Comments on: Loading Prompt Global Strike in VLS Cells Will Transform U.S. Naval Power

By: Desert Tortoise

Desert Tortoise — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:30:10 +0000

Difficult but doable with some VLS rounds. There is a reloading crane that takes four VLS cells that isn’t currently shipped. The tactical situation doesn’t require reloading at sea. In a naval war with the Soviets, we would have necessarily reloaded at sea.
There are three lengths of the Mk-41 VLS and all but the longest one is reloadable at sea. The longest cell is required for Tomahawk and SM-3, other VLS loads could be replenished at sea. Presumably this new missile will be as large as SM-3 and won’t be reloadable once fired, but the air defense rounds are.

By: gt350

gt350 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:59:34 +0000

A lot of soft warheads would make me take cover==and or KILL ME or just make it so i cant respond which is the point.

By: Roland

Roland — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:35:36 +0000

Thank you Navy for making the Defense readyness.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:44:46 +0000

The Brits can barely field 6 new destroyers, remotely equivalent to the Arleigh Burkes, but campared to what the Russian threat is, that is good enough for them. We are nearly at 100 Aegis-VLS equipped cruisers and destroyers. No comparison in my book. Even the Chinese are much farther behind, but they are only looking at operating off one extended coast really. The only problems with ArcLight is the deployment time frame and warhead size. I figure we will be luck to get this out to the fleet before 2020. A 200 lb warhead is pretty weak also.

By: SMSgt Mac

SMSgt Mac — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:40:04 +0000

kinetic energy = 1/2*(m*v^2)

By: Andres

Andres — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:11:16 +0000

I can’t believe how many of you are crying around because of the “soft” warhead. Imagine the 200lb as uranium hardened lead. You could literally blow up pretty much every plating on the planet. As Mr. Skinner said this thing has a longer background than many of you would think — “classified” is not just a term! The new SSGNs combined with such a missile and a few MALD drohnes (just to confuse the enemy) could erase even the hardest defended air space within a few minutes. A real game changer.

By: Blight

Blight — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:07:38 +0000

I wonder if we are trading too much destructive power for range…

By: JEFF

JEFF — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:00:37 +0000

A 200 lbs kinetic payload traveling at hypersonic velocities is equivalent to a 5000 lbs kinetic payload at supersonic velocities. E = M*V^2

By: JEFF

JEFF — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:58:54 +0000

A 200 lbs kinetic payload traveling at hypersonic velocities is equivalent to a 5000 lbs kinetic payload at supersonic velocities. E = M*V^2

By: anonymouser

anonymouser — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:46:53 +0000

No it is not. It sees medium-range US missiles deployed in Europe as the intense threat they actually are, not as some BS “stepping stone to dialogue and cooperation”.