I've served aboard both. I gotta say that the Ticonderogas were much better
assignments in terms of comfort and job duties (as an electrician), but the Iowa
class... just had intimidation factor. =)

In Desert Storm, when the fleet lobbed cruise missiles at enemy targets, they kept
their heads down. But when the spotter drone buzzed overhead, they knew it was
a US Battleship about to open up on them, and after a week or two, they scurried
out of their foxholes and put their hands up. The only known instance of units
surrendering to an unarmed recon drone. =)

One day on the gun line in Desert Storm, our XO got a request to hit a bunker. it
was 12 miles inland, heavy reinforced concrete, and supposedly 40 feet deep. They
asked if we could crack it. Supposedly our XO responded, "no problem, we'll just dig
a 50 foot hole."

I'm just a fan of the big guns for looks. The old BB's and DD's are awesome. None of
these little wimpy guns with a bunch of missiles hidden away.

Form follows function.

While the Zumwalts are indeed ugly as sin, they will be cutting edge technology. But the
Arleigh-Burkes will be in service for a long, long time to come. Each progression in
design for them (from Fight I to Flight IIs to the current Flight II upgrades) has seen
them progress in technology and capability for the foreseeable future.

They have also started research and development for the CG(x) in an effort to design a new
class of cruiser to begin replacing the aging fleet of Ticonderoga class cruisers. It will
be interesting to see what they come up with.

Now the big dawgs of the Navy will be the new Ford class carriers with CVN-78 scheduled to
be commissioned around 2015. While based on the Nimitz hull design, the flight deck will
be larger to eliminate some of the "chaos" clutter that occurs on the working deck of the
Nimitz class. Electromagnetic catapults will replace the steam driven ones which will
reduce the wear and tear on both the catapult system and the aircraft, saving millions of
dollars over a 50-60 year lifespan of the ship. They will also produce nearly 3x the power
output of that of a Nimitz class, facilitating a numerous amount of multi-mission
capabilities and technologies well beyond what a Nimitz currently can handle. All the
while reducing personnel requirements by nearly 1000 people. As it is, manpower is nearly
60% of the military budget, thus saving money in the long run and allowing the Navy to
downsize while still keeping 10 supercarriers in service.







But as far as looks go, the Arleigh-Burkes are beautiful ships in their own rights.
However in my own opinion nothing to me compares to the elegance of the sleek, curvy and
beautiful lines of an Iowa class battleship, all the while still imposing an intimidating
fear factor and sense of power they produce bristling front to back with large caliber
rifles and the array of missile battery.

looking at the size of the ship in the pic (post 3) they'd fit inside the CV
hangars and would function as short range recon ships, not as escorts.

I dont know, but french and russia best naval designers?
Are you kidding me?
Italy is still making the best hulls for ships.
Netherlands is still making the most advanced radars (and ciws). USA bought the APAR and
SMART-L to create new radars for their future combatants. And carrier.
And THALES in overal (every country in it). Is still making the best ship designs.


Oh btw.
The zumwalt will escort us carriers and amphib task forces.
Those are FAR LESS STEALTHY then BATTLESHIPS and BIGGEST container ships.
How is that USEFULL? Not...
I have seen an LPD(Johan de Witt) on the rada rscreen caught with Smart-S.
Its damm large.
And then the usa builds then larger. Good luck with your ugly ships.

I like the F-117 actually. It has an evil look like a bird of death. The P-38 is still likely one
of my favorite birds.

These ships on the other hand look horrible, and not very scary. How does it perform in
a squall I wonder? It doesn't look very seaworthy. How well do missiles perform in
hurricane-like winds?

Nobody liked the look of the 1st generation stealth aircraft either (F117), but it worked
well. These ships should have the advantage that they are very difficult to detect via
radar, sonar, AND infrared. I don't have to speak as a US Navy Vet to tell you that
characteristics like THOSE come secondary to how the ship looks.

You can laugh at my ship's ugly arse all you like, but if I have the ability to put a
missile down your throat and you can't fire one back at me... who's the one who should be
laughing? =)

------------

Oh, and hid that... illustration. I'm not sure what you were trying to say, leaderwolf,
but the artwork is definately off topic, even for Off Topic.

I don't even know?

^^ I smell spammer's nubs.

''They're ugly because the weapons are disproportionate to their size''

What a stupidity,the clear line,the fair and usual line is boring many time,
use again searchengine to see the beauty of Origami.
How can appreciate things if you hidden in big dino's clans?putrefaction and resurrect like
zombie smell is kill almost all.
The longs legs of lady is ugly?what a distorted sens of beauty you had?what of kind you
are?if tell FF Surcouf is ugly?
FINALLY !!you can do a picture or catch the jets sky cut the clouds in
your head,can't catch the sens of art or paint the wall(maybe);I'm so sad still is exist
persons in life don't visit the art Gallery or is enter like a beef and is exit like a cow.
The beauty is everywhere but yours mind is blind the eyes or contrary sad thing.