 Experience? Useful but not critical. Today we do not use grandfathers to use drones, satelites, hypersonics, Quantum communications, etc. US carriers are good for 3rd world countries but really useless in the age of hypersonic missiles . A real superpower does not mean one has lots of carriers but rather its people, disciplined , organisation, production capacity, tech level and dedication ... are qualities not many countries have . China is truly one of them. Just look how prepared they were when they were bio attacked with covid and in days detected , and in days organised brigades of doctors , and in days built hospitals, face mask by the millions...are just an indication.

  • @johnpoindexter6594

    @johnpoindexter6594

    8 ай бұрын

    Very well said....

  • @brianfoley4328
    @brianfoley43287 ай бұрын

    The USS Carney intercepting and shooting down three ballistic missiles with SM-2 missiles puts an entirely new light on the Fleet's ability to defend against missile attacks.

  • @SlvrWlf88
    @SlvrWlf887 ай бұрын

    As somebody who lives and works in the Newport News shipyard besides the cost of a ships and servicemen the contractors and everybody Al's there's a lot more money than you think but man these things have a hell of security

  • @JessSimpson1313
    @JessSimpson13138 ай бұрын

    13:45 im glad the Navy has been trying to improve Enlisted Berthings. I served from 2003-2010 and the berthings make or break an assignment. My first berthing was a 100+ man on USS Nimitz & my second was an 80 man on an older LPD and it too really sucked, but after I made 1st class and was moved to thr 9man first class berthing life underway was way better.

  • @scottsluggosrule4670
    @scottsluggosrule46708 ай бұрын

    Instead of sending 70 planes we could send 10,000 drones to protect you.. I think the time of ships is limited and probably a waste of money.

  • @02suraditpengsaeng41

    @02suraditpengsaeng41

    8 ай бұрын

    Then drone have range Which carrier also would take care of them for range

  • @UncleRico-vc4yx
    @UncleRico-vc4yx7 ай бұрын

    Love your content!

  • @frankhoffman3566
    @frankhoffman35666 ай бұрын

    Since WWII carriers have traveled with the mentioned escort ships. Not only are the Ford carrier's defensive capabilities mostly classified, but the defenses of escort ships are also classified. I doubt one can analyze the survivability of carriers in a youtube video.

  • @shnawdude03
    @shnawdude038 ай бұрын

    The carrier is a formidable weapon platform. It’s not just the hardware, it’s the grit and resolve of her crew.

  • @sesquipedalian6278
    @sesquipedalian62788 ай бұрын

    Amazed by how far this channel has grown

  • @luckynyaa2826

    @luckynyaa2826

    8 ай бұрын

    Lockheed Martin and usa mic paying youtube big money for promotion.

  • @TheLegendaryGentleman

    @TheLegendaryGentleman

    8 ай бұрын

    why? since SMA this channel has been flooded with MIC money

  • @ronaldclifton8710
    @ronaldclifton87106 ай бұрын

    Building 11 more multi-billion-dollar aircraft carriers seems like too many. There's no doubt that one carrier battle group is a priceless asset. But, there are too many newer technologies being designed to neutralize them. It makes that number seem extremely over-ambitious.

  • @vgatorfl92

    @vgatorfl92

    6 ай бұрын

    Until one is destroyed your point is mute

  • @alberthowe7895
    @alberthowe78955 ай бұрын

    As part of Florida Public Health Preparedness we planned on US Carrier responses to large geographical area disaster response like flooding of South Florida due to Lake Okeechobee levy breaches and South Florida hurricane flooding.

  • @Ormusn2o
    @Ormusn2o8 ай бұрын

    Carriers were always vulnerable. That is why carriers always had 10-50 support ships defending them since carriers were invented. They are worth it.

  • @wbiro
    @wbiro4 ай бұрын

    It will be in no sooner that 20 years, the time it will take to improve missile/drone/swarm technology that can defeat it, though that is not considering arms race countermeasures, which could extend its practicality for many more years.

  • @jakobneubert6801
    @jakobneubert6801Ай бұрын

    Cappy, a V2 could tell more about defensive measures against optical and radar guided missiles?

  • @sebsunda
    @sebsunda8 ай бұрын

    They were ALWAYS big floating targets... That is why they are ALWAYS part of a fleet so it can protect it. To be fair, I think the doctrine of the aircraft carrier group is very good because of their flexibility & modularity. (Both the elements of the group protecting it & the Aircraft carrier itself)

  • @fibber2u

    @fibber2u

    8 ай бұрын

    Yes you are correct on both points in my view. It has been the case that a nuke from a ship, submarine, aircraft or missile has been able to take out a carrier for many decades. They got sunk on a regular basis in WW2 by conventional means but for sure they were very useful.

  • @anydaynow01

    @anydaynow01

    8 ай бұрын

    A carrier in WWIII, is about as useful as a battleship in WWII. Orbit is the new high ground.

