In recent times, the situation in the Red Sea has intensified.
Yemen's Houthi attacks have come one after another.
Not to be outdone, the US military drove the aircraft carrier to the Red Sea and directly **.
1. The U.S. military in the Red Sea, and 5 Indian ships "rushed to help".
Recently, the USS Eisenhower was raided by the Houthis.
The F A-18 Super Hornet aboard the USS Eisenhower took off in an emergency and launched air-to-air missiles, shooting down the incoming drones and missiles.
It's funny to say that some time ago, the United States engaged in a so-called "Red Sea Escort Alliance" to force countries to take down. The battle was quite large, but the "allies" did not give face at all. When something really happened, no one came to help.
India, on the other hand, has been unusually positive.
Although not in the "escort alliance", the Indian Navy sent five destroyers to escort passing merchant ships.
Screenshot of related reports.
Of these, four are deployed at the exit of the Red Sea, south of the island of Socotra in Yemen, in the western Arabian Sea and in the central part of the Arabian Sea.
The remaining one took on the task of patrolling the northern Arabian Sea.
In addition to this, India has also sent P-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft and Sea Guardian drones to monitor ships in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden 24 hours a day, searching for suspicious targets trying to attack merchant ships.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the five destroyers.
Second, India has made a bloody investment in this operation
The 5 destroyers dispatched by India this time wereAll air defense destroyers, which includes 3 P-15A "Calcutta" class destroyers and 2 P-15B "Visakhapatnam" class destroyers.
You must know that the Indian Navy has accumulated 6 air defense destroyers for more than 10 years. Moreover, one of them has just been delivered, and for the time being it has not yet formed combat effectiveness.
In other words, India has sent out all its air defense destroyers that can fight in real combat.
P-15B "Visakhapatnam" class destroyer.
Moreover, the real combat capabilities of these air defense destroyers are not weak.
It is reported that the P-15A "Kolkata"-class destroyers are equipped with the EL M-2248 phased array radar developed by Israel, which can simultaneously track 300 targets and attack 12 of them.
In addition, the ship is equipped with a 32-cell anti-aircraft missile vertical launch system, which can launch the "Barak-8" ship-to-air missile.
Compared to the P-15A Kolkata-class destroyers, the P-15B Visakhapatnam-class destroyers have basically not changed much, except for the increased tonnage and stealth effect of the ship.
However, it is more than enough to use such equipment against UAVs and missiles.
In fact, the reason why India is willing to spend a lot of money on escort operations may be due to double considerations.
On the one hand, sending ** escort can ensure the safety of shipping in the Indian Ocean.
As the situation in the Red Sea continues to escalate, so does the risk of shipping in the Indian Ocean.
Last Saturday, a merchant ship sailing in the Indian Ocean was attacked by suicide drones. After the incident, the Indian Navy carried out a rescue of the merchant ship.
You know, Indian Ocean shipping is about trillions of dollars of oil and other **.
If tensions in the Red Sea spill over further into the Indian Ocean, it will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the Indian economy.
Therefore, India must take measures to avoid further deterioration of the situation.
On the other hand, the Indian Navy can also take this opportunity to show off its "muscles".
After all, India usually boasts that it is a world power, and it has also spent a lot of money on ** equipment.
Wouldn't sending an air defense destroyer to the shore of the Red Sea, which has attracted much attention from the outside world, take the opportunity to show the whole world its military strength?
Moreover, the frigates of the Chinese Navy happen to perform regular escort missions in the nearby waters.
Our Navy has been on escort duty in the Gulf of Aden for 15 years.
You know, India has always liked to compare itself with China.
Previously, India also published a special article comparing the parameters of the 052D destroyer of the Chinese Navy and the "Kolkata" class destroyer of India. The content, of course, is all sorts of trampling on the 052D destroyers, touting the destroyers of the "Kolkata" class, and even declaring that the 052D is not an opponent of the "Kolkata" class at all.
Naturally, India will not easily let go of this good opportunity to show its strength to the Chinese Navy.
However, whether it is the aircraft carrier formation of the US Navy or the air defense destroyers of the Indian Navy, it is difficult to truly solve the Red Sea escort crisis.
3. How to break the chaos in the Red Sea?
The U.S. military has put a lot of effort into escorting ships in the Red Sea in an attempt to deter the Houthis.
However, what slaps in the face is that the attacks of the Houthis have increased instead of decreasing, and even the US military ** and aircraft carriers have become the targets of the Houthi attacks.
Although the U.S. military has been able to successfully defend itself against Houthi attacks, the cost to them is not low.
For example, the destroyer Raboun, which recently engaged the Houthis, is equipped with the Standard 6 missile, the Standard 2 missile, and the improved Sea Sparrow missile.
Among them, the cheapest one costs more than $1 million, and the most expensive single one** is more than $4 million.
The Standard Type 6 missile ** is expensive.
However, the unit price of these missiles against drones is less than $100,000.
Moreover, these cheap UAVs can be mass-produced.
This means that the Houthis can fight the US military for a long time.
And the U.S. military faces many problems such as costs and inventories. There is no problem in the short term, and the longer it drags on, the more troublesome it becomes.
In addition, many analysts are concerned that the Houthis may launch drone swarms in the future.
In the case of an increase in the scope and scale of the attack, it is difficult for the US escort ships to maintain an adequate level of defense.
The recent use of anti-ship ballistic missiles and cruise missiles by the Houthis will also pose a more serious challenge to the US military's defenses.
In this regard, some US media said that the United States may eventually "have to turn offensive."
However, a very real problem is that once the United States does this, the already tense situation in the Middle East is likely to escalate further, or even trigger a major war in the Middle East.
In fact, if you want to solve the Red Sea problem at its root, you have toCease fire and stop fighting as soon as possible, so that peace can return to the Middle East.
However, this solution may not be accepted by the United States. Even if the United States accepts it, it may not be able to do it.