from the more-money-well-spent dept.
El Reg reports
Weird new warship USS Zumwalt has broken down while on sea trials, three weeks ahead of her formal commissioning ceremony.
The futuristic $4.4bn vessel, which features a so-called "tumblehome" hull, suffered a seawater leak into the auxiliary lube oil system for one of her main propeller shafts, according to [U.S. Naval Institute] News.
The defect will take about two weeks to repair at US Naval Station Norfolk, it was said.
An absolute behemoth of a ship, the 16,000 ton Zumwalt--almost three times as big as the UK's already large Type 45 destroyers--was intended to be the lead ship of a new class of warships that would have cemented US naval dominance well into the 21st Century.
Instead, the entire program, supposedly for 36 vessels, was [canceled] after the third ship was laid down, thanks to some seriously eye-watering costs. The US Navy has since started buying new-build Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the basic design of which dates back to the mid-1980s.
Previous: The Zumwalt Class Destroyer: Another Defense Department Misstep?
Captain James Kirk Takes US Navy's First Stealth Destroyer Out for Sea Trials
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday September 22 2016, @06:47PM
This sounds, once again, like the military is getting what congresscritters tell them that they will get. Because it brings pork into each congress critter's district. The Military Industrial Complex tells congress critters what they are going to buy, and they go along because
(1) bribes, er... uh, rather. . campaign contributions.
(2) pork -- jobs in every congress critter's district
Nobody seems to care that enormous amounts are spent on military programs that we don't need. The US makes sure that we can not only win against any other country, but that we can win against them all combined. Perhaps a more rational policy would be to not be such dicks that the rest of the world might be against us all at once?
War is so profitable that you can be sure we will forever have a perpetual state of undeclared war. Everybody's palms get greased. It just is too good to stop.
And, you can make extra money on nights and weekends by selling cool military toys to other countries!!! Even both sides of a particular conflict! (They'll just love you to death for that!)
We've always been at war with Eurasia, or was it Eastasia?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Thursday September 22 2016, @07:37PM
Meh, might as well bomb both...just to be sure there are none we have overlooked.
BTW, I think you hit the nail on the head, as to the current situation.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday September 22 2016, @08:25PM
Is it cheaper to bomb them both? Or build a wall around them both and make them pay for it?
(and them bomb them both?)
When the only tool you have is to build a wall,
all problems begin to look like sources of payment for that wall.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday September 22 2016, @11:43PM
I'm not sure this first quote is accurate. It's from a machine-generated transcript.
[...] the Middle East policy should be made with respect to getting our hands on oil [...]
--http://www.wsj.com/video/trump-as-independent-in-2012/75187604-AAA1-4A45-AC20-E3030EC5D45F.html [wsj.com]
As for foreign policy, Mr. Trump said he is “only interested in Libya if we take the oil,” and that if he were President, “I would not leave Iraq and let Iran take over the oil.”
--https://web.archive.org/web/20110414231152/http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/11/trump-will-probably-run-as-independent-if-he-doesnt-win-gop-nomination [archive.org]
I would bomb the shit out of 'em. [...] you'll get Exxon to come in there in two months [...] and I'll take the oil.
--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySdhGyqGCZk [youtube.com] (transcribed by me)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2016, @08:56PM
(They'll just love you to death for that!)
Hey, no reason to be so literal.