  • @fibber2u

    @fibber2u

    8 ай бұрын

    I believe space is every bit as vulnerable as the ground, probably more so. In WW6, (3 if you like) the amongst the first things to go are satellites and the mess caused may make it impossible to relaunch and maitain up there new ones for some time. All warfare involves the struggle between defence and offence. We do not know how good defence against hypersonic missiles will become but to be sure it is a priority in research. The Tank was obviously obsolete in 1916, close to useless in fact but it's still here.

  • @SHOE53

    @SHOE53

    8 ай бұрын

    People they a thing call super sonic rocket Russian has it so do the Chinese U S is working on one but don't have it yet there no way to defend against it so any ship is just sitting duck don't care how many carrier you got this is not 1943 or 2019 it whole new game!

  • @fibber2u

    @fibber2u

    8 ай бұрын

    @@SHOE53 The HYPERSONIC weapon has to be accurate and long enough ranged to hit a moving ship in the middle of the ocean. They don't have either capability yet. You don't seem to have noticed the Russian one does not work very well in an actual war. However the American Patriot System is working and improvements on it are under developement.

  • @OrdinaryDude
    @OrdinaryDude8 ай бұрын

    For the sake of accuracy, if you zoom in on the Newport News shipyards, you don't see two Ford class carriers under construction; you see ONE Ford class and the decommissioned CVN-65 USS Enterprise. If you go into 3D mode you can clearly see the "65" on the super structure. (And that it's not placed as far back as the Ford class design.)

  • @uncapat6311
    @uncapat63116 ай бұрын

    Unmanned ships launching uav's using remote pilots and ai would be far cheaper and safer than any current configuration of any ship. The uav's could even land back on the ships to be automatically refuelled and rearmed by machines, probably even be repaired as well with no humans there to be at risk. Make the ships small enough so that any loss would not be disastrous, as the loss of a carrier would be.

  • @R3NOV8
    @R3NOV87 ай бұрын

    Chris, I enjoy your videos and I watch them every time I get a chance. Which is why I feel the need to correct you on one thing. The Moskva was not sunk by drones, it was sunk by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship missiles. I hope this helps and thanks for all the awesome content! P.S. The Neptune is a radically modified Soviet Kh-35 missile. It was developed closely in collaboration with our Western allies. So you could definitely say that the US played a big role in sinking the Russian Black Sea flagship.

  • @chriswong9158

    @chriswong9158

    6 ай бұрын

    Correction, Chris was correct, for those two Neptune anti-ship missiles boats were remote operated aka drones.

  • @allansmith3837

    @allansmith3837

    6 ай бұрын

    No it was sunk by the British SBS. Not Ukraine every one with the Brain capacity off a stick insect knows this.

  • @geronim00

    @geronim00

    4 ай бұрын

    @@chriswong9158wat?

  • @beardmonster8051
    @beardmonster80518 ай бұрын

    I have no idea whether new aircraft carriers are a worthwhile investment or not, but I had expected to hear an analysis of the threat from below. In simulated combat between a single Swedish sub (the HSMS Gotland) and the entire USS Ronald Reagan taskforce, the Swedish sub was never detected and could deliver a simulated lethal blow against the carrier at every attempt. I don't know what capabilities carriers have acquired since and what capacities potential enemy subs may have, but this kind of threat is definitely something worth taking into account.

  • @sichere

    @sichere

    8 ай бұрын

    Swedish subs are state of the art and far more advanced or capable than those of many other Navies. The Royal Navy often "Sink" US Aircraft Carriers in exercises but NATO knows where all the Russian Subs are at all times. If Sweden were to go to war with America then HSMS Gotland and her chums would be taking on more than one US Aircraft carrier battlegroup.

  • @beardmonster8051

    @beardmonster8051

    8 ай бұрын

    @@sichere I'm not imagining a war between Sweden and the US. I'm just saying that since that kind of technology has proven to be highly effective against carriers, it should be worth considering when you discuss pros and cons of carriers, whether any conceivable foe has that capability right now or not.

  • @sichere

    @sichere

    8 ай бұрын

    @@beardmonster8051 There are no foes with that capability or balls. Operating Submarines is an art the West excels at. and they are constantly developing and adapting them with allies to keep it that way. The Royal Nay task force lost some major ships during the Falklands conflict in1982 but kept the carriers just out of reach from the enemy and remained highly effective.

  • @f1reguy587

    @f1reguy587

    8 ай бұрын

    Doesnt the csg get reduced capability during these tests aswell, even though i understand the idea a sub has great capabilities, its gotta find the US fleet and i assume at that point it wouldnt be able to do or say much without being noticed. I also dont want to buy the idea that “the US wont be at war with Sweden” although i firmly believe that is true, i prefer to think that an adversary (or even a US) sub can get into a firing solution. Thats the alarm, however it eventuated. What we dont know anything about is what the ships behave like after a hit, and how many ships have to be out of active service before the carrier is exposed. Yet with a max of 220 sorties per day one could presume that more aircraft would get into the air to fill the early warning aspects. Plus any rescue options.

  • @beardmonster8051

    @beardmonster8051

    8 ай бұрын

    @@f1reguy587 You can read about the exercises yourself. They took place from 2005, and the US was alarmed enough by the results to hire the sub for an extended period of time to try to figure out ways to counter it. At the time, the anti-sub escort ships didn't stand a chance.

