BobDole [none/use name]

Bob Dole is here.

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Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: March 19th, 2024
  • BobDole [none/use name]@hexbear.nettonews@hexbear.net•Bulletins and News Discussion from June 16th to June 22nd, 2025 - Iran, Harden Your HeartEnglish
    7·
    2 days ago

    My assumption is that they’ll keep carriers out of the Persian Gulf and fly sorties from the Gulf of Oman, Qatar, and Türkiye (there are USAF bases in both countries).

    They’ll probably deploy cruisers and destroyers in the Gulf and try to keep the Straits of Hormuz open. USN has been drilling on how to keep the straits open for decades, and will try their hardest to force it open if Iran closes it. I think this will result in significant losses for USN (and losses for Iran, ofc). The IRGCN has been drilling on how to beat US ships for decades as well.

    Watch out for amphibious ships (LHA, LHD, LPD, LSD) hanging out in the Gulf of Oman, as they’re vulnerable but the only means by which the US can put boots on the ground. They will also likely use SEAL submersibles and semi-submersibles to carry out sabotage operations, which can be carried by amphibious ships, AFSB, and some by submarine.

  • BobDole [none/use name]@hexbear.nettonews@hexbear.net•Bulletins and News Discussion from June 16th to June 22nd, 2025 - Iran, Harden Your HeartEnglish
    8·
    2 days ago

    This is a bit stream of consciousness

    The boats stationed at Bahrain are primarily Minesweepers, with some brown-water riverine boats sometimes. Maybe some LCS, but those are pieces of shit. It functions primarily as a logistics and command hub within the Persian Gulf, and is where all of the Replenishment At Sea supply ships resupply and refuel (combatant ships also pull in for the same, but are not permanently stationed there). If Iran disables the resupply function of the port, which should be easy, then that forces US Navy vessels to leave the gulf or resupply in Saudi Arabia or UAE.

    My personal knowledge on all this is about ten years old now, so they may have improved facilities in SA/UAE. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are kitted out to support American ships, with a long term presence at the Dubai port, and the Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi has been capable of supporting US ships for about 11 years. I don’t know of any specific ports in SA that are available.

    Navy policy has always been to put ships to sea if anything happens to threaten them, and the local Bahraini population has never been happy about the American presence. Fifteen years ago there were machine gun nests in sandbag emplacements at the entrances to the base, although that relaxed and they built a bridge over the highway to connect port facilities to the base.

    The “spec ops ship” mentioned would be a Lewis B Puller class AFSB (Afloat Forward Staging Base). This is essentially a modified cargo ship that can carry and launch LCAC (hovercraft landing craft) and helicopters. They’re designed to sit at a long standoff distance from shore, as they weren’t kitted out with air defense, and function as a command and control vessel as well as be used by death squads special forces. I’m not sure what their ordnance holding capacity is.

    I forgot to mention that personnel stationed at the US base in Bahrain are predominantly logistics, admin, intel, and military police (sorry, “Masters at Arms”). The base is pretty notorious for poor morale, with MA’s locking each other in dog kennels for being gay.