CNN reported that series of Aegis missile ship accidents and wrecking OPENS GAP in defending missiles from NK! Missile defense shield is already broken!
http://www.ibtimes.com/uss-john-mcc...p-missile-defense-against-north-korea-2580734
USS John McCain: Destroyer Collision Opens Gap In Missile Defense Against North Korea
By Chandan Prasad On 08/21/17 AT 2:46 AM
The collision of a second guided-missile destroyer in Asian waters within two months will seriously hobble the Japan-based U.S. Seventh Fleet, whose main aim is to contain an ambitious China and counter an ICBM-armed North Korea.
Rescue operations were on for 10 missing sailors when the USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant ship east of the Straits of Malacca early Monday morning.
On June 17, seven sailors were killed when another guided-missile destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, collided with a container ship off the coast of Japan.
The Fitzgerald and John S. McCain are both ballistic missile defense (BMD) ships and part of the same destroyer squadron based on Yokosuma.
The Seventh Fleet is the largest of the US Navy’s deployed sea forces, with roughly 50*-70 ships and submarines, and 140 aircraft across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. It is the only one that is “forward deployed,” meaning it is the first to respond when something happens in the region, the Associated Press reported.
The USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered supercarrier, is permanently deployed as the fleet’s flagship carrier at Yokosuma. The fleet also includes up to 14 destroyers and cruisers at any given time armed with long*-range Tomahawk land attack missiles, anti*-aircraft missiles; and up to 12 nuclear-powered submarines.
The threat from North Korea escalated swiftly when the country conducted two ICBM tests in July and announced the "entire" US mainland within range of its missiles.
With two ships — capable of provide missile defense against short to intermediate-range ballistic missiles and fitted with the most advanced anti-submarine warfare equipment — retiring hurt, the Navy has lost critical assets in the western Pacific. Both were Arleigh Burke- class destroyers equipped with the Aegis missile defense system.
They are part of a multibillion-dollar mission to protect the United States from foreign ballistic missiles, especially from North Korea. The Aegis system on the ships can track ballistic missiles and provide targeting data for ground-based interceptors stationed in Alaska and California.
Another layer of this shield is the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, that the U.S. has installed in South Korea, and which is capable of intercepting or destroying incoming missiles mid-flight.
There are more destroyers and cruisers based in Japan that can be used to destroy North Korean missiles.
Here's what the McCain is equipped with:
One 29 cell and one 61 cell Mark 41 vertical launching systems.
90 RIM-156 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk or RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles
Two Mark 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher SSM (surface-to-surface missile)
One Mark 45 5/54 inch (127/54 mm) lightweight gun
Two 25 mm chain guns
Four .50 caliber (12.7 mm) guns
Two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (an advanced radar-controlled gun system)
Two Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes
The navy's priority now would be to replace them as soon as possible.
While the extent of the damage to the ships is yet to be assessed, it is highly unlikely they would be returning to service soon. They will most likely be taken to the United States for repairs. It took nearly three years for the USS Cole to become operational again after it was bombed by terrorists in 2000.
The Navy will have to figure out how to fill the void created by the absence of these destroyers. They can probably send new ships to take their place, or surge-deploy additional ships from the U.S. to the western Pacific for extended periods.
Though it will easier to equip replacement ships with the latest equipment as in the damaged destroyers, it will be near impossible to match the experience of their crews who have operated almost exclusively in the western Pacific. The years of getting to know the geography, tactics, and building operational experience uniquely applicable to Western Pacific conflict scenarios will be hard to replace, and the replacement crews will have their tasks cut out.
Asked whether other ships would be deployed to maintain its strength amid rising tension with North Korea, a Navy spokesman said it was “way too early to know,” the Guardian reported.
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/神盾艦折損-對北韓出現防禦缺口-170900912.html
神盾艦折損 對北韓出現防禦缺口
[聯合新聞網]
聯合新聞網
編譯李京倫╱報導
2017年8月22日 上午1:09
美國有線電視新聞網(CNN)與國際財經時報報導,美第七艦隊兩個月發生費茲傑羅號和馬侃號兩艘配備神盾系統驅逐艦與民間船隻相撞,駐日本橫須賀海軍基地的十一艘神盾艦已有四艘不能部署,意味對北韓飛彈防禦網出現缺口。
兩艘驅逐艦都屬於勃克級,配備神盾飛彈防禦系統,能防禦短、中程彈道飛彈,都是美國為了防禦外來飛彈攻擊(尤其北韓),斥資數十億美元構建的防禦體系的一部分。神盾系統能追蹤彈道飛彈,將目標資料傳給位於美國阿拉斯加州和加州的陸基攔截器。
防禦體系的另一部分就是美國部署在南韓的薩德,能攔截正在來襲的飛彈。
美軍勢必要盡快填補這兩艘驅逐艦留下的防禦力缺口,不過,兩艘軍艦不太可能在短期內歸隊,很可能要送到美國本土維修。同屬勃克級的科爾號驅逐艦二○○○年在葉門亞丁港遭遇恐怖攻擊,恐怖分子駕著裝載炸藥的橡皮艇將船身炸出十二公尺的大洞,美軍花了近三年才修復完成。
美軍可以用新船艦取而代之,或將美國本土多餘的船艦調到西太平洋,並在替代船艦上安裝與費茲傑羅號和馬