Posted on 01/14/2024 10:43:06 AM PST by Kazan
Joe Biden, amidst his mental confusion, must think he is John Mccain reincarnated. I bet he’s humming, “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb; Bomb Bomb Iran.” You know how it is, Iranians, Yemenis, they all look alike. While the bombs are causing some damage in Yemen, Yemen has seen it before and is unfazed. In fact, the bombing appears to be strengthening the resolve of Yemen to continue its blockade of the Red Sea.
The United States does not have enough bombs to force Yemen to surrender. Why? Yemen’s rocket and missile force is mobile. They can move dozens of missiles at the same time in different directions, which then forces the United States, notwithstanding robust ISR, to find the needles in the haystack that is Yemen. The U.S. can kill and destroy some, but not all.
But that is not the big problem. The U.S. Navy does not have the ability to sustain its presence off the coast of Yemen. My friend, Stephen Bryen, has written his usual excellent article detailing the problem:
The first answer relates to the number of missiles aboard a ship. US ships are relying on SM-2 missiles, part of the AEGIS system. One expert estimates the number available as follows:
“The [AEGIS] destroyers have a complement of 96 VLS cells, while the [Ticonderoga class] cruisers have 122. …However, they need to fit a mixture of weaponry in those cells so they can’t all be used for air defense. This includes:
ESSM (quad packed into a single cell)
SM-2 (and its newer counterpart the SM-6)
Tomahawk cruise missiles
ASROC anti-submarine missile
SM-3 anti-ballistic missile
The exact ratio of these weapons is largely dependent on the mission and the possible threats faced. However, at least 200 ESSM and another 100 or so SM-2 or SM-6 seems like a fair guess. Maybe a bit more.”
In short, each of the AEGIS has around 100 missiles.
The British Sea Viper air defense system is the main defense system HMS Diamond relied on to fire at Houthi drones and missiles. “Type 45 Destroyers, also known as Daring-class destroyers, are specifically designed around the Sea Viper (PAAMS) air-defence system. Each Type 45 destroyer is equipped with a 48-cell A50 Sylver Vertical Launching System. This system is designed to accommodate a mix of up to 48 Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles.”
Neither the US nor the British ships can be reprovisioned at sea, so they have a limited ability to “stay in the fight” if it continues for any length of time.
There you have it. Yemen can launch a hundred drones and missiles at U.S. ships and the destroyer escorts will exhaust their supply of air defense missiles. In the 1970s the U.S. Navy had ship tenders that could pull alongside a destroyer and resupply it. Not today. The Vertical Launch Systems have to be reloaded in a port. That means the destroyers will have to sail to Dubai, which means the U.S. aircraft carrier they are accompanying will have to follow because it relies on them for protection from ballistic and cruise missiles.
Here’s the bottomline, if you are going to get into a gun fight you better have enough ammunition on hand to finish it. Only we’re not talking about having a million rounds of 9 mm pistol ammunition. The missiles the Aegis system uses are damn expensive. Here’s Stephen’s take:
One needs to add that using missile defense is very expensive. Each SM-2 missile costs $2.1 million each. Sea viper, which can either be an Aster 15 or Aster 30 costs either £1m to £2m a time ($1.25 million to $2.5 million). Nor does this take into account the challenge of replacing these missiles, once expended. It not only will be more expensive, but could take years of production time.
Yemen is showing how a so-called third rate military can effectively bankrupt the Naval power of a “Superpower.” The neo-cons urging Biden to attack Iran are math challenged. Iran has more missiles, drones and rockets than Yemen. If little Yemen is doing this to the U.S., just imagine the havoc Iran could cause.
Washington is like the degenerate gambler who is playing a losing game of blackjack. Instead of accepting his losses, Joe Biden seems intent on doubling down and destroying the reputation of the U.S. Navy as the most powerful force in the World. I suspect the Russians and Chinese are enjoying some heaping buckets of buttered popcorn as they watch this spectacle of national suicide.
Oh, I think the Obama/Biden/AWOL Austin brain-trust is too clever for that...
WWIII would help the economic and demographic issues…
Maybe we’ll have another Summer of Love.
Nonsense. Yemen is exactly where our leaders want us to be. It’s pretty much unwinnable, guaranteed to run as long as wanted/needed and in an actual “strategic” location. The only losses will come from the occasional missile strike on naval vessels and the special forces missions sent in to get those pesky insurgents.
Really a very nice “forever war” that will keep military budget dollars flowing for years or maybe even decades.
Neither the US nor the British ships can be reprovisioned at sea, so they have a limited ability to “stay in the fight” if it continues for any length of time.
—
So what do all those US Navy supply ships actually do? Please explain this mystery.
Russia misinformation and propaganda piece.
End ww3 now
Trump 2024
The Iranian missiles could be used by Iranian proxies to shut down the oil exports of Gulf Arabic countries like Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian-Yemeni proxy problem has to be dealt with.
Policing won’t end crime in American cities, but the police still hunt down criminals every day.
“In the 1970s the U.S. Navy had ship tenders that could pull alongside a destroyer and resupply it. Not today. The Vertical Launch Systems have to be reloaded in a port. That means the destroyers will have to sail to Dubai, which means the U.S. aircraft carrier they are accompanying will have to follow because it relies on them for protection from ballistic and cruise missiles.”
So what genius civilian-military ops planners envisioned this scenario as the war of the future?
Regardless of whether one supports it or not, its yet another game of “whack-a-mole” which is draining resources, dividing the nation, and making the USA look foolish
In normal countries, one should rely on “leaders” to be wise and avoid engaging the USA in useless, expensive and divisive engagements.
So who benefits?
In the words of Julian Assange: “the goal is an endless war, not a successful war”
Everything with you Zeepers and RATs is Russia. LOL
Russia lives large in your pee wee brains.
The article explains it. The missiles are vertically stored and launched. They cannot be reloaded at sea.
$2.1 million missiles to shoot down a $2000 drone?
“So what do all those US Navy supply ships actually do?”
Food, fuel, spare parts, maintenance items, and mail.
L
To protect non US shipping.
Meanwhile, zero for our border.
We will become North Brazil and FR Boomers will still be babbling about muh Israel and Russia.
Where’s that laser system thev’ve been working on?
Except that we no longer have an unlimited supply of budget dollars to keep "flowing for years or maybe even decades".
We are almost at "Game Over" for the "Forever War". And we are losing. We will need to do something else quite soon. For now, we still have choices. They get fewer with the passing of time.
Maybe we should just "kill all the enemies, win the war, and go home". Or maybe we had best not go to war at all for a few decades. I am open to suggestions that do not include what we are doing right now. That is not working.
Rather a lot of things are worked on and talked about and . . . never deployed because it was all silliness to begin with.
Look, people, look at reality. Is a US friendly government in power in Afghanistan? How about Syria? Or even Iraq?
The US is isolating itself from the majority of the world.
And posturing itself as having the moral high ground while it commands bombing and missiles against a country with no air defense. It has evolved to be what we do — attack helpless countries. Like Yemen, or Afghanistan.
So when US Navy supply ships were loading at Indian Island, WA weapons supply base they were just sitting there for the fun of it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.