Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

U.S. Navy Wants Mini F-35 Carriers

By

An artist rendering of the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7). (U.S. Navy photo illustration/Released)

The Navy’s demand for aircraft carriers is growing almost as fast as the cost to build them, but there’s one thing that’s not keeping pace, and that’s the budget. To bridge the gap in supply and demand, admirals are looking to a WWII strategy to fill their needs. The U.S. Navy is exploring the idea of converting an amphibious assault ship (LHA) to serve as a mini-carrier. Mike Glenn of the Washington Times writes (abridged):

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

The U.S. Navy is looking to the past for a possible solution to its current aircraft carrier problems.

Borrowing an idea employed in World War II, the service is seriously looking at retrofitting smaller ships normally used to transport Marines into battle. Instead of troops, the new “Mini Carriers” would have a squadron of F-35B Lightning II jet fighters.

“I have a demand for carriers right now that I can’t fulfill,” Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said Wednesday in a briefing for reporters at the Heritage Foundation.

While aircraft carriers are the centerpiece of the Navy’s forward-deployed military strategy, they are expensive. The U.S.S. Gerald Ford — the first in the Ford class of supercarriers — cost about $12 billion.

Mr. Spencer said the U.S. military’s combatant commanders want the overwhelming combat power aircraft carriers give them.

“Part of the mission of the carrier is presence and forward deployability,” he said.

In World War II, the Navy augmented their fleet with a class of ships called escort carriers, sometimes known as “Jeep Carriers” or “Baby Flattops.” They were smaller and carried fewer aircraft but cheaper and quicker to build. While they couldn’t keep up with fast-moving invasion fleets, escort carriers accomplished a variety of missions including protecting convoys from U-boats in the North Atlantic campaign.

It’s a concept the U.S. Marine Corps has been studying to see if there are modern applications. They are looking to see if an amphibious assault ship called an LHA could be adapted to serve as a new “Jeep Carrier.”

The following two tabs change content below.

Steve Schneider

Steve Schneider is a weapons specialist for Yoursurvivalguy.com. He is our website and graphic design specialist for Youngsworldmoneyforcast.com, Richardcyoung.com, Younginvestments.com, and Youngresearch.com. Steve customizes and creates all of the images on our websites.

Recent Posts from YourSurvivalGuy.com

“No Way I’m Spending That Much on Those”

Your Survival Guy and Gal were in Boston this weekend, visiting our daughter and son. If you want to know what stagflation feels like, have two kids in college at the same time. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Take, for instance, after breakfast, strolling down Newbury Street window shopping. The next […]

What Trade Policy Serves America’s National Interest Best?

In The American Conservative, Micah Meadowcroft examines the words of one of Your Survival Guy’s favorite presidents, “Silent Cal” Coolidge, who is known for saying, “The business of America is business,” but who actually said, “After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing […]

California Wants to Make the 2nd Amendment Unaffordable

California, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is doubling the tax it demands from law-abiding gun owners on sales of ammunition and guns. It appears Newsom and the California legislature have settled on a strategy of simply pricing the poor out of their Constitutional rights as enumerated in the Second Amendment. Adam Beam reports for the […]

“You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”

As Your Survival Guy, I understand the immense pressure you’re under to “do something.” Everyone’s got a plan of what to do with your money. I know this not because you tell me what they’re telling you, but just from experience. I know, for example, when you’re asking me, “Why are we holding this position?” […]

Is McCarthy Up to the Task?

What’s wrong with a line-by-line approach to the budget? Here, Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) explains to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo why he can’t support McCarthy’s approach to running the House of Representatives. The way to fund the government is not by doing it the same way Congress has since the mid-90s, where it’s one […]

Rising Costs Are Hammering Commercial Real Estate

The commercial real estate market is getting hammered by rising costs. Not only are higher interest rates scaring away potential buyers, but high insurance costs are also killing demand. Konrad Putzier reports in The Wall Street Journal: Commercial property owners, already struggling with high interest rates and rising vacancies, face exploding insurance costs that keep […]

Your Survival Guy Fishing with Dolphins

Your Survival Guy was fishing this summer and came into these pods of bottlenose dolphins. You can see some of the famed Newport mansions in the background. Best viewed on a mobile device. Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free. 

Judge Shatters California High Capacity Magazine Ban

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez shattered the state’s ban on high-capacity magazines, calling it unconstitutional. The ruling could set up a Supreme Court decision on the matter, potentially affecting similar bans throughout the country. Jonathan Stempel reports for Reuters: A federal judge in California on Friday declared that state’s ban on magazines that hold more […]

Is Your Water Safe to Drink? NOLA Residents Aren’t Sure

Residents of New Orleans are wondering whether or not they’ll have safe water to drink as forecasts for the Mississippi River levels decline, and the threat of a saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico becomes a reality. Nadine El-Bawab reports for ABC7, writing: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has signed an emergency declaration over […]

Wellington and Wellesley Funds Not Managed by Vanguard

In my conversations with you, we talk about the virtues of being a balanced investor. You can achieve this through a mix of blue-chip dividend payers and laddered bonds. To illustrate, I’ll use as a proxy Fidelity Balanced, Vanguard Wellington, and Vanguard Wellesley funds. In that order, they have roughly the following stock/bond allocation mix: […]

Remembering Jimmy Buffett: The Oldest Surfer on the Beach

I was driving past First Beach in Newport, RI, this past weekend, watching the waves from Hurricane Lee forming an offshore break from a northerly wind. It was peaceful. And it reminded me of the song “Oldest Surfer on the Beach” by Jimmy Buffett. Appearing on the 2013 album Songs from St. Somewhere, it was […]

The Folly of Windmills from Nowhere USA

Your Survival Guy and fellow boaters were astonished at the city-like size of a massive ship parked outside of Newport Harbor for weeks this season. Turns out it’s used to put up windmills not made in the USA. And, cue the music, they’re running out of taxpayer money. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board reports: […]

NYC Rolling Out the Robocops

In the summer of 2020, progressive politicians made police the bad guys and destroyed the morale at their cities’ police departments with #DEFUNDPOLICE madness. Now some are realizing what a mess they’ve made, but it’s too late. Good cops have been heading to small towns and cities where they’re appreciated, leaving big cities with staffing […]

Will the Fed Hold Up Its End of the Bargain?

Looks like the Fed wants to keep interest rates higher for longer. Great. I’ll take it. But let’s not forget about some unforeseen black swan swooping in on their party, ruining their comfy projections, leading to rate cuts. Because in the real world, with live bullets flying overhead, you need to act knowing the Fed […]

Are Most NFTs Now Worthless?

Your Survival Guy has watched many investment fads come and go, with speculators piling in with dreams of making it big, only to watch as the hype cycle fades and values decline. It appears that the end may have come for one of the most recent fads, Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. Much like blockchain, there’s […]