Project Sword
According to a report by the US media quoted by ***, a few days ago,The United States announced the formation of a "convoy alliance" with some countries in response to Yemen's Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea waters。At present, nine countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Italy, have announced their participation in the US alliance, and the United States *** said that this move is to "bring together a wide range of international forces to contain the Houthis".
CCTV news screenshot: The United States plans to form an "escort alliance" in the Red Sea to counter the Houthis' "ship raids").
In recent times, the focus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has quietly shifted from Gaza City to the Red Sea, sparking global tensions as the Houthis claim to prevent ships from Israel, as well as all countries that support Israel, from passing through the Red Sea. To this end, the US Navy urgently deployed 2 Burke-class destroyers to the Red Sea, andThe U.S. military's Burke-class destroyers did not live up to expectations, shooting down 38 Houthi drones in a row as soon as they arrived in the Red Sea, although the results were brilliant, but the US army"The consumption is too great", this battle really can't be fought!Therefore, the United States is in a hurry to form a so-called "escort alliance", which is intended to use the strength of its allies to reduce its own pressure.
The performance of the standard SM-2 anti-aircraft missile interceptor drone is still very good, but ** it is too expensive)
The U.S. Navy has always been a powerful force that dominates the world, and judging from the current situation, the U.S. destroyers have undoubtedly won a major victory against the Houthis in the Red Sea, so why do you say that the U.S. military can't fight anymore?In fact, the most fundamental reason isThe military consumption of the US military and the Houthis is really not equal。Fired by the Houthis to strike at passing merchant shipsThe cost of a suicide drone does not exceed $2,000, but the US military uses a $2.1 million SM-2 "Standard" anti-aircraft missile to intercept it。According to the calculation of the consumption of 38 SM-2 missiles to intercept 38 targets, the US military spent nearly $80 million on these 38 SM-2 missiles alone!Although the United States has the highest military spending in the world, it can't withstand such consumption!
Using 2.1 million missiles to intercept 2,000 drones, the U.S. military really can't afford to fight this war).
Before the formation of the "escort alliance", the United States had also warned the Houthis through various channels not to launch wanton attacks on merchant ships, but at present, it seems that the Houthis did not take the warnings of the US military seriously at all, and continued to attack Israeli ships passing in the Red Sea and Western merchant ships carrying goods for them. And four of the world's five major shipping companies have officially issued notices asking their merchant ships not to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. In other words, the "escort alliance" led by the US military has been formed, but the merchant ships that need to escort are gone, because no one wants to risk passing through the Red Sea anymore, and the "escort alliance" of the US military has lost its meaning.
The Houthis have a large number of suicide drones with relatively advanced performance).
In fact, the Houthis are not unreasonable mountain kings, but have clear political demands and pressure from the United StatesMohammed Bouheiti, a senior Houthi leader, told Qatar's Al Jazeera that "even if the United States succeeds in mobilizing the whole world, the Houthis will not stop their military operations." ”And the Houthis' demands are actually quite simple:As long as Israel ceases fire and allows unimpeded humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza through the Egyptian Rafah crossing, they will stop attacking passing ships。Objectively speaking, this is not too much, after all, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza affects the hearts of all Arabs. However, the obvious partiality of the United States and other countries in favor of Israel has become the key to Israel's courage to run amok and hegemonic in Gaza, and the "ship raid war" launched by the Houthis is the only way in the Arab world that can make Western countries really pay attention to Gaza, and it is also the only way for the Houthis to truly and effectively support Hamas.
The Yinhe incident of that year, the bombing of the embassy in 1999, and the plane collision in the South China Sea in 2001 were the three major diplomatic humiliations of New China
But attentive friends may have already noticed:Four of the world's five largest shipping companies declared the Red Sea a no-go zone, so the fifth shipping company?The answer is that the fifth shipping company is COSCO in our country(China Ocean Shipping Group Corporation), and at present, COSCO's merchant ships are still sailing safely in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Since the Houthis launched a "ship raid" in the Red Sea, only Chinese cargo ships have been able to pass through the area safely.
Recently, a Chinese freighter passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has attracted the most attention, and some people have found that this Chinese merchant ship is called "Yinhe";Recall that 30 years ago, there was also a "galaxy" in the Arabian Sea, which was unreasonably seized by the US Navy, and the two sides launched a battle of wits and courage for nearly two months. Now, when ships, including American merchant ships, are no longer able to sail on the Red Sea, China's "Yinhe" is the first to pass through this section of the sea area blockaded by the West. Although this "Milky Way" is not the other "Milky Way", it still makes people sigh: it is really 30 years in Hedong, 30 years in Hexi!
Today's U.S. Navy can no longer suppress the armed forces of all stripes in the Middle East, and if we do not change our arrogant way of doing things, then it is only a matter of time before the U.S. influence in the Middle East becomes smaller and smaller or even disappears
In fact, the United States can not use sky-high missiles to "fight attrition" with the Houthis, as long as it abandons the policy of favoring Israel, makes every effort to promote a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel, and resumes humanitarian aid to Gaza, it can completely end this "ship attack war", but the United States is too arrogant and does not bother to negotiate conditions with the Houthis at all, so it can only use 2.1 million missiles to intercept 2,000 drones, and pull its allies into the water one by one.