No, the title isn’t something out of the Babylon Bee… but it should be.
Personally, I’m a firm believer that Western culture and civilization is swirling the bowl. I can point to no better example than the title of this particular post.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, word’s out that His Majesty’s Ship Diamond (D34) doesn’t have enough missiles to continue with the ongoing US/UK airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi tribesmen.
That’s right. The once feared and respected Royal Navy (RN) is now a mere shell of its once greatness.
Keep in mind that in recent history, the United Kingdom (roughly the same size as the US state of Oregon) had the following commands at sea;
- The Home Fleet
- The Atlantic Fleet
- The Mediterranean Fleet
- The Pacific Fleet
- The East Indies (Indian Ocean) Fleet
Present day, the same RN is having a tough time crushing a tribe of Iranian-supplied, inbred Islamist terrorists.
As reported by the London-based The Telegraph via MSN.com (emphasis mine);
Britain’s warships cannot attack Houthi targets on land because they lack the firepower, in a situation described by former defence chiefs as a “scandal”.
None of the Royal Navy’s destroyers or frigates have the ability to fire missiles at targets on land, leaving the US to carry out the majority of strikes on Houthi targets with support from RAF planes based 1,500 miles away.
A British defence source said HMS Diamond, the destroyer stationed in the Red Sea, had not joined retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets because it did not have “the capability to fire to land targets”. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it had instead been “directly involved in successfully destroying Houthi drones targeting shipping in the Red Sea”.
One former rear admiral suggested that Britain’s inability to strike the Iran-backed Houthi movement’s bases from warships highlighted how the Navy would be unable to “go toe to toe” with Chinese and Russian warships.
Currently, the only weapons on destroyers that can fire at other ships or land are artillery guns at the front of each vessel.
Know that the aforementioned “artillery guns” are specifically the 4.5 inch Mark 8 gun systems.
Please know that the maximum effective range of the Mark 8 is a scant 17.1 miles.
Also please keep in mind that as noted by MilitaryView.com, it takes a $2.1 million missile to take out a $2 thousand Houthi drone.
