Hacker News Reader

Comment by nradov | Hacker News Reader

Cancelling the LCS construction program was the right move. There are still a number of hulls in commission and they have some utility as minesweepers, but can really only operate when the air threat has been neutralized. They have only limited defenses against drones and cruise missiles, and none at all against ballistic missiles. They're simply no longer survivable.

View on HN

I don't think Iran has homing ballistic missiles. Only maybe China has those. As such, the best defense vs ballistic threats is simply moving around, if they can't home then who cares?

I mean, buildings and hardened targets do care. But ships can just move and the missile will miss.

But yes, defenses vs Drones and Cruise missiles is more than sufficient vs Iran. And navigating narrow waters with higher degrees of mobility is better than our other ships.

Wrong on all points. Iran has already used anti-ship ballistic missiles. They might not be as advanced as China's but they appear to work, and in confined areas the targeting can be done using mobile shore-based radars.

https://warontherocks.com/irans-anti-access-and-area-denial-...

Even setting the ballistic missile threat aside, LCS can't defend itself against regular drones and cruise missiles. It's severely limited in terms of sensors, fire control, and magazine depth. In order to operate in that area with reasonable survivability it would have to be escorted by a more capable surface warship with area air defense.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com