Actually...
Okay. I got a work around, but it's going to take some serious doing. Stay with me on this.
The first thing that's going to need to happen is that the US is going to need a trade partner - someone that they can export to in order to offset their trade deficit. Fenspace is an ideal trade partner in this respect because there's always a need for fresh fruits, vegetables, canned goods, non-perishables, etc. Fenspace, as a whole, can likely afford this because there are many large factions that can afford a lot of food - not to mention that they can buy food with other means such as precious metals, rare-earths, and products difficult to manufacture in a gravity well.
The second thing is that with the sudden upswing in trade, plus that all major Boskonian bases have been destroyed, ordinary piracy has now skyrocketed. It's not so much that they're hungry themselves. It's more like a traditional operation. They take the food from the cargo ships (and a ship itself every now and then), space the crews, and resell it on the black market to the fen that have fallen from grace (or never were there in the first place). Say the Turnerites or the Draken for example.
This is where the US gets righteously cheesed off. This is where I can easily see Mal, the big man when it comes to butting heads with congress, to just up and say, "Well we sure as hell can't cover every trade route. Why don't you do something about it." He would expect them to get mired in petty bureaucracy at this point. Except the US navy, which has been quietly currying favor while the Airforce and TSAB bungle things, acquire funding for a BIG project.
Now, I'm leaving it open to people who'll make offerings to the US and who'll get contracts, but let's just say that someone convinced the cooler heads in the Senate that contracting known heavy builders among the fen would be the way to go for two reasons: quality of workmanship (they know the Fen have had the most experience in working with handwavium, thus they know how to get a relatively quirk-free ships) and expense (the fen aren't gonna gouge like, say, Northrop Grunman or General Dynamics - infact, the worst they'll probably ask for is a few old warship hulls).
Bids are made. Contracts are signed. Refitting begins. Primary targets are newer model DD/DDG and CN/CG ships (Vietname Era and newer) that have either been mothballed or waiting to be scrapped. As Arleigh Burk DDGs and Ticonderoga CGs are retired, those will be added to the fleet as well. Later, as the smaller warships prove their worth, a small number of carriers may be added as trade expands outside the system. This will enable fleet assets to better combat threats from smaller, faster craft. Finally, Iowa-class ships will be needed to act not only as large weaponry platforms as they have in the past, but also mobile command bases. This is part of the reason why Iowas were so big and heavily armored - because they were the flags of admirals in direct charge of entire fleets. While in modern warfare that honor as gone to aircraft carriers as they have greater striking power than battleships, this will change with the addition of coil-guns and other more advanced weapons.
Also, this could explain why space exploration initiatives are all but cut in the US Government - they have gone to military expenditures to protect their trade interests, which will be critical to the US for the foreseeable future.
Thoughts?
ETA: I don't see this as anything dystopean. Where there is trade, there is always piracy, and where there is piracy there is at least one country out to look after it's interests. Life as usual.
Okay. I got a work around, but it's going to take some serious doing. Stay with me on this.
The first thing that's going to need to happen is that the US is going to need a trade partner - someone that they can export to in order to offset their trade deficit. Fenspace is an ideal trade partner in this respect because there's always a need for fresh fruits, vegetables, canned goods, non-perishables, etc. Fenspace, as a whole, can likely afford this because there are many large factions that can afford a lot of food - not to mention that they can buy food with other means such as precious metals, rare-earths, and products difficult to manufacture in a gravity well.
The second thing is that with the sudden upswing in trade, plus that all major Boskonian bases have been destroyed, ordinary piracy has now skyrocketed. It's not so much that they're hungry themselves. It's more like a traditional operation. They take the food from the cargo ships (and a ship itself every now and then), space the crews, and resell it on the black market to the fen that have fallen from grace (or never were there in the first place). Say the Turnerites or the Draken for example.
This is where the US gets righteously cheesed off. This is where I can easily see Mal, the big man when it comes to butting heads with congress, to just up and say, "Well we sure as hell can't cover every trade route. Why don't you do something about it." He would expect them to get mired in petty bureaucracy at this point. Except the US navy, which has been quietly currying favor while the Airforce and TSAB bungle things, acquire funding for a BIG project.
Now, I'm leaving it open to people who'll make offerings to the US and who'll get contracts, but let's just say that someone convinced the cooler heads in the Senate that contracting known heavy builders among the fen would be the way to go for two reasons: quality of workmanship (they know the Fen have had the most experience in working with handwavium, thus they know how to get a relatively quirk-free ships) and expense (the fen aren't gonna gouge like, say, Northrop Grunman or General Dynamics - infact, the worst they'll probably ask for is a few old warship hulls).
Bids are made. Contracts are signed. Refitting begins. Primary targets are newer model DD/DDG and CN/CG ships (Vietname Era and newer) that have either been mothballed or waiting to be scrapped. As Arleigh Burk DDGs and Ticonderoga CGs are retired, those will be added to the fleet as well. Later, as the smaller warships prove their worth, a small number of carriers may be added as trade expands outside the system. This will enable fleet assets to better combat threats from smaller, faster craft. Finally, Iowa-class ships will be needed to act not only as large weaponry platforms as they have in the past, but also mobile command bases. This is part of the reason why Iowas were so big and heavily armored - because they were the flags of admirals in direct charge of entire fleets. While in modern warfare that honor as gone to aircraft carriers as they have greater striking power than battleships, this will change with the addition of coil-guns and other more advanced weapons.
Also, this could explain why space exploration initiatives are all but cut in the US Government - they have gone to military expenditures to protect their trade interests, which will be critical to the US for the foreseeable future.
Thoughts?
ETA: I don't see this as anything dystopean. Where there is trade, there is always piracy, and where there is piracy there is at least one country out to look after it's interests. Life as usual.