Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to a piece of his on the development of nuclear missile subs, triggered by problems India is having.
"In retrospect, the George Washington class SSBNs were a fabulous engineering success, entering service quickly, with few problems, and packing a huge punch. All of the NATO boats were relatively quiet and could threaten the USSR from long-range. On the other hand, it took the USSR nearly a decade to produce a meaningful deterrent boat. It has taken China nearly three decades, despite extensive experience in both countries in submarine construction and operation."He omits the credit due one of the greatest bureaucrats we have ever produced: Admiral Hyman Rickover. So an exception to my "Harshaw rule" (you never do things right the first time): "unless you're Hyman Rickover"
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