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Instead of ending Houthi capabilities to terrorize the Red Sea, Biden carried out some light air strikes and promised to impose sanctions in 30 days.
This is the result.
A cruise missile launched by the Houthis into the Red Sea on Tuesday night came within a mile of a US destroyer before it was shot down, four US officials told CNN, the closest a Houthi attack has come to a US warship.
In the past, these missiles have been intercepted by US destroyers in the area at a range of eight miles or more, the officials said. But the USS Gravely had to use its Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) for the first time since the US began intercepting the Houthi missiles late last year, which ultimately succeeded in downing the missile, officials said.
The CIWS, an automated machine gun designed for close-range intercepts, is one of the final defensive lines the ship has to shoot down an incoming missile when other layers of defense have failed to intercept it…
Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was “concerning” that the Houthi missile managed to get so close to a US warship.
“If it’s going at a pretty good clip, one mile translates to not very long in terms of time,” Karako said.
The Houthis acquire much of their weapons technology from Iran, Karako said. Even slower cruise missiles could cover a mile within a matter of seconds, and the decision time for the commanders of warships is compressed because of the narrow waterways in the Red Sea.
This is what acting defensively means, as I wrote earlier.
The problem, as the unnamed White House officially unintentionally admitted, is that “we have acted defensively.”
US Navy ships can have as little as 30 seconds in which to shoot down incoming Houthi missiles.
That’s what acting “defensively” means.
The lives of our sailors and those on the container ships are measured in those 30 seconds. Until now, the US Navy and its allies have managed to stop every single attack. But whether it’s 9/11 or Oct 7, eventually the day comes when the terrorists get lucky and their attack succeeds.
The Houthis have gotten luckier than usual and let’s not forget that we’re spending a fortune on defense here.
The challenge facing air defense, Karako said, is a “capacity problem,” since US warships have a finite supply of interceptor missiles to use. “We can’t afford to sit here and play catch indefinitely,” he said.
The Houthis have continued to launch missiles and drones at vessels in the Red Sea, however, and on Wednesday morning were preparing to launch a surface-to-air missile that posed a risk to US aircraft operating in the region, according to US Central Command.
As I wrote, “Playing defense also means that we’re using $2 million missiles to stop $2,000 Houthi drones, draining our wealth and the weapons stockpiles we would need to fight Iran or China. We have the bigger defense industry, but in a contest between who can make more drones or ship missiles, the Houthis will eventually win because theirs are cheaper and faster to make.”
Iran also gets to test our weapons and defensive capabilities in preparation for an actual war. Iran hasn’t forgotten the battles of 1988. It intends to ensure a different outcome this time around.
In this particular situation, it all comes down to math for the USS Gravely. As you aptly pointed out, there are a finite number of interceptor missiles aboard. There is MUCH MORE ammunition available for the Phalanx (CIWS) and the ‘Sea Whiz’ is a tried and true weapons system that’s been around for decades. It’s like R2D2 with a Gatling gun and unless it’s detection systems are way out of whack, it NEVER misses…but that doesn’t take away from the Gravely’s Captain having giant brass balls.
No one said a sailor’s job was easy, ya’ll. .
But the Arleigh Burke class destroyers have only one CIWS, each. (They used to have two, one fore and one act, but now they only have the act one.) So what happens when the Huthis or whoever launch thirty of them at once if they’ve now found a way to evade the radars for the ship’s AEGIS system as this missile apparently did? One of these days one of them is going to hit a U.S. warship unless we pre-preemptively eliminate their capability. Shoot the archer, not each arrow.
Yes. I notice they never do, though. Jihad Joe’s handlers won’t let them.
While CIWS can track multiple targets, I assume the Captain is saving his missiles for that very scenario.
Well, as far as I know this was the first time a Houthi drone or missile got close enough without being shot down by missile so that the CIWS could be used. So my guess is that, for one reason or another, the ship didn’t detect it or did but by the time it did it was too close to use a Standard anti-aircraft missile against it. A mile is pretty close to let it get IMHO.
You can believe me when I tell you that CIC and the bridge were undoubtedly packed with more brass than a 4th of July band, watching over radarmen’s shoulders for anything else inbound and fingers over LAUNCH buttons. Had it been anything other than a single cruise missile, I don’t believe Gravely’s Captain would have relied solely on the Phalanx.
One of a ship Captain’s jobs is staying in the fight as long as possible, so weapon stores are always in the forefront of his mind. Once his missiles are spent, he’s out of the fight…and being off station for replenishment doesn’t reflect well on him during his next review. Maintaining weapons readiness is a tightrope balancing act in situations like this…and I’m glad there’s still Captains out there who understand that principle.