  • @cameronb6498
    @cameronb64987 ай бұрын

    The iron dome was effective until there were more offensive rockets than defensive rockets, a massive rocket spam accompanied by hundreds of drones flying in lower than the carrier deck could absolutely be a threat.

  • @chriswong9158

    @chriswong9158

    6 ай бұрын

    Yes, proving ground in Ukraine.. today the Capital of Ukraine is rocketed day & light with no defensive system in site

  • @imrekalman9044

    @imrekalman9044

    6 ай бұрын

    The Soviets already planned using saturation attack against carriers back in the 60's. That's why these carriers are only good against countries that cannot actually fight back. Iran, China or Russia surely could.

  • @bigglesharrumpher4139

    @bigglesharrumpher4139

    6 ай бұрын

    @@chriswong9158 Pretty sure they have layered air defence systems around Kyiv - Patriots and Iris-T etc....

  • @creolecajun9988

    @creolecajun9988

    6 ай бұрын

    US has recently mounted 300 killo watt lazers to all its war ships that will make mints meat of thousands of rockets which would also mean all our war which no country on earth wants all our war with US

  • @alexorehowski3387

    @alexorehowski3387

    6 ай бұрын

    @@bigglesharrumpher4139 Since Kiev regime made it a criminal offence to publish any war related pictures from Ukraine on social media, it is hard to estimate actual Ukrainian loses. You will get 10 years in prison for posting a picture of Russian missile hit.

  • @robbycook4298
    @robbycook42986 ай бұрын

    6:59- Aircraft carriers have the most sophisticated air defenses on the planet….and they never travel alone…they are with a full fleet that all have their own capabilities. The goal of a carrier is to get planes within range and provide cover support as needed…it’s an air craft carrier for a reason. The people that talk against it, don’t understand how it is used in combat or it’s capabilities.

  • @twelvestitches984
    @twelvestitches9844 ай бұрын

    The Moskva was hit by two US made harpoon missiles that the US gave to Ukraine. We just told them to say it was their own Neptune missiles. In a war against China we would use the B-21 Raider, cruise missiles (regular and anti-ship), Space Force assets, and F-35's flown from Japan/South Korea. Anti-sub operations would have to be conducted before the US carriers could get close enough to China so the carriers would not be the first to fight. In the 70's we had many different aircraft, each with it's own mission. So we would have 90 aircraft on our carriers. Now, they typically carry 40 F-18's, 2 C-2, 2 E-2, and 2 helo's but with the smaller F-35 a carrier could hold over 100 aircraft.

  • @edreusser4741
    @edreusser47418 ай бұрын

    During the Vietnam War, I was stationed on the USS Coral Sea, CVA-43. There were 47 other ships in our task force, which included every type of ship you can imagine. When people say that these ships are the safest place to be, they are correct. It would be incredibly difficult to stick one of these ships.

  • @volvo145

    @volvo145

    8 ай бұрын

    Yet alone, Swedish submarine sank the Ronald Reagan multiple times in 2005 and exercises outside of West Coast. Yes it’s not past the carrier, strike group and all the screening ships etc. and torpedoed the carrier to hell. and yes, even managed to sneak it back out without being detected go to that type of sub. The strike group are vulnerable.

  • @TheStephaneAdam

    @TheStephaneAdam

    8 ай бұрын

    @@volvo145 ... You really should read up on those exercises before spouting that BS. The Carriers were severely limited in what they were allowed to do to defend themselves.

  • @deriznohappehquite

    @deriznohappehquite

    8 ай бұрын

    @@TheStephaneAdam People don’t understand that training exercises are for training, not for predictive simulation purposes.

  • @Nesstor01

    @Nesstor01

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@volvo145And yet, it was a training exercise. Good thing the Swedes are allies and better hope the Swedes don't get pulled into a hot conflict.

  • @TheStephaneAdam

    @TheStephaneAdam

    8 ай бұрын

    @@Nesstor01 Dude. Stop. You're giving me second-hand cringing so bad it's painful. Do your own serious research instead of relying on "alternative" news sites serving as mouthpieces for the Kremlin.

  • @kyleglenn2434
    @kyleglenn24348 ай бұрын

    When I found out the Nimitz class had communication cables that would be cut by the watertight doors,I figured it was time for new carriers. Still didn't answer the question about a swarm of missiles.

  • @chriswong9158

    @chriswong9158

    6 ай бұрын

    How many have forgotten about the 1980's Islas Malvinas War. How carrier(s) turn at first site so call missiles.

  • @ADAMSMASHRR
    @ADAMSMASHRR4 ай бұрын

    I forget what the specific time period was, but there was a time

  • @brodie29a
    @brodie29a4 ай бұрын

    They way I look at it a carrier group is no more vulnerable than an overseas base especially an Air Force base (kinda hard to hide a runway lol). At least with a carrier group you can have the 3 main branches of any military (land, ground and sea) to anywhere in the world in mater of days, can’t do that with a land base. Plus the navy is kinda set up perfectly to be the branch to show force given they can sit anywhere for months, and that’s pretty intimidating seeing a massive fleet of toys and that’s only 25% of all the toys the us has, then you realize that they still have 3 more branches not far behind the navy all with there toys and very gear to use them.

