Compass Points – Formidable Fleet
The FD foundation is false.
Compass Points – Formidable Fleet
The FD foundation is false.
November 15, 2024
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Can the fleet defend itself or not?
Force Design says 'not.'
The proponents of the Marine Corps' controversial Force Design program have long argued that because US Navy ships could no longer defend themselves against missiles, that the Navy and the Marine Corps needed to abandon offensive operations and the Marine Corps needed to change its focus to small Marine defensive units on Pacific islands.
Senior Pentagon Reporter, Jeff Schogol, may not know it, but he has written a powerful article about the Marine Corps' Force Design program. Writing in Task and Purpose, Schogol explains that US Navy ships in the Red Sea came under recent attack.
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Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a fusillade of drones and missiles against two U.S. Navy destroyers as they transited the Bab el-Mendeb strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.
“During the transit, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale and USS Spruance were attacked by at least eight one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems, five anti-ship ballistic missiles, and three anti-ship cruise missiles, which were successfully engaged and defeated,” Ryder said during a Pentagon news briefing on Monday. “The vessels were not damaged. No personnel were hurt.”
-- Jeff Schogol, Task and Purpose
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US Naval ships in and around the Red Sea have come under regular attack from drones, rockets, and missiles for more than a year. In addition, beginning on October 7, 2023, Israel has been under increased drone, rocket, and missile attacks from Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Despite all the attacks, despite all the precision munitions, neither US Navy ships nor the state of Israel have been significantly damaged. Virtually all the aerial weapons including precision munitions have been destroyed before they could do any damage.
How can this be? How can advanced aerial systems be defeated? It is the foundational fiction of Force Design that precision munitions make it impossible for Navy ships to operate in hostile seas. Precision munitions, claims Force Design, is the reason the Marine Corps had to change its focus from offensive global crisis response and instead break itself into small Marine missile units hiding on Pacific islands.
The theory that missile cannot be defeated is false. Missiles in the Middle East are defeated every day. The theory that US Navy ships cannot defend themselves against missiles is false. Just a few days ago the USS Stockdale and USS Spruance defended themselves and continued their mission. The USS Stockdale and USS Spruance are only two of many examples.
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Since Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel, the Houthis have launched missiles, drones, and unmanned boats against commercial shipping that have turned the shipping lanes of the Red Sea into a war zone.
For more than a year, U.S. warships have been shooting down missiles and drones off the coast of Yemen. In October 2023, the destroyer USS Carney spent nine hours shooting down four Houthi cruise missiles and another 15 drones.
-- Jeff Schogol, Task and Purpose
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The US Navy has faced devastating attacks from 'thinking' aerial munitions before. During World War II the US Navy faced attacks from Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft.
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The U.S. Navy was surprised by these new tactics and rushed to respond to the unanticipated threat, building off of its rich history of innovating with new tactics and technologies.3 Two broad paths were pursued. In the combat theater, task forces introduced new, adaptive tactics based on firsthand combat experience. At the same time, a new experimental unit was formed in the United States to investigate more fundamental challenges and improve the U.S. Navy’s underlying capabilities. The combination of these two allowed the Navy to overcome the determined efforts of Japanese pilots and position itself for the missile age.
-- USNI Naval History Magazine
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Can the fleet defend itself against new attacks or not?
Force Design says 'not.'
But Force Design is wrong. Both history and current events show the fleet can face new technologies and win.
That means that the Marine Corps does not have to change its focus from global, crisis response. While the missile threat is real, the missile threat can be overcome. It is being overcome now. That means the always updated and always enhanced Marine Corps 9-1-1 MAGTF will continue to serve the Nation for another 249 years. Compass Points salutes all those rebuilding and restoring Marine Corps crisis response capabilities.
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Task and Purpose - 11/12/2024
Navy destroyers shoot down 8 drones and 8 missiles launched by Houthis
By Jeff Schogol
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-destroyers-houthi-missiles-drones/
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USNI Naval History Magazine - Volume 34, Number 5. October 2020.
Countering the Kamikaze
The U.S. Navy needed to evolve and adapt to overcome Japan’s last-ditch suicide tactics.
By Trent Hone
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2020/october/countering-kamikaze
For the ground pounders amongst the CP team, has it been determined what kind of Navy we need? The technology described here seems fulsome, one of us here needs the crayons and blank sheet of white paper briefing. (Me!) Can we purchase existing vessels from other countries? It is the writers understanding that Turkey has a frigate and Italy a large offshore patrol vessel, both pretty dandy, can they be purchased? Can Bath Iron Works kick out more destroyers (which apparently are not destroyers) more rapidly. Have we gotten past this littoral combat vessel that Berger and Smith love so much that one has not gotten off the design table? More closely to home has the Corps sorted itself to get the 50 amphibious vessels it needs? Seems whomever the new SecNav is going to be, they will have a lot to catch up on. If the SecDef nominee is confirmed it is the writers understanding that he is geared towards war fighting and not the distractions of DIE and Critical Race Theory. By the way has thoroughly modern Milley post retirement been seen lately? He was last found out there in the retired wildlife preserve with a high ball glass of amber colored liquid still trying to understand white rage? We can only hope a whole bunch of stars start falling off collars soon and political animals of the flag officer genus are released back in to the retired wild. Field Day in the puzzle palace, inspection soon to follow!
I remember reading about how US Fleet Strategy was to simply keep the Navy out of range of Japanese aircraft and guns....or did they take another approach?