a fan wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 9:04 pm
old salt wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 8:59 pm
a fan wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 8:44 pm
old salt wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 8:33 pm
Here's why NATO, not the US, should be in Command of the Red Sea task force. What better mission for NATO ?
Another diplomatic success for the Team Biden NSC propeller heads.
? You have ripped me....repeatedly....for telling you that other nations are perfectly able to keep the shipping lanes that are nowhere near the US clear.
You have responded...multiple times...that ONLY the US can do it.
What happened to this opinion of yours?
It is consistent. I posted earlier on this issue that this should be a NATO commanded mission, for just this reason.
That doesn't my point: FOR YEARS you told me that the US HAD to keep our sea lanes open, and that I was nuts to think that any other country in the world could defend them. I'll pull up the posts if you want.
Obviously from your tone here, you remember this perfectly well.
What you're telling me now is: I was right, and you were wrong. Other nations----including NATO----are perfectly capable of doing this pedestrian job.
No they are not. Not
THIS "pedestrian" job. No other nation has sufficient missile tubes hooked into a radar & command & control network capable of dealing with this many targets. The USN is the only force capable of
THIS specific mission.
If you reread my post & think, you will note that I said NATO should
Command this task force, not encompass it completely.
That way, nations who fear domestic opposition to the US support of Israel can say they are not under US command & they're not supporting Israel, they are helping keep the sea lanes open for international trade.
Several of our NATO & Pacific allies have baseline AEGIS equipped destroyers & frigates which could network with more capable USN destroyers, but they don't carry as many missiles as we do & they don't have the anti-ballistic missile (BMD) capability that we have. It will take 4 -6 warships to adequately cover the Red Sea & Gulf of Aden. Only one USN destroyer, positioned in the right place to intercept ballistic missiles from Yemen, would be required. The remaining warships could be dispersed (& networked under NATO command) to cover the entire area vs drones & cruise missiles.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedi ... l-alliance
Norway has 4 baseline AEGIS Frigates =>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_ ... ss_frigate.
Though not BMD capable, they can network with other AEGIS ships. Only one would be needed to host a Norwegian Task Force Commander.
The NATO SecGen is the former PM of Norway. Or 1 of Spain's 5 baseline AEGIS Frigates could function as the NATO TF flagship.
Other nations can & do perform missions like Task Force 151 which patrols the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant shipping from the Somali pirates.
https://combinedmaritimeforces.com/ctf- ... er-piracy/
They do not need an air defense capability for that mission.