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Zaphod58
Better? I'm done with this. You guys just want to be able to scream about how we're all screwed, and it's the end of the world. Have fun with that.
rock427
I see a lot of brow beating towards the US. A lot of people don't want to see the US attack Syria (me included) and seem to be pumping up the Russian Navy.
A few things to take into consideration when comparing the two navies though:
First off, the "Moskva" is a really old cruiser. There's nothing new about it; seeing as how it was commissioned in 1983. It literally is the only cruiser that the Russian navy has in operation. Don't get me wrong, its a lethal ship even still as I'm sure it has seen its fair share of upgrades...but that thing has been in the dry docks for some time until very recently.
America has 12 Aircraft supercarriers; the largest ships of their kind.
Russia has one aircraft carrier, and it isn't in the same class as a supercarrier.
Russia has 27 Destroyers compared to Americas 62 Destroyers (including the impressive state of the art Aegis for the Americans).
Russia has 5 frigates (all in relatively bad shape) compared to Americas 24.
Russia simply can not compete with the US in this instance. One Russian cruiser cannot compete against 6 Aegis class destroyers, an entire Nimitz class air craft carrier division, and state of the art virginia class attack subs...Russia would end up getting its ass kicked in this instance.
Now, I personally would like to see cooler heads prevail. Personally, Syria doesn't matter to me. The American people have more to lose than gain by interfering in a civil war in a country located on the other side of the planet. It isn't a threat to the US, we should steer clear of trouble. Unfortunately, it looks like we're dead set on finding it.edit on 5-9-2013 by rock427 because: (no reason given)
squarehead666
reply to post by rock427
FFS the big floaty things are just lumps of scrap that the military keep around to convince the taxpayer they are getting value for money.....In a modern war against a modern opponent (as opposed to people who live in caves) they are about as relevant as a sword & shield.
Originally posted by squarehead666
reply to post by hellobruce
While others prefer posting in favour of deceit and warmongering.
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by squarehead666
I've gone through a lot worse than this will ever be, and I'm still here kicking, and so are the rest of us. Yes, this may get ugly, and it's serious, but Russia and the US don't want a fight with each other.
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by squarehead666
And that's why I said, "they are a threat, but not the threat that they once were or will be again." And do you think the US is blind to the tactical realities of those Russian weapons, and have done nothing to counter them? Yes, they're behind on some of them, but others, they have nice counters to. Just as Russia has counters to some US weapons.
Originally posted by rock427
squarehead666
reply to post by rock427
FFS the big floaty things are just lumps of scrap that the military keep around to convince the taxpayer they are getting value for money.....In a modern war against a modern opponent (as opposed to people who live in caves) they are about as relevant as a sword & shield.
Navies aren't obsolete, especially in the modern arena against modern foes. They are actually incredibly important for logistical purposes. You have to be able to move your military force around, without a navy, that is quite a difficult task. The problem with building a modern navy is that they're just incredibly expensive to build and maintain.
The Soviets tried to keep up with the americans in this regard, but did not have the funds to have a Navy on par with the american one. We saw this first hand with the Cuban missile crisis. The Russians knew then that they could not take the American navy head on. The best they could hope for is to develop cheap alternative weapons to try and counter the American naval threat to the best of their abilities.
They have some highly touted weapons systems like the Sunburn which have never been adequately tested, let alone tested against a modern foe with state of the art defense mechanisms in place. A carrier for instance is not the sitting duck people like you make it out to be. It is actually protected by several layers of of air defense systems based upon AEGIS, THAAD, etc.
Again, these weapon systems are incredibly important for force projection and logistics. Without them, you cannot project force beyond your own borders. They are well equipped to deal with modern foes and the continually evolving threats that come with them.
A great instance of this is lasers, which will be adorning US naval assets in the near future. I believe the USS Ponce will have laser air and ground defense capabilities by 2014. And according to some reports, naval lasers are already operating in the Persian gulf to deflect drones. It won't be long until carriers and Aegis destroyers have access to these defense capabilities that operate at the speed of light. So if Russia and China are going to "kill" US carriers, they better get on with it now before those weapon systems are made obsolete by the USN.
edit on 5-9-2013 by rock427 because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by ATSWATCHER
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by squarehead666
And that's why I said, "they are a threat, but not the threat that they once were or will be again." And do you think the US is blind to the tactical realities of those Russian weapons, and have done nothing to counter them? Yes, they're behind on some of them, but others, they have nice counters to. Just as Russia has counters to some US weapons.
How many times did Stellar X put you in check with your CNN believe spewing lies about Rus being weak, your the type that believes stuff like that 06 report (Lie) stating "U.S.A. now has first strike capabilities over Russia and can now destroy Russia, dude you really don't see the end coming for U.S.A. Mil/Gov do ya, just sit back and NOW we'll see who's gonna win.
Russia is sending its large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov towards the Syrian coast, state news agency Interfax quoted a navy source as saying on Friday.
"The vessel will dock in Novorossiysk where it will take special cargo on board and head to the designated area of military service in the eastern Mediterranean," Interfax quoted the unnamed navy source as saying.
It gave no more details on the cargo.
Russia, a key international ally of Damascus in the Syrian civil war, is rotating its navy vessels in the Mediterranean and says its presence there is a security guarantee.