For example, the "Financial Times" and some other **** quoted US sources, saying that the US Navy's defects make it necessary to return to the base before it can reload when the ammunition is exhausted, and this has seriously affected the continuity of operations.
U.S. operations in the Red Sea region did expose deficiencies in resupply, but they weren't as lethal as they now claim, and were clearly magnified.
However, we can also see through this incident that they are vigilant and attach importance to potential problems. U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Carlos del Toro, described the Bureau of Replenishment and Munitions at Sea as a game-changer.
It can be seen that the U.S. Navy's attention to this is obviously not that of the U.S. opponents, how can the Houthis, which are obviously not opponents of the United States, make the United States highlight this issue and take it very seriously?
Because now there are signs of change in this mode of operation, the US Navy in the Red Sea, its main task is to intercept the Houthis launched a variety of strike ships, such as anti-ship missiles, as well as all kinds of suicide drones, etc., among which the lowest value, the largest number of suicide drones is the most headache for the United States, intercepting these drones consumes more ammunition, even more than intercepting anti-ship missiles.
If these drones give you another swarm attack, the carrier-based ** of the US ** ship will be used up in some shipborne ammunition, anti-ship missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles. It's not that the United States can't carry out replenishment at sea, but it's not so easy, especially after you use a vertical launch device, this becomes a big deal, the missile is not that you can send it on the **, but it must be lifted vertically and accurately into the vertical launch unit, this process is very susceptible to effects like wind, waves and currents.
Generally speaking, this kind of replenishment is carried out in the port, the water flow in the port is relatively calm, the position of the crane is relatively fixed, and the ** is also fixed in a relatively stable fixed berth, which can basically rule out external influences, and the ship will only be affected to a certain extent, and at this time you can stop, and wait for it to become completely stable before refilling.
But this is not the case at sea, where the ship is affected by the wind and waves, which will cause it to sway, and once the position is tilted, it may cause the missile to collide with the vertical device, and the damaged launcher of the missile is a big problem.
Once encountering a strong opponent, this matter becomes very deadly, and when encountering the new combat mode, it seems that the ammunition may really be insufficient, so the US Navy believes that the Chinese Navy is getting stronger and stronger, which makes the US supply problem more and more prominent.
This is the US Secretary of the Navy who openly said this matter last year, saying: If there is a conflict with China, then as long as the US warships engage in one or two engagements, it will be easy to launch all the missiles and have to leave the war zone to resupply.
In the Pacific, there are only Japan, Hawaii, or a few ports in California to resupply ammunition, which is certainly not realistic. However, the naval bases of Japan and ** can be destroyed by long-range fire of the PLA, or they are in an unsafe state, so it is too vulnerable to replenish ammunition in these places.
Holmes, an expert at the US Navy's "Sword Project" War College, said: This defect has not been solved for a long time, and this exposes that the US Navy has not taken seriously the challenge raised by China for too long, and how to quickly replenish ammunition is becoming more and more important to the US military.
In fact, we also have to face this problem, as our navy gradually moves towards blue water, then the need for the vertical hair system to be reloaded at sea has gradually become prominent.