Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last week said in a speech that the U.S.Navy is facing asymmetric warfare threats and questioned whether naval forces that are very expensive should be pared back.Gates told the Navy League on May 3 that U.S. enemies are “investing in weapons designed to neutralize U.S. advantages, to deny ourmilitary freedom of action while potentially threatening America's primary means of projecting power: our bases, sea and air assets, and the networks that support them.”
“We know other nations are working on asymmetric ways to thwart the reach and striking power of the U.S. battle fleet,” he said.
At the lower end of the threat spectrum is the Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah that has used anti-ship missiles against the Israeli navy during the 2006 summer war. Iran also is “combining ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, mines, and swarming speedboats in order to challenge our naval power in that region,” he said.
The higher end of what Gates called the “access-denial spectrum” is the effort to erode what has been a virtual monopoly by the United States on precision guided weapons. These include “long-range, accurate anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles that can potentially strike from over the horizon,” he said, without mentioning that the main developer of these weapons is China.
“This is a particular concern with aircraft carriers and other large, multibillion-dollar blue-water surface combatants, where, for example, a Ford-class carrier plus its full complement of the latest aircraft would represent potentially a $15 (billion) to $20 billion set of hardware at risk,” Gates said.
Additionally sophisticated underwater threats are growing, including the use of sonar-evading stealth submarines that could “end the operational sanctuary our Navy has enjoyed in the Western Pacific for the better part of six decades,” Gates said.
Gates said budget constraints are forcing the military to reduce its efforts to maintain an 11 aircraft carrier strike group.
Gates should resign now. He needs to be replaced by a military man who is not afraid to get his hands dirty in the business of defending the US. This man is part of the problem that is causing our military operations to be protracted - a modern day McNamara. Scaling back our response to threats is precisely what we don't need to do.
ReplyDeleteMr. Gates, hit them hard, hit them often and don't stop hitting them until they surrender or are eliminated. That is how wars are won - prosecute the war with no mercy and exact a toll on the enemy that cripples their ability to wage war.
Too bad he won't ever see this, but as a former military enlisted man, even I can see the only way to victory is through unrelenting force. We saw enough of the other way in the sixties/early seventies.
Unless this course changes dramatically and soon I fear we are going to not only lose our might, but also the will to employ it to achieve our goals of security and maintaining liberty here and abroad. This appeasement diplomacy the current administration is using is a road to disaster and will ultimately lead to the collapse of not only the United States but all of the free world.