Friday, June 22, 2007

Aircraft Carrier Vs. Cruise Missile 17

Iran has a 1000 ship fleet ready to strike any attacker. From the World Tribune:

The U.S. Navy has determined that Iran has amassed a fleet of fast
patrol boats in the 43-kilometer straits. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps, responsible for strategic programs, leads the effort.
At this point,
officials said, IRGC has deployed more than 1,000 FPBs in and around the
straits. The vessels, armed with cruise missiles, mines, torpedoes and
rocket-propelled grenades, are up to 23 meters in long and can reach a speed of
100 kilometers per hour.

"This marks the implementation of Iran's swarm
program, where dozens of armed speed boats attack much larger naval vessels from
all sides," an official said.
In 2005, IRGC developed its swarm doctrine
following Teheran's assessment that the United States was considering an air
strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Officials said the swarm doctrine was
designed to exploit the slow pace of U.S. aircraft carriers and destroyers in
the shallow waters of the Gulf.


This is the USN's worse nightmare and why the multi-billion dollar Aegis anti-missile program was originally developed. But can it handle the Swarm?