This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Aircraft Carrier Stennis Has Biggest Ordnance Onload Since 2010
Nearly two weeks ago, we were surprised to read on the Navy's website that one of America's prize aircraft carriers, CVN-74, John C. Stennis (whose crew is perhaps best known for the following awkward incident), as part of an operational training period in preparation for future deployments, just underwent not only its first ordnance onload since 2010, but, according to Senior Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Jason Engleman, G-5 division's leading chief petty officer, "the biggest ordnance onload we've seen."
From the Stennis' blog:
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) visited Naval Magazine (NAVMAG) Indian Island, the Navy’s primary ordnance storage and handling station on the West Coast, to onload six million pounds of ammunition, Jan. 13-15. “This is the biggest ordnance onload we’ve seen,” said Senior Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Jason Engleman, G-5 division’s leading chief petty officer. “We haven’t had an onload since December 2010, and we are ready to show what this warship can do.”
The ship plans to take on two-thirds of its weight capacity during the three day evolution. Bombs, missiles and rounds will be onloaded by 1,400 crane lifts.
“The importance of the Indian Island visit is to provide ammunition for the ship’s defense, and assist with training during this underway,” said Lt. Cmdr. Steve Kashuba, Stennis’ ordnance handler officer.
...
The ordnance onload was an all-hands evolution and included Sailors from AIMD, air, navigation, safety, security, supply and medical departments. Sailors served as watchstanders, safety observers or ordnance handlers to ensure the evolution ran smoothly.
Why engage in such a major weapon loading process now? We don't know, and we certainly won't until the next deployment of the carrier, currently located in San Diego to receive aircraft and another 2000 sailors, is announced but it does seem coincidental that the same aircraft carrier which the Iranian General Ataollah Salehi warned back in Janiary 2012 "not to return to the Persian Gulf" was being loaded to the gills with weapons ahead of the following three major macro events: i) the sudden and unexpected fall of the US-supported Yemen government; ii) the biggest re-escalation in the Ukraine civil war since the spring of 2014, and iii) the death of the King Abdullah. And who knows what other "unexpected" geopolitical events are about to surprise the world?
While we wait the answer, here are some photos of how the Stennis is loading up with six million pounds of ammo:
Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Joshua Haynes, from Nashville, Tenn., and Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Joseph Dina, from Naperville, Ill., move BLU-111 500-pound bombs during an ammunition on-load aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).
Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Donald Theriot, from New Orleans, verifies ordnance placement during an ammunition on-load aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).
Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Matthew Warren takes inventory of BLU-111 500-pound bombs.
Aviation Ordnanceman Mariko Armstrong, from Denver, takes inventory of BLU-111 500-pound bombs.
Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class David Mele, from San Diego, directs movement of BLU-117 2000-pound bombs.
Sailors prepare to move BLU-117 2000-pound bombs
CBU-99 cluster bombs are staged during an ammunition on-load aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
BLU-111 500-pound bombs are staged during an ammunition on-load aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).
Aviation Ordnanceman David Black, from Helena, Ala., Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Dillon Simmons, from Lewistown, Mont., and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Martin Pena, from Bronx, N.Y., prepare to move AGM-88 missiles
Aviation Orndnaceman 3rd Class Garrison Gardner, from Chandler, Ariz., and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Steven Paxton from Brian, Ohio, prepare to lower a mine kit
Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Dillon Simmons, from Lewistown, Mont., and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Martin Pena, from Bronx, N.Y., guide AGM-88 missiles as they are lowered
Source: CVN-74
»
- 67627 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Is it just me being naive, or doesn't it seem a bit odd that we know all this? Are there really no secrets any longer, or do they want us to know this?
I was thinking the same thing, this kind of information being made readily available seems odd to me. What do you suppose is really going on here?
JOIN THE NAVY!
WEAR OUT SEX WORKERS!
Gotta give the girls credit where credit is due for pulling a train as big as an aircraft carrier.
Jaysus have they compleatly forgotten operational security?
This is what we get in the "new" and improved Navy. More attention is paid to sexual orientation than the secret blowing up of far-away lands.
Both for nefarius reasons.
damn every military op of size has to get out - or else we end up with short wars..think of the misery on wall st if it's over before money is made..horror.
The US only targets countries that can't fight back, so opsec isn't really relevant.
Well, Iran did just completely ditch the dollar. Hmmmmm....
In Iran's defense, that was a dictate from the US.