  • @TywinLannister0

    @TywinLannister0

    Ай бұрын

    The cost of building an Air Force base can range from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, depending on various factors. For example, a busy Department of Defense installation that spans over 125,000 acres can cost around $1.1 billion, while a smaller base like Fort Wainwright in Alaska can cost around $600 million. n 2016, the military services allocated $25 billion to base operations support (BOS). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzes the relationship between the characteristics of bases and the mission of the units they serve, and the BOS costs. For example, the CBO found that in 2016, BOS costs increased by $1,000 for each employee added to bases with 25,000 or more employees, but they increased by $14,000 at bases with 5,000 or fewer employees. The cost of living on base depends on whether the housing is government-owned or privatized. If the housing is government-owned, service members don't pay rent. If the housing is privatized, service members receive a Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) in their paycheck to pay for rent and utilities. The amount of BAH is determined by rank, pay grade, geographic location, and dependents.

  • @theylied1776
    @theylied17768 ай бұрын

    Does China have the world's largest navy? Yes. But in perspective... China has the world's Largest Navy in the same way that Hot Wheels is the world's largest car manufacturer.

  • @locoman888

    @locoman888

    7 ай бұрын

    Cute but the Chinese don't want carriers they want and have hypersonics that are a grave danger to carriers.

  • @theylied1776

    @theylied1776

    7 ай бұрын

    @@locoman888 Our destroyers and battleships alone can destroy China's entire Navy. China has zero modern warfare experience, the United States has over 100 years. The United States defeated both the German Navy and the Japanese Navy at the same time. In the Atlantic and the Pacific! When it comes to Naval warfare, China wouldn't last 6 months against the United States.

  • @theylied1776

    @theylied1776

    7 ай бұрын

    @@locoman888 No, China does not have "hypersonic missiles". China tends to lie about their military equipment. No one has independently verified that China has a hypersonic missile. China just like Russia made that claim. But as the world found out, with russia, their so-called hypersonic missile turned out to be nothing more than a modified cruise missile.

  • @David-ic5nu

    @David-ic5nu

    7 ай бұрын

    Never underestimate the enemy.

  • @theylied1776

    @theylied1776

    7 ай бұрын

    @@David-ic5nu Winnie the Pooh is firing all of his top generals and he's arresting CEOs of corporations. The two functioning aircraft carriers that China have had to be towed back to their ports by tugboats. I'm not underestimating China.

  • @georgepalmer5497
    @georgepalmer54978 ай бұрын

    I've heard it said that there is nothing more expensive than a second best air force. I guess that applies to naval air power too. But just because it is feasible that a carrier can be destroyed doesn't mean we are indifferent to the possibility. Let's do everything we can to protect our carriers.

  • @michaelchen8643
    @michaelchen86432 ай бұрын

    The aircraft carriers in regards to China can be deployed as a rear logistics, vessel varying combat aircraft to move forward, places like maybe smaller islands from which they can land and takeoff and get refueled Although this isn’t the main purpose of the carrier, it does allow for forward deployment and reduced exposure to saturation missile attacks This is how I see them being used so they will be there for power projection, but in a diffused way I also know there are unman robotic ships that can make a lot of noise and appear like a carrier

  • @keithculvahouse1191
    @keithculvahouse1191Ай бұрын

    I see aircraft carriers as a nessasary part of protecting the peace. I don't see any other option yet. It may be time for us to consider having second carrier in some task forces and even consider building a drone carrier to assist our main carriers.

  • @TheActionBastard
    @TheActionBastard8 ай бұрын

    I am not really sure people understand the concept of "obsolete" vs "vulnerable"... obsolete would mean we found something better that fills the same role and offers the same capabilities we had before. Like... if you need to move air power to a place you have no bases to operate from (it's a big planet and fuel tanks are not infinite like in games) the carrier simply has no replacement. "Just shoot missiles!" isn't always the way to accomplish the mission. Maybe the missiles cant get close enough to penetrate air defenses? Launch them closer from a stealth aircraft and suddenly they're almost all the way to the target before being fired and have a far better hit probability. There just is not an option to replace the carrier. Period. Call me when there is one and then we can call it "obsolete" like... the horse and cart are obsolete. We have cars. Smoke signals are obsolete. We have telephones. Getting it? Seeing the pattern?

  • @markpukey8

    @markpukey8

    8 ай бұрын

    That's an excellent distinction. And yeah, carriers are still far from "obsolete".

  • @ulforcemegamon3094

    @ulforcemegamon3094

    8 ай бұрын

    I also feel that is a thing with tank , are tanks vulnerable to drones , rpgs and artillery ? Yes , are they obsolete ?, no

  • @axthelm

    @axthelm

    8 ай бұрын

    at 2:48 the real debate was hinted at. It isn't 'are carriers obsolete', but 'are LARGE carriers obsolete'? Can we get the same capabilities from having more smaller carriers that don't attempt to do everything all at once. e.g. we already have the missile systems on cruisers, Aegis combat systems on destroyers, missile platform subs. If we put the supply duties onto a helicopter carrier, the drone duties onto a small carrier (that doesn't need such a heavy launch system), and make a mid-sized carrier work for the rest of the planes, do we really need a massive 9 to 13 billion dollar ship?

