Houthi Red Sea Blockade
- Thread starter brihard
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Decent ‘state of play today’ SITREP from AJE regarding who’s signing on to the Op Prosperity Guardian coalition, and the explicit Houthi threats to US interests and vessels if the U.S. strikes at them.
www.aljazeera.com
Greece to join US-led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthis
The maritime alliance wants to counter threats the Yemeni rebel group says are a response to Israeli ‘crimes’ in Gaza.
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Houthis are going to end up firmly into Hamas' find out phase pretty soon. You don't mess with international shipping.
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The really funny part? The two countries most affected are: Russia and China.
Russia can’t get oil to market in Asia and China can’t get goods to market in Europe and Eastern North America….
Brad Sallows
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"Wait, wait, wait...hang on you guys, we overlooked something...come back to the jetty while we think on this some more..."
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Rumor on the Twittersphere is that the Coalition is crumbling as the RoE placed by the USN is too limiting for some nations.
Which doesn’t surprise me, as it has been a poorly kept secret that we don’t want to create a war (expand it) in the region.
Which doesn’t surprise me, as it has been a poorly kept secret that we don’t want to create a war (expand it) in the region.
Kill the munition, but not the firing point?
Too bad Missouri and Wisconsin were finally mothballed for good.
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As I understand the RoE’s at this point, you are 110% right @brihard. Several nations would like to take further defensive actions against the firing positions.
Generally even defensive ROE allow for the launch position to be taken out to ensure it cannot continue attacks, this doesn’t appear to be what the USG has instructed the USN to do at this point.
To me I see both sides, but frankly I prefer to kill folks who target me or mine, and be the last person standing. I don’t think an interdiction only force is going to solve anything.
Generally even defensive ROE allow for the launch position to be taken out to ensure it cannot continue attacks, this doesn’t appear to be what the USG has instructed the USN to do at this point.
To me I see both sides, but frankly I prefer to kill folks who target me or mine, and be the last person standing. I don’t think an interdiction only force is going to solve anything.
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Doubtful, the Houthis kicked the asses of the Saudis and the Arab coalition for years... they've got a 1 million + men at arms and they know how to fight.
We'd need a significant invasion force and it would be a blood bath to take them on....
This was even after the Arabs made extensive use of mercenaries from Colombia, South Africa, the US and elsewhere...
Emirates Secretly Sends Colombian Mercenaries to Yemen Fight (Published 2015)
The arrival in Yemen of 450 Latin American troops adds a volatile new element in a complex proxy war that has drawn in the United States and Iran.
And brought in big guns to run their war for them:
Mike Hindmarsh - Wikipedia
Oh and all those LAVs we sold to the Saudi National Guard.... they put them to good use:
Jarnhamar
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Halifax Tar
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There is always a role for 16in rifles. Agree, it's a shame they have been put away.
Neat video you may like:
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And remember....
We can take them on but they can hurt us real bad....
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They can’t attack if they are dead…
Thing is, the Houthis have zero need to defeat the U.S. militarily. It’s sufficient that Lloyds of London perceives enough risk to shipping that the sea route is made economically non-viable due to exorbitant insurance costs versus route profitability.
Naval vessels have very finite magazine capacity and will always have to save some of the best stuff for their own self defense. I suspect their ability to defend shipping against drone swarms is pretty limited. Even a bunch of garbage rockets sent up with a limited number of ‘good’ munitions would draw fire and deplete munitions in the limited time the naval vessels would have to engage threats. And a lot of these platforms can be pretty small and launched from anywhere. We’re talking about a quite vulnerable ~30km x ~100km target box for shipping. Depending on Houthi weapon stocks, they may simply have far more rounds in the magazine than the USN.
I bet some people are sweating buckets rethinking air defense in the littoral environment given what Ukraine and Gaza have shown us about the ability to mass produce good enough weapons. I suspect we’ll see some more urgency out into developing ship borne and even airborne laser weapons.
Naval vessels have very finite magazine capacity and will always have to save some of the best stuff for their own self defense. I suspect their ability to defend shipping against drone swarms is pretty limited. Even a bunch of garbage rockets sent up with a limited number of ‘good’ munitions would draw fire and deplete munitions in the limited time the naval vessels would have to engage threats. And a lot of these platforms can be pretty small and launched from anywhere. We’re talking about a quite vulnerable ~30km x ~100km target box for shipping. Depending on Houthi weapon stocks, they may simply have far more rounds in the magazine than the USN.
I bet some people are sweating buckets rethinking air defense in the littoral environment given what Ukraine and Gaza have shown us about the ability to mass produce good enough weapons. I suspect we’ll see some more urgency out into developing ship borne and even airborne laser weapons.
GR66
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I'd think that if the decision were to be made to go after Houthi launch sites/command centres/weapons storage facilities that it would include air strikes in addition to ship launched weapons.
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EW and counter measures as well...
There is a geopolitical and strategic aspect here that is being underappreciated here.... as I have maintained since the commencement of hostilities in Ukraine.
As for those Russians and Chinese:
Houthis Won't Attack Putin's Ships In Red Sea; How Russian Tankers Are Transiting Without Incident
The Houthi rebels are reportedly not attacking any Russian tanker in the Red Sea. Russian media has claimed that Yemen’s Ansarallah Movement has allowed the nation’s tankers to transit without incident through the Suez Canal. The development comes as the U.S. formed the multinational naval task...
Yemen's Houthis doing China 'a big favor' by fighting US—professor
The Houthi movement has declared war on a U.S.-led coalition seeking to protect shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
www.newsweek.com
Any impact to Oil prices benefits Russia. It makes them more money which = more money to fund their Military operations.
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I wasn’t expecting “the US military not wanting to expend munitions” on my 2023 bingo card, but here we are.
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Obviously the answer is grapeshot.
OldSolduer
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Destroy wherever they are making these things.
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