New US "Super-Carriers" being built as we speak
Expendable carriers currently taunting Iran

Contributor: "YYC"

Design & Preparations Continue for the USA’s New CVN-21 Super-Carriers
Some nations have aircraft carriers. The USA has super-carriers.

Or soon will have.

Never thought I'd get this interested in boats, but when I read that USS Ponce is headed for the Persian Gulf despite its advanced age (More US scrap metal headed for Persian Gulf), and that USS Abraham Lincoln has already hoved in to replace the Stennis, I became interested in the models, age and condition of these tubs lining up against Iran.

World War III had better be over by August because that's when the Lincoln, which has reached its half-life, is scheduled to go into dry dock in preparation for a very major overhaul and upgrade to the tune of an estimated $3 billion.

Or maybe if Iran were to successfully destroy the Lincoln (or if China came to Iran's rescue with its ballistic missile, Dong Feng 21, specifically designed to kill US aircraft carriers) the US could console itself with the money saved, and the opportunity to put it toward something newer and shinier.

Something newer and shinier
Because, according to the article headlined at the top of this page, new, more streamlined and more energy-efficient, therefore more cost-efficient carriers can be had for a mere $8.1 billion. And, in fact, the Gerald R. Ford is in production as we speak, specifically to replace the well-aged USS Enterprise, currently positioned in harm's way.

There's also a brand new USS John F. Kennedy in the works.

Interestingly, the company, Northrop Grumman, that has the option to overhaul the Lincoln, and is building the John F. Kennedy, is also the company that is currently building the Gerald R. Ford.

You know what it's like these days - you take a piece of equipment into the shop to get it repaired and the guy says why spend the money on repair when you can get a shiny new one for not a whole lot more that will actually pay for itself over time.

Also of interest: Northrop Grumman has swallowed up just about every competing industry and has bought politicians left and right, not to mention that some of the New American Century's finest have served the company as officials, consultants or shareholders.

All in all, it seems even more likely that the US is hoping for a few burials at sea to save the cost and effort of having to either upgrade or ethically dispose of its old tubs, and reward Northrop Grumman for its past deeds with fat contracts for "super carriers".

Clearly, if Iran doesn't take the bait, Mossad will have to step in. After all, there's big money at stake here. But as one astute commenter pointed out, what about the crews aboard these tubs? Do they not get the same information we do? There are also human lives at stake! Just as there were on 9/11.