Posted on 12/13/2023 4:10:03 AM PST by FarCenter
Houthi rebels using a drone hit a Norwegian tanker ship for the second time in the Red Sea on Monday, December 11.
The ship had first been hit on Sunday by a Houthi cruise missile, most likely a Quds-1, a copy of the Iranian Soumar cruise missile or the Russian Kh-55.
The first attack was reported by the UK Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) office which reported the attack took place at 2100 UTC (or midnight local time) in the vicinity of the Bab El Mandeb strait, about 15 nautical miles west of port Mocha, Yemen.
The French FREMM frigate Languedoc destroyed two drones on Sunday that were aimed at the warship, and shot down another drone on Monday that apparently had been aimed at the Norwegian tanker.
The Languedoc also blocked a Houthi assault team trying to hijack the Norwegian ship, which explains why the warship was targeted by the Houthis. The Languedoc is working with the US Central Command in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
It is costly to shoot down cheap Houthi drones. The French frigate fired Astra 15 missiles that downed the three drones, at a cost of $2 million per missile.
The USS Carney destroyed three Houthi “land attack missiles” in October using SM-2 missiles. These cost around $2.1 million each.
There is no official information on the types of drones or the cruise missiles used in these attacks. The best candidate for the drones is probably the Houthi “copy” of the Iranian Shahed 136 drone, the same model that was sold by Iran to Russia and used in the Ukraine war. The Shahed costs around $20,000 per copy.
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
Proxy for Islam. Jihad continues apace.
To me, the real question is why are our missiles so da** expensive. Our military industrial complex is giving us quality, but at far too high a price.
15 fired to hit 3?
They need better missiles than the Astra apparently.
Houthis need to be flattened ASAP
Read that wrong. They are the Astra 15 missile, not 15 missiles.
Need coffee.
It’s sooooo wonderful how Depends Diaper Joe Biden is making World War III a potential reality. Well, Joe needs a huge distraction from the shenanigans....
Too bad France can’t protect itself.
What do you think the French should do about it?
“Our military industrial complex is giving us quality, but at far too high a price.”
I spent an entire career producing weapons as an employee of the military/industrial complex. The reason why weapons cost too much is because it’s to the advantage of the military and industry that they cost as much as possible. For industry, profit is a percentage of cost. For the military, the higher the cost of your program the more prestige and rank you get. Where is the incentive to keep costs down? The general in charge of Future Combat Systems demanded that the contractors set up an incentivized suggestion system to solicit suggestions on keeping costs down. Industry set it up, so you had to have secure access to a system to which only a handful of us actually had, in order to submit. I had access and a suggestion that would have cut the cost of wiring by half. The suggestion was easily implemented. I couldn’t do it. I found the guy in charge of the system and realized he was shocked to hear from anyone as everyone else had given up. I also gave up. The system was unusable. The general’s order was sabotaged.
Multiply this philosophy by the entire procurement budget and, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.
Thanks for the clear explanation. Makes me think of SpaceX launching into orbit for 50 million, while the government controlled launches costs multi billions and the boosters are not reusable. The previous SLS launches are a prime example.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System
What a mess.
One of these days those Yemeni morons are going to score a big hit, creating a mess in that sea.
I guess then we will write them a strongly worded letter.
"The Languedoc is working with the US Central Command in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea."
If NATO is about "partners" in various geopolitical things, why is the US playing "world policeman" for the French? The US is a people of about 335 million, while France is a nation of about 68 million. And the EU of which France is a core member is about 450 million. Seems as if our nation is doing too much of the "work," while the French are enjoying -- and growing -- their Islamic cultural enrichment....
You miss or purposely over look the point. Your view can be taken as neo isolationist
The various navies have taken up the task to keep the sea lanes open. NATO fleets are already trained to work together.
The Suez is one of the most important sea lanes in the world. The Brits knew this and occupied Yemen and controlled the vital straights for years.
The Yemeni riff raff need to be destroyed
Can be. Shouldn't be. We approach $34 trillion in official public debt alongside close to $2 trillion in deficit, and unfunded liabilities which will swamp us in the not too distant future.
If my view "can be taken as neo isolationist," an opposing view can be taken a one of profligate spending, in which our kids each -- assuming they will not be welfare wards of a state -- "owe" about $260,000 per person in these United States. At the moment, THEIR kids will owe more than that. So, between pulling back from being the world's policeman and not overwhelming our kids and grandkids with debt to which they did not agree, I choose pulling back.
Isolation? No. Fiscal responsibility and trading with the world as it makes sense to do, yes.
Any other view "can" be taken as aligned with the Democrat Party, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Biden-Blinken-Nuland administration currently in political power.
No CIWS I guess...
Falling back on spending as an argument proves the neo isolationist charge.
A USA that is 100% self sufficient in all things doesn't need to import anything. Needs no ports, no port cranes which are monuments to the stupidity of off shoring. Make it ALL in the USA. MAGA!!!
Drivel. Neo Isolationist drivel
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