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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
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F16 is considered the most nimble of all American fighters barring only F22. Stripped of armament it's basically a Rocket ship. sleek powerful It's a Jet engine with wings and a cockpit.
Inferior for A2A combat, for BVR mainly with an F-15 but not completely outmatched as many think, less powerful radar but less big RCS.
With new AESA radars ofc F-15C get a big advantage.
 

Jeff Head

General
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Eastern Shipbuilding Group Selected to Build United States Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutters
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This is good to hear.

Eastern will do a good job and I am sure will be awarded all of the vessels before all is said and done if they build the 9+2 well and in a timely and cost effect manner.

This will be good for the US Coast Guard. The existing Medium Endurance cutters are showing their age, as were the Hamilton's that the Legend Class of National security cutters is in the process of replacing.

And, we are finding that other less financially well off nations, are taking the old Hamilton class and turning them into Frigates for their own navies.

I wonder how many of the existing US Coast Guard Medium endurance cutter will get a similar fte?
 

Jeff Head

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LCS-14-USS-Wichita.jpg

Naval Today said:
The U.S. Navy is set to christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Wichita (LCS 13), during a ceremony on Saturday, September 17 in Marinette, Wisconsin.

“The christening of the future USS Wichita brings this warship one step closer to joining our nation’s growing fleet,” said Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy. “The skill and dedication of the men and women who brought this ship from an idea to a reality—our country’s incomparable shipbuilders—will be remembered for years to come as the LCS 13 deploys around the world.”

The future USS Wichita is the third naval vessel to honor Kansas’s largest city. The first (CA 45) was a heavy cruiser in service from 1939 to 1947. Active during World War II, Wichita supported amphibious landings during Operation Torch in November 1942 in the European Theater and later participated in the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf and the invasion of Okinawa in 1944 in the Pacific Theater, earning 13 battle stars for wartime service.

The second USS Wichita (AOR 1) was a first-in-class replenishment oiler in service from 1969 to 1993. During her first three deployments, AOR 1 made numerous line swings to replenish ships on “Yankee Station,” earning four battle stars for service during the Vietnam War.

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).
 
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Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
So, they are really pumping up the production of these vessels.

I know we call the LCS, but let's be real...at 3,500-4,000 tons, and with the new uparmament they are going to get, and with the new crewing and use...that's what they are...and what they always should have been.

Right now, there are fourteen of these things in the water:

Freedom Class:- Launches

LCS-1 Freedom 2006
LCS-3 Ft. Worth 2010
LCS-4 Milwaukee 2013
LCS-7 Detroit 2014
LCS-9 Little Rock 2015
LCS-11 Sioux City 2016
LCS-13 Wichita 2016

Independence Class - Launches

LCS-2 Independence 2008
LCS-4 Coronado 2012
LCS-6 Jackson 2013
LCS-8 Montgomery 2014
LCS-10 Gabrielle Gifford 2015
LCS-12 Omaha 2015
LCS-14 Manchester 2016

And they are going strong now.

Between the two yards each are able to launch one or two per year now that they are ramped up.
 
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