…and you’ll get no argument from me about policy, I was just explaining the current situation of which the Gravely’s Captain has control over. “Shooting the archer” orders comes from Washington.
I’m sure you’re correct. It’s been a week since the strike in Jordan that killed three US soldiers and apparently Biden is still trying to make up his mind over what to do about that.
Yes, this situation reminds me of “Captain Phillips” and that ship seized by Somali pirates. The SEALS were able to blow them away as soon as they arrived but weren’t allowed to by Bareback Hussein Osama. He thought he could both protect his fellow moslem mulattoes and fool the public into thinking he was taking decisive action by giving the order that the SEALS could only fire if a crew member were in immediate danger. He stupidly assumed no crew member would be in immediate danger once our Navy arrived and that the SEALS were as stupid as he is and wouldn’t figure out a way to obey that treasonous order and blast the Skinnies anyway.
I bet you liked that one, LOL.
That story had a happy ending. This Houthi story won’t have one unless Trump overcomes the Dirtbagocrat vote cheat machine in November.
The election year missile “barrage” going on now is a joke. It’s short term, superficial and isn’t intended to destroy Houthi capability to attack every ship and land target within range.
“They used to have two, one fore and one aft, but now they only have the aft one”
That’s crazy, they should have both.
I thought They were replacing the CIWS with the RIM-116 RAMs, and SeaRAMS (which is the CIWS with RAMs instead of the 20mm Vulcan). It has a 6 mile range, but the missiles are almost $1 million each. I can see why both would be handy.
We have to lose a ship, if not the bottom line of several defense contractors will look terrible.
It will happen.
Biden’s BLM/islamist terrorist type handlers are most likely working on getting the navy officers fired for protecting themselves, and put them in prison. That’s what they did to the police force.
That’s exactly how “democracy” is used by our enemies against us. They say murderous and violent criminals and terrorists must have a vote over their victims, in the name of democracy of course.
it’s more dangerous to defend yourself than not to
Only Biden would impose sanctions on Israelis who defend themselves from terrorists and let the other terrorists keep attacking our troops and ships.
Well, Jihad Joe and Imam Obama both.
Better to be tried by twelve than carried by six, Mr. Greenfield.
Don’t want provoke them and escalate things.
Playing only defense never wins.
But the Biden islamistration isn’t playing defense. It’s running interference……..not for Americans, not for American soldiers and not for Israel…………but for Iran.
Biden is bidin’ his time because he doesn’t want Israel’s war to escalate
into Israel’s victory.
What about the Hamas-Nazi cheerleading squad in Congress?
Why negotiate with Qatar, the Hamas Palestinian Terror State? Why does Biden insist on creating another?
Why no pushback against pro-hate and pro-death demonstrations that coordinated their ‘kickoff’ with the October 7th massacre?
For whom was and is the presence of an American aircraft carrier and destroyer in the Middle East? Why is the largest American military base outside of the US in Qatar?
What’s with all the Hamas billionaire leaders in Qatar? Why are there other US military bases in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait? Why are 45,000 US soldiers spread around the Middle East? For whose protection?
Israel’s war against Hamas has been an offensive war from day one. It began with the massacre and kidnapping of totally ‘defenseless’ Israelis of multinational citizenship.
Forget the lame, nauseating garble about Israel’s right to ‘defend’ herself.
Israel has every right to go on the offensive to obliterate the enemy.
So does America.
Israel’s enemy is America’s enemy because the enemy says so.
Who stops the momentum of a successful offensive drive with a ‘time-out’, uh, a ceasefire?
Biden is coy. Decrepit and coy. He says no, but he means yes.
May God protect America.
May God give Israel strength and victory over every enemy.
May God help the IDF find all the hostages, rescue them and take them home to safety.
The only and most logical way to deal with this is Ike’s policy of MR.
More here: https://open.substack.com/pub/alexanderscipio/p/the-korean-problem?r=ownpk&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Don’t worry. The ADF is training eagles to intercept drones.
https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/peta-credlin/defence-never-commits-to-anything-adf-looks-at-training-eagles-to-take-down-drones/video/571e40576789a22aca5e6746db162885
Our “Federal Government” ( aka Biden Crime Mafia ) WANTS our troops to be killed. We have moo slims from Iran running our “guvment”. They want to allow these moo slim Houthis to kill are troops but they also want to appear to protect our troops. Get it?
We have this pathetic little twat office who kisses the rings of Hamas