  • @gjoinolywa5850

    @gjoinolywa5850

    8 ай бұрын

    Obsolete means they aren’t worth $13b b/c an opponent can spend a couple hundred million to sink them. Economics is a thing in warfare.

  • @markpukey8

    @markpukey8

    8 ай бұрын

    @@gjoinolywa5850But that has not been proven. You have to ACTUALLY SINK ONE before you can make that argument. And I will point out the the US Government literally NUKED one back in the 50's and failed to sink it! They are designed to be hit by bombs! It's not your grandma's rowboat, it's a warship that is expected to be hit by missiles and bombs and keep fighting! I can see an attacker doing a lot of damage to one. If you send enough cruise missiles, some of them will get through. But will it be enough to actually put the carrier out of action? Maybe, but the US Navy does not think so. I can PROMISE YOU that they already know more about the survivability of their carriers than you or I do, and they know a lot more about how much damage any possible enemies missiles might do than you or I do. Also the argument has to include the value of being able to position a complete air force off an opponents coast. We've gotten tens of billions of value in international affairs from these carriers over the years already. If you sank one tomorrow, it still paid for itself in other situations.

  • @nigelbagguley7606
    @nigelbagguley76068 ай бұрын

    Don't forget carrier protection has come a long way from 1982 when the Royal Navy flew helicopters off the bow and stern of Invincible and Hermes transmitting a carrier sized radar signal.Isnt the cost doubled when you add in the missile cruisers and destroyers.

  • @abramsalinas1004
    @abramsalinas10046 ай бұрын

    Might as well say all navies of every country are as well. The high commanders are not ignorant to this fact. A ship's defense ability doesn't need to be broadcast to for all to know. The ones that need to know, know. It's been known since fleets have existed.

  • @brenly7054
    @brenly70544 ай бұрын

    So what if they have missles that are beyond hypersonic how do you track and shoot it down

  • @331SVTCobra
    @331SVTCobra8 ай бұрын

    Carriers are the linchpin of a task force that has multiple layers of defense and various flexible offensive capabilities. It sounds like the "sail away" cost of a Ford class is $8B, which is far more attractive than the $13B for the lead ship. Since WW3 is currently underway I hope the navy continues to operate all its Nimitz ships and bring them all to a high level of readiness. And then keeps them in active reserve for another quarter century.

  • @jimmcfarland9318
    @jimmcfarland93188 ай бұрын

    The level(s) of organization required to conceive, procure, manufacture and sail is beyond amazing! Thanks for this!

  • @chriswong9158

    @chriswong9158

    6 ай бұрын

    and yet, the energy to conceive, procure and manufacture could not be better use for mankind. America will soon have three "Ford Class" carriers and yet, not a single high speed rail system in site in US. Wow..

  • @TheJhtlag

    @TheJhtlag

    6 ай бұрын

    @@chriswong9158 not entirely true, high speed rail in Florida and other projects ramping up. Late, but it's beginning to happen.

  • @_R-R
    @_R-R7 ай бұрын

    One big factor in the carrier debate that a lot of people overlook is the Air Wing, a carrier's reason for existence. Debates should focus on the aircraft, not the ship.

  • @davedixon2068

    @davedixon2068

    4 ай бұрын

    Chicken and egg argument! The ship needs the aircraft to exist, the aircraft need the ship to exist, both together you have the weapon system, take one away you have a very , very reduced capability which may or may not be useful.

  • @paulfisher3e
    @paulfisher3e4 ай бұрын

    It is hard to think of a major weapons system that someone has not claimed to be obsolete 😅

  • @12Agonzo
    @12Agonzo8 ай бұрын

    Did two tours on a carrier as a LDO. Finding a Carrier Battlegroup in the open ocean is hard. We made an EMCON transit (radiating zero radars and depending on the E-2's for our eyes) from San Diego to the Philippines and the Russians never found us and they launched two Bears every day looking for us. We finally radiated our search radars two days out from the PI and the bears flew to us. Even with RORSATS it's hard to locate a CVBG.

  • @ArpanMukhopadhyay93

    @ArpanMukhopadhyay93

    8 ай бұрын

    Russians don't have military satellites. China has. Russia is nothing in terms of mil capabilities, just a lot of noise

  • @MLaak86

    @MLaak86

    8 ай бұрын

    Also I would suspect that a CVBG in wartime would be substantially beefed up vs the force projection groups we see.

  • @custossecretus5737

    @custossecretus5737

    7 ай бұрын

    I always thought carriers had Russian civilian spy ships following them “telltails”. Plus them being easy to see from satellites due to their wake and KZreadrs giving away their area of operations on a daily basis. Sure that all might change in time of war, but wars these days are fought by proxy and any direct attack from Russia or China would start with a surprise strike on the carriers within reach, conventionally or unconventionally.

