Fred Reed, Damn the Torpedoes, Fools’ Greed Ahead (via the Western Confucian)

Bear in mind that a great many countries fear attack by the United States, among them such trivial nations as Russia, China, and Iran. None of these has the money to build carrier groups to oppose those of the Navy.

All of these have thought about cheap ways to overcome the U.S. behemoth. Four solutions soon came to hand:

1. Very fast sea-skimming cruise missiles, such as the Brahmos and Brahmos II (Mach 5+).
2. Supercavitating torpedoes, reaching speeds of over 200 miles an hour.
3. Very quiet submarines, diesel-electrics in the case of poor countries.
4. Anti-ship ballistic missiles, such as the one attributed to the Chinese.

Any military buff knows that the Navy cannot defend itself against these. It says it can. It has to say it can. In fleet exercises against submarines, the subs always win – easily. The Pentagon has been trying to invent defenses against ballistic missiles since the days of Reagan (remember Star Wars?) with miserable results. If you have close friends in the Navy, ask them over a few beers what scares the bejesus out of them. Easy: Swarms of fast, stealthy, sea-skimming cruise missiles with multi-mode terminal guidance.

Add to the brew that today’s ships are fragile, based on the assumption that they will never be hit. Go aboard a WWII battleship like the Iowa, BB-61 (I have) and you will find 16-inch belt armor and turrets designed to withstand an asteroid strike. Now go aboard a Ticonderoga-class Aegis boat (I have). You will find an electronic marvel with big screens in a darkened CIC and an amazing SPY-1 phased-array radar that one burst of shrapnel would take out of commission for many months.

Now note that cruise missiles have ranges in the hundreds of miles. Think: Persian Gulf. A cruise missile can be boxed and mounted on a truck, a fast launch, or a tramp steamer. The Chinese ballistic missile has a range of 1,200 miles, enough to keep carriers out of aircraft range of Taiwan. I wonder whether the Chinese have thought of that?

In short, the day of surface navies seems to be coming to a close, at least as strategically decisive forces. So does the day of the manned fighter as Predator-style "drones" improve.

What happens now? Nothing – for the moment.

To understand the problem, assume for the moment that the Navy knew beyond doubt, and openly admitted in internal discussion, that it could not protect its surface ships from modern anti-ship missiles. What would it do? What could it do?

Nothing. Why? Because, apart from the missile submarines, which have no role in combat, the Navy is the surface fleet. Many, many billions of dollars are invested in carriers and careers, in escorts for carriers, in countless men trained to run them. Mothball the carriers, and the Navy becomes a few troop ships useful for unopposed landings. Maintaining a large fleet only to support the Pentagon’s preferred role of massacring half-armed peasants would just be too costly.

So, does the Navy say to Congress, "We really aren’t of much use any longer. We suggest that you scrap the ships and put the money into something else"? Mankind doesn’t work that way. The appeals of tradition, ego, and just plain fun run high. (Never underestimate the importance of ego and fun in military policy.) A CVBG is a magnificent thing, just not very useful. The glamor of night flight ops, planes trapping ker-whang!, engines howling at full mil, 30 knots of wind over the flight deck, cat shots throwing fighters into the air – this stuff appeals powerfully to something deep in the male head. The Navy isn’t going to give this up.

Thus it can’t admit that its day comes to a close, whether it knows it, suspects it, or refuses to think about it. The carrier is forever. Unless one gets sunk.

Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, second right, listens to Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, second left, the USS George Washington strike group commander, as Okada inspects the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, Saturday, April 10, 2010. (AP/Daylife)

Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, center, led by Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, second right, the USS George Washington strike group commander, as Okada inspects the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, Saturday, April 10, 2010. (AP/Daylife)

Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, left, listens to Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, right, the USS George Washington strike group commander, as Okada inspects the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, Saturday, April 10, 2010. (AP/Daylife)

Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, third right, visits the flight deck control room, led by Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, right, the USS George Washington strike group commander, as Okada inspects the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, Saturday, April 10, 2010. (AP/Daylife)



Some photos of the F-18 Hornet.

An F-18 jet flies during a performance from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The aircraft carrier arrived Friday to take part in sporting activities with Brazil's naval forces. (AP/Daylife)

An F-18 jet lands on aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during a military exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The aircraft carrier arrived Friday to take part in sporting activities with Brazilian naval forces. (AP/Daylife)

An E-2 Hawkeye, top, and five F-18 jets fly in formation during a military exhibition from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The aircraft carrier arrived Friday to take part in sporting activities with Brazil's naval forces. (AP/Daylife)

I haven't been attracted to the US Navy for quite some time, not since high school. My interest was not in naval aviation, despite my enjoyment of Top Gun, or being on a submarine, but in surface ships. And there's the dress uniform, both the winter and summer versions. When I was at Christendom Sarge talked about the SEALs, and at the time I had a high opinion of them, but that wasn't enough to induce me to go into the Navy.

Also via the Western Confucian: Memoirs of an Exorcist.