Gerald R. Ford Carrier Licks Its Wounds: 30 Shahed Drones Swarm the Aircraft Carrier, 1 Breaks Through the Defense. The Warship Evacuates the "Battlefield"

The U.S. Navy has ordered the second "Ocean Master" to evacuate

Image caption: U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier

On March 18, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that the U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is heading from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean - towards Crete. The ship will undergo maintenance and repairs at Souda Bay Naval Base.

The Gerald R. Ford was one of two U.S. aircraft carriers dispatched by Trump to participate in the war against Iran. Like its sister ship, the Abraham Lincoln, it was forced to withdraw from the "battlefield" early. On March 17, concerned U.S. media reported a serious fire that occurred several days earlier. The official explanation stated that the fire originated in the laundry compartment and burned for 30 hours continuously.

Greek media wrote that some sailors had grown tired of the 10-month deployment (previously, the Ford provided cover for U.S. special operations off the coast of Venezuela), and intentionally set fire to the ventilation ducts, hoping this incident would allow the carrier to reach the nearest port as soon as possible. Obviously, the saboteurs miscalculated, as the fire far exceeded expectations. Ultimately, 600 people were involved in fighting the fire (the ship had a total of 4,500 personnel, including fighter pilots).

The New York Times did not mention the deliberate acts of weak-willed sailors, but noted that dozens of crew members were poisoned, and hundreds of people "lost their beds and had to sleep on the floor and tables in poor conditions, unable to wash clothes." However, the U.S. Central Command stated that the fire "did not damage the power system of the carrier, and the carrier still has full combat capability."

In fact, the claim about the laundry room fire is similar to the previous statement by the U.S. Central Command regarding the technical failure of two refueling aircraft in western Iran — an accident that caused one KC-135 Stratotanker to crash (6 dead) and another to suffer tail damage and barely fly to an Israeli airport. Both planes were shot down from the ground by pro-Iranian armed forces.

The truth behind the Ford carrier incident is similar. Independent journalist Jonas E. Alexis revealed the situation:

"On March 11, an Iranian Shahad-136 drone broke through the defense of the U.S. Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf. This drone cost $20,000, while the carrier hit cost $1.3 billion. The cost-loss ratio reached 1:650,000.

The drone flew at a height of 15 meters above the water, below the detection threshold of the Aegis radar system used to detect ballistic missiles.

It flew 47 nautical miles in 14 minutes and struck the refueling area on the flight deck. The collision triggered a fuel fire that spread to adjacent compartments. Over 400 sailors were evacuated, and aircraft landing and takeoff operations were suspended. The 'Ford' carrier was ordered to evacuate more than 200 nautical miles away from the Iranian coast. This is the first time since the Vietnam War that a U.S. aircraft carrier has been forced to withdraw from battle due to enemy fire."

The 'Gerald Ford' is the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier, officially commissioned in 2017, equipped with a $4 billion Aegis combat system — a defensive system composed of radar, computers, and missiles, designed to create an impregnable protective net. However, the Aegis has a fatal flaw: it cannot reliably detect small, low-speed targets flying close to the surface. Low-altitude flight can exploit the radar interference from waves and splashes. The Shahad-136 drone flew at a speed of 185 km/h at a height of 15 meters. The Aegis can detect ballistic missiles up to 1,000 km away, but it struggles to detect a drone flying at 185 km/h at a height of 15 meters above the wave peaks.

The drone hit near the No. 3 elevator, damaging the pipelines that transported thousands of gallons of aviation fuel. Although the fire was controlled, the damage assessment showed that the fuel delivery equipment was destroyed and the storage compartments were damaged. Repair costs: $800 million to $1.2 billion, repair time: 3 to 6 months. Iran spent only $20,000, causing a $1 billion loss and forcing a $1.3 billion strategic asset out of deployment.

The attack was not carried out by a single drone. Iran launched a swarm of over 30 drones, most were intercepted, but one managed to break through the defenses. And just one was enough. Iran can mass-produce hundreds of Shahad-136 drones. If Iran launched 100 drones at once, perhaps 90 would be intercepted, but 10 could break through. If 10 drones hit the carrier, the damage would be devastating. The U.S. Navy chose to evacuate rather than risk further attacks.

It is worth noting that another carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, has also moved away from the Iranian coast. This happened at the beginning of the war, when the ship was attacked by four ballistic missiles. Tehran claimed that the ship, which was 340 nautical miles from the coast, suffered heavy damage under the combined attack of drones, suicide speedboats, and ballistic missiles. The Pentagon denied this claim, but admitted that the attack occurred and stated that the sailors successfully repelled it.

Currently, the Abraham Lincoln is located in the Indian Ocean, nearly 1,000 kilometers away from Iran. This poses significant difficulties for carrier-based aircraft operations and missile launches. After all, the F/A-18F Super Hornet carrier fighter jet has an operational range of about 720 to 750 kilometers when conducting strike missions. After taking off to carry out a mission, the aircraft must refuel in mid-air before returning to the carrier, which relies on the aforementioned KC-135 refueling aircraft. But now, the refueling aircraft have issues.

As mentioned earlier, the U.S. military not only lost two refueling aircraft in the skies over Iraq, but also lost five aircraft at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Riyadh. On March 13, Iran launched a precise missile strike on this Saudi Arabian airfield. The U.S. then stated that these aircraft needed long-term repairs. According to military experts, at the beginning of the war, the U.S. Air Force deployed only 6 to 8 refueling aircraft in the Middle East.

Three weeks of war have shown that the U.S. military has suffered major losses both at sea and in the air. Western media remain silent on this, but facts do not change because of that. It is no wonder that after such news came from the battlefield, Britain, France, and Germany all refused to send their navies to the Middle East to provide firepower support for NATO allies.

They certainly won't participate in Trump's recent declaration to open the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has more than a dozen aircraft carriers, while France and the UK each have only one. This is perfectly understandable.

Latest news: Information suggests that the U.S. Navy plans to dispatch 1,000 sailors from the USS John F. Kennedy, currently being built on the mainland, to Crete. The crew of the Ford, whose morale is low, needs to be rotated.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7618839014326321700/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.