  • @garynew9637

    @garynew9637

    7 ай бұрын

    Carriers run out of avgas in a week.

  • @leaonardland9001

    @leaonardland9001

    7 ай бұрын

    Computers on satellites can easily find them.

  • @sombra6153
    @sombra61538 ай бұрын

    Nobody else has invest anywhere near the effort into carriers that we have. A few have put effort to developing weapons to counter them, but we’ve also been doing the same thing. Our biggest vulnerability is from within, not from whatever firepower or enemies can scrape up. Anyway, carriers, fast heavily armed frigate and destroyers, and silent subs.

  • @EnglishScripter

    @EnglishScripter

    8 ай бұрын

    Believe the British have put more into the development of Carriers. I mean with the VTOL, the slanted runway. They even had the first carrier. HMS Argus.

  • @cinemasurge1851

    @cinemasurge1851

    7 ай бұрын

    @@EnglishScripterno one has more research into carriers than the us but id say China in the next 3 years will have more and better carriers than the Uk

  • @scottfay3553

    @scottfay3553

    7 ай бұрын

    and they still cant stop a single Russian Khinzal missile

  • @EnglishScripter

    @EnglishScripter

    7 ай бұрын

    China gets all there technology from Old British and Russian Carriers. I doubt it.@@cinemasurge1851

  • @fluffymuffin9089

    @fluffymuffin9089

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@scottfay3553lmao ...remember at Ukraine? Your Khinzal missile just over hype! Got shotdown by some old patriot missile. Lol

  • @roblowe9283
    @roblowe92837 ай бұрын

    Awesome Job

  • @rudolphhohnenberg2809
    @rudolphhohnenberg28094 ай бұрын

    It is not obsolete. only that it must be protected by a much more advanced anti-missile system. Part of a project I designed many years ago was to track the source of a missile and destroy that source, instead of just trying to nullify the hit of a rocket. That idea has to be implemented.

  • @DerrickLanders-bg8wc

    @DerrickLanders-bg8wc

    4 ай бұрын

    Ummm, they already do that with counter-artillery fire on land....why would it be so hard to have satellites look for heat blooms and track the missiles - we have that capability now.

  • @ADHDgonewild7
    @ADHDgonewild78 ай бұрын

    The carriers are not a waste of money. The current method of designing and building ships is. Between the design flaws found here, the littoral and Zumwalt class ships…something has to change on a fundamental level

  • @michaelccozens

    @michaelccozens

    8 ай бұрын

    I suspect you think you're saying some Thucydides didn't say 2 500 years ago. I don't think you are.

  • @ADHDgonewild7

    @ADHDgonewild7

    8 ай бұрын

    @@michaelccozens I’m not even sure what you are trying to say

  • @michaelccozens

    @michaelccozens

    8 ай бұрын

    @@ADHDgonewild7 Did you try to find out? You can look up "Thucydides" on the device in your hand.

  • @georgewong8128
    @georgewong81288 ай бұрын

    If aircraft carriers are obsolete, why does everyone seem to want one? Russia clings on to its one remaining carrier even if it painfully needs to be scrapped and keeps promising a new one. China wants to build a fleet of them to rival the US. Even Turkey and South Korea are planning to build their own. Aircraft carriers are platforms for other systems; until you can replaced that platform that does the same job, carriers are staying.

  • @protorhinocerator142

    @protorhinocerator142

    8 ай бұрын

    China has no purpose for a carrier. They don't have the duty of keeping global free trade open. If China were stupid enough to use a carrier against the US or its allies it would be sunk quickly. They can't afford a carrier group. Xi sees a big toy and thinks it's the answer. He should really look into WHY the USA uses carriers and not stop at realizing they exist.

  • @SilverforceX

    @SilverforceX

    8 ай бұрын

    Just like the 20s and 30s, when every great nation wanted Battleships for status. Despite the fact they were already obsolete by then.

  • @John-qb3ss
    @John-qb3ss5 ай бұрын

    I served on intrepid and I've noticed the new nuke carriers have two rudders. Instead of one I believe the new nuke carrier are a great deal fAster I bet the new ones will do a least 50 knots if not faster highly maneuverable. Hard target to hit

  • @mcraiderking5690
    @mcraiderking56906 ай бұрын

    Dude, we couldn’t even sink our own aircraft carrier the USS Oriskany, after beating the sh*t out of it for weeks. We eventually had to use professional demolitionist to sink it.

  • @johntowers1213

    @johntowers1213

    3 ай бұрын

    To be fair they did empty out all the explody stuff first...which kinda makes a difference in situations like this.. its the difference between setting a firecracker off in the palm of your hand than trying it again with a closed fist.

