Iran Update: A Rough Day for the Tomcat
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Further thoughts on the destruction of Iran’s navy…
The Iranian Navy has been annoying for the United States and its partners in the Gulf, but it has not posed a meaningful threat to either military or civilian shipping since the late 1980s.
The primary threat to both military and commercial vessels has been Iran’s stocks of drones and missiles, which can easily target ships traversing the narrow waterways of the Gulf.
One wonders whether the point of destroying the Iranian Navy in such visually dramatic fashion was to generate headlines and positive press for the Trump administration.
Either way, the story of Iran’s maritime presence is not over. In the short run, small boats, drones, and missiles will continue to give Iran the ability to cut off shipping and influence the maritime environment.
Staying on the naval topic, this is interesting but I don’t find it particularly credible… the USN sub commander could not have had confidence that the Dena was in fact disarmed and simply indicating the proximity of the sub to the frigate put the former at considerable risk… but who knows?
In other news:
- Looks like the Israelis brought the military career of the F-14 Tomcat to an end…
- This is pretty horrifying, and perhaps not ideal from the perspective of winning the hearts and the minds…
- Attacks on desalination plants aren’t quite nuclear levels of MAD, but it’s not good, either.
- The impact of the war on the financial and energy markets is as of yet unclear… but the longer the conflict goes the worse things are going to look.
- Operational excellence nested within strategic ineptitude.
- The four hour cyber war that initiated the conflict.