Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Pezeshkian: You want the countries of this region to turn on each other by handing out bombs and missiles, and then you say you are peace-seekers?
Pezeshkian: When they boast of having missiles and bombs beyond imagination, is it us who are causing war and bloodshed—or is it them, who flood this region with weapons and ammunition?
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian replying to Trump: Those who for the past year have killed more than 60,000 Palestinian women and children in bombings, cannot claim to be peace-seekers.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Home targeted by IOF in Tammoun currently on fire, confrontations ongoing with Resistance fighters in area.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: IOF are breaking into homes in Salfit, looking for responsible for yesterday's operation.
Palestinian news sites: Explosive drone explodes inside surrounded home in Tammoun, South of Toubas.
Field sources in West Bank: Violent confrontations being fought by Resistance fighters against IOF which surrounded a home in Tammoun, south of Toubas.
Putin approvesexperts for talks with Ukraine: Kremlin
Russian Deputy FM Galuzin, Head of General Staff Kostyukov, Deputy Defense Minister Fomin will participate in Istanbul talks: Kremlin
Russian presidential aide Medinsky will lead Russia delegatioon at Ukraine talks: Kremlin

Yemeni operations further expose US Navy fleet failures in Red Sea: RS

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Responsible Statecraft
  • 13 May 2024 20:57
  • 4 Shares
5 Min Read

Dan Grazier believes most of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group carrier’s escort vessels have also had their deployments extended due to the US Navy's failure to reach its objectives.

  • x
  • US Navy paying price for shipbuilding failures in Red Sea: RS
    The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier after entering the Gulf waters crossing through the Hormuz Strait in a photo released on November 26, 2023 (US CENTCOM)

In late April, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, serving as the flagship of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, along with the USS Gravely, left the Red Sea and entered the Eastern Mediterranean. 

According to Dan Grazier, most of the carrier’s escort vessels have also had their deployments extended due to the US Navy's failure to reach its objectives.

Grazier wrote in Responsible Statecraft that one of the reasons was a lack of enough ships. He noted that the Red Sea threat is precisely the situation for which the Navy spent so much effort and money developing the Littoral Combat Ship, which was touted to the American public as a "networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals."

The Yemeni Armed Forces' attacks in the Red Sea, he stated, is the "textbook definition" of an "asymmetric threat in a littoral region."

However, the "little crappy ships," as they have come to be called, are nowhere to be seen within the Red Sea. Rather, the Navy must retain a carrier strike group made up of Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers on station for longer than expected in order to keep a key maritime choke point open.

Grazier explained that both the Littoral Combat Ship and the Zumwalt-class destroyer have been shipbuilding disasters during the last 20 years, which began following 9/11 as they quickly encountered problems. 

The Zumwalt program had tremendous cost inflation, forcing Navy authorities to reduce the intended fleet size from 32 to 7, and then to the three that were ultimately completed. These three ships cost over $8 billion each and failed to achieve the claimed combat capability.

The Littoral Combat Ship program required $28 billion to develop a fleet of 35 ships, and, according to the Government Accountability Office, more than $60 billion will be needed to run the fleet throughout its estimated 25-year lifetime.

Like the Zumwalt, the LCS program's combat capability falls far short of expectations. The ships were planned to be modular, with sailors switching mission systems in port to suit varied missions. Engineers were unable to get the mission components to operate effectively, therefore the concept was abandoned.

Related News

Gabbard fires NIC heads over Venezuela report contradicting admin.

Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested for Gaza protest at Senate hearing

Grazier explained how the USS Milwaukee broke down and other ships suffered from "saltwater corrosion, cracked hulls, and broken-down water jets," citing how Navy leaders began to retire ships decades earlier than they should have.

Navy chiefs are now hurrying to create the Constellation-class frigate to cover the capability vacuum left by the Littoral Combat Ship, he further explained. 

Grazier concluded by warning that service commanders, civilian leaders, and members of Congress should remember this case the next time a military contractor shows them a bunch of attractive conceptual drawings and then claims transformational capabilities at rock-bottom pricing. The homesick sailors aboard the Ike now realize that if it sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is.

USS Dwight D Eisenhower leaves Red Sea after failing to stop Yemenis

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Gravely successfully transited the Suez Canal, after nearly four months stationed in the Red Sea, the Navy announced late last month.

During its stay in the Red Sea, the US battle group failed to halt Yemeni operations against maritime navigation linked to the Israeli regime as operations continued.

According to a news release from US Naval Forces Europe-Africa, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, serving as the flagship of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, along with the USS Gravely, have now entered the Eastern Mediterranean. Their exact duration in the region remains undisclosed.

The deployment of the Ike Carrier Strike Group on October 13, followed by its navigation toward the Red Sea, was primarily focused on participating in Operation Prosperity Guardian. 

However, the news release notably omitted the current locations of the USS Mason and USS Philippine Sea, the other components of the Ike CSG. USS Mason, akin to USS Gravely, has been actively engaged in defending the Israeli occupation.

The Yemeni Ansar Allah movement is working on reinforcing the country's reach toward the Indian Ocean, seeking to cut off the Israeli-affiliated ships from sailing on the Cape of Good Hope route or toward the Red Sea, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi revealed last month.

The Yemeni front will remain open and the YAF operations in support of Palestine will continue, Sayyed al-Houthi stressed during a speech in which he addressed the latest regional developments. 

The leader of the Ansar Allah movement emphasized that the expansion of the YAF's operations into the Indian Ocean was never taken into account by American, British, and Israeli authorities, or what Sayyed al-Houthi refers to as the "Triad of Evil." 

  • US
  • Red Sea
  • Yemeni Armed Forces
  • Yemen
  • United States
  • Israel
  • war on Gaza

Most Read

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu, senior Israeli official says

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu: Israeli media

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
A boy draped in a Palestinian flag carries a mock rocket during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israeli rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, May 9, 2025 (AP)

Yemen announces hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport

  • Politics
  • 9 May 2025
President Donald Trump, left, greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington (AP)

US pressures 'Israel' for Gaza deal; Witkoff's Israeli rebuke leaked

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
A Fly Dubai plane is parked on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 (AP)
Economy

Israeli tourism suffers $3bln loss amid 'unprecedented' crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an annual ceremony in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu refuses to budge, captive talks stall: Israeli officials

Susan Sarandon joins hundreds urging BBC to release delayed Gaza film
Europe

Susan Sarandon joins call for BBC to air documentary on Gaza medics

In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, shakes hands with President Donald Trump, centre, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Trump worries 'Israel' with Syria sanctions lift: The Times

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS