Navy, Trump planning biggest fleet expansion since Cold War

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press

SUNDAY, JAN 8, 2017 09:45 AM EST

BATH, Maine (AP) — With President-elect Donald Trump demanding more ships, the Navy is proposing the biggest shipbuilding boom since the end of the Cold War to meet threats from a resurgent Russia and saber-rattling China.

The Navy’s 355-ship proposal released last month is even larger than what the Republican Trump had promoted on the campaign trail, providing a potential boost to shipyards that have struggled because budget caps that have limited money funding for ships.

At Maine’s Bath Iron Works, workers worried about the future want to build more ships but wonder where the billions of dollars will come from. “Whether Congress and the government can actually fund it, is a whole other ball game,” said Rich Nolan, president of the shipyard’s largest union.

Boosting shipbuilding to meet the Navy’s 355-ship goal could require an additional $5 billion to $5.5 billion in annual spending in the Navy’s 30-year projection, according to an estimate by naval analyst Ronald O’Rourke at the Congressional Research Service.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/08/navy-trump-planning-biggest-fleet-expansion-since-cold-war/

[Garion_55]

1. paid for by russia and china?

or is mexico picking up the tab for that too?

[modrepub]

2. I thought we were going to have great relations with Russia?!?

Why do we need more ships? Didn't anyone see what happened to that Russian air-craft carrier going to Syria? Didn't it break down and run out of fuel? The Chinese have an aircraft carrier that doesn't have any planes. How are these countries any threat to us?

The economist John Maynard Keynes commented that the only industry government is willing to stimulate is its military.

[greymattermom]

10. We will build them and pay for them

Russia will use them.

[paleotn]

13. Same here.

..Russian and Chinese carriers look like something out of the winter olympics instead of a combat ship. Even if fully outfitted and competently operated, a couple of short takeoff carriers are a sad joke compared to US carrier forces. Their capabilities are limited at best. Compare that to our 10 super carriers currently active, with Ford coming on this year and the new JFK in 2020. Both nascent global powers are decades away, if ever, from matching US surface capabilities.

In a full on conflict with Russia, surface ships probably have a short life span anyway, so if we're going to invest in additional naval assets, then concentrate on submarines. There's no point in overbuilding our surface fleets. Just replace and upgrade. Anything other than that, is just wasteful, political crap.

[notdarkyet]

26. 1984

It's right out of the 1984 playbook. To spend all money on weapons rather than things like healthcare, food anything that helps the people. Some saw 1984 as a cautionary story, some saw it as a manual. Not my words read this many years ago.

[Achilleaze]

3. Draft-&-Tax Dodger-in-Chief Comrade Casino (RNC) is soooo Last Millennium

[DemoTex]

15. Deja vu all over again ..

[paleotn]

19. Ha!!!

That's it! You've got him perfectly!!

[kimbutgar]

46. You can leave a miltary school if things get tough

When you are in the miltary they own your ass during your contract.

No friggin comparison.

[Paladin]

4. Oh, great. Another needless, Reagan-like military expansion.

Our Democratic representatives damn well better have the backbone to say "No" to this bullshit.

[sinkingfeeling]

30. What good will that do? Didn't you see the House defeat every

single Democratic amendment to HR26 this week? We will have no regulation of nuclear power plant safety, no protections for children against cancer, no restrictions on carbon e.issions, no protection against lead in drinking water, and nothing to stop insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. All failed by votes around 231 to 192. The Democrats can't stop anything.

[Paladin]

34. Thanks for that dose of optimism and support. (nt)

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. His way of playing admiral in the bathtub.

[Shipwack]

6. History repeats

Oh FFS, doesn't anyone remember how much a disaster this turned out to be under Reagan?

1) Reagan ordered new ships

2) Navy recruits many new sailors to man them

3) Ships get cancelled because there was no money to pay for them

4) Navy stuck with thousands of sailors with no place to put them

This majorly screwed up manning for more than a decade...

[Fast Walker 52]

9. conservatives have a funny way of forgetting history, becuase it is never kind to them

[Achilleaze]

31. That's because they so-often choose chickenhawk "leaders"

Who - like Draft&Tax Dodger Trump, like to pretend they are tough, and then send other people off to fight and get maimed and die in their needless wars.

[Fast Walker 52]

35. that's one reason, but not the only reason

[paleotn]

16. That's it, in a nut shell.

...seems we've been down this silly road before. What's he going to propose next? Clearing the souvenir stands out of Iowa, Wisconsin, Mizzou and Jersey, refitting and recommissioning them?

