As a general battleship history buff, and a firm believer that a modern battleship class would have a place in modern naval warfare: I must ask the question: If battleships were to be built once again, where would they fit in the modern Carrier Battlegroup that has supplanted Line Ahead as the main combat formation of modern navies? What mission would they fulfill? What would they bring to a CVBG? (Or CSG as the United States Navy as taken to calling them).
Well, right off the bat, with a significant missile and gun capacity, I can see prodigious ASuW capabilities. As a platform for CIWS of both missile and gun varieties, it could also provide area air defense for the rest of the battlegroup. An electronic warfare suite would also add ECM capabilities, and a helicopter hangar would add ASW.
It's obvious that the battleship could fulfill many missions for a navy. But the problem lies in cost. Any theoretical battleship design i've read, both here and on other locations across the Net, has cost near to as much as a supercarrier, occasionally more. That's a significant investment in capital for what would be counted amongst the carrier's escorts. Manpower, too, is usually rather high. And a battleship has always been a high profile target for enemy forces, given it's cost and the battleship's symbolism as a image of power and industrial capacity.
So, there are pros and there are cons. What do you all think? Where would the battleship fit, if in fact it would fit at all?
Well, right off the bat, with a significant missile and gun capacity, I can see prodigious ASuW capabilities. As a platform for CIWS of both missile and gun varieties, it could also provide area air defense for the rest of the battlegroup. An electronic warfare suite would also add ECM capabilities, and a helicopter hangar would add ASW.
It's obvious that the battleship could fulfill many missions for a navy. But the problem lies in cost. Any theoretical battleship design i've read, both here and on other locations across the Net, has cost near to as much as a supercarrier, occasionally more. That's a significant investment in capital for what would be counted amongst the carrier's escorts. Manpower, too, is usually rather high. And a battleship has always been a high profile target for enemy forces, given it's cost and the battleship's symbolism as a image of power and industrial capacity.
So, there are pros and there are cons. What do you all think? Where would the battleship fit, if in fact it would fit at all?
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