re: #49 Targetpractice

Manned aircraft may end up being rendered obsolete, but carriers will remain because they offer too much flexibility to the modern navy to go away. But I can see the DDG(X) and FFG(X) programs leading to future ships of the line that will carry the equivalent of the firepower of an Iowa-class battleship.

Carriers will be around for two more decades but I honesty have my doubts about them lasting much longer. They’re enormous, massively expensive targets that produce more in the way of psychological effect than efficient power on the modern battlefield. The thing that really gives me pause is that a Swedish diesel electric sub scored a kill on a US carrier during war game exercises, and that was twelve years ago.

More modern versions of the Swedish sub in question use a combination of paraffin and liquid oxygen fuel to extend its submerged operating time to 30 days. The oxygen and paraffin are burned together to drive a Stirling engine that recharges the batteries silently, exhaust is dissolved into the seawater and discharged without noise. It’s deathly quiet and like the article says the Gotlund just terrorized its US op force opponents through several years worth of exercises. You can bet the Chinese military took notice of that and have improved their own subs accordingly.