Enjoy the prostitutes and the booze gentlemen of the Stennis and get your "house' in order with your "Wills" before your next voyage! Next one that takes you to the Black Sea or the Baltic with that payload of ordnance may be your last!
If you get off as easy as the Donald Cook did consider yourselves fortunate "sons" and "daughters"...
"SITTING DUCK"!
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/should-america-fear-chinas-carrier-k...
Can't speak for the Chinese...
But the Russians have these or these and I'm sure they won't be going to waste should a U.S. Navy cruise missile or F-18 with like "ordnance" stray off into Russian territory!
The SS-18 Satan missile looks a lot like an 80 foot tall, Black Dildo. Somebody is,going to get it at the other end!
Okay STP "Black Dildos" if you like...
Lots and lots of Black Dildos" with nuclear warheads on them...
You certainly are right about one thing though "Somebody will get it at the other end"!!!
When Putin said that Russia has a weapon that can surprise the West, he was not joking.
In case of war, the United States will lose all of their satellite constellations in a few minutes. Russian satellites killers already have In orbit. It's just a bucket of explosives and damaging elements. At a signal from the ground, they will all be blown up. On the orbit of the earth, there will be nothing, - only a lot of space debris.
---
Moreover, Sakharov, long ago created a weapon directed underwater explosion. These weapons could be used before, even in the Soviet Union time. The underwater nuclear explosion generates a wave height of 11 kilometers. One such wave will go to the coast of the United States. And the second such a wave will go to the coast of the United States on the other hand.
Nobody in the world does not know where those nukes and how many them.
They just lie on the ocean floor in the form of large containers and waiting encrypted signal to activate them.
Furthermore, they wait signal outage. If the control signal has not been received for a long time, it mean that Russia was attacked by nuclear weapons. This means that all systems of nuclear retaliation should work independently - in automatic mode.
http://otvet.imgsmail.ru/download/0c8e449b7779579cfd25a50acec8fc8f_h-114...
So much for the surprise.
Loose Lips, Sinks Ships...
Loose Harriers damage carriers.
If you get off as easy as the Donald Cook did consider yourselves fortunate "sons" and "daughters"...
"SITTING DUCK"!
The Russian Khibiny electronic warfare device rendered the Donald Cook's entire suite of radars and other guidance systems completely inoperable last spring in the Black Sea - while the Russian pilot did numerous "simulated" strafing runs over the ship with impunity (and all the while flipping them the bird).
How long do you think an aircraft carrier has to live when something like that is used? You can bet that when the shit hits the fan that the Russians will provide that same technology to their allies, such as Iran. Six million pounds of bombs aren't going to help when you have no way to aim the damn things and you can't see the missiles heading for your ship 20 feet over the surface of the ocean . . . .
well paul krugman has a thrill run up his leg every time he thinks of big ship loss in the strait of hormuz-stimulative to the us economy sink a carrier and hit the bulls eye of keynesian economics..winning
Paul Krugman is senile, to put it politely.
Senility seems to be a typical problem with American Nobel "laureates" in "Peace" or "Economics".
The Nobel Prize committee chooses their candidates well. (with the help of money from the Establishment?!)
Not all the missiles will be 20' over the surface. The Russians also have supercavitating torpedoes that fly under the water at high speed such as the Shkval.
The Russians also know every inch of the Black Sea and may well have mines buried under the sea bed just waiting for enemy ships.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/world/middleeast/cia-drone-yemen-qaeda...
It is pipeline stuffing. Now they have space to store new orders to the MIC and using Fed QE to pay for everlasting munitions.......they will probably pass this stuff off later to the police in Ferguson
Because nothing will send the looters home quicker than a 2000 lb. courtesy lesson.
They can name it the MLK Memorial swimming hole.
Tee up Iran for destruction.....as a Vet this makes me sick. The baby bommers have srewed the pooch again.
Don't blame me...
I didn't vote for the Miracle Mulatto.
That was the Misty-eyed Millennials.
Would the wars, current or future, be any different if Team Red had been "voted" into office?
If anything they'd be worse. Iran down the pipeline, I agree. Shalom America, Shalom.
what's your point?? most of us understand DC is one party town, I will not call you an idiot but pal it may fit.
My bet is the Black Sea will be its destination and Vlad saw this gambit coming months ago. It's not going to end well.
ZWO spending US taxpayer money.
Just setting the Stage for Moar War. For Corporate/Barkers Interests.............Fuck the American Policies and the Minnions that do their Bidding.
My guess is that this was not really a secret. What with all of the photos and what not.
