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USN Another call to "bring back S-3's" (Vikings are Zombies)
- Thread starter ChuckMK23
- Start date
I swear Proceedings must have a Standard Template for these Zombie Hoov articles. They’re all exactly the same.
1. Quote that Jerry Hendrix piece and say it was a mistake to retire the S-3
2. Talk about Rhino fatigue life, delays in F-35 IOC, and scoff at Stingray ever happening.
3. Acknowledge briefly and quickly dismiss “challenges” with bringing the Hoovs out of mothballs.
4. Talk about how great it would be to have the S-3 back and all it could do.
No matter how true #1, 2, and 4 are, #3 is the reason it’s never going to happen.
1. Quote that Jerry Hendrix piece and say it was a mistake to retire the S-3
2. Talk about Rhino fatigue life, delays in F-35 IOC, and scoff at Stingray ever happening.
3. Acknowledge briefly and quickly dismiss “challenges” with bringing the Hoovs out of mothballs.
4. Talk about how great it would be to have the S-3 back and all it could do.
No matter how true #1, 2, and 4 are, #3 is the reason it’s never going to happen.
I often think of one illuminating fact from the debate about retiring the A-10, the CSAF said repeatedly that in order to get the same savings as retiring the A-10 he would have to retire 3 times the number of F-16's. Many folks don't realize how much comes along with maintaining an aircraft fleet with everything from unique engines to guns and all the required support in between to include simulators, PDM requirements and training courses for maintainers among many others, can add up really quickly. All the same issues exist with the S-3 but even worse (ironically or not the S-3 and A-10 have the same engine), the thing hasn't been in regular service for almost 10 years now. I had a buddy who worked at the depot in JAX and he said it took them a long time, 2 to 3 times longer than normal IIRC, to get the first S-3 through there for VX-30 because they forgot how to depot the Hoov in the ~5 years since they had last done an S-3. I would love to see the Hoov back as a KS-3 but I just don't think its practical.
Ugh, that paper really annoys me from the lack of detail and the sweeping but flawed conclusions he draws from that deliberate lack of detail. I agree that we have issues with the reach of our current air wings but I dont' think things are as bad as Hendrix says.
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I think you just summed up the current defense blogging 'industry'.
This. It's never going to happen. Take it to the bank. If you don't follow Jerry Hendrix on Twitter, do yourself a favor. This guy is a drama queen par excellence. He was quite certain that the tri-carrier nonsense we just executed in WESTPAC was the kick-off to war with North Korea.
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You would hope for better from an NFO CAPT (ret), even if he was VP.
Go on...
Eh. Having wings and old ribbons in a box in a drawer don’t necessarily make you any smarter. Just maybe makes your bullshit smarter-sounding.
Much more often than not a former aviator, SWO, submariner or other former military 'operator' goes a long way to a baseline understanding of military ops in general.
Not sure you’re selling me on following him. Unless it’s for entertainment purposes.
I’ve disparaged Jerry Hendrix on here before; I’m still not sure what he’s selling other than Navalism for Navalisms sake. I don’t think he has an overarching vision for the Navy other than one that’s doing something different from today’s navy. Maybe with him at the top of the heap.
Pretty much, though there are occasionally some interesting comments... and sniping by yours truly.
Not to disparage the TACRON command route (sorry Rob), but Jerry's operational VP experience ended with his DH tour. Take that FWIW. I think a lot of the attention that he gets is because he spouts some fairly provocative claims... which don't always withstand serious and informed scrutiny.
It was a lot, upfront costs and projected support. Can't get into specifics, but you don't see any international buyers jumping on these aircraft for a (many) reason(s).