OK stupid question: is there a difference between nautical miles and regular miles?
I am offering nothing but pure speculation, but in my opinion, yes.
The Navy has bookoos of guided missile surface ships, guided missile submarines(SSN/SSGN-with 180 missile capability on the GN IIRC) as well as other launch platforms operating in all regions of the world at any given time.
What would the effective purpose be of spending over a billion dollars on another "just missile" platform, short of a weapon requiring massive amounts of energy and steam driven speed to put warheads on foreheads in a quicker time frame? Even if they're non-explosive warheads, the reason at the breech is still the same.
Those people on that article saying how there will be less explosives on the ship are loons though. What purpose does it serve to make a standalone unit with only one type of weapon system? Goobers!
As far as operating on 150 man crews, most cruisers operate on that or less year round. Fast attack subs have a crew of 135 men, including roughly 25 officers and chiefs that don't do anything but paperwork.
That's also one of the crappier things about a small nuclear vessel. Small nuclear crews are an absolute bonejob for the enlisted men running the reactor. The rest of the boat is usually a few people overmanned, but nukes are always undermanned and have no choice but to be there. Diesel vessels, you can just lock them up, leave the pier watches there, and everyone goes home. With small nukes, the enlisted guys are guaranteed to stand 24 hours of duty either every other day, or every third day. Depending on which rate you are, you might be there every other day regardless.
Nukes on subs were undermanned the entire time I was in the Navy. Carriers don't have that problem because all the female nukes go to carriers, as well as everybody else who is half sane. Lots of issues go into small nuclear vessels.
Land mile = 5,280 feet
Nautical mile = 6,076 feet (Roughly, as it equals one minute of arc along a meridian.)
If they can get these small enough they'll be useful, until we lose our entire navy because we're still developing bigger targets (ships) instead of a fleet of smaller, more efficient craft.
Has anyone seen the anti super sonic cruise missile(Russian Moskit,Indian Brahmos) defense system.
Saw it once and can't find it again, looks like a torpedo shaped missile that shoots out of the deck like a tomahawk missile launch, then hovers vertically while the ship moves out of the way,gives off a false target for the incoming carrier killer.
Saw it once and can't find it again, looks like a torpedo shaped missile that shoots out of the deck like a tomahawk missile launch, then hovers vertically while the ship moves out of the way,gives off a false target for the incoming carrier killer.
