But in all seriousness, I was just throwing hypotheticals out. Honestly, if we keep ruining the global climate with CO2 emissions, think of all the money we can save on not needing heavy icebreaker ships!

Excellent point, and the larger issue is, does the Antarctic mission really need to be supported by a military icebreaker with a one-off mission?

This is a good one...you can see all the penguins running away from the ice breaker

I have been on the Polar Star when it pulled into McMurdo. That is a great question. What did the retrofit do. That boat is in rough shape. The whole things looks and feels rough on the inside. Everything is worn, probably because it has been in service for 40 or so years.

Yes, our shipbuilding industry is horrendously inefficient, everything built here is several times more expensive than if it were built in other developed countries with large shipbuilding industries. Its primarily the result of massive government contracts and protectionist legislation that allow our yards to operate…

so the trouble isn’t the ships, its the yards. I mean, even the Russians aren’t using their own yards.

The trouble is, the Finnish shipbuilding industry is much more competitive and lower cost than ours. The same icebreaker would easily cost 4 times as much here. Our yards rely on the government for 80-90% of their business, and the remainder is a few shipping firms with Jones Act routes. In other words, customers that…

They very rarely are considered warships, they are built identically to civilian icebreakers, normally the only difference between a military and civilian icebreaker is the ship fitting in terms of sensors and mounting points for crew served weapons. They often don’t even have military aircraft in their hangars.

Too bad the Navy could not request a few for national security/military engagement purposes and then gift the completed boats to the Coast Guard.

Only the parts donor bit was only decided last month and the refit was started on the star in 2010

So I guess the question is: What did the $57,000,000 do?

It really depends on what you want and where you buy it. Finland recently commissioned a 25,000 hp LNG-powered icebreaker capable of breaking nearly 6 ft ice at a speed of 4 knots. Full of latest icebreaking technology such as triple Azipod propulsion, the 11,000-ton vessel cost something like $135 million.

Then again, it is not an aircraft carrier if there are no aircraft.....

How are we obligated to come to Ukraine’s defense?

It was designed for V-22 which is nearly as hard on the deck and new coatings make these easier. They also have plenty of flight deck spots to rotate landings on. Kaga is rumored to have improved deck strength.

F-35B is required to launch off Marine carriers with full fuel and fourteen thousand pounds of weapons with no ski jump needed, at standard day +15.

Probably need a chain instead of a rope.

Then again, we should worry about the Hamas behemoth

That last one is golden.

Sorry Iran, we’re gonna need more proof than that. You have a history with this sort of thing...