My guess is that this was not really a secret. What with all of the photos and what not.
Duh!!!
least the Bombs are made in America ( I think )
With chinese electronics.
You could ask the coyote how wll ACME products by Roadrunner Productions worked out. Lots of people don't know that's why all the ACME products backfired lol.
Guess that's why over 60% of the Tomahawks fired in the Gulf War failed to hit their targets.
The biggest question I have have is why the fuck our ships are only rolling with 1/3rd of their bombs? Load those fuckers up, you might need them...
No worries if a real emergency shows up our subs can fry the planet 10,000 times over. The bombs you speak of are just for regular ole warfare, you know whipping dictators in line, not for defense. I assure you these pricks can cause massive annihilation in 3.2 seconds at any given time.
Dont worry congress will declare war before any of that stuff gets used.
They're not gonna do shit. Because if they really were, you wouldn't being reading about it on Zerohedge or any other website. That's not how the military works. So they took a few pictures of some MK-82/84's. Big deal.
Great, now our own military is into Fed speak. This was a purposeful "leak" as I can assure you this info would normally be classified.
some of us have not been following our wars have they, nam went on for 10yrs 10yrs get it? op security my ass..War is a Racket. nuf said
Oil, Dollar Hegemony and/or Drug Trafficing. THAT's THE US MILITARY's MISSION STATEMENT. GET IT?
That's a lot of weddings.
The tanks at ft Knox are long gone as is the tank school. Also they are cutting way back at ft Campbell. I ll get nervous when something comes out of ft Benning or 29 palms
What do you mean? Please clarify.
Local news story on base cutbacks at ft Campbell hurting local economy. As for ft Knox only tanks are at the museum . Just adminstrative stuff.
Tanks were for fighting the Russkies coming through the Fulda Gap. The LAST war's technology - actually WWII. With drones and remote delivery they're easy targets. You're not going to see another 'Western Desert - WWII' with massive tank battles between superpowers. The big boys can press buttons now and waatch drones or smart bombs take out armor now. Lesser powers - think Iran/Iraq War could still use them and major powers may use them to intimidate weaker occupied nations but even those are vulnerable to much cheaper weaponry.
Looks like the Danube river vally this time. Don't have to have the best tank just the last..
just g Earth it, some wieird stuff going on in the motor pool....but no worries, the gold is still there.
TPTB just had a meeting at a local HS for the Plebs. The Plebs said they needed the jobs at Ft. Knox. TPTB said to expect a force reduction of 4100 employees. And yes, we have no tanks or Armor school, deployable units are pretty much gone, it's the paperwork shuffle at Knox now.
Vlad, you been paying attention?
way ahead, been waiting, too long
I can't wait for Vlad to light up that fucking boat. ZATO needs a bitch slap.
> "...we are ready to show what this warship can do."
jeezus...what can one even say? the founding fathers would be ashamed.
Yup, this warship can convert wedding parties to pink mist in the blink of an eye. And the crew get donuts and coffee afterwards.
supercavitating torpedo
that is all that is left of the grand nation of usa. bragging about its 20 yr old carriers.
Gentlemen. Have you not learned anything in the past 10 or so years? Carrier deployments to areas around Iran are not to be read as action against Iran. If anything, it will be to solidify Iranian gains in the area. They are just letting the insurgents know not to get ahead of themselves or the program.
I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.
having been on that fabled deployment in 2002, i can assure you all that we were all well served
Mordor never rests.
...did anybody notice the captions under the pics? been a long time since I've seen "Tennessee" presented as "Tenn." and Montana as Mont. ect.,etc..and the name dropping, I see red flags
those bombs are full of unicorns, teddy bears, rainbows and confetti ... right long legged mack daddy
I'm never comfortable when I see or read stories like this anywhere. Are we so fucking stupid that we now telegraph our every move to the world?
Yes. The ones we want to. For whatever. Some kind of gentleman's agreement to avoid unpleasantness. You know, etiquette.
a secret to no one except the MSM and, of course, the american sheeple.
Don't kid yourselves this monster is going straight for the Crimea.
I would hope so, way less boring.
You think they care about Crimea? They would go for the brass ring if they even step over the line, Crimea...you are kidding, right?
Stennis' draft is too deep to navigate the Bosphorus straits.
This beast is going back to the Persian Gulf.
Wrong. Maximum navigational draft = 37 ft
lol, without electronics it's just a floating cemetery for the 2000+ onboard.
and the russians have already shown what they can do to ussa electronics.