[Kolesar]

23. The Iowa blew up and they tried to blame it on a gay man

This was a big story in Ohio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Hartwig

[Fast Walker 52]

36. though to be fair, I wasn't aware of this exact history myself

but you would think some defense-minded advisor would know about it.

[kimbutgar]

45. My husband was in the navy during this period.

Never saw action they just went from port to port during this time.

[Bengus81]

7. Going to a Reagan style military spending spree and...

Give out fat tax cuts to the wealthy yet he also claims the national debt will be reduced significantly during his four years. Sure Trump... just like Reagan did eh?

[Fast Walker 52]

11. we are headed for massively increased debt, on top of massive corruption and massive theft from the

bottom 99%

[Kolesar]

22. Interest rates on the national debt will be a percentage or two higher

The proportion of the budget going to "debt maintenence" is going to skyrocket.

[LongTomH]

28. The US Credit Rating has already been downgraded - Wait until Trump gets in office!!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_credit-rating_downgrades

[MindPilot]

8. Cool now we can build all new ships and sell our old stuff to the Reds!

Russia can get rid of that stupid-looking carrier that makes you drive uphill to take off.

[ananda]

12. What an idiotic quagmire caused by Trump himself!

If he'd cut the Putin strings and just stop tweeting ...

... well Reep businessmen are not know for their peacemaking.

They love war!

The more the better ... lots of big bucks!

[Cryptoad]

14. Wow,,,

a nuclear powered Supreme Commander-Prez Yacht! Sweet.

[paleotn]

17. Nice target you've got there....

mind if I punch a couple Mk 48's through her hull?

[OnlinePoker]

24. Just remember

Loose tweets sink fleets.

[paleotn]

25. very true. :-(

[bucolic_frolic]

18. Wait Wait Wait

I thought Russia was now our friend and the greatest with a strong leader?

Don's Russia is a different one from the Navy's Russia?

[Locrian]

42. if anything - it's for China n/t

[Bayard]

20. Its the hands again

Big submarine = big penis

[milestogo]

21. Ah. Defense spending

good for you and good for me

[JaneQPublic]

27. Odd that Trump rags on F-35 and Air Force One but not problems with CVN 78...

...which is the Navy's newest aircraft carrier, (USS Gerald R. Ford). it is likewise behind schedule after being classified as not ready for combat.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/25/politics/uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-delay/

Also strange: He speaks of "rebuilding" the Navy exclusively in terms of more ships but no mention of expanding Naval Aviation. I wonder why.

And why the obsession with puffing up the Navy and not the other service branches? Arguably, the other branches saw bigger losses through recent wars, what with all the tanks and other equipment left behind.

No doubt, Trump's priorities for DoD buildup have more to do with domestic corporate advantages and less to do with the needs as stated by the admirals and generals.

[radical noodle]

29. Creating jobs

not by bringing back manufacturing or infrastructure but by wasting money on military crap? Where are the GOP budget folks now?

Oh, I know! Trump plans not to pay for them. He'll get the work done and then stiff the builders.

[roamer65]

32. Raygun redux.

[KT2000]

33. my guess -

some of this is to protect oil exploration. Denying climate change will make oil exploration easier, which is the whole point of the denial. For US/Russia partnerships maybe this is one of trump's pay-off to Putin.

[C Moon]

37. We're going to have the largest deficit ever, after these boneheads get done playing

with our money.

[kimbutgar]

44. They want to bankrupt the country and sell it off to foreign investors

The USA will be destroyed probably in our lifetimes. The constitution will be nullified by corporate America.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

38. Because aircraft carriers are just so effective against suicide bombers

And there's nothing like a new submarine to strike fear into the heart of an ISIS terrorist.

[NutmegYankee]

40. Actually, they carry cruise missiles that can hit hundreds of miles away.

It's a big capability - no one knows the sub is there and it can strike them.

[Rex]

39. There are still trillions of dollars to rob from the treasury!

Ramp up a new Cold War, WASTE however many trillions you can so your buddies can get even stinkier rich...go play golf.

What a day for Dump.

[wishstar]

41. To keep China from developing South China Seas oil drilling (to help Russian/US oil market)

Russia very much wants to tamp down China's power and ability to produce oil

[kimbutgar]

43. Our "supposed" biggest enemy is isil

They fight on land and don't have ocean going vessels!

Him and his rethugs are going to defund our schools, cut off housing and food program, destroy numerous government agencies that help people but they got the billions to build more warships?

[Blue Idaho]

47. I thought republicans were against spending their way out of a recession?

Just like Ray-Gun, driving up the deficit to increase his personal popularity.