JMOB and other US Military stuff :)

This thread is intended for people interested in new military tech and developments.

JMOB or Joint Mobility Base is a concept in the works, JMOB's are a fully mobile ocean going military bases made of individual modules. Each Module is around 1000 feet long by 500 feet wide and will be able to connect with other JMOB modules to form a giant ocean going platform. The technology comes from off shore drilling rigs and other commercial ventures and is already in place. One of these would greatly reduce US dependance on foreign powers to project force around the globe. I really like the concept. Here is a link:

http://www.bwxt.com/Products/mob-bwx.html

Just think, no more over seas bases needed, no more foreign aid programs to get the permission for new bases, or to even use the bases you already paid for [img]smile.gif[/img]

On another front. There was a recent demonstration of a LASER based anti-artillery system. The system was recently tested and destroyed in flight Artillery shells and rockets.....rockets I could easily believe, what amazed me is that the LASER system actually shot artillery shells out of the sky AND provided counter battery fire information for friendly artillery.....way cool, since artillery is one of the biggest casualty causers. Don't have a link sorry...but Popular Science had an article recently.

I have dreamed about this type of capability since I read one of David Drakes Hammer's Slammers stories [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hope some of you are interested in this stuff [img]smile.gif[/img]

Edit for typos and stuff

[ 03-05-2003, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

[Brennihelvete]

Im very interested in Military technology as well. Im fascinated that they have actually come to the stage where Lasers are used to shoot down things. Maybe it wont be too long before we have jetfighters with lasecannons, and laserguns, cannons, etc. That has always been science fiction for me, now that I see its reality im quite exited [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Indemaijinj]

So, the US army is basically trying to find a technological way out of the dependence of alliances.

Perhaps the UN IS dead after all.

[Wulfere]

This reminds me of an old "Omni" magazine series on Macro-Engineering. As I recall they were talking about just such Ocean-going platforms. Massive structures that could weather ocean storms and travel the seas ...though at a slower pace than a ship. They foresaw them as extra living space and ocean going cities.

The laser counter battery was something I had heard of on "Paul Harvey" of all places. This topic brings something else to mind though. I was looking through a defense Magazine that we received at the Shop, before I left the service. It had an article and an add for a robot that would patrol a given area. It carried Anti-Personnel, Anti-Vehicle and Anti-Helicopter munitions and could decide for itself if the target was friendly and what munition to use if it was not. Kinda like a low rent Terminator. I believe it carried only three rounds of the Anti-Vehicle and Anti-Heliocopter munitions but had several dozen of the Anti-Personnel munitions to call upon.
I have never heard of these ever actually being used or even tested though.

[Sir Krustin]

This isn't anything new, really. It's just the next step in the evolution of the aircraft carrier. It's biggest problem will be defending against submarine attack - at least an aircraft carrier can outrun a submarine.

On Hammer's Slammers - awesome series. Drake was one very disturbed individual when he wrote those stories, but they hit home in a way that only a vet can do. Guess it was a good cartharsis, he's much better now.

JMOB's: Submarines won't be a problem...think of the towed array sonar something like that could haul [img]smile.gif[/img] Not to mention the ASW helo's it could hold. Popular Mechanics has a much more "grand" vision of the JMOB on this months cover.

What makes this different from what was proposed in Omni and elsewhere is that the 1000 x 500 foot platform isn't even a stretch of imagination, it could be done right now....and it could be paid for by closing bases in places like Turkey. Why pay for bases (we are talking hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions) when you can float your own in international waters?

If we had a JMOB I know 4 aviators who would likely be alive that died during the Libyan raids in the 80's....because they would have had to fly only a fraction of the distance they ended up flying.

[wellard]

Originally posted by Indemaijinj: So, the US army is basically trying to find a technological way out of the dependence of alliances. Perhaps the UN IS dead after all.

Looks like the law of market forces as arrived to international diplomacy

Turkey, Philippines ect can still have bases on their soil on terms they set, it's just that those terms had better be low enough to circumnavigate this useful new option
We may not like it Indemaijinj but from the U.S. prospective it is going to be a good thing.

Until the Chinese station one just of the coast of Cuba. In international waters of course [img]graemlins/blueblink.gif[/img] now THAT is something worth thinking about [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

Originally posted by wellard: Until the Chinese station one just of the coast of Cuba. In international waters of course [img]graemlins/blueblink.gif[/img] now THAT is something worth thinking about [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

LLAO It will be a cold day in Cuba when the Chinese have a Navy [img]smile.gif[/img] They have no use for one and would never have any way to justify such a cost. It would be counterproductive to their own good. There is a reason that the USA has the worlds largest Navy, and it is not because we want to dominate the world, it is because we are a Maritime nation and China is not. The worlds other Navies can barely scrape together one or two mini-carriers and keep them running. The USA is the only nation on earth right now that can field 12 or 13 of them, and the JMOB would be constructed of modules about the size of each of those carriers. The US is already spending billions every year to "defend" nations that every year bitch and moan about a US military presence...yet keep coming back for our $$$$ come lease renewel time. By creating the JMOB we are giving the citizens of those nations what they "say" they want....a US free country. We also give the US bases that we can use without begging thehost country for permission....Some times you get what you want.

Edit: You know this sounds way too hostile (my post) but I can't really see how to rewrite it to make it less so. The real thing I wish to convey here is that, I want to give the people who do not want the US in their countries, who don't want our bases, exactly what they want. I am pretty sure that they may find that getting what they want may not be what they thought it would be. The USA should also not be paying for bases that they cannot use, it is a waste of tax payer money. The JMOB would make sure that money was not wasted on something that some foerign power could tell us not to use, or over fly or come near.

[ 03-05-2003, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

The JMOB idea was proposed about 10 years ago..I remember reading an article about it in "Focus", a technology magazine, and then writing an article for a wargaming magazine myself. Kavaerner (sp?) I believe undertook a design study for the DOD.

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by MagiK: By creating the JMOB we are giving the citizens of those nations what they "say" they want....a US free country. We also give the US bases that we can use without begging thehost country for permission....Some times you get what you want.

Sounds good to me. Start up production!