ZH, congrat's! You just became a tool in the propaganda machine! These photos are all to crisp and clear to be not taken in a staged or approved setting. So whomever leaked this intel--wanted it leak.
REF SOURCE: CVN-74
+1
Any of you cksukers defending B.O. just drop your drawers and wait for your master to come and please you. If all you have to say is......if the red team had won it would have been worse?????? STFU. This guy is a menace and mental defective. Get over it and smell the turd sandwich for what it is. Why o why do you feel like there has to be an "equal opportunity jab", at the other side. You millenials just can't admit what you did. Blow me.
Obama admin is a communist muzzie sleeper cell.
WTF difference does it make if they load 6 million pounds or 3 million pounds? Supply bases and ships are all over the effing world. This info was put out to communicate something to somebody which we won't know until deployment or perhaps never.
She'll make a spectacular false flag, a false flag everyone can see and have no doubt it was the Russians.
Stack On
Russian made missiles, perhaps, but not the Russians.
Remember the Stennis!
B. Hussein Obama helps establish the new Babylon.
The almighty mullato can provide free college for everyone and sheit drones out his azz at the same time. A si
The almighty mullato can provide free college for everyone and sheit drones out his azz at the same time. A sight to behold.
haha, and people think ISIS is a terrorist group.
One sunburn/yakhonts missile away from being a really big artificial reef.
The late Joe Vialls once speculated on the kinetic energy delivered from a two ton missile (Sunburn) travelling at over 3000 feet per second striking a stationary object such as an aircraft carrier amidships and slightly above the waterline.
Its not the size of the load; it's where you put it.
I knew you were going to say that.
6 million pounds of ordnance actually doesn't sound like all that much all things considered.
Not when compared to one hydrogen bomb.
Too early to say what's going on...
For all we know it literally could be resupply or arming of the asian encirclement... or yea off to Middle East to show prove the Saudi alliance is still strong.
I spent six plus years in the Navy, on and off carriers. I had no idea they routinely carried this much ordnance.
My guess is that the Stennis is carrying a lot because it's a really big ship.
Secondly, the Navy is getting thinner and thinner on carriers and has to ask each one to do more.
I really wonder about the advisability of a carrier carrying around that much ordnance. It just increases the possibility that a lucky shot from a cruise missile or RPG fired from a sampan could hit a vital spot and cause the whole shootin' match to go kablooie!
The Navy does a great job of underway replenishment, and I always thought that they could get just about any supplies they needed in short order from the supply ships in company.
Just stumbled on a documentary about Laos where people are still being killed and maimed by unexploded "ordinance" from the Vietnam war era. Over a ton of "ordinance" was dropped on Laos for every man woman and child. and to what end? The best thing that could happen to this load of "ordinance" is that someone stuffs it up the asses of all the warmongering politicians and drops them out of a plane over the desert somewhere
Don't be surprised if ISIS seizes this ship.
Oh man, that made me laugh. :). CNN breaking news: ISIS seizes aircraft carrier and starts bombing Syria and Yemen. Why not? Everyone in the msm stills believes ISIS is real and not a creation of Western intelligence.
Explain your theory to those Japanese families.
I believe he was referring to the origins of ISIS, not its current reality.
Hahaha! Great one.
With Steven Seagal coming to the rescue.
They'll just print some money and buy another one from China.
Don't believe me but i heard this ship will be scorted by one of the newest stealth Russian submarine called "Black Hole".
Re: "awkward incident"
Those girls were bangin' like a dunny door in the breeze... biggest onload for the Stennis, biggest offload for the sailors. Hoo haa!
My late Pop was on the Oriskany when she caught fire and burned in the '60's. Vessel fires are no joke but the condition of the firefighting equipment was a disgrace on that ship.Not much use having drills if the stuff is useless.Magnesium flare fire on the hangardeck,spread pretty fast,early in the AM,got alot of guys with smoke inhalatian in their sleep.Just takes one small screwup....
Maybe they're just prepping for babysitting Malika and Sasha?
Drone operator says he accidentally crashed device on White House groundsThe quadcopter that crashed on the White House grounds early Monday. (Courtesy of United States Secret Service) By Carol D. Leonnig, Katie Zezima and Craig Whitlock January 26 at 4:44 PM
A man believed to be a recreational drone operator accidentally crashed a small device onto the White House grounds early Monday, investigators said, briefly triggering a lockdown and reinforcing concerns about security at the executive mansion.
