https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/radio-address-the-nation-the-defense-budget
The American Presidency Project
RONALD REAGAN
40th President of the United States: 1981 - 1989
Radio Address to the Nation on the Defense Budget
March 01, 1986
My fellow Americans:
Last Wednesday I addressed the Nation on the state of our national defense. I spoke of our commitment to an historic rebuilding program that has lifted America up out of weakness and given us the strength and confidence to reassume our role as leader of the free world. In a world too often prey to the forces of violence and tyranny, America is once again a bulwark for peace and freedom. We've come far, I said, in building the solid foundations of a strong and secure national defense, but we have not finished the job. We must not let all that we've accomplished in the last 5 years be undermined by careless slashing at the defense budget. America must never again slide back into helpless insecurity. America must never become, as it looked like it was becoming in the late seventies, a paper tiger.
excerpts
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/commencement-address-the-united-states-naval-academy-annapolis-maryland-1
BARACK OBAMA
44th President of the United States: 2009 - 2017
Commencement Address at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland
May 22, 2009
And we will ensure you can meet the missions of tomorrow, which is why we're investing in the capabilities and technologies of tomorrow--the littoral combat ships, the most advanced submarines and fighter aircraft--so that you have what you need to succeed. In short, we will maintain America's military dominance and keep you the finest fighting force the world has ever seen.
"Boy Meets World" {I Was a Teenage Spy (#3.19)} USA: 26 April 1996
From 10/7/1952 ( Vladimir Putin ) To 4/26/1996 ( at Overlake hospital in Bellevue Washington State the announced birth of Jennifer Katharine Gates the daughter of Microsoft Corbis Bill Gates the transvestite and Microsoft Corbis Bill Gates the 100% female gender as born to brother-sister genetic-sibling parents ) is 15907 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 5/22/2009 ( ) is 15907 days
https://www.yahoo.com/news/does-constellation-class-frigate-enough-204925567.html
Yahoo! News
Does The Navy's New Constellation Class Frigate Have Enough Vertical Launch Cells?
Tyler Rogoway
Wed, January 31, 2024 at 12:49 PM PST
As the U.S. Navy continues to wend its way toward acquiring its first batch of Constellation class frigates, a major question remains: is 32 vertical launch system cells enough for these ships?
Debates about the Constellation's vertical launch capacity reflects broader concerns, including how these cells might be reloaded at sea in a major conflict, across the Navy as a whole. The underlying issues here have come into sharp relief recently as the service's vessels have been shooting down dozens of Houthi anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles and drones and launching strikes on the group in Yemen.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/does-constellation-class-frigate-enough-204925567.html
The Navy's decision to acquire new frigates was a firm rebuke of the two perpetually under-performing classes of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). The service has acquired some 30 LCSs, in total, since the late 2000s and is still in line to receive more of them, even as it has been sending relatively young ones into mothballs.
Though intended to perform many of the same missions as the Constellation class frigates, both the Freedom and Independence class LCSs have been especially criticized for their very limited armament packages. Their continued lack of air and missile defense capability on the LCSs for anything but close-in defense has been particularly glaring. Freedom and Independence class ships have been prominently absent from the current crisis in and around the Red Sea, which is by definition a littoral combat environment, underlying the ambiguous use case and poor return on investment of these ships many years after they entered into Navy service.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/does-constellation-class-frigate-enough-204925567.html
Real World Lessons Emerging From The Red Sea
Recent events in and around the Red Sea have put a new spotlight on the debate around whether or not the Constellation class frigates will still have too few VLS cells to be highly effective, especially during sustained independent operations.
Since October 19, 2023, Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyers and aircraft have shot down at least 68 drones and 19 anti-ship missiles (a mixture of ballistic and cruise types) launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, according to press releases from U.S. Central Command. A single Burke, the USS Carney, is alone responsible for at least 37 of these intercepts.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/does-constellation-class-frigate-enough-204925567.html
Houthi attacks on ships in and around Red Sea have become somewhat routine since October. At the time of writing, the group has scored hits on multiple commercial ships, causing significant damage in several cases. However, there have been no casualties and no ships have been sunk.
In addition, the Houthi's missiles and drones, while definitely dangerous, are on the lower-end of the threat spectrum capability wise, especially compared to weapon systems fielded by near-peer competitors like China or Russia.
Even so, 75 drones and 19 missiles is still more than twice the number of VLS cells on a single Constellation class frigate. In some cases, it is standard practice to fire more than one missile at an incoming air or missile threat to improve the chances of a successful intercept. So the actual missile use count could and likely is substantially higher than that total.
It's important to note that the exact mix of missiles that Navy Arleigh Burke destroyers have been employing to shoot down Houthi missiles and drones is unknown. To date, the only type of ship-launched missile that has been confirmed to have been employed in the course of these operations is the SM-2, but others have likely been used, as well.
From 11/22/1963 ( John F. Kennedy killed in Dallas Texas ) To 4/16/2014 ( ) is 18408 days
18408 = 9204 + 9204
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 1/14/1991 ( George Bush, 41st President of USA: Statement on Signing the Resolution Authorizing the Use of Military Force Against Iraq ) is 9204 days
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gabrielle_Giffords
USS Gabrielle Giffords
From Wikipedia
USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. The ship is named after former United States Representative Gabby Giffords
The ship's name was announced by then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on 10 February 2012.
Construction on Gabrielle Giffords began with her [sic] [corrected: it's ; ship's ; ] keel laying on 16 April 2014
- by me, Kerry Wayne Burgess, posted by me: 12:53 PM Pacific-time USA Friday 02/02/2024
