Live data from Hacker News

Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

responsiblestatecraft.org

461–470 of 1001 posts

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#461
post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap drones are pretty useless against large naval vessels. Making a dent in those ships requires a heavy, specialized penetrating warheads. And even then you'll need to score several hits. Just the warhead alone on a standard anti-ship weapon weighs more than an entire Shahed-136 drone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire (~20kg warhead)

That was over half a century ago. Completely irrelevant.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#462
post #454

Given it is reported to be successfully targeting Israel with cluster ammunitions in warheads, I am curious what stops Iran from targeting US ships even far outside the strait? I would have thought if you could send multiple missiles with cluster bombs simultaneously at short notice it would be very difficult to counter and impose catastrophic cost. Is anti-missile defense is just that good on ships that no amount of…

Sinking a US ship would be a drastic escalation. Iran has done a lot of damage to US assets but inflicted few casualties, demonstrating both capability and restraint. If they destroyed the American boomers' few remaining illusions of supremacy by sinking a ship and potentially killing hundreds of crew, the loss of face would likely instigate a drastic response that could lead to a worst-case scenario. Much better for Iran to keep playing bloody knuckles and force the US and Israel to beg for peace when their missile defenses and appetite for war run dry.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#463
Very few Americans realize the scale of the defeat that the US military is facing in this war. Loss of CSG capabilities as well as anti missile radars, refueling planes, AWACS and ground bases all over the Middle East means this is the worst damage the US has taken since WW2.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#464

The title should change 'won't' to 'shouldn't'. This administration doesn't do things because of deep understanding, it does them because of gut reaction. The US Military could, at an unknown cost, just blast away. This article points out, rightfully, how scared we are to put our weapons in harms way because of how expensive they are. I made this argument many times to friends years ago. From a military strategic poi…

"Cruise missile carriers" are what the Burke class destroyers are.

It's also what Russia built their navy around. How'd that work out?

The US carriers have been involved in every naval action since WWII. They're hardly unused.

But attacking a country of 90 million people and a high level of military sophistication AND who's been expecting the attack and planning for it for many years was always going to be a tall order.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#465

A big mistake here was simply underestimating the scale of Iran. Iran has 90,000,000 people. More than 2x Ukraine. More than 2x Germany. More than 2x Iraq. More than any country in Europe. About 2/3 of Russia. Expecting to win a war on the cheap was a fantasy. Especially since Iran has been fighting Israel for years. On the naval front, Ukraine sunk the Moskva with a few truck-mounted missiles. That finally made it u…

Germany has 80+ mil inhabitants. Also 90,000,000 people doesn't mean 90,000,000 soldiers, especially when a large part of them hate their own regime.

Right re 80 million in Germany.

After a bombing campaign, most of the people tend to hate whoever bombed them.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#466

The title should change 'won't' to 'shouldn't'. This administration doesn't do things because of deep understanding, it does them because of gut reaction. The US Military could, at an unknown cost, just blast away. This article points out, rightfully, how scared we are to put our weapons in harms way because of how expensive they are. I made this argument many times to friends years ago. From a military strategic poi…

Straights have been impossible to force since Churchill tried to force the Bosphorus in 1915. Placing ships in a narrow target area that can be pre-sighted is a losing proposition, a single artillery gun could mission-kill a destroyer in hormuz - mines/torpedos/drones could sink a ship in a place where rescue may not be possible.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#467

A big mistake here was simply underestimating the scale of Iran. Iran has 90,000,000 people. More than 2x Ukraine. More than 2x Germany. More than 2x Iraq. More than any country in Europe. About 2/3 of Russia. Expecting to win a war on the cheap was a fantasy. Especially since Iran has been fighting Israel for years. On the naval front, Ukraine sunk the Moskva with a few truck-mounted missiles. That finally made it u…

You think the pentagon was like "shit, Iran is bigger than we thought"?

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany has 80+ mil inhabitants. Also 90,000,000 people doesn't mean 90,000,000 soldiers, especially when a large part of them hate their own regime.

Right re 80 million in Germany. After a bombing campaign, most of the people tend to hate whoever bombed them.

I don't believe you understand how modern bombs work.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#469

A big mistake here was simply underestimating the scale of Iran. Iran has 90,000,000 people. More than 2x Ukraine. More than 2x Germany. More than 2x Iraq. More than any country in Europe. About 2/3 of Russia. Expecting to win a war on the cheap was a fantasy. Especially since Iran has been fighting Israel for years. On the naval front, Ukraine sunk the Moskva with a few truck-mounted missiles. That finally made it u…

Germany has 80+ mil inhabitants. Also 90,000,000 people doesn't mean 90,000,000 soldiers, especially when a large part of them hate their own regime.

I bet that "large part" isn't thrilled about the US bombing civilians, including children, either.

Re: Why the US Navy won't blast the Iranians and 'open' Strait of Hormuz

#470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right re 80 million in Germany. After a bombing campaign, most of the people tend to hate whoever bombed them.

I don't believe you understand how modern bombs work.

They seem to work not very well, considering the number civilians they've killed in Iran.
Post reply on HN