The man later called the Secret Service and explained that he never intended for his two-foot-wide “quadcopter” to breach White House security, the investigators said. They said the agency was working to corroborate his account.
The Secret Service said the drone operator contacted the agency voluntarily at 9:30 a.m. Monday, more than six hours after the device crashed, and was being cooperative. It did not immediately identify the person.
According to a U.S. official cited by the Associated Press, the man is a D.C. resident, and investigators currently do not have any reason to doubt his story.
The crash caused a lockdown at the compound until the device was recovered and examined, the Secret Service said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazo...);">Protecting the White House from drones(1:56) The Secret Service found a "quadcopter" drone on White House grounds. The Post’s Carol D. Leonnig explains how the White House is protected from aerial threats.
The service later said it questioned a person who called to “self-report” the incident and that “initial indications” pointed to a “recreational use” of the drone.
The latest security breach at the executive mansion came as President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were visiting India, but their two daughters remained behind in Washington.
News on JUNO: Curfew!
Panic-buyers clear New York City stores of food ahead…
The latest on the Northeast snowstorm
Service on Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road was shut down in advance of the massive snowstorm. Metro-North and LIRR service was suspended at 11 p.m. Monday. No word on when Metro-North service will return.
LATEST:
http://tersee.com/#!q=New+york&t=text
Channel stuffing by the MIC?
Straight to North Korea, the little pickerhead was feeling left out.
This article really says very little.
It's amazing the cataclysmic narratives that can be spun from a picture of a fork lift hoisting some rusty, twenty-year old bombs.
Who knows, those bombs might even come from Viet Nam era stockpiles.
agree
On the other hand it says quite a bit about the propagandists who thought it would benefit their cause to release it.
Well, Hollywood is spewing out a bunch of war movies again like Fury and Sniper. Always before something big happens Hollywood does this. You know, winning the hearts and minds and stuff.
The genre is getting old. What does Sniper have in terms of plot that Best Years of our Lives, Born on the 4th of July, and Forrest Gump didn't have?
"....What frightened the USS Donald Cook so much in the Black Sea? ..."
According to some specialized media, 27 sailors from the USS Donald Cook requested to be relieved from active service.
Well, the Chinese & Russian forces had bedder watch out.... they are up agin a FORMIDABLE enemy. lol!
Start learning Mandarin, girls & boys.. and try not to wet your pants..
The 27 sailors must be a rare breed - smarter than the rest of the crew. Suicidal policies from lunatics in Washington DC, New York, London & Israel can be very frightening to sailors and officers in the navy, whose lives are worthless in the eyes of the lunatics. Just ask the 30+ navy SEALs killed (by whom?) in one stroke in Afghanistan following the "capture of bin Laden" (yeah, right). Oops.
"Nation-states are organizational constructs built to do one thing: to mobilize economies and populations for total war."
ht Global Guerillas.
The enemy always knows the US's military tactics, they never change.
Come through the front door with massive firepower.
One Russian blackhole sub.
One Russian anti ship missile.
And what a bang!!.
Sad about the crew.
But they won't know much.
Every carrier battle group includes an American attack submarine in its complement of escorting vessels. Good luck with that sunburned bunghole thing.
Actually there are at least two subs for a carrier battle group. Still, Russian, Chinese, Scandanavian subs have played the US battle groups as they pleased ... following, surfacing, then disappearing without any US vessel being able to trace them.
Your blind confidence in Wall St / Big Oil crime syndicate's war machines is laughable.
Thank Spanish Armada.
Every carrier battle group includes an American attack submarine in its complement of escorting vessels. Good luck with that sunburned bunghole thing.
Yeah buddy, keep watching General Numbnuts on FOX Neus . . . .
Oh! I almost forgot how you won the war...No not the ME wars, you lost all those; no not the Vietnam war, you lost that.. No not the Korean war, you lost that...No not all those little itty bity African wars - you ran out of those. GOT IT! You won ..The SECOND WORLD WAR! How could I forget? Came in late, left early. Thanks guys. You are HEROES!
Indeed hahahaa, our No.1 guy Russia; Allied force...do you realize how many tanker ships laden with megatons of Vodka we shipped to our No.1 guy, Russia, back in the day?
Actually, Rusty, 'No' . But can't say I'm that interested, so please don't inform me. Ta ever so.
okay, whatever...did I mention the copper shipments?
Please don't
They saw our War Room for gods sake!!!
No, not the Big Board!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUlIJLrFFJI
Actually all that vodka went to Yeltsin . . . .
