Fullbore Friday

A little different topic this Fullbore Friday as ... I want to make you mad. 

I won't be subtle or clever here ... thanks to a simple tweet from The Other Sal, I am just going to hit you right in the forehead with it.

Here we are at the dawn of 2022 and all over the spectrum of American maritime "thought leaders" from the SECNAV, CNO, Congress, and ostensibly pro-Navy institutions - we have excuses, squid-ink cover stories, and simple defeatism flavored with a machoistic lust for decline.

Decline is a choice, and bullsh1t to all that.

We are a maritime and aerospace power by geography, economy, and national interest even if those who are trusted to maintain and leverage that comparative advantage fail to act on that.

Until we get the leaders we need, we few - we happy few - will just call them all out from the cheap seats.

So, with that lead-in ... here you go; who gets a "Fullbore" this week - and the first one of the New Year? No question ... and it isn't even close  ... The People's Liberation Army Navy.

The Communist Chinese - who are not a natural maritime and aerospace power (they are a land power) - desire to knock us off our perch and they are not playing around.

Just look at the battleforce warships the PLAN commissioned in 2021.

- 2 Type 075 Helicopter Carriers

- 3 Type 055 Destroyers

- 7 Type 052D Destroyers

- 9 Corvettes Type 056A and

- 1 Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN) Type 094

BEHOLD! 

...and what has the United States Navy commissioned? 

- 1 DDG (USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) )

- 2 LCS (USS Oakland (LCS 24) and USS Mobile (LCS 26) )

That is it from what I can see. We could have had one more LCS and two SSN commissioned, but those have shifted to the right in to 2022 ... maybe.

Show me what I missed in the main battleforce navy. 

Please.

Anyway, Fullbore to those entrusted with building the PLAN. They have a solid plan, solid funding, and ... well ... just look at the numbers.

Give credit where credit is due.

Fullbore.