  • @robertwarden8408
    @robertwarden84088 ай бұрын

    Very informative. This channel is probably the best source of military news for the public. (It's also good to see some favorable safety information concerning carriers; they used to be some of the most dangerous on a day-to-day basis!🙂)

  • @Skeptic2244

    @Skeptic2244

    8 ай бұрын

    These guys are propagandist for the military industrial complex

  • @deansmits006

    @deansmits006

    8 ай бұрын

    That's kind of sad if true. He really just puts out lighter news, not deep-drive, which is fine. And does it with self-deprecating humor. Even better. Chieftain goes into detail, for just tank related things usually

  • @thereallocke8065
    @thereallocke80658 ай бұрын

    I think whenever somebody says "X piece of equipment is obsolete because it's too vulnerable" just ask them what out there can perform that role but better or how has the battle space changed to make the capability not important. An average infantryman has been vulnerable since before agriculture but until we figure out battle droids we still need guys taking trenches and buildings and just going around doing all that fiddly stuff humans can do

  • @user-ot3wq2ru5d

    @user-ot3wq2ru5d

    8 ай бұрын

    thing is, now there is nothing to perform that role, carriers are just a big target on a war against china, they can't perform a role there. carriers still can project power against africa and other parts of the global south tho (unless russia arms them with anti ship missiles not far fetched after ukraine)

  • @thereallocke8065

    @thereallocke8065

    8 ай бұрын

    @@user-ot3wq2ru5d so the change will be in tactics. We're already seeing just that fighters with longer ranges drone refueling. Better ewar. The assumption that the piece of equipment is invulnerable is the problem. It's like infantry. We've seen infantry change how they fight repeatedly and we problem aren't at the final evolution. New threats pop up. The enemy can hit them from further away. But that role hasn't changed. And so far we don't have a way to mobly deploy fighters. A carrier can just show up and launch them vs having to forward deploy them to islands which are already super dialed in targets. A carrier can be anywhere

  • @awesomeocelot5379

    @awesomeocelot5379

    8 ай бұрын

    The capabilities argument doesn't make sense in a time of war. How much capability does the missile ship the moskva have? When fighting a war, attrition, logitstics, and economics will come in to play. The role of an infantryman has changed, his effect on the battlefield has changed, his value has changed. Aircraft carriers are for peace time projection, a near peer with several options to take them out, is going to take them out of play. The argument isn't that we don't want the capabilities, it's we want to diversify to sustain and protect those capabilities in a cost effective manner.

  • @thereallocke8065

    @thereallocke8065

    8 ай бұрын

    @@awesomeocelot5379 the moskova shouldn't have sank. It sank because the Russians had done everything wrong already. Their sensors were shit. Their emergency systems were shit. Most of it wasn't in good working order. Carriers don't deploy alone and no American carrier is going to be in that state of disrepair. We agre the moskova sank but does that mean that missile cruisers are obsolete? No. If a helicopter is shot down does that mean helicopters are obsolete? What is the better option for quickly deploying massed air power? Relying solely on land bases won't be enough. Obviously next gen air force fighters are trying to have longer range but it doesn't matter if your craft gets killed on the ground. So there's also an arms race when it comes to surface to air missiles and all that fun stuff. Seems like the solution is protect them better. Carriers replaced battle ships because they could command larger areas of sea. Not because they were invulnerable

  • @jackreacher.
    @jackreacher.6 ай бұрын

    14:58 ''...went out....''; It's nice to know that anybody who wants to know now knows what I would prefer them not to know.

  • @williamwilliam
    @williamwilliam7 ай бұрын

    We can supposed it will kinda difficult for aircrafts to takeoff from the Carrier if there is a large hole in the center of the deck.

  • @cnawan
    @cnawan8 ай бұрын

    Neat. This is the first time I've heard of Electric Reactive Armor, or the Nulka anti-missile decoy. I wonder what Electronic Warfare capabilities we'll also see from ground based vehicles in the future considering the rise of drones in combat.

  • @thomasrodgers2291
    @thomasrodgers22918 ай бұрын

    The funny thing about ney Sayers is the fact that the reason China is focusing so much on anti carrier weaponry, is because of how much of a threat the carrier imposes against china itself. That alone speaks volume for the reason of having our carriers still. There will always be a threat to them, and that threat will increase, but in a carrier group, the carrier is well protected...

  • @jakleo337

    @jakleo337

    8 ай бұрын

    Also chy-nuh is building it's own super carriers, so they think the idea is valid.

  • @davekeating5867

    @davekeating5867

    8 ай бұрын

    I think the point is aircraft carriers are only effective as an offensive weapon if they can get their aircraft in striking range of the enemy. Because China is focusing on tactics to keep aircraft carriers out of range of China is not an argument to keep putting money and resources into aircraft carriers. What's the point of building $12B ships carrying another $4B in aircraft if they can't get within range of their targets? There is an argument to be made that aircraft carriers are essential as defensive weapons however their ability to project power is diminsihing. Think about it from the enemies perspective ... they don't care how much of a threat the carriers are in theory as long as they keep them away from their shores they pose no threat at all. That's all they have to do ... they don't have to sink anything. Look at China's navy from the Chinese perspective ... they've built the largest fleet in the world complete with aircraft carriers but they have no overseas bases or maintenence facilities ... they can't project power ... their fleet is designed to keep US carrier groups from getting close enough to China to do damage.

