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Mr. Luddite

On 4/20/2014 8:53 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Apr 2014 15:01:11 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 4/20/2014 2:45 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Apr 2014 14:30:48 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 4/20/2014 1:15 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Apr 2014 11:26:44 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:

Still the fueling bit...sheesh.

Oh, and the cloaking device is a reference to Startrek.

I don't know why you are so hung up on the stealth.

In most cases we would make a big deal about the ship being there.
You usually want people to see your "big stick" in hopes you won't
have to use it.
If it does become necessary, this is certainly a big stick with far
more firepower than the Bismark at 100 times the range.

I do tend to agree a but that this "stealth" thing is just the
"Chlorophyll" of the 21st century. (a 50s reference for you kids).

Being stealthy is just an edge, not a panacea. In a war, having an
edge is a good thing tho. If you can see them from farther away than
they can see you, it is a lot easier to kill them. This ship is far
from defenseless against just about anything..

No ship is totally immune to attack but modern naval vessels aren't as
easy to hit as Harry would like to think. Just because they are big
doesn't make them more vulnerable. In addition, "big" is relative. A
1,100 foot aircraft carrier may look big at the dock or beside a smaller
destroyer but in the middle of the Atlantic or Pacific, the size
difference really doesn't matter. They are both tiny specks in a huge
ocean.

The whole idea behind ships like the Zumwalt is that it combines several
state-of-the-art technologies that allows it to engage and likely
destroy a threat that is over the horizon, 100 miles away. Anti-ship
missiles can be deadly but they rely on some form of guidance system to
direct them to the target. The more difficult to be seen or detected,
the less likelihood of being hit. In addition, ships today have very
sophisticated electronic countermeasure systems that can redirect
incoming missiles.

I always wondered how that stealth works when they turn on the radar.

Google up "frequency agility radar" of which there are many types and
modes.

I understand you can juggle around the frequency but any radiation at
all from empty ocean should attract some attention.

It is sort of the doppleganger of how you can see a stealth aircraft.
The airplane doesn't reflect a meaningful amount of your radar signal
but it is a black hole in the sky where you also do not see the normal
background radiation from TV stations, cell towers and such.
It may not scream "airplane" but it is an anomaly worth being
suspicious of.

Trust me. Navy ships don't pinpoint their location with radar emissions
anymore. They did back in the systems of the 1950's and 1960's but that
changed in the newer class ships and new radar systems. Phased array
radar can send transmit a very narrow, directional beam, with emission
cut off in all other directions.