You wanna try to hit a moving ship with a ballistic missile?
Okay, you better have extremely good, live intel and for that you need eyes on your target which means something or someone has to push off from the shore or post up on extremely exposed coast line and maintain a live communication with the missile truck hidden somewhere inland.
…the problem with trying to do that is once the US deployed attack helicopters for littoral and air defense that are in communication with naval assets and fixed wing assets Iran became pretty hopeless in trying to get eyes on target and then relay targetting data in a timely manner. Pre-emptively flying drones out to attempt to get close enough to a passing ship doesn’t work that great either as it is a recipe for AH-64E target practice.
People mistake the unforced idiocy of Trump, Hegseth and crew with the idea that taking on the US military in the ocean is as easy as playing tricks on an old blind and deaf man. They also mistake Iran’s decisive ability to strike static targets in the gulf using drones in overwhelming bursts with the ability to fight a littoral naval war against a dynamic opponent.
Iran controls the surface of the Strait Of Hormuz and not 1cm deeper.
The US navy owns the undersea in this war, Iran can try but the further they reach underneath the sea the farther up their arm will be bitten off.
If asymmetric, littoral forces cannot operate on the surface relatively unopposed there is little they can do against a blue water navy because they never can be sure what is below them or how long ago it already detected them.
Why aren’t they being bombed?
You wanna try to hit a moving ship with a ballistic missile?
Okay, you better have extremely good, live intel and for that you need eyes on your target which means something or someone has to push off from the shore or post up on extremely exposed coast line and maintain a live communication with the missile truck hidden somewhere inland.
…the problem with trying to do that is once the US deployed attack helicopters for littoral and air defense that are in communication with naval assets and fixed wing assets Iran became pretty hopeless in trying to get eyes on target and then relay targetting data in a timely manner. Pre-emptively flying drones out to attempt to get close enough to a passing ship doesn’t work that great either as it is a recipe for AH-64E target practice.
People mistake the unforced idiocy of Trump, Hegseth and crew with the idea that taking on the US military in the ocean is as easy as playing tricks on an old blind and deaf man. They also mistake Iran’s decisive ability to strike static targets in the gulf using drones in overwhelming bursts with the ability to fight a littoral naval war against a dynamic opponent.
Iran controls the surface of the Strait Of Hormuz and not 1cm deeper.
No, I think underwater drones like Yemen used to target ships delivering arms to Israel would work better and cheaper.
The US navy owns the undersea in this war, Iran can try but the further they reach underneath the sea the farther up their arm will be bitten off.
If asymmetric, littoral forces cannot operate on the surface relatively unopposed there is little they can do against a blue water navy because they never can be sure what is below them or how long ago it already detected them.