
Surfing is neither as hard or as easy as it looks. If you’re in good shape, have some coordination, and get some good pointers early on – you can hang in there just fine.
One thing you absolutely have to do it keep an eye on the water. You have to look for waves early on so you can position yourself in a way to ride it, or get out of the way of it. If you want to have a bad day, then don’t keep your eyes out to sea, don’t watch the beach – and let a wave just punish you for your in attentiveness.
With some research and graphic help from Claude Berube, I wanted to put some graphs in front of you that makes it clear that – in plain sight – we are about to get swamped. There is a wave rising in WESTPAC a decade in the making impossible for anyone to ignore..
What are the Communist Chinese building?
This begs the question; who is preparing for war, and who thinks they are entitled to rule forever?
The USN numbers are even worse than they appear. We are coming to the realization that half of our LCS fleet, the FREEDOM Class, has a critical design flaw that will make them almost useless for any kind of combat we would need in WESTPAC. The other half, the INDEPENDENCE Class LCS, brings very little to the fight in any of the primary mission areas they were bought to perform in.
As we talk about lasers that don’t exist yet, ships not even PPT thick, and unmanned CONOPS that have neither the communications infrastructure, maintenance, engineering, weaponeering, or operating software available to make them functionable – which navy is poised best for the fight in 2025? 2030?
Who is poised for even greater growth … and which is heading to the breaking yards?
While we are, at last, hearing some good words – now – our failure to build a fleet to meet the challenge did not happen over night. This took place in plain sight over years as our leadership knowingly aligned themselves with other priorities for reasons they are in a better place to explain to us, if anyone can ever corner them to get an answer.
In 2021, what happened the last two decades does not really matter expect for one critically important reasons for the US Navy as an institution; to put on record an example for future leaders of what not to do.
While that is there to ponder, today we have a challenge, the wave, right there upon us.
If you want to know why people are desperate to find some way to catch up quick – actual technology and shipyard capacity besides – that is the reason. They find themselves in positions where they have to face the wave those who held their position before them ignored.
Pray for peace, as we need a decade of sound leadership and even more sound decisions in order to recover from the poor position we are in – a position we have no one to blame for but ourselves.
There is no quick fix. There are no magic beans. No offset.
There never was.