Strengthening Our Beleaguered Military Starts With a Maritime Overhaul
By Brent D. Sadler
May 07, 2024
U.S. Navy
The USS Boxer returned to San Diego after only 10 days into what should have been at least a six month deployment with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). The repairs are estimated to take at least two months, denying the U.S. critical crises response capabilites in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo)
America’s security and prosperity is at high risk today, largely because of bad policies backed up by too weak armed forces. Consider our U.S. maritime complex. Decades of neglect and inadequate investment have left our shipping, shipbuilding, Navy, merchant marines, ports, and Coast Guard woefully behind the times. The Secretary of the Navy and a growing group in Congress are sounding the alarm, drawing attention to the plight of our weakened maritime sector.
Recent headlines help tell the story. Since October 2023, the Navy has been engaged in a ‘whack-a-mole’ standoff with the Houthis, an Iranian proxy that has been attacking vessels in the Red Sea and damaging global trade. This confrontation expanded to include missile defense of Israel, culminating on April 13 with the shoot-down of several Iranian ballistic missiles targeting Israel by destroyers Arleigh Burke and Carney.
This defensive effort is depleting expensive munitions that are in short supply. The Secretary of the Navy stated before Congress on April 15 that the Navy has responded to 130 attacks at a cost of $1 billion in munitions. At current procurement rates, it could take years to recover unless production capacity is greatly expanded in short order.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/05/07/strengthening_our_beleaguered_military_starts_with_a_maritime_overhaul_1029809.html
