The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

Chapter 1447 CG(X) or DDG1000?

Michael Mullen was originally from the Navy. Throughout his career, except for never serving on an aircraft carrier, he worked on everything from oil supply ships to cruisers. He is well aware of the performance of various equipment of the US Navy.

Now, after hearing these two suggestive examples from the other party, his pupils shrank immediately and he became extremely alert.

A man as sophisticated and rigorous as Gates would never blurt out whatever came to his mind, even in a private meeting like this.

Since they specifically brought up JSF and DDG1000, they must be trying to hint at or test something.

There is no need to explain the former. As the F22's function is too single and the development plan of the naval carrier-based F22N has completely failed, the F35 has been the top priority of the entire US military and even the entire NATO system since the 21st century. Whenever the military is prepared for war, this model cannot be avoided.

But DDG1000 is more subtle.

According to the idea at the turn of the century, the US Navy should start the next round of mass equipment updates around 2010, using Ford-class aircraft carriers, CG(X) missile cruisers and DDX missile destroyers to replace the Nimitz-class, Ticonderoga-class and Arleigh Burke-class ships respectively. The whole process will probably last 20-25 years and will be basically completed around 2030.

However, plans cannot keep up with changes. After entering the new century, first a round of anti-terrorism war changed the focus of the US military's mission, followed by the former Secretary of Defense's reckless operations, which resulted in a large number of research projects that were halfway through being forced to stagnate or simply be cancelled. Finally, there was a financial crisis that almost shook the country's foundation, which abruptly interrupted the new cabinet's plan to "set things right."

The Navy's ambitious replacement plan had to be delayed again and again. Now it is August 2009, only half a year away from the original replacement date, and the only new ship that has actually been implemented is...

A Freedom-class littoral combat ship.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, although the carrier-based aviation force is still far behind, destroyers with an overall structure more advanced than the Arleigh Burke have already begun to be produced.

In this context, there has long been an idea within Capitol Hill to abandon the original plan and save the original, and to concentrate resources on 1-2 projects, to at least ensure that something is produced first to respond to the challenge from the Chinese.

Now that DDG1000 and JSF are suddenly put together, it is hard not to make some associations.

The so-called "putting pressure on Congress" is probably more accurately described as compromising with Congress.

Of course, although the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest position a military officer can hold, he is essentially just a "business adviser to the Secretary of Defense." No matter how high Mullen's prestige in the military is, he has little say in matters involving appropriations.

So after thinking for a while, he still didn't express his thoughts directly, but followed Gates' words and said:

"Indeed, and the DDG1000's power module and a large part of its marine electronic systems are common to the CG(X) cruiser. If it can be quickly promoted to sea trials and put into service, it will be of great help to the subsequent further upgrading work..."

While holding up the water cup, Ma Lun paid special attention to the other party's reaction.

But I don’t know if it was because I didn’t react or if I really don’t show my emotions on my face, but unfortunately, I didn’t see any useful information.

I had to continue:
"To be honest, I have been studying Chinese weapons and equipment since 2005... In fact, it's not just weapons and equipment, but also the research process in other fields. I found that a large part of them have the same characteristics, that is, taking a certain project as the center, deriving other results in the surrounding areas during the research process, and trying to ensure the universality of subsystems and technologies... This can share the risks caused by the large-scale use of new technologies on the one hand, and avoid inefficient repeated investment on the other hand..."

"..."

It should be said that Mullen's research results are very close to Chang Haonan's working habits, which is of great reference value to the US military, especially the US military which is in a cash-strapped stage.

But he was interrupted by Gates with a wave of his hand before he finished speaking:

"Michael, I understand your idea... However, now both Congress and the White House are not optimistic about the development prospects of the CG(X) project. They plan to concentrate resources on the Zumwalt-class destroyer and Ford-class aircraft carrier, and strive to complete the launch of the first ship of these two types before the end of 2013..."