  • @thomasrodgers2291

    @thomasrodgers2291

    8 ай бұрын

    @@davekeating5867 - The effective range of most anti ship missiles is 350 miles. The F18 super hornet one way is about 500 miles, or over 1000 miles round trip, which can be extended with additional tanks mounted underneath, obviously this means that the carrier has better capabilities than the anti ship missiles. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the carrier is almost always a part of a carrier group, which includes missile destroyers, amongst many other types of ships, making it's capabilities and lethality that much more. The carrier is a mobile military base parked in any part of the ocean deep enough to support it, this is a force multiplier and well worth the money it costs to build and maintain them. Just think of it this way, the Dolittle raid was a perfect example of the threat a carrier poses. While we aren't launching bombers from carriers today, each fighter has the capability to essentially be a small bomber, and with the advance weaponry we have today, no nation is safe from the possible damage that could be caused by the carrier.

  • @davekeating5867

    @davekeating5867

    8 ай бұрын

    @@thomasrodgers2291 You make it sound so easy. You would be correct in your assumption that an F-18 outranges most Chinese anti-shipping missiles ... and that would be a big advantage if the Chinese only had anti-shipping missiles to defend themselves with. While the US navy operates carrier groups with air defences the PLN also has a navy with air defences as well as more than a thousand fighter aircraft at their disposal and the F-18 isn't a stealthy target ... especially with a pair of external fuel tanks under it's wings. You claim that a US F-18's outrange Chinese anti shipping missiles ... it does in most cases however here are the ranges of China's current most potent anti shipping weapons: YJ-18 submarine launched cruise missile with a range of 330 miles DF-21 ballistic missile 930 Miles DF-26 ballistic missile 1850 miles. All are nuclear capable. There may be others they've never shown us as well as glide vehicles launched from ballistic missiles like the one seen flying around the earth a few years back and the Chinese may be fudging their numbers ... an optimist would say they're inflating their numbers but a realist would say they're giving you a false sense of security.

  • @jeffbeck8993

    @jeffbeck8993

    7 ай бұрын

    @@davekeating5867 Expect China will take the first shot using the element of surprise, same as Putin did. They have to. Once they establish their intent and the US Military is weapons free, it's going to get ugly for the Chinese as the sheer force of America's combined arms capabilities lands on their head. I have confidence in the US Forces' ability (including Space Force) to systematically dismantle defensive and offensive systems, C2 nodes and critical infrastructure, and then press the enemy with conventional gear. What a lot of folks omit is that the US won't be alone in this. Australia for one. I can also envision Indonesia and other SE Asian countries will jump in (again) and take the fight to second tier platforms like Chinese Coast Guard and the gaggle of civilian vessels will finally get it shoved up their arse.

  • @carpe_poon5761
    @carpe_poon57617 ай бұрын

    I love how everyone thinks carriers are “vulnerable” as if they aren’t escorted by destroyers, anti missile defense, gun ships and subs. Not to mention the insane firepower and defense systems they have on board, as well as 90 F35 and F18s along with A10 warthog. Plus a huge plane they fly to stretch radar capabilities beyond the earths curvature.

  • @imrekalman9044

    @imrekalman9044

    6 ай бұрын

    The Soviets starting in the 60's planned to use saturation attack against carriers, launching more missiles than the defences could have shot down. By the late 80's such an attack would have involved 1-2 cruisers, 6-10 submarines and a bomber regiment or two, with anywhere between 200-300 missiles, launched from 250-350 nm away, coming from different directions, all of them supersonic, some of them more advanced than what the US had in the next 20 years.

  • @werewolflover8636

    @werewolflover8636

    6 ай бұрын

    Exactly! Anyone who says this stupid crap either doesn’t know what they’re talking about or is either directly or secretly supporting another hostile nation!

  • @MrRainrunner

    @MrRainrunner

    5 ай бұрын

    They can't even attain air superiority in the Ukraine...afraid to fly there. Somehow, I'm just not worried about their claimed "capabilities". @@imrekalman9044

  • @jamin4556
    @jamin45562 ай бұрын

    Do we have countermeasure to the hypersonic missle yet?

  • @adityadahiya3719
    @adityadahiya37198 ай бұрын

    I believe a correction to be made at 18:18 The Ford Class carrier definitely does not have a displacement of million tons. Instead it's somewhere around 100,000 long tons. Unless you are referring to the addition of the displacement of all the Ford class carriers. Awesome video though!

  • @DavidBowiesCock

    @DavidBowiesCock

    8 ай бұрын

    I too noticed this. My gf asked me if I was going to leave a comment. I said nah, somebody's got me

  • @adityadahiya3719

    @adityadahiya3719

    8 ай бұрын

    @@DavidBowiesCock Yeah bud. I was a bit perplexed when I heard "million tons" because my country's Aircraft Carrier has a displacement of about 50,000 tons, making it seem very tiny, too tiny. Had a laugh when I checked the actual dimensions online.

  • @isaacomole9527

    @isaacomole9527

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@adityadahiya3719It's cumulative tonage

  • @MrOiram46

    @MrOiram46

    6 ай бұрын

    1 million tons, that makes it sound like the US has a Star Wars Star Destroyer parked somewhere🤣