Battleships: Marines vs. Military-Industrial Complex

11 September Town Hall commentary - Marines vs. Military-Industrial Complex by Robert Novak.

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The Navy’s last two battleships appeared in December to have seen their final combat, on their way to being museum pieces. That’s not necessarily so. A decision to be made on Capitol Hill this week will determine whether the USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin are ready for a possible naval confrontation in the Persian Gulf with Iran.

Advocates of maintaining the World War II-vintage warships as troop-support firing platforms fell short nine months ago in their efforts to block a provision in the Defense Department authorization bill sending the vessels to museums. Overlooked then was the bill’s conference report requiring that the battle wagons be returned to active duty if the president declares a national emergency. But they will be useless relics unless this year’s defense authorization prohibits changes in the battleships that “would impair their military utility.”

That language is opposed by a formidable array: the Navy high command, Defense Department bureaucrats, major defense contractors — in short, the whole military-industrial complex, which prefers expensive, futuristic weapons over two generations-old standbys. The Marines, in a rare break from official Pentagon policy, are fighting for the battleships as their only naval surface support. What makes the Marines’ cause more compelling than it was last year is the rise of Iran as a potential nuclear power...

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Oh brother......:rolleyes:

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The Marines, in a rare break from official Pentagon policy, are fighting for the battleships as their only naval surface support.

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Of course Marines will not provide manpower to these ships (around 1.000/ship IIRC) but this will be taken care of by USN.

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What makes the Marines' cause more compelling than it was last year is the rise of Iran as a potential nuclear power.

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And how would BBs counter that? What sends bigger message, carrier or BB? What gives commander more flexibility? Which are more capable of defending themselves?

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He contends "the very large Iranian inventory of deadly anti-ship missiles" offers Iran an opportunity to dominate the Gulf. Stearman told me that an answer to this menace would be dispatching the two battleships to the Gulf.

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So how do you counter anti-ship missile threat? By dispatching big ships with little integral AD capabilities in their range.

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Indeed, the Iowa's presence was leveraged against Iran in the 1988 "Tanker War."

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Did it work? Did their presence make Iranians less active in the Gulf? And were they used during "Praying Mantis"? AFAIK no on both cases.

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Its 16-inch, 50-caliber guns, capable of ranging 24 nautical miles, are the longest-range guns in the fleet. Why, then, is the Navy so insistent on dismantling the battleships to rely on the planned DD(X) destroyer that may not be ready before 2015 (costing over $23 billion)? The DD(X), slower and more vulnerable than battleships, never will satisfy the Marines' stated needs for fire-support.

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Perhaps because DDs are more flexible, less manpower-hungry, and easier to maintain? because of shallower draft they can operate closer to coast?

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The House committee report's indictment of the Navy is unusually explicit: "The Navy has foregone the long-range fire support credibility of the battleship, has given little cause for optimism with respect to meeting near-term developmental objectives and appears unrealistic in planning to support expeditionary warfare in the mid-term.

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There are targets that can be taken out by other ships' smaller calibre weapons. There are targets that can't. Those are targets that are taken out by air power.

I think it's beyond stupid to keep BBs in inventory just because Marines might sometime need fire support for opposed amphibious landing. Never mind that last time this was done was Inchon, nevermind that Marines are often used far inland, out of range of BBs, nevermind that with precision weapons you can take out targets with less bombs, nevermind that Marines have their own airpower (both rotary and fixed wing) etc.