The worries he had been having were finally confirmed at this moment. Maren's face became a little stiff.
"But, Robb..." He actually understood that since Congress and the White House had reached a consensus, there was little room for maneuver in this matter, but he still wanted to struggle:
"The cancellation of the CG(X) project means that a series of sub-projects such as the dual-band radar, integrated electric propulsion system, and MK57 vertical launch system will be transferred to the DDG1000 project. Overall, there is no way to save much money, and it may also cause a sharp increase in the cost of a single DDG1000 ship..."

Gates's expression finally changed, and he seemed to be struggling, but soon returned to normal:

"From a technical point of view, you are right...but now reducing spending is the top political correctness in Washington. No matter what the actual effect is, we have to express our attitude."

At this point, Mullen knew that it was meaningless to continue insisting, so he had to settle for the next best thing:

"Okay... but even if we have to cut one of them, from the perspective of improving the navy's combat effectiveness and the normal renewal of surface ships, I and most of my naval colleagues believe that compared to DDG1000, we should give priority to ensuring the normal progress of the CG (X) project..."

"In terms of R&D costs, the difference between the two is not that big, and the displacement of CG(X) is almost 1000 times that of DDG1.5, with higher combat capabilities, and it also meets our needs for regional air defense, ballistic missile defense and ocean anti-submarine capabilities."

"On the other hand, we are still producing Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Even if the DDG1000 project is cancelled or the number of ships built is greatly reduced, we can still maintain the normal renewal of destroyer units. However, the Ticonderoga-class destroyers have been discontinued for a long time and most of them are too old. If there is no new equivalent model to replace them, then not to mention that the air defense command mission of the aircraft carrier battle group will be vacant, even the normal promotion and rotation of naval officers will be in trouble..."

Gates's eyes obviously paused for a moment.

Obviously, as a civilian from the intelligence system, he had never considered this issue before, and the president and congressmen were even less likely to have such sensitivity.

Like most countries in the world, command positions in the U.S. military are also individually assigned.

The rank of a destroyer captain is lieutenant colonel, while the rank of a cruiser captain is colonel.

Regardless of the difference in combat effectiveness between the two types of ships, if there are suddenly twenty fewer colonel positions in the organizational sequence, it is almost equivalent to the transition from mid-level officers to senior officers being cut off. If the original promotion ratio might have been 10%, it will probably be cut by more than half now.

The upward channel was cut off, and the impact on military morale was almost devastating.

Even if you want to be Commissioner Smith, you can't withhold military benefits and expect others to work for you, right?
"This... is indeed a problem..."

For the first time, Gates softened his tone.

Unfortunately, he was just an ordinary cabinet member and couldn't make the final decision on such matters:

“I can write these concerns into the report, but you have to think about it. Congress has strong opinions on CG(X), so even if your idea is finally adopted, it will probably take a long time to argue. It is even more likely that CG(X) will still be cancelled, and the construction progress of subsequent DDG1000 ships will be delayed…”

The implication is obvious, which is to put the choice in the hands of the other party.

Should we obtain several DDG1000s quickly and safely, or strive for the CG(X) that the Navy wants more? The price is that both projects will definitely be further delayed.

Mullen lowered his head and stared at the report on his desk that exaggerated the threat from China for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said:
"I insist that CG (X) is more in line with our assumptions about future combat needs... The core mission of DDG1000 when it was designed is similar to the littoral combat ship, which is to perform land support missions in offshore waters. Now the first ship has begun cutting steel plates. Although some minor repairs can be made later, it will be difficult to confront the Chinese fleet on the high seas and oceans."

"As for the progress issue, as I just said, we can shift the focus of DDG1000 to the subsystems shared by the two projects, such as..."

At this point, he paused for a moment:
"For example, we can urge Rolls-Royce to complete the development and delivery of the MT2010 gas turbine before the end of 30 according to the original schedule..."

(End of this chapter)