US Navy's Next Generation Aircraft Carrier Begins Testing Phase

The US Navy is in the middle of constructing the first of a new type of aircraft carrier. This new type of ship has the latest radar technology and sophisticated systems to accommodate unmanned, carrier launched drones. The ship is the first of its kind, and according will go through more than two years of testing before it is put to use in the field. These new ships are set to replaced the Navy's current Nimitz-class warships, which have been in use sine the 1970's. The Navy argues that the benefits of these new types of ships are too great to not move forward with the program, even though some lawmakers are not too excited about the amount of money being spent on these ships. These new aircraft carriers cost 12.8 billion dollars a piece to build. This makes me think of our class discussion about how the United States defense spending far out spends any other country in the world. We discussed whether or not spending over 700 billion dollars a year on defense alone was necessary. The Navy defends its position and says it is an investment because they are planning on using these ships for the next fifty years. We also discussed in class the way collateral damage in wars, despite vastly improved technological advancements, has remained about the same. This makes me wonder about the ethics of using drones. The fact that this much money is being spent with one of the biggest motivators being the ability to launch unmanned drones off the ships shows that this technology is on the rise and will most likely continue to follow that pattern. It will definitely be interesting to follow along with the news and see how war technology advances over the next several years.

By: Josh Moorman

Article: http://news.yahoo.com/us-navys-next-generation-aircraft-carrier-begins-testing-142616395.html