Could mercenaries work in naval or air war?
Let's say you own a Hyuga-class helicopter carrier. Could you earn enough running missions for clients to pay for its upkeep and turn a profit?

>>64058957 (OP)
Depends on if you get smiled upon by other navies (eg US military pays you to help bomb africans or something). Otherwise it would get very, very expensive very fast. You also run the risk of being considered a war criminal or some shit that could put a target on your back (other than owning your own small air force). If you play your cards right and befriend the right people it could be possible.

>>64058957 (OP)
It would also be a great idea to use something in widespread service. A oil tanker would work well as would cargo ships.

>>64058957 (OP)
No. Not in the current isolationist climate even. Although buying a soon to be decommed MCDV and being the Navy for some small Carribean island, being paid in rum, cigars, and ladies would be kino as fuck. That or doing a reverse OP Caribbe, like picrelated.

>>64058957 (OP)
Depends on the situation.
Pirates close a major shipping choke point, and you can get your clients through? Probably.
A big nation wants to hire you under the table as a privateer? Maybe.

But in 99.99% of cases? No, it’s just too expensive. On a smaller scale, private security for cargo ships is doable.

>>64058957 (OP)
>Could you earn enough running missions for clients to pay for its upkeep and turn a profit?
What happens if your clients need you for multiple missions simultaneously, and in totally different parts of the world? How do you do that with one ship?

The only way this would be practical is if you have one ship working for one client (or multiple clients when serving a single area) with a semi permanent contract, and at that point they might as well buy and crew a warship themselves, and have actual control over it.

I suppose a bunch of East African shitholes who can’t afford a carrier could pool together money just to patrol the Somali coast, or some scenario like that, but they get western countries to do that for free already. Everyone wants safe shipping lanes and nobody expects Africans to be able to handle that.

>>64059652
>What happens if your clients need you for multiple missions simultaneously, and in totally different parts of the world? How do you do that with one ship?
Then you don't take those missions until you can build up your capacity.
But if Saudi Arabia wants to hire you to bomb Yemen or something that might be doable with one vessel.

>be a hundred-thousandaire in 18th century
>can own a brig with a dozen cannons per side
>be a multi-billionaire in the 21st century
>can't even own a 3 inch deck gun

>>64058957 (OP)
>helicopter carrier
Helicopter destroyer*

>>64058957 (OP)
Naval? Maybe as scuba divers or boarding crew. Air is more likely. Pilots are hard to come by and many countries already hire foreign former military pilots as "trainers" or "technical advisors".

>>64059843
You could own such a cannon in the US with some wrangling, which I suspect the average multi-billionaire could pay a expert to do. With the cost and difficulty in getting ammunition, you might end up better armed buying a dozen muzzle loaded cannons per side with the required paperwork (namely, none), but you could get the gun.

>>64058957 (OP)
unless that client is a shipping line with a pirate problem, every other country is going to be bitching at UN to make your company illegal

>>64058957 (OP)
>Could mercenaries work in naval or air war?
It's do-able but the most realistic scenario is anti-poaching ops for poor countries. Sea Shepherd with guns basically. I know some African countries have hired mercernaries for this but it'd be, like, one South African guy with a speed boat and a machine gun who'd speed up to a Chinese fishing boat illegally poaching in their waters, aim the gun, and they leave.
https://youtu.be/ppnG1wqKyVE

Dude Merchant shippers hardly bother to pay to protect against starving Africans what make you think they will money up for 1000 man crew?