Ship and aircraft build time

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Towo different things here. Construction and refit/repair.

For more construction you need more orders. Not much call for nuclear powered supercarriers in the world. Build them faster you end up with gaps in work programmes. Workforce and/or skills then are lost. This happened in UK with SSN. Workforce and skills then took time to rebuild.
Hence my worries about losses and coming up with possible spare flight decks.
GrauGeist pointed out that there are a number of strips but they can't handle aircraft now or in a month from now. I'd like to see some preparation for the possibilities of Chinese adventurism. I'd like to see a bunch of other things as well.
All kidding aside, I'm aware of the long lead times, the necessity of having orders in hand and the lack of customers for a "full boat"CVN. There's just so much that can be done with what we have. At least we're getting the Enterprise! And I don't mean the cute little RN one either.
 
We still have a ton of airstrips on islands in the Pacific region - several are inactive or nature preserves, but they are there.

I did see the that scenario. That's what got me thinking about emergency flight decks. The ship building capacity ain't there and hauling out USS Lexington from museum status ain't never gonna cut it.

Additionally, though the missions would be long, aerial refueling from Andersen AB would help planes based in Okinawa to launch strikes. Remember too that we may well have access to Filipino airfields as well in the event of hostilities.
 
Additionally, though the missions would be long, aerial refueling would help. Remember too that we may well have access to Filipino airfields as well in the event of hostilities.
I'm sure the PLAN is aware of the Philippine facilities. The Philippines have had numerous encroachments on their territorial waters and airspace. How secure can Clarke and Subic remain? That's much closer to the PLAN's comfort zone than Pearl.
Just wondering, do the Aussies clean up Guadalcanal or do we?
 
I'm sure the PLAN is aware of the Philippine facilities. The Philippines have had numerous encroachments on their territorial waters and airspace. How secure can Clarke and Subic remain? That's much closer to the PLAN's comfort zone than Pearl.
Just wondering, do the Aussies clean up Guadalcanal or do we?

Yeah, the PI bases are vulnerable, but what base isn't? You use and defend what ya got . Between Okinawa, PI, and CVNs, one advantage will be that PLAN/PLAAF forces west of Taiwan can be struck from multiple directions.
 
Today, where is the labor force? No one wants to work, even if a national emergency exists.
Ah, is that why labor force participation has been climbing steadily?

Sadly for businesses, there are lots of jobs available and there's wage competition. Bizarrely, workers leave lower-paying jobs with worse working conditions for higher-paying jobs with better working conditions.

Labor force participation has been been particularly driven by Blacks, ages 16-19.
 
Ah, is that why labor force participation has been climbing steadily?

Sadly for businesses, there are lots of jobs available and there's wage competition. Bizarrely, workers leave lower-paying jobs with worse working conditions for higher-paying jobs with better working conditions.

Labor force participation has been been particularly driven by Blacks, ages 16-19.

The key metrics, though, are in heavy industry and chip manufacture, not overall employment, no?

Despite being a leading driver of employment growth for decades, manufacturing has shed employment over the past 40 years as the U.S. economy has shifted to service-providing industries. In June 1979, manufacturing employment reached an all-time peak of 19.6 million. In June 2019, employment was at 12.8 million, down 6.7 million or 35 percent from the all-time peak.1


Trying to find numbers on chip-manufacture, will post if I do.

I'd bet we're doing very well with software development, which is also a vital resource for modern weaponry.
 
The key metrics, though, are in heavy industry and chip manufacture, not overall employment, no?




Trying to find numbers on chip-manufacture, will post if I do.

I'd bet we're doing very well with software development, which is also a vital resource for modern weaponry.
Chip manufacturing is dominated by Taiwan. The US gave up most of it years ago
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The excuse in the past has always been that we will move manufacture overseas but continue to design here. What always happens is that the those who build something begin to understand it better than anyone else so the design expertise eventually follows.
 
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I was simply replying to the statement that "No one wants to work," which is obviously hooey.

Your point about what jobs are missing goes to the root of that idea--a vast number of pretty good jobs disappeared. Anyone who argues, "Yeah, well, they should go work at Walmart!" has lost the thread.

Fortunately for the job prospects of 16-19 year-olds, a lot of their elders just died, allowing lots of people to move up a rank, which opened entry-level positions. There were also many, many people who were disabled, some partially, some completely some temporarily, some permanently, plus all the people needed to care for the disabled. There was also the loss of the grandmas who were providing free child care. That's pulled a lot of women out of the workforce. Frankly, the increase im labor force participation is amazing, given the number of people who were pulled out of the economy.
 
In WW2 the U.S. was able to produce ships at astonishing speed. Liberty ships were built on average every 42 days. One was built in a record 4 1/2 days. I think destroyers were built in about 10 months (I may be wrong on that). So how fast do you think the U.S. could build navy ships today if the need was dire compared to how long it normally takes?

What about aircraft? The U.S. was producing about 90 aircraft a day at its peak. The F-22 takes 2-4 months to make according to websites I see. How fast could those be turned around under the same scenario?
This issue was brought up in a recent copy of Warships IFR magazine covering a recent wargame, The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan

Included in the article was that the US has no ability build replacement CVNs lost in combat beyond the current build rate. For example, the future USS John F. Kennedy CVN-79 was laid down in 2015, but won't enter service until after 2025, more than ten years later. Subsequent units of the Ford class will enter service faster due to efficiencies and learnings from the first two units, but still if the US lost three carriers they'd not be able to return to their pre-war CVN count for over a decade.
 
Re my post #20, I've now found the document I had in mind. Dated 30 Sept 1988 it contained details of all the dry docks in the various USN shipyards.

These are the ones then noted as being capable of handling a CVN.

Norfolk No.8 see p74-75 (p84-85 of the .pdf file). Completed 1942 & originally intended for construction of Montana class Battleship Louisiana. It is currently being upgraded.

Pearl Harbor No.4 p90-91 (p100-101 of the .pdf). Completed 1943

Puget Sound No.6 p128-129 (p138-9 of the .pdf). Completed 1962

The Refuelling and Complex Overhaul Work (RCOH) is carried out in the civilian yard at Newport News, alongside new construction.
 
Re my post #20, I've now found the document I had in mind. Dated 30 Sept 1988 it contained details of all the dry docks in the various USN shipyards.

These are the ones then noted as being capable of handling a CVN.

Norfolk No.8 see p74-75 (p84-85 of the .pdf file). Completed 1942 & originally intended for construction of Montana class Battleship Louisiana. It is currently being upgraded.

Pearl Harbor No.4 p90-91 (p100-101 of the .pdf). Completed 1943

Puget Sound No.6 p128-129 (p138-9 of the .pdf). Completed 1962

The Refuelling and Complex Overhaul Work (RCOH) is carried out in the civilian yard at Newport News, alongside new construction.
I got to admit there are more dry dock facilities than I thought.
 

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