Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics: Those Boats Iran Seized Are Fast, Mean, and Crucial to the U.S. Navy
Everything you need to know about the Riverine Command Boats, which rep the U.S. Navy in shallow water.
The small boats at the center of yesterday's incident with Iran are a largely unsung part of the U.S. Navy. Dwarfed by America's aircraft carriers, submarines, and destroyers, the Riverine Command Boats form the low, but crucial, end of the navy's mix of ships.
The little international incident began yesterday when a pair of Riverine Command Boats (RCB) and their crews were intercepted by Iranian forces because they were allegedly in Iranian waters. One of the boats had broken down and drifted a mile into Iranian territory. The crews were arrested and their boats interned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The crews, and their boats, were returned within 24 hours (though not until after President Obama's State of the Union address.)
WNU Editor: These boats may be fast, mean, and crucial to the US Navy .... but they can get lost.
5 comments:
" but they can get lost." and detained by the dreaded Iranian bass boats.
"Bass boat?" This seems to imply the Iranians are weak. They are not. The Iranian speed boats are small, fast, lethal, and very difficult to track or attack. A few of these could swarm an aircraft carrier or other US battleship and sink it.
Now that is up to debate, my opinionated friend
^B.Poster
Anonymous,
That is up for "debate" in the sense that we cannot necessarily "know" for certain what would happen in a military confrontation between two powers until it actually happens, which we pray it does not or should I believe.
As for being "opinionated", this is the case, however, I believe my opinions are based sound analysis. Like all humans I am not infallible nor would I claim to be. As such, I could be wrong.
As for evidence to support my contentions, 1.)some time ago, the US Navy conducted a drill of in which Iran tried to close the strait of Hormuz. The Navy had two teams. A "blue team" which represented the US Navy and a "red team" which represented Iran. The drill was over very quickly with the blue team winning but suffering massive losses. This was several years ago and US military capability has diminished since then. As such, we'd expect the Iranians to inflict even more damage now than then. 2.)US analysis tends to overstate or own capabilities while underestimating the capabilities of actual and potential adversaries. Several examples can be cited. A.) Iraq was supposed to be easy. B.) ISIS was the "JV" team. C.)US leaders reacted with a "deer in the headlights" look at the ascension of ISIS, acted shocked at how well the Russian military has performed in Georgia and Syria, etc. Numerous examples could be cited. (Time permitting I will delve into why I think US leadership tends to overestimate our abilities in another post while Underestimating the capabilities of adversaries.)
In summary, I believe my "opinionated" responses are based upon a sound analysis of the facts at hand. As I'm pretty sure you've seen some of my proposed solutions for the problems America faces, if my analysis is correct then the actions I propose to solve our problems are sound and, if not, there's little to no downside to them.
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