| ptdockyard | 15 May 2014 9:45 a.m. PST |
I thought all of these ships were retired. Now a few can be FACs??? link Dave G
The PT Dockyard |
| Coelacanth | 15 May 2014 10:31 a.m. PST |
IDK  Ron |
| ptdockyard | 15 May 2014 11:24 a.m. PST |
I will have a 1/700 version out this weekend. This is too cool.
Dave
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| Lion in the Stars | 15 May 2014 11:49 a.m. PST |
I was in the Navy and didn't realize there were any FACs/PCs still in service! |
| emckinney | 15 May 2014 3:14 p.m. PST |
The Griffin is/was going to be the SSM for the LCS, where it was clearly inadequate. Even for the PCs, I have to agree with one of the commenters to the article that there are better alternatives and that we're spending a lot of money re-inventing the wheel. The existence of the PCs raises a lot of questions about the mission of the LCS, or it would have if the Navy hadn't given up the littoral mission for the LCS. |
| SouthernPhantom | 22 May 2014 2:16 p.m. PST |
Why are we even bothering with this system? Navalized HELLFIRE would make much, much more sense. Higher velocity, larger warhead, and a combat-proven munition to top it off. Just goes to show that Ike was right. |
| ptdockyard | 24 May 2014 5:59 a.m. PST |
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| tuscaloosa | 25 May 2014 12:11 p.m. PST |
I don't know much about naval warfare, but I'm confused as to why you need long range surface missiles for the counter-terrorism and counter-piracy missions. |
| Tgunner | 26 May 2014 7:02 a.m. PST |
Stand off Tuscaloosa. 2000m is about the effective of most small arms and rockets used by poorly armed states (Iran), pirates, or terrorists. This weapon can hit out beyond 4000m which gets you about to the curvature of the Earth- aka if you can spot and confirm then you can shoot it. Being able to "reach out and touch someone" before they can do the same is always a plus if you want your ships undamaged and your soldiers, marines, and sailors unhurt when the bullets start flying. And with these thinly protected craft this gives the PC a big lead over the bad guys. But you're still hurting if they have corvettes and frigates with over-the-horizon SSMs, like say Iran, who regularly threaten to close Hormuz |
| Lion in the Stars | 26 May 2014 6:31 p.m. PST |
I don't know much about naval warfare, but I'm confused as to why you need long range surface missiles for the counter-terrorism and counter-piracy missions. First, 4000m isn't long-range, it's still within line of sight. 40km is getting to be long range (and 400km definitely is long range). Second, 4000m means that they can shoot terrorists/pirates at ranges they can't hit you from. |
| Number6 | 26 May 2014 10:30 p.m. PST |
"The Sea Griffin will use a dual-mode seeker with an imaging infrared seeker and semi-active laser guidance, as well as using a data-link to track multiple threats simultaneously and give it a fire-and-forget capability. The new seeker and an extended range rocket motor, which will add 20 lb (9.1 kg) of weight, will increase the range of the Sea Griffin to 15 km (9.3 mi)" It will still be 1/2 the size of the Hellfire and won't require a millimeter wave radar. |
| Juramentado | 17 Jun 2014 9:38 a.m. PST |
And the biggest problem with Griffin is still the major complaint of the PC crews – it's a terminal-designation missile, which means launching one ties up the designator, so until it makes contact with the target, you can't put up another one. So holding at arms-length a bunch of small boats swarming you is impossible. MBDA has a better solution in the form of the navalized version of the Brimstone, and yes Hellfire for the folks who prefer to buy American. |
| carne68 | 20 Jun 2014 7:36 a.m. PST |
So am I the only one who noticed that the missile didn't sink or even appreciably degrade the watertight integrity of a 10 meter fishing boat? So it blew some crap off of the boat. BFD. Would it do much damage to an Osa II made in 1960? |
with some 'babes', and she did the rest...