It's time once again for our Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.
Also, for those of you who missed the Naval Gazing meetup in LA, you can have a second chance at a ship tour in two weeks. I will be at the DSL meetup in San Jose, and we are touring Hornet on Saturday, starting at 1 PM. Feel free to just show up, although it would be nice to know if you are planning to come. I will be wearing an Iowa hat.
Overhauls are Main Guns Part 2, SYWTBABB Construction Part 3, my review of Ft. Sill, O'Callahan and the Franklin, Coastal Defenses Part 2, Oil Tankers and for 2024, Air Attack on Ships Parts three and four, Thoughts on the Iranian Missile Attack and the Fatherly One's review of Cod.
Comments
and for anyone in England, I'm probably going back to Chatham this Saturday (17th). 3 ships + original shore facilities, though currently not quite 100% open. The town also has other military museums, though there may not be time to visit them.
What is the appropriate threshold to be worried about India-Pakistan escalating?
Bit late to be worrying? There seems to have been a ceasefire several days ago.
Otherwise, I imagine it depends on exactly how much skin you have in the game. If you (or those you care about) live in Kashmir or near the border, then probably `always.' If you (or those you care about) live in Pakistan or in one of the Indian states (other than Kashmir) which borders Pakistan, then start worrying when they start trading airstrikes (or missile strikes).
If none of the above apply, then you can probably get away with not worrying at all. Yes, technically there could be nuclear escalation. But per Perun, the total yield of Pakistan's entire nuclear arsenal is about comparable to a single American Trident missile, plus (on the evidence of the last week's unpleasantness) their delivery systems are not very good at penetrating Indian air defenses. So you can probably safely avoid worrying, unless one of the clauses in the paragraph above applies.
@bean / all - any thoughts on recent air defence missile consumption trends and the greater implications thereof? personally I just think production ought to have been kicked up yesterday, no idea why not
Obviously, we should have been building more missiles. But this has never not been true in any war over the last 120 years (minimum).
One recent alarming trend is the USA losing seven MQ-9 drones to the Houthis around the Bab el-Mandeb this year. (The Houthis claim more.)
In most conflicts around the world drones are used for economic effect: an Iranian Shahed is around $100,000 but the defensive SM-3 / Patriot / Aster or similar missile needed to shoot it down is a million $ or more.
The US, alone among current day militaries, is apparently committed to reversing this equation by having $30 million drones shot down by Russian / Chinese SAMs.
Yes there is a place for high-end top quality gear. But after the first couple of MQ-9s went down, is there literally nothing else the US could be sending on these missions?
If they're sending their stealth drones would we know?
Note that we have swapped the day of the Hornet tour from Sunday to Saturday for logistical reasons. And apologies for the late notice on that.