Rapid-response air unit seen as policy shift

[M.Dancer]

I almost forgot. If we hadn't scrapped the Bras Dor ..........

While the Bras D'or might have been interesting from an experimental point of view, it was obsolete the day it was launched.

Simply put, why invest 100 million for a fast ASW ship when a 10 million will get you a helicopter that is twice as fast.

[AngusThermopyle]

The Bas Dor was far more than just a fast ASW ship. That class of ship equipped with a rapid fire gun and Harpoons would have been formidable. She certainly was not obsolete. Considering that before her the technology did not exist it's pretty hard hard to claim obsolescence. Todays Hydrofoils still can not equal her capabilities, so, how would that make her obsolete?

[M.Dancer]

The Bas Dor was far more than just a fast ASW ship. That class of ship equipped with a rapid fire gun and Harpoons would have been formidable. She certainly was not obsolete. Considering that before her the technology did not exist it's pretty hard hard to claim obsolescence. Todays Hydrofoils still can not equal her capabilities, so, how would that make her obsolete?

Well, a number of reason why it was obsolete. Mainly the helicopter. The Brasdor was conceived as a ASW platform, where its high speed could be used to get to a sub before contact was lost. All fine and dandy but helicopter will press home the attack twice as fast and can stay on target listening for hours.

Fuel efficiancy. Hydracraft are fuel guzzlers meaning there range is limited. They either need to stay close to port or close to an AOR.

Given that they were never designed to carry harpoons or vulcans...none the less, every ship borne helicopter gives the ship over the horizon capability and doesn't leave the mother ship vunerable to a counter attack.

[B. Max]

Thermopyle' date='Aug 2 2007, 01:32 PM' post='241528']

Actually we don't need Super Carriers. As far as I know we don't have any near nor distant plans to strike major inland targets. Our continued Naval role would be buisness as usual, sovereignty patrols and NATO obligations. For these roles Pocket Carriers would be ideal.

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that, but you need to have air support. The problem is, there is not a good and reliable vertical take off and landing fighter. That would have to be designed and built. By then it would be far cheaper to go with a bigger carrier. The US is starting to shy away from the new raptor which looked promising but has problems and is away over budget.

Edited August 2, 2007 by B. Max