US sends second aircraft carrier to Gulf

[Misfit]

US sends second aircraft carrier to Gulf | News.com.au

THE US navy says it has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf amid rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear program.

Commander Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said on Monday the deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise along the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group marks only the fourth time in the past decade that the navy has had two aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the region.

 

[Gilligan]

...and more minesweepers too, which have to be heavy-lifted over there.

 

[b23hqb]

Well, the MS's don't have to be heavy lifted, but unless one waits until the last minute to think of that need, then it would be a bit faster transporting them aboard heavy-lift ships.

 

[Gilligan]

Well, the MS's don't have to be heavy lifted, but unless one waits until the last minute to think of that need, then it would be a bit faster transporting them aboard heavy-lift ships.

I shouldn't have said 'have to be'..but it is a fact that heavy lift transport is how ours are normally deployed over that kind of distance. Our ships are very slow...as compared to our Norwegian friends that have mine countermeasure ships that cruise at 20 knots, for example.

 

[desertrat]

I shouldn't have said 'have to be'..but it is a fact that heavy lift transport is how ours are normally deployed over that kind of distance. Our ships are very slow...as compared to our Norwegian friends that have mine countermeasure ships that cruise at 20 knots, for example.

I think it would be cool if we had mine sweepers that were hovercraft and could be deployed from a USS Wasp type ship.

 

[Gilligan]

I think it would be cool if we had mine sweepers that were hovercraft and could be deployed from a USS Wasp type ship.

I worked for several years on exactly that concept. Was a joint development effort with the Swedish Navy (some of the best mine countermeasure folks in the world..along with teh Norwegians).

But the US Navy absolutely loathes the mine countermeasure mission and responsiblity and has always found clever ways to get out of paying it more than feeble lip service once in a while. I've been on no less than four different mine-countermeasure ship/craft projects over the last 25 years that were cancelled before real hardware had to be built. And heck..as we speak the Navy is scrapping out mine countermeasure vessels that are not even 20 years old yet. That we have any left at all to send to the Persian Gulf is just dumb luck with the scrap timing.

 

[glhs837]

Maybe RAMICs is ready, would be nice. Spent a ton of hours during the Iran Iraq way staring out an aircraft window at the Persian Gulf looking for mines in front of reflagged tanker convoys. Wasnt a ton of fun.

 

[spr1975wshs]

@Gilligan...your description of the Navy vis a vis mine countermeasures sounds a lot like the attitude I saw in the Air Force towards close air support.

 

[nutz]

@Gilligan...your description of the Navy vis a vis mine countermeasures sounds a lot like the attitude I saw in the Air Force towards close air support.

CAS is a unique venue. Going from ring laser gyro enhanced navigation systems and converting to universal transverse mercator can be challenging. Now, if the ground guys could just realize that the earth isn't flat

 

[Bustem' Down]

Don't think the second carrier was neccesary, Iran isn't going to do anything.

 

[Gilligan]

Don't think the second carrier was neccesary, Iran isn't going to do anything.

Dang it! Panetta should have contacted you first. Clearly would have saved us taxpayers some major gas $$ on a wasted trip.

 

[BernieP]

Dang it! Panetta should have contacted you first. Clearly would have saved us taxpayers some major gas $$ on a wasted trip.

Actually from the lives of the sailors and the cost of two ships it bothers me.
The Persian Gulf is basically a large bathtub. The carriers are big fat targets, prized tragets. They also have to transit the Straits of Hormuz, which gives Iran a huge tactical advantage.

Did we not learn a lesson from this

The USS Vincennes is perhaps best known for shooting down a Iranian civilian passenger jetliner, Iran Air Flight 655, over the Persian Gulf on July 3, 1988, killing all 290 civilians on board (including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children), sparking an international incident between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America.

The fact that you have a lot of civilian traffic, both on the water and in the air, makes for a tough set of rules of engagement.

Also don't forget that Iran has invested in submarines, newer models that are hard to detect.

Bottom line, if you are going to put the sailors and their ships in harms way, please don't handcuff them by resticted rules o engagement - BUT expect an incident involving civilians. Iran isn't going to play by any conventional rules fof engagement.

 

[desertrat]

Don't think the second carrier was neccesary, Iran isn't going to do anything.

We tend to over react to threats. Costing a bundle. When all we have to do is say, "make a move and you are history". This limited warfare when we have the capability of taking out Tehran is just stupid, I think.

 

[spr1975wshs]

My wife and I went to college with Iranians at Norwich, the military college in Vermont. All of the men and women were cadets from the Imperial Iranian Navy.

It was a sad day when Jimmy Carter's administration deported them.

The Iranian people in large part like America and American culture. However, they are shackled by a regime they do not have the power (as of yet) to change in any meaningful way.