USS Ronald Reagan

[Snowy79]

A little sailing dingy from the USA just sailed past Puerto Galera this afternoon.  Judging by the firepower on deck I figure the Philippines has just found oil. 

[OnMyWay]

That is looking out from PG so I assume they are headed east through that strait?  Strange that they would be going into that relatively confined area.  I assume the carrier task force is there also?

I just looked at their FB page and apparently they have been doing some exercises with the Japanese Navy.

https://www.facebook.com/ussronaldreagan/

I think there are two Japanese ships docked in Subic.

[marine6357]

Could this be a show of force to the Chinese? Probably but if I was a nation I would not want to test this. Just imho

[GeoffH]

11 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I just looked at their FB page and apparently they have been doing some exercises with the Japanese Navy.

 

I read elsewhere that there were joint exercises with 2 Japanese 'helicopter carriers' (which are primarily anti-submarine warfare carriers intended to be used as task force flag ships).

 

The Izumo class is an interesting design... not really amphibious warfare ships, they're more like a small aircraft carrier (albeit ones not currently carrying fixed wing aircraft and biased towards anti submarine warfare and with significant self defence ability, more than most carriers).  The Japanese government did confirm a while ago that the operating fixed wing aircraft was factored into the design and japan do have plans to buy 40 F35-B aircraft, read into that what you will but my viewpoint is if they were intended for land based use why would they order the B version and not the A version like Australia.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if part of the thinking behind these joint operations is directed in that eventual direction (in a similar way that US forces have been training with the Aussies and marine operations with their LHD flat tops).  Each 'medium power' that has 'limited power projection' ability in the south China sea is another counter balance against increasing Chinese influence in the area.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see more 'joint operations' with the Republic of Korea navy either.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2018 by GeoffH

[Old55]

We are building a large carrier drone that has been accepted for active service as a refueling aircraft. I know there is a variant that has other capabilities. The point is a smaller carrier has the ability to take a number of UAV's. The Japanese aren't stupid.  

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

The Japanese aren't stupid.  

When I watch the National Geographic program "China From Above" I realize that the Chinese are not stupid either and they are catching up at such a gigantic pace (with the western world) that they could be the number one superpower in a dozen years.  The good thing is, they are building so many fantastic cities they will surely not want a war that would see their infrastructure destroyed.  Would they?

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

We are building a large carrier drone that has been accepted for active service as a refueling aircraft. I know there is a variant that has other capabilities. The point is a smaller carrier has the ability to take a number of UAV's. The Japanese aren't stupid.  

 

I did read about the carrier drone that was accepted for active service as a refueling aircraft, I was not aware there was another variant (but I'm not surprised either).

There are a number of small flat tops of various designs in service with various western nations (well 20,000 to 30,000 tonne isn't really small but you know what I mean) that could well make use of such unmanned drones, not just the Japanese.

The next 10 years will be very interesting I think.

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

The good thing is, they are building so many fantastic cities they will surely not want a war that would see their infrastructure destroyed.  Would they?

Are you serious? Most of them have no residents and are ghost cities. Many parts were bulldozed because of crap work and the fact is no one ones to live there. The whole idea was to boost the economy which it did but as for the outcome nothing but a lot of great cities and no people. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Most of them have no residents and are ghost cities.

Wow.  I did not realize that.  Here is a video on it for those who are ignorant like me.

 

[TimL]

Wow. That’s crazy.. I had never heard or ghost cities there before.  Thanks for the education.