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Originally Posted by rickusn
In 1995 the BBs were stricken and I quote " due to the expenditure necessary to ensure continued, reliable service; the costs of which would be disproportionate to the ships value."
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The battleship in my opinion was a great weapons platform but to the Navy brass it was a competitor with the aircraft carrier. The Navy wants every aircraft carrier it can whether it means killing the battleship program or an army division didn't matter.
The Pentagon is filled with stories of new weapons systems that are great but unwanted because it threatens the way the old brass likes things and other stories about old weapons systems that are great but thrown away because its not the kind of hot item the brass likes.
To me the battleship, the cruise missile, and the A-10 have a similar history. Each of these systems is great for what it was designed for but primarily helped other service branches. Each of these items threatened the funding of programs the brass in their respective services wanted (Navy aircraft carrier/Air Force B-1 Bombers/Air Force F-15 ground support version). Other services called for these systems to be saved. The marines liked the Battleship, the Navy kept the cruise missile alive thanks to civilian pressure, and the Army was fighting to keep the Air Forces A-10s before they proved themselves in Desert Storm.
What's the Navy carrier count today? 12-14? I don't know off the top of my head. What's the most they ever used in battle at one time since World War II? 4, maybe 5. If in the current world they only need 6-8 carriers at most but want to keep 12-14 you aren't going to let any new (or old) system infringe on that money.
I think carriers are great to take a battle to a third rate country where we have no bases. You can't find any of these tin pot dictators that warrant more than 4 of them however. If things go nuclear in a major power war however the carrier is a relic to an age long ago. A destroyer, submarine, or land based bomber with nuclear missiles or torpedos is just as effective. I wonder how hard the Navy brass is going to fight to stop the Air Force hypersonic bomber program (two hours to target anywhere on Earth) or the satellites that will drop rods from space so they can fight to keep their museums afloat.