WEBVTT #Elemental Media Engine(TM) 2.17.1.0 00:00:00.433 --> 00:00:01.666 In the Red sea. 00:00:02.066 --> 00:00:05.100 The US Navy has defended against wave after wave of drone and missile attacks 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.866 targeting vessels vital to the world economy. 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:13.800 What we are witnessing in the Red sea is a extraordinary challenge to freedom of 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:15.800 navigation and global trade. 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:19.700 It remains to be seen if airstrikes by the US and allies will put an end to 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:21.300 these Houthi attacks. 00:00:21.400 --> 00:00:24.933 The variety and cost of these weapons by the Houthi rebels shows a great 00:00:25.033 --> 00:00:26.700 change in warfare. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:31.633 Precision weapons, once the province of major powers had become much cheaper and 00:00:31.733 --> 00:00:32.166 Iran has led this revolution, exporting these weapons to groups that range from 00:00:32.266 --> 00:00:35.900 easier to produce. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.933 the Houthis to Hezbollah and even to the Russian military for use against 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:41.333 So it's quite an important spot to be able to have free flow of navigation, 00:00:41.433 --> 00:00:45.600 Ukraine. 00:00:45.833 --> 00:00:50.100 particularly for flows of energy back and forth between the Middle East and 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.700 Europe, and then goods goods from China to Europe and vice versa. 00:00:53.800 --> 00:00:57.133 The US Navy has long had a virtual shield that protected its major 00:00:57.233 --> 00:01:01.733 warships. The missiles that are the cornerstone to this defensive effort are 00:01:01.833 --> 00:01:02.133 But when you start to look at the cost benefit analysis and you have to do that 00:01:02.233 --> 00:01:05.200 not cheap. 00:01:05.300 --> 00:01:09.866 over time, these become expensive, you know, options. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.300 Uh, you're talking about shooting down drones that cost $20,000 with a standard 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:17.933 missile that's a little over $2 million. 00:01:18.433 --> 00:01:22.033 They are not easy to produce in large numbers compared to the Iranian arsenal 00:01:22.133 --> 00:01:25.433 or when looking at the Indo-Pacific, the Chinese rocket force. 00:01:25.533 --> 00:01:29.533 Yeah, there is a very real industrial base limitation that the United States 00:01:29.633 --> 00:01:30.900 has to face. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.500 Is the US Navy surface fleet prepared for future threats. 00:01:49.133 --> 00:01:52.633 At the dawn of the Missile Age, the US Navy realized it would need a new way to 00:01:52.733 --> 00:01:54.633 defend against these high speed aerial threats. 00:01:55.333 --> 00:01:59.000 The Egis weapons system consisted of missile armed cruisers that could use 00:01:59.100 --> 00:02:02.033 their advanced sensors to detect and take out threats with defensive 00:02:02.133 --> 00:02:06.433 missiles. An aerial coverage by aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat, supported 00:02:06.533 --> 00:02:10.433 by the E-2 Hawkeye would also engage targets far from the task force. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:12.800 The cat and mouse game that happened in the Cold War. 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:16.600 You know, Russia had the Soviet Union had this, these reconnaissance strike 00:02:16.700 --> 00:02:20.600 complexes where they were trying to locate the US Navy battle groups in the 00:02:20.700 --> 00:02:25.033 open North Atlantic to be able to send long range bombers out to hunt for them, 00:02:25.133 --> 00:02:29.366 backfire bombers, uh, and uh, badgers back fires that are still in service 00:02:29.466 --> 00:02:30.600 with the Russian Air Force at this point. 00:02:31.100 --> 00:02:35.366 The next iteration, the aegis Combat System, took shape in the late 80s. 00:02:35.466 --> 00:02:38.400 The keystone of this was the Arleigh Burke class destroyer. 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:43.966 That class has been around since 1989, and of course, they've modernized it. 00:02:44.066 --> 00:02:48.566 But the threat's going to evolve, and as it evolves, the requirements are 00:02:48.666 --> 00:02:53.333 going to evolve. But as of right now, continuing to build that class that will 00:02:53.433 --> 00:02:59.000 eventually be replaced by a DDGX, which is several years in the future and will 00:02:59.100 --> 00:03:04.500 probably look quite a bit like the current class, only more sophisticated. 