Another data point for "shortest" would be the P-51, which was ordered
on 1 May 1940 and first entered combat on 10 May 1942.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-51_Mustang and some quick date
calculations in Excel)


On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Henry Cobb <henry_cobb@...> wrote:
>> From: Isaac Kuo <mechdan@...>
>> Not long before that start of the game, the first space
>> warships are commissioned specifically to blockade Earth
>> from incoming spacecraft by the USA.
>
> USS Freedom's timeline is about a best case for a new category of warship.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littoral_combat_ship
> 2004: preliminary design
> 2005: keel was laid down
> 2006: Launched (i.e. floating in water, as an empty hull)
> 2008: commissioned
>
> 2009 will see some fleet exercises.
>
> So the concept to design process only took one year, but it took another
> four years to put everything together and there are still plenty of systems
> that are not ready for prime time.
>
> Once there is a working design more ships could be built in around two years
> in a pinch.
>
> -HJC

--
James Sterrett
james.sterrett@...