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Posted on 05/21/2012 9:21:36 PM PDT by QT3.14
If hostilities break out over any disruption of traffic through this busy sea lane, the Navy had better look long and hard at Iran’s anti-access/area-denial capabilities.
In 2010, Dr. Shmuel Bar, director of studies at the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel, wrote the following:
(Excerpt) Read more at usni.org ...
We kicked their ass in 1988.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis
The Iranian Navy is no match for the United States Fifth Fleet.
That’s a lot of theory.
This time I wouldn't expect any Iranian surface combatants. Probably some small craft and maybe some merchant vessels sowing sea mines. The biggest threat will come in the form of the C-802 missile. A very small, easy to transport, easy to launch weapon. In the last Israeli campaign in Lebanon one of these missiles was launched at an Israeli corvette by the Hezbollah. It didn't sink the ship, but it did remove it from the conflict. All it takes is a flat bed truck and a bearing to launch on.
The key to success in a conflict like this won't be in countering this threat, but rather the political will to inflict enough pain on the Iranians. As soon as this kicks off we need to strike hard at the regime. Take out all their air force on the ground, mine their harbors, hit their barracks in an all out first three nights of the conflict. We should also hit them where it hurts, refined petroleum products. Their refining capacity is their soft under belly. Hit that and their storage facilities and the regime will crumble quickly.
Iran doesn’t have to have a big Navy to close the Straights of Hormuz. It’s a total asymmetric situation.
It wouldn’t be case of defending the Straights of Hormuz, it would be a reason (or excuse) to dismantle Iran.
There is no strategy, it’s either do nothing, or do everything type of situation.
If we completely take apart the entire country, then they have nothing to lose and have no reason to NOT shut down the straits.
That’s not how dismantling works. Dismantling means heavy damage to their infrastructure. Then, the question is ... are they even thinking about the straights?
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Actually, it’s not that hard to take Iran out of being a threat to the straights.
An Ex-Navy buddy explained how they war-gamed this YEARS ago.
Occupy the offshore islands and platforms with Marines, transport the present occupants back to the mainland, flatten the Bandar Abbas Naval Station, and blast anything that looks like a military target that gets within 200 miles of the Straights.
Put BIG guns and artillery detector radar on the islands to do the job, locally, and air farther out. A No-fly, no drive zone 200 miles out from the straights.
Even a Silkworm needs targeting. It doesn’t seek out targets on it’s own.
Each missile tube has a 7 cell VLS for a total of 154 TLAMs.
What are VSL and TLAM’s?
Thanks.
This we should do. But we should not occupy. Just drop lots of small arms to the oppressed and let them do their own house cleaning. If we occupy, the oppressed will turn on us.
VLS = Vertical Launching System
TLAM = Tomahawk Land Attack Missile
Impressive. Thanks, moonshot925.
And Welcome to Free Republic!
Thanks :)
I can’t see us nuking Iran, not yet anyway.
Is it a dumb question to ask if these subs can be armed with heavy conventional explosives?
Yes. The first 4 Ohio class SSBNs were converted to SSGNs(Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and Georgia). Each one carries 154 Tomahwak cruise missiles.
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