NYT call for Navy cutbacks sparks online buzz

[Shellback]

Staff report
Posted : Monday Dec 22, 2008 22:23:24 EST
A Sunday editorial in the New York Times called for drastic cutbacks in the Navy’s planned fleet, an argument that set bloggers buzzing — as did the piece’s errors of fact.
In its editorial, “How to pay for a 21st century military,” the Times recommended the Navy eliminate one carrier strike group; cancel its planned Zumwalt-class destroyers; cancel all its Virginia-class submarines; and cancel the Marine Corps’ V-22 Osprey program. Its other recommendations included eliminating the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor and ending the missile defense program, part of which includes Navy warships.
The newspaper also called for more littoral combat ships, assuming follow-on copies to the first ship, the Freedom, also will cost about $600 million. Canceling the Zumwalts and the Virginias will free up shipbuilding money for more LCSs, the Times wrote.
But the editorial mischaracterized several details about the Navy’s programs. It criticized the Zumwalt as “a stealthy blue water combat ship designed to fight the kind of mid-ocean battles no other nation is preparing to wage,” although the Zumwalt is actually designed to operate close to shore. Its radar system is designed to find targets in a cluttered littoral environment, and its Advanced Gun Systems are designed to provide fire support to Marines ashore. As designed, the ship can’t use its guns against surface targets on the ocean, and although details are hazy about the ship’s exact missile capabilities, it isn’t designed to fight other warships with surface-to-surface attacks.

NYT call for Navy cutbacks sparks online buzz - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times

[Shellback]

Hahaa - the NYT not having their facts straight? Oh come now, not the NYT!