Trump has now re-imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz amid renewed military fire on both sides. Like King Bidgood he is playing with ships, some of them have been out there for months -- the Gerald Ford, after 11 months, limped home; the USS Abraham has broken a record now, more than 210 days at sea without a port call. Mike Vlahos says today's military, with its struggling number of warships (particularly the number to replenish vessels long at sea under stressful conditions) CAN sustain this tempo, but don't expect it to do much else. Thanks to a broken and corrupt shipbuilding system this is hardly the sea power Navy of yore.
Great stuff as usual from Mike: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/navy-blockade-iran/
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
Editor-in-Chief, Responsible Statecraft
Senior Advisor, Quincy Institute
Washington, D.C
703-470-3759