Keep seeing someone shill for a Laser Defense,
beams or adjustable aiming looks like a Fan (image if all beams were operating at the same time)....

Plenty of memes/parodies of Hicks shooting into the air.... Seems most believe that's why the drones are in NJ etc, instead of in Dixie....

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 01:13 pm: Edit

Methinks CG-64 Gettysburg will be getting a new captain (and XO, and likely others); they managed to shoot down an F/A-18 that had just taken off from CVN-75 Truman in the Red Sea.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 05:51 pm: Edit

Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired two high speed ballistic missiles into Israel, evading defenses and hitting a school and a play ground. The missile s were built by Iran and may have included Russian hypersonic technology. The Houthi leader said these new missiles made Israeli defenses worthless and sealed the doom of the Jewish state.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 08:38 pm: Edit

>> they managed to shoot down an F/A-18

Thank goodness that both of the aircrew survived, one with reportedly minor injuries. It would have been such a terrible tragedy if they had been killed.

--Mike

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 09:37 pm: Edit

I am curious if the Gettysburg made the error, or if the Truman did. i.e. a was the planes transponder set correctly.

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Monday, December 23, 2024 - 04:38 am: Edit

Chomp

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Monday, December 23, 2024 - 06:50 am: Edit

Chomp

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 12:42 pm: Edit

On a new / old subject, it has been reported that the Panama Canal is in serious trouble.

The fresh water Lake that provides water to operate the various locks is not being replenished fast enough to match the water used in operating the locks.

A not to be identified political person expressed an opinion that included these facts:

The biggest user of the Panama Canal in the United States of America.

70% of the annual traffic in the Panama Canal begins and ends from the East or West Coast ports.

That there appears to be considerable corruption in the operation of the Panama Canal, and it is now interfering in the safe and reliable passage of sea going vessel’s through the canal. The “political person” has called for an investigation of the management of the Panama Canal.

He ended with the statement that reliable and secure operation of the Panama Canal is of supreme importance to the National Security of the United States.

Now, without getting into politics, it may be that “the Political person” (who shall not be identified to avoid the wrath of Jean) is interested in renegotiating the status and operations of the Panama Canal.

Now, there is another Canal project under way in Mexico, but the exact status has become political, and there is some controversy as to how, and how effectively Mexico will execute the completion, and the exact rules on how it will be operated.

Bottomline, loss or blockade of the trans atlantic-Pacific shipping would cripple the economy of the USA.

Any predictions on the success or failure?

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 01:37 pm: Edit

I neglected to mention the Nicaragua canal proposal, 55 billion investment option.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 02:58 pm: Edit

The Nicaragua option has been an international topic for at least 3 decades, probably longer, but the political situation there was a really big White Elephant in the room....

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 03:30 pm: Edit

Nicaragua was the alternative to Panama when it was built, easier, but longer dig.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 03:47 pm: Edit

Mexico is also planning to dig it's own canal.

The treaty under which the US gave away the canal required Panama to do certain things which it has not done. Political person "Orange One" has said that Panama needs to meet their obligations or negotiate a new deal or the treaty provides that the US can resume ownership of the canal. Which would have to be done at gunpoint.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 04:20 pm: Edit

If we're to be honest about it, the only viable long-term solution would be a new sea-level (no locks) canal. Annual rainfall is no longer reliable enough to count on fresh-water replenishment of the Panama locks, and the width of the locks have become a significant limiter on both military and commercial ship sizes.

The problem, of course, is that digging a sea-level canal would be monumentally expensive, and require the agreement of (and upon) a host nation. The unique political situation at the turn of the 20th century, with Panama declaring its independence from Colombia with the United States as the new country's patron, is unlikely to present itself again.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 04:29 pm: Edit

As a note, the Mexican project is a rail corridor, rather than a canal; the disadvantage of course being that - like any portage system - cargo would have to be unloaded from ships on one end and loaded onto other ships on the other end. Meanwhile, Nicaragua has pulled the plug on their canal project; the Chinese outfit that was going to build it (HKND) closed their offices in 2018.

