| Author |
Message |
    
Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 12102
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 5:08 am: | 
|
From The Pilot OnLine:
quote:By LOUIS HANSEN, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 12, 2007
NORFOLK - The Navy's new fast ship is nearly 90 feet long, 40 feet wide and attacks like a sea serpent.
It's packed with banks of computers, flat-panel video screens and shock-absorbing chairs to smooth a ride that reaches speeds of more than 50 mph.
Its twin, M-shaped hull leaves little wake.
It's odd by design.
And there is only one of them.
The Navy hopes the craft, called Stiletto, will help transform how it designs, builds and thinks about ships.
For the rest of the story, go to http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=120978&ran=2653
Comment: The shape of things to come? It may well be but it's not enough just to have a fancy new design that's supposed to be cutting edge. The reason that monohull designs have dominated for as long as they have is because they have proven seakeeping qualities when done right, and they can carry a useful weight of armament. Whether or not this will work out in the long run, I don't know, but I'm willing to keep an open mind to it.
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
|
