INCOMPLETE $14 BILLION DOLLAR FORD CLASS CARRIER
The United States Navy is not what it once was.
The most obvious evidence for this is the severe decline in the number of deployable Navy ships from the the 594 that the Navy had in 1987 to the 251 commissioned ships today. And many of the 251 ships are suffering from severe lack of maintenance, including under maintained critical systems. Further, the current commissioned ships include low capability / undermanned ships such as the Zumwalt Destroyer (an undermanned fragile, high-priced technology demonstration platform ) and the Littoral Combat Ship (a low capability, low endurance almost undeployable ship). And the ill-considered/ poorly designed $14 billion dollar Ford Class Carrier which will never ever reach the level of performance of the Nimitz class carriers, despite costing twice as much.
The reason for the decline in the number of capable commissioned navy ships is not the lack of money, it is the result of a corrupt and incompetent procurement system that puts the profits of defense contractors and the careers of their future executives (senior retired naval officers) ahead of that of our national security needs.
The other major reason for the decline of the US Navy is the destruction of the warrior culture in favor of a system of advancement that places a premium on the ability to successfully navigate bureaucracy, while not running afoul of the political correctness that now permeates all our services. This emphasis on wokeness and social engineering has severely degraded the professionalism and capability of the Navy. This is not to say that Navy does not have many capable patriotic sailors and officers, but that advancement is no longer based on one's ability to effectively engage and lead in combat. Examples of the decline in professionalism and discipline listed in a recent article by security analyst Roger Thompson include:
The 2017 McCain accident that left 10 dead, the Navy put the onus squarely on the ship’s leadership.
The 2017 Fitzgerald collision, which drowned seven sailors, found sweeping personnel problems dating back years.
The chaotic response to the Bonhomme Richard fire was due to dysfunctional communication in the chain of command, according to that investigation. This resulted in the loss of a multi-billion dollar ship.
For more on this topic read Roger Thompson's article in Responsible Statecraft : https://responsiblestatecraft.org/author/rthompson/
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