Nuclear Deterrence

The book I read to research this post was Security Without Nuclear Deterrence by Robert Green which is a very good book that I read at kindle unlimited. This is a book about how nuclear weapons have spread to what we might think of as rogue states and there effectiveness or lack of it in preventing conflict. Robert reached a high rank in the navy but came from an aviation background so this limited his further promotion prospects in the navy. He knew he would be expected to command ships and lacked experience in this. He used to believe nuclear weapons were right but especially since the end of the Cold War has questioned this. Especially with the continued use of Trident where they are of USA manufacture and the guidance system is controlled by USA satellites which he believes we have been expected to get involved in conflicts that don’t really concern us. This like the bombing of Libya where USA jets used British airfields and the invasion of Iraq. He compares the effectiveness of nuclear weapons in avoiding conflict to that of discouraging armed robbery by having the police armed. Nations like India and Pakistan have come close to all out war had it not been for USA intervention. As far as it preventing conflicts just look at the Falklands War where Argentina knew it was unlikely for Britain to use nuclear weapons. On an average day since nuclear weapons have been possessed there has 46 wars and there have been more wars in this century than any other. He argues a lot of it is luck they haven’t been used. Also if they were used the amount of damage would far outweigh the feeling of security they provide. Barack Obama famously said he wants a nuclear weapon free world and Britain is certain to have nuclear weapons for at least 30 years after 2024 which is when Trident is expected to be replaced. He suggests making the use of nuclear weapons a war crime and disbanding organisations like NATO which really were meant for the Cold War and replacing them with organisations that work for disarmament and world order. Apparently the Soviet Bloc dismantled their equivalent of NATO and some of those nations have joined NATO since. I did really enjoy this book it argues a compelling case and I would recommend it. It is also around 380 pages so is a decent length.

Stealth Warplanes

The book I read to research this post was Stealth Warplanes by Doug Richardson which is a very good book which I bought from a car boot sale. This book was published in 1989 so is probably a bit out of date but is quite interesting because there is a whole plethora of aircraft incorporating stealth technology including the quite well known F-117A Stealth Fighter. It does have other aircraft like the U2 & Blackbird but a lot of the aircraft I had never heard of and a lot never made it past the prototype stage. Of course the aircraft we know about are mostly out of service or old and the latest technology often referred to as black ops is mostly top secret. Most of the stealth aircraft fly at less than the speed of sound because things like having quiet engines and appearing insignificant on radar wouldn’t work. Often they are used over fairly short distances for detailed reconaissance although there are some super quick aircraft where the aim is to out run missiles. An example is the SR-71A Blackbird where for many years the only country that could shoot it down due to their incredible speed and flight altitude was the Soviet Union although there were reports the North Koreans did their best to shoot them down. The Stealth Fighter is composed of a low density carbon composite that doesn’t show up on radar. In the Second World War the Japanese Warships painted to resemble smaller less significant ships from a distance and the British painted their Canberra’s camouflage green on top and sky grey underneath so the roots of this go back quite a long way. There are aircraft that have the heat from their engine outlets diffused and often have quietened piston engines. There are various decoy measures to fool missiles and another system is to flood the air defences with decoy missiles so genuine ones can get through. Of course yet another measure is spy satellites but to get the right information often requires a closer look and these satellites can often be fooled. If you see this book being sold cheaply secondhand it is worth reading and I did learn quite a bit from it as well as enjoyed it.

 

 

Warfare At Sea

The book I read to research this post was Warfare At Sea edited by Peter Darman which is a very good book which I bought at a car boot sale. This book was published in 1997 so you might see it for sale secondhand and I think is probably a good buy. It looks at the various technologies used by the major navies around the world. Stuff like Exocet missiles which were responsible for causing the Royal Navy problems during the Falklands War. They went on to become one of the top selling surface to surface missiles due to their effectiveness. Also it looks at things like the Super Aircraft Carriers like USS Nimitz & SSN Submarines which were so expensive only five countries had the latter in their navies. This book came probably before China started to emerge as a potential superpower. In fact in 1991 she only had 4 SSN’s. It also looks at Trident and Polaris and how Britain replaced the ailing rocket motors on her Polaris missiles in order to keep them in service although has since purchased Trident. It looks at the amphibious assault ships like HMS Fearless which are designed for landing troops and equipment complete with helipad although rather ugly to look at. Obviously priority goes on it being functional. Apparently a Trident submarine in one missile can deliver more kilotons of damage than was dropped on Kuwait & Iraq during the First Gulf War & the payload of the submarine in total is more deadly than the total bombing of World War 2, Korean War & Vietnam War combined. One thing that concerns the various navies is the airspace will be saturated with missiles in a time of war that will overwhelm there defences so that whatever they do some will get through. Something that will partly deflect this is the ability of the ships to fire chaff to confuse the missiles incoming. I really enjoyed this book which is quite interesting and if I had to pick a fault it would be it is somewhat short at only around 90 pages. The technology in the book is quite fascinating.

 

Warships

The book I read to research this post was Warships by Mark Dartford which is a very good book that I bought from a carboot sale. This book is interesting and contains a lot of fascinating information but at 32 pages is rather short and a lot of it is pictures. Warships were made of wood and had canvas sails until the 19th century. Then gradually they started being made of iron and being steam powered. In the early years ships fired iron cannon balls but they became armour plated the weapons had to be upgraded to cope. There is a case during the American Civil War when 2 heavily armoured ships but with inferior weapons met and a 3 hour battle during which neither ship sank and in the end they called it a draw and both ships sailed off. In the US Navy most ships are classified either as Cruisers which displace more than 10,000 tons of water, destroyers which displace between 10-5,000 tons of water & frigates which displace between 2-5,000 tons of water. There is a move in the US Navy towards replacing frigates which are limited in what they can do by there size, with cruisers and destroyers. Of course an exception to that classification is aircraft carriers which are much bigger than any of these. Many warships nowadays carry cruise missiles and also missiles that can shoot down an incoming aircraft or missile. Many ships also have a helipad to help hunt submarines more effectively. We are also seeing ships with a modular construction to save money. Parts of one ship are the same as on another of a different model. This is even happening in ships in different navies. Finally the US Navy is building Zumwalt land attack destroyers which are named after an ex admiral. They use stealth technology and are low lying in the water to avoid attack. These ships can be used to land troops on land during a war.