Yeah, but we sure kicked the shit out of Grenada!
From what I can tell of the ship's history, http://www.uscarriers.net/cvn74history.htm, the Stennis has just completed a refit and drydock stay. Sea trials in November. Carrier air group certification in December, and now arming up for return to active duty in January. I mean, come on, people, think. All that shit has to be offloaded before going into drydock and gets put back on board once it is certified as being ready to resume operations once again.
The phrase "six million pounds of ammo" is shiny dangling boob bait-- which has been snapped up eagerly. You might as well talk about buying ounces of gas. Ammo is figured in tonnage for this sort of thing, and this equates to 3000 tons of bombs, missiles, and general ammuniton requirements. Bombs and missiles are heavy (think 500-1000 pounds each) and a carrier needs to arm up the entire air group (80-100 aircraft) for weeks of sustained operations without resupply.
That is the whole advantage of a super carrier over the mini-me flattops that other nations operate. It is five acres of American territory that can move and fight anywhere in the world and stay at sea for prolonged periods of time due to the USNs armada of fleet replenishment vessels while other nations need frequent port calls to gas up their ships.
Incidentally, no full-sized fleet carrier of any Navy has ever been lost to shore-based weaponry such as land-launched planes, gunfire, or missiles.
"Incidentally, no full-sized fleet carrier of any Navy has ever been lost to shore-based weaponry such as land-launched planes, gunfire, or missiles."
That we know of....
Go ahead and cite an exception. I'll wait right here.
Eagle and Ark Royal were lost to U-Boats.
Lexington to Japanese carrier attack at Coral Sea.
Yorktown to Japanese carriers, I-Boat torpedoes and eventual US torpedoes as a scuttling device at Midway.
Hornet to Japanese carrier air attack at Santa Cruz.
Wasp to Japanese I-boat torpedoes.
Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu to US carrier attack at Midway.
Taiho, Hiyo, and Shokaku at Philippine Sea.
Zuikaku at Leyte Gulf.
Unryu and Shinano to US submarines.
Amagi to US carrier airstrikes against Japanese home islands.
I may have missed one or two but those are the ones that spring to mind without doing any research. Various incomplete vessels such as the Graf Zeppelin, Italy's Aquila and Sparviero, and Japan's Aso, Ikoma, Kasagi, Katsuragi were never commisioned.
There is always a first time
There is always a first time
When did we ever put a super-carrier within land-based striking distance of an international war power? Japs? No. Other than that war, we've fought brown people basically carrying spears ever since.
I have much tolerance but this has to be one of the stupidest comments I've ever read on ZH. So carriers are lost to carrier-based planes and subs but nope, land-based planes can't sink a carrier cause, well, they took off from land.
Did they have missiles back then?
No battleship has ever been sunk by air...until Prince of Wales...and then, all of a sudden, they became obsolete.
A guess is that the ship will be somewhere in the area of Saudi Arabia to provide air support if there is some ISIS attempt to move on KSA. The Saudi internal forces can likely handle the sleeper cells and locals supporting ISIS. Pretty wide open area for any large force to cross for a real ISIS overrun of the country. If the Yemenis stay out of the deal then they will likely only suffer some getting whacked by drones.
I expect that ISIS is stupid enough to ignore the advertisement. Mohammud had better be getting those promised virgins identified, if he has not taken all for his own. Does anyone know if the promise was for girls, boys, sheep or goats?
Last three
Heading for Greece?
Why not? Excellent destination, now the american tourists hordes have fled. And I hear the "pooussi" ( an octopuss delicacy) is good value, these days.
Hopefully the sea men recepticles will be rested and ready when the sailors arrive to unload their DNA ordanance so there isn't another akward incident.
Well, if they (the sea men) are as rested & ready as they were back in the day at Subic, they will unload their DNA ordinance with the same precison, the same single minded detemination, as they did back then. Nothing like a sea man on a mission to unload ordinance. God bless them and all who sail in them.
Yep. They don't call it a Glory Hole for nothin'.
Well shiver me timbers, Swabbies wear '80s era BDU's?
Should be a boost to GDP to replace all the detonated ordinace. Who makes that stuff anyway, I gotta buy me some of dem stahks.
I guess those bombs are nearing their shelf life and must be used up.
Surreal. Maybe it's that simply. General, we have some ordnance about to expire, which group of brown people should we light up next week?
Merca on steroids...as the economy tanks one last mirror pose before China forecloses on Pentacon's real estate.