LTTE: $12b for an aircraft carrier? Just imagine what that money could buy

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/01/16/for-aircraft-carrier-just-imagine-what-that-money-could-buy/CMjH3GJZtsBgxIvYcYf9aO/story.html

$12b for an aircraft carrier? Just imagine what that money could buy
January 16, 2014

I am writing in reference to the front-page article “Carrier of many concerns” (Jan. 10). To my mind, the important thing about the new USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is not whether it has performance problems, but rather that it’s being built at all.

Suppose that, instead of $12 billion being spent on that ship, an additional $1 billion were budgeted to the public transportation systems of our 12 largest cities? Or $100 million granted to the public school systems of 120 cities across the United States?

Wouldn’t those alternatives have a huge beneficial impact on the lives of millions of people, and so much more of an impact than the construction of this single military vessel?

Unless we, the people, speak out, our future will continue to be sold out from under us and our children by the military-industrial complex, that revolving door of Pentagon brass and corporate executives who believe that a permanent wartime economy is what’s best for America.


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Oops.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/01/09/reliability-problems-emerge-crucial-components-billion-aircraft-carrier-modern-catapult-for-planes-falls-short-initial-tests-uss-gerald-ford/ZZVA1cN9W40iITvN9uK6yJ/story.html



Early tests are raising worries that the USS Gerald R. Ford may not meet the Navy’s goal of significantly increasing the number of warplanes it can quickly launch — and could even be less effective than older vessels.
In this section : Nation

Navy’s new $12b aircraft carrier beset with performance problems
Review raises doubts about launch capacity, other vital systems in new vessel
By Bryan Bender
January 10, 2014

WASHINGTON — The US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, a multibillion-dollar behemoth that is the first in a next generation of carriers, is beset with a number of performance problems, even failing tests of its ability to launch and recover combat jets, according to an internal assessment by the Pentagon.

The early tests are raising worries that the USS Gerald R. Ford, christened in honor of the 38th president in November, may not meet the Navy’s goal of significantly increasing the number of warplanes it can quickly launch — and could even be less effective than older vessels. The carrier is undergoing testing at a Virginia shipyard and is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2016, with a price tag estimated at more than $12 billion.

At least four crucial components, which are still being installed on the ship, are at risk because of their poor or unknown reliability, states the 30-page testing assessment, which was delivered last month to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and other top Pentagon leaders.

In addition to the ship’s launching and landing systems for jet fighters, officials are also concerned about its advanced radar system, which is being produced by Waltham-based Raytheon Company. It also remains unclear if a key weapons elevator will work as promised.

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Another LTTE:
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20131231/OPINION03/312310009/The-cost-of-protection?nclick_check=1

Letter: The cost of protection
Dec. 30, 2013

The cost of each is ongoing by the requirement for crew, fuel, and maintenance. A total of 75 F-35s will be stationed aboard the new USS Gerald R. Ford CVN-78.

The Ford was recently commissioned after a 10-year production life costing $13 billion dollars. It contains state-of-the-art technological equipment including two nuclear power plants, which power the ship for 25 years. It contains 10 million feet of electric cable. It can produce 15,000 meals a day and convert 400,000 gallons of fresh water from the ocean daily.

The new carrier will join 10 existing carrier groups. Each group has six or more supporting ships costing many more billions of taxpayer dollars.

How can the United States justify this new beautiful aircraft carrier? A similar comparison is a man going bankrupt who has 10 expensive vehicles buying another one. I believe the one descriptive word is insane.




unhappycamper comment: This camper maintains the final cost of the USS Gerald R Ford will be closer to forty billion than the twelve billion stated in the articles.