00:03:04.666 --> 00:03:08.366 As the Ticonderoga cruisers have started to retire, Arleigh Burke destroyers have 00:03:08.466 --> 00:03:12.333 become the go to solution for sending US power around the globe, capable of 00:03:12.433 --> 00:03:15.700 defending themselves and others against high tech threats, and also capable of 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:19.666 attacking targets in the land, air and sea domains in the Red sea. 00:03:19.766 --> 00:03:22.733 Arleigh Burke's have become visible weapons against a war on the global 00:03:22.833 --> 00:03:25.866 economy. But the US Navy may be overworked at the end of the. 00:03:25.966 --> 00:03:27.666 Cold War, the analysis said. 00:03:27.766 --> 00:03:32.000 We needed 600 ships if we wanted to maintain, you know, sea control against 00:03:32.100 --> 00:03:34.700 the Soviet fleet in the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Mediterranean. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.566 There was still a trade off there because we basically said we couldn't do 00:03:37.666 --> 00:03:39.800 the Persian Gulf. That would require more ships. 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:42.800 Then that threat went away, and the size of the surface fleet has been 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:48.466 gradually reducing down to about, you know, since 2001, 2002, it's been 00:03:48.566 --> 00:03:50.933 anywhere between 280 and 300 ships. 00:03:53.033 --> 00:03:57.266 Since the Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red sea began, nearly 105 billion in 00:03:57.366 --> 00:04:00.300 ocean freight has been forced to use more expensive routes to deliver their 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.533 cargo. The economic repercussions of a closed Bab Al-mandab strait are 00:04:04.633 --> 00:04:06.033 straining the world's vast shipping industry. 00:04:06.766 --> 00:04:08.700 The Red sea is a fairly choke pointed area. 00:04:09.333 --> 00:04:13.600 Everybody knows who passes through the Suez Canal and when in some cases, you 00:04:13.700 --> 00:04:15.500 know, you can see ships from from shore. 00:04:16.333 --> 00:04:20.200 The Houthis have been attacking ships with fast boats, uncrewed ships, drones, 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:21.700 cruise missiles and even ballistic missiles. 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:27.266 You don't start World War three over this, but you impose some consequences. 00:04:27.366 --> 00:04:31.400 You have a strategy that includes both defensive and offensive elements. 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:35.033 You try to build a broadest multilateral coalition as possible. 00:04:35.133 --> 00:04:40.833 You try to encourage partners to contribute to to lessen the security 00:04:40.933 --> 00:04:43.633 burden on the United States, because we have a whole bunch of things going on 00:04:43.733 --> 00:04:47.266 around the world, and we have finite resources and a Navy that's not large 00:04:47.366 --> 00:04:47.600 But is the US Navy in a quality versus quantity fight that we. 00:04:47.700 --> 00:04:50.700 enough. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.166 Have a significant problem with ammunition resupply, which we should 00:04:55.266 --> 00:04:59.633 have learned extremely well from the experience in Ukraine. 00:04:59.733 --> 00:05:04.100 In Ukraine, the Ukrainians used up ammunition much more quickly than we 00:05:04.200 --> 00:05:08.066 expected, and they ended up putting pressure on on stockpiles worldwide. 00:05:14.566 --> 00:05:18.633 The Chinese military has put a focus on developing long range anti-ship missiles 00:05:18.733 --> 00:05:22.300 of many types. Sea skimming missiles, cruise missiles, and even ballistic 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:26.200 missiles have been tasked to inundate US defenses across the Indo-Pacific in 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:28.166 the event of a widespread conflict. 00:05:28.266 --> 00:05:33.966 As scary as the PLA rocket force is in terms of the weapon systems they have 00:05:34.200 --> 00:05:37.566 and the long range anti-ship missiles, those units by themselves can't find 00:05:37.666 --> 00:05:39.866 anything. They're just truck. They're just missiles on trucks. 00:05:39.966 --> 00:05:42.533 So something has got to find those targets for them. 00:05:42.633 --> 00:05:46.233 Us task forces are mobile and well defended, and the US has invested 00:05:46.333 --> 00:05:49.366 billions of dollars over the last several decades in technology to defend 00:05:49.466 --> 00:05:51.066 against mass missile attacks. 00:05:51.166 --> 00:05:54.300 This includes electronic warfare capability that can confuse or jam 00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:57.966 missiles. For example, the USS Pinckney was recently upgraded with a new 00:05:58.066 --> 00:06:01.433 electronic warfare kit to help the fleet defend against complex attacks. 00:06:01.533 --> 00:06:05.466 An aerial support like F/a 18 Super Hornets and F-35s that can take out 00:06:05.566 --> 00:06:07.133 missiles launched at the fleet. 