I wasn’t going to do a blog for Saturday, but after the pre-recorded discussion on Your American Heritage, I don’t feel that I have much choice, but it will be mercifully brief. There will be a blog posted for Palm Sunday – sermonette to launch Holy Week and so forth.
References:
Show info: https://waamradio.com/show/your-american-heritage/
Show archives: Spotify: Your American Heritage
https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/ “Commander Salamander” is a prominent, pseudonymous U.S. Naval Institute military blogger who has analyzed national security since 2003. I frequently refer to CDRSAL’s blog on the Virtual Mirage Blog. I consider him to be an honest analyst of great renown. It was an honor to be present and to throw a little spaghetti against the wall as CDRSAL called balls and strikes.
If you want to listen to the discussion on EdB’s radio show, it’s available at the Spotify link above. He can add anything that he’d like in the comments below.
One of the points CDRSAL made at the beginning of the broadcast, which I’ve also stressed, is that it is very important to vet your information as thoroughly as possible. Read what people you don’t agree with write and test your conclusions. To understand a concept, it’s important to put on a suit of new clothes and check the fit. Then maybe change them. Maybe not, but if you wear the same suit of clothes all your life, it can be hard to know what’s underneath. Many people go through life believing that they are their clothes.
We discussed naval mines in the Straits of Hormuz and the approaches to Taiwan, deploying mines from aircraft offensively, DDG 1000-1002, and so forth.
These are the questions that I emailed to EdB for CDRSAL – for the historical record.
1. Given that the US Fleet will be partially exhausted following deployment to the Iranian Theater, and that we lack significant dry dock capacity for a quick turnaround, is there the possibility of a refit and rearmament in allied foreign ports when the war deployment ends? (Thinking of South Korea and Japan) If we do that, is there a practical way to manage crew rotations?
2. 82% of our naval construction projects are behind schedule in the US. How much of that problem could be relieved by constructing warships in foreign ports?
3. Do you think that the 3 Zumwalt DDG 1000 class ships will ever be combat effective in the true sense of the word, meaning forward deployable?
4. Is there a way to fast-track mine warfare to make it deployable in mining and counter-mining operations within the next three years?
5. Do you feel that the failure of Chinese technology in Venezuela and Iran has changed their timetable toward a Taiwan invasion? Does US Control (all or in part) of the Straits of Hormuz change that calculus?
6. When do you believe that the US Navy will complete its sixth-generation fighter program? Will there be a Navy Tactical bomber (manned or unmanned) to accompany the development of the sixth-generation fighter?
7. What do you feel is the best way to address the Navy’s at-sea personnel shortage? Are uncrewed vessels really the answer?
8. CNO recommended that defense spending be “rebaselined” to at least 4% of GDP to enable the Navy to meet current readiness demands and fleet expansion goals. Do you see a Congressional appetite to do this? Will the other US services stand by and allow the Navy to eat their most treasured programs for its own sake?
Identify the Aircraft/Ship and the Activity
1
2
3
4
Paravanes are a clue.
End
Identify the Aircraft/Ship and the Activity:
1. MH-53E Sea Dragon used for airborne mine countermeasures
2. Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MCM USV) being recovered, presumably by a LCS.
3. Russian Alexandrit-class minesweeper Aleksandr Obukhov
4. Destroyer minesweeper USS Perry (DMS-17)
Blinding speed, Surly. Well done.
#4. It’s a shame you couldn’t find a photo of the U.S.S. Caine.
I did you one better with the header.
Ha! I was workin’ on a mean case of the Yellow Stain Blues for a while there, but they’re gone now.
Did they ever figure out who stole the strawberries?
Old Yellowstain…?
Wait! Nothing on the blog that ‘TIGER WOODS ROLLED HIS SUV’? According to “The News Media” this is all we should be discussing, the new ‘SAVANNAH GUTHRIE’S MOM!’ distraction. (Gutfeld’s take was spot on, zero sympathy because “celebrity”….regardless how great he was/is, possibly the greatest ever, at golf…a game…Woods needs help, not sympathy.)
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But seriously, now with the property wifi mesh up and running I can dial into EdB’s program realtime, need to listen to you three banter about on a significantly more important subject matter. Should be interesting to say the least, you three together with Ed at the helm.
I was going to open the interview with Sal and Larry with a “Breaking News” reference to Tiger, but thought better of it 😁
Good call. Besides the fact it was a Range Rover…the Brits can’t even build ships anymore despite 300+ years of sea dominance, what makes anyone believe they can still build vehicles.
It rolled rather than skidded.
There is a dark side to being a celebrity. (Captain Obvious speaks).
Babylon Bee had the best coverage, “Black Half Of Tiger Woods Tased By Cops After Asian Half Crashes Car”
😦
We lived in the SF Bay Area in the late 80s and early 90s and experienced the bow wave of (legal) immigration from Hong Kong as those who had resources to leave got out before reversion to the CCP in 1997. Most of the new folks had limited driving experience or even familiarity with “car culture”. That didn’t prevent them from getting an operating license, however. The local radio stations certainly made a point of ironically referring to Asian drivers as problematic. One incident I personally witnessed in 1992: proceeding northbound on the 101 at ~80 mph and following a small Infiniti sedan at a (blessedly) safe distance in the #1 lane. The driver suddenly swerved left and ran the car against the guardrail for 100 yards or so shedding chrome bits, glass, etc. All traffic slowed and moved right to pass what turned out to be a middle-aged Asian-looking lady. I got to my destination safely and wondered what had happened: possible medical situation, fell asleep, other? Prior to cell phones, so calling 911 was not convenient.
The Spotify can be heard here.
https://open.spotify.com/show/1LXpWXH62qWYNxxcMY9HLX
Thanks to Larry and Sal for their participation.
Thanks for the opportunity to spout off, EdB.
Top shelf you guys…excellent insight. Well done as always Ed…nice inclusion with Washington’s invocation.
Excellent talk! You were all in top form! Pity there was no time for more questions after Larry’s shameless plug!
The bits about mine laying and mine hunting were very interesting.
EdB threw down the plug and then I had to run with it…no choice.
Sal pulled the plug out of you.
Well done, and on point for the situation.
At least no boats were sunk by pulling that plug…
Yet. Loose Lips….
Excellent questions.
The Zumies need a gun. A big gun. At least a 5″ mount. We have autoloading 5″ mounts. How friggin hard it can be to put one on that ship? Maybe a couple 76mms, too.
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Regarding China, nah, they will think that it’s the fault of the end-user, not the equipment, that caused said equipment to not function at hopium levels. The ChiComs have too much ‘sunk cost’ in the greatness of their crap to believe that their crap is.. er… crap.
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As to personnel issues at sea, mayhaps the first thing that needs to be done is addressing the lack of performance by many split-tails, and their fantastic ability to get pregnant at the drop of ship-movement orders, thus leaving a fully-crewed ship undercrewed within a day of said ship-movement orders being released. That’s been an issue for a long time. Yes, there are really great women sailors, but there are a whole lot who are gaming the system to their own benefit. That needs to stop.
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Part of the issue with being undermanned is due to the recruitment system being at an all-time low during Biden’s pretender-ship. Like the cattle futures, damage caused during those 4 years takes years to fix. Recruitment is up, training is up, but it takes years to fix the damage and the ‘lead time’ on sailors going to the fleet, especially trained ratings like nukes and sparkies, is long, very long.