By John Wyszynski (Starsabre) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 07:00 pm: Edit

Regarding F/A-18F downing, it was a SM-2 missile and a second shot at another F/A-18. They were landing on the Truman.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 08:09 pm: Edit

The original Panama Canal construction created Gaitun Lake because earthmoving techniques (and technology) of the 1890's (when the French started work on it) was a lot of dynamite and backbreaking labor.

Modern technologies give us the ability to grind through limestone much more easily, so a sea level canal is more viable now than it was back then. It would also have the advantage that, if freighters are built even larger, it can be expanded far more easily than the rework that was done earlier this century.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - 08:44 pm: Edit

>> the disadvantage of course being that - like any portage system - cargo would have to be unloaded from ships on one end and loaded onto other ships on the other end

And a portage system doesn't work at all for things like naval vessels or cruise ships.

--Mike

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 12:56 am: Edit

Actually the Germans moved entire submarines by railroad to the Med during both world wars.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 12:58 am: Edit

The Gaza hostage negotiations are going nowhere; Hamas isn't impressed by Orange One's threats.

Hamas won't accept any deal that doesn't allow them to return to control of Gaza and import all the weapons they want; Israel won't accept any deal that lets Hamas regain power.

I haven't heard of a Palestinian leader or UN official who will accept Yahoo One's idea of deradicalization.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 07:40 am: Edit

One other fact that has not been mentioned with regard to the Panama issue:

In 2018, Panama signed up for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The concern, is China’s policy of lending vast sums of money to the nations that sign up to the program, far more than the nations could rationally repay given the size of the economies ability to repay those debts.

The result is generally three items of concern:

1) Chinese involvement means covert and overt efforts by Chinese nationals in said nations to support China in a variety of ways. Drone surveillance, use of spies, attempts to destabilize the security of the client state.
2)in order to “secure” its investments, China would move to “help” the client states by inserting ever more consultants and aid worker services .
3)foreclose on the assets in the nation to force repayment. Things like airports, sea ports, bridges, tunnels, pipelines, communications systems, in fact any kind project of any value could be appropriated.

It should be noted, that China’s Belt and road Initiative has expanded to nations around the world.

There is a chance that”the unidentified political person” has expressed interest inPanama because if China takes over first, it could exert a stranglehold on the U.S. economy by disrupting up to 70% of the tonnage of cargos between the east and west coasts of the USA.

Cheery thought.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 12:44 pm: Edit

I Don't understand how returning stuff to the host country is at all subject to debate.

The Philippines refused to renew our leases, so we left.

The US blocked the UK and France from grabbing the Suez canal.

Yeah, Panama isn't our bestest pal. But I disagree that we have the right to just grab it.

Why not build the "America Canal" right along the US Mexico border. We'd control it completely, it would serve as a great place to train soldiers/ sailors/ marines/ airmen on how to operate heavy equipment, and it would be so much better than a wall/ fence at keeping out migrants.

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 02:26 pm: Edit

Distance, mountain chains.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 03:47 pm: Edit

Unemployment above and beyond all historical records in America.

Food riots, black outs because coal mined in the American Great plains can’t be delivered because, while there are sufficient freighter able to haul coal in quantities and a timeline today, adding 12,000 miles to the length of the supply lines means (at a conservative estimate) you need 3times as many hulls to equal the tonnage handled by todays freighter fleet.

Oh, and by the way, with the water shortage in panama, many ships can only traverse the canal with partial loads because the ships draft is deeper than the shallow water in the panama lake would allow.

Not to mention, the traffic is down because there is not enough water available to let all of the freighters who wish to use the canal, to actually use the canal.

Massve problems, and wre haven’t even talked about the important stuff.

By Vincent Solfronk (Vsolfronk) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 06:01 pm: Edit

The Panama Canal is not a necessity with the West Coast post facilities and with modern road and rail between the coasts.

The problem is updating and automating the port facilities in the face of union/labor hostility.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - 07:03 pm: Edit

Jswile: we don't send coal via ocean-going ship for domestic use; it's transported by rail and occasionally river barge, and generally (though not always) used in the same general region where it is mined.