The Pentagon is considering a more robust naval presence in the Middle East to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as gas and oil prices continue to rise, but any operation won’t commence for at least a month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal, citing two U.S. officials, has said that the U.S. wants to reduce the threat from Iran before undertaking any escort operation, but that could take up to a month or more to accomplish, even as officials continue to downplay concerns over the strait and the impact its closure has had on global energy markets.
They’re not useless, but the days when they could hang off the coast and continue to harass shore targets is gone. It’s a strike and move game now. Drones small enough to launch from the back of a civilian truck, can threaten anything on the water. And sure, you can knock them down, but it’s a numbers game. Every time you down a $20k drone with a half million in ordnance, you lose, regardless of actual damage. Plus stick around too long and you might run out of ammo, or strain your own supply lines and start crashing things like refueling planes.
The problem is that Iran is 3 times the problem of Iraq with 4 times the military. Sure, the US could roll in and lock it down. If we’re willing to get some of our own people killed, and we would, probably a few hundred, maybe a few thousand. And then we’re stuck in a hole bigger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined. But hey, the oil would flow eventually. Not that it would save our economy, that ship already sank.
Navies are still useful for blockades and threatening areas without drone defense. But the days of winning Navy on navy battles followed by sieges and DDay landings are done.
$ traded really isnt the concern, real cost is material/manhours. money is bullshit, and arguably for the US more $ being wasted on the MIC is considered a good thing (by those that actually have power)
Budgets aren’t a problem right now, because the GoP has been plying the deficits don’t matter game for 40 years. The problem being, that world is now gone. The petro dollar is dying, and our trade supremacy is broken. There will be no growth out of this deficit, we sent it all to other countries. The US is in an open state of collapse right now on every international stage. Iran would love to take the credit for it, but really they’re just the ones who will happen to be standing there as it happens.