00:06:07.233 --> 00:06:10.733 I don't know the details of what all is in that electronic warfare package, but 00:06:10.833 --> 00:06:15.866 I can imagine, you know, it's some it's the tools they need to deal with the 00:06:15.966 --> 00:06:20.233 really, um, quite impressive missile threat that they're now facing from the 00:06:20.333 --> 00:06:21.866 Chinese military. 00:06:21.966 --> 00:06:24.400 But if the US military goes to war in the Pacific, it's possible there won't 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:27.966 be enough missiles to sustain a strong defense against a Chinese onslaught. 00:06:28.066 --> 00:06:32.133 The People's Liberation Army of China has a very mature reconnaissance strike 00:06:32.233 --> 00:06:38.233 complex, as they call it, which is a combination of land based radars, 00:06:38.333 --> 00:06:40.600 satellites, aircraft, etc. 00:06:40.700 --> 00:06:44.300 that can reach out and look a very long way potentially. 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:46.966 And they've got weapons that can reach out a long way, too, in terms of 00:06:47.066 --> 00:06:49.466 different types of of missiles that they've developed. 00:06:49.566 --> 00:06:53.366 The US is upgrading some of the Arleigh Burke in service, and the US Navy has 00:06:53.466 --> 00:06:56.133 plans to buy nine of the destroyers through 2027. 00:06:56.233 --> 00:06:58.966 That will be built to the so-called flight three standard. 00:06:59.066 --> 00:07:04.133 In the fact that they may not be keeping up ship by ship with the Chinese doesn't 00:07:04.233 --> 00:07:05.500 necessarily mean it can't. 00:07:05.833 --> 00:07:07.433 It can't meet the mission. 00:07:07.533 --> 00:07:11.033 What has to be done and hasn't really been done as well as it should have been 00:07:11.133 --> 00:07:14.033 done, is a thorough analysis of requirement. 00:07:14.700 --> 00:07:20.066 With that done, you can learn a whole lot more about where we ought to be 00:07:20.166 --> 00:07:20.466 But Arleigh Burke destroyers won't be on their own in the event of mass missile 00:07:20.566 --> 00:07:24.066 investing. 00:07:24.166 --> 00:07:26.600 attacks on US forces in the future. 00:07:29.766 --> 00:07:33.466 The US Navy continues to invest in new ships, and new missiles and energy 00:07:33.566 --> 00:07:37.500 weapons will also possibly change the cost paradigm with aerial engagements. 00:07:37.633 --> 00:07:41.233 There were jokes in the past that, like the where in Star Trek, they say the 00:07:41.333 --> 00:07:45.366 Klingon bird of prey can't shoot unless it decloaks or something. 00:07:45.500 --> 00:07:48.666 Uh, you'd have to turn off all the power on your ship in order to fire your 00:07:48.766 --> 00:07:50.400 directed energy weapon. 00:07:50.533 --> 00:07:54.700 Uh, but we're navigating some of those technological changes, and now you see, 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.166 you know, lasers deployed aboard destroyers as a close in weapon system 00:07:59.266 --> 00:08:04.300 of sorts. Uh, so a very interesting time and some real potential, uh, for 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:07.833 improvements on at least the warship side in terms of engagements. 00:08:07.933 --> 00:08:11.233 And in the short time the constellation class frigate will give the Navy more 00:08:11.333 --> 00:08:13.066 anti-air capability on a proven platform. 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.800 Some people like the idea of a revolution in military affairs. 00:08:16.900 --> 00:08:18.266 Some people don't. 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.966 Um, where I come down is that, you know, things are constantly changing and 00:08:23.066 --> 00:08:27.533 technology is constantly changing the way that we fight and the way we defend 00:08:27.633 --> 00:08:29.066 ourselves and the way we attack our adversaries. 00:08:30.033 --> 00:08:34.500 And it certainly seems that we're in a moment of significant and relatively 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:35.933 rapid change. 00:08:36.033 --> 00:08:39.733 Advances in short range air defense should bring down the cost per 00:08:39.833 --> 00:08:40.166 The Navy has thought seriously about how it will deal with Air France and 00:08:40.266 --> 00:08:44.166 interceptor. 00:08:44.266 --> 00:08:47.500 significant and large numbers of air threats, which would could include would 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:48.933 include ballistic missiles. 00:08:49.033 --> 00:08:52.700 And the other part is it's a world war. 00:08:52.800 --> 00:08:57.066 It would anything that happened would likely spread to other regions. 00:08:57.166 --> 00:09:01.066 And I think that's one of the things with the Red sea sort of demonstrates to 00:09:01.166 --> 00:09:04.733 us, is we never know where the maritime threat might come up, and we have to 00:09:04.833 --> 00:09:07.233 make sure we have sufficient force structure to meet that. 00:09:07.566 --> 00:09:12.066 That is going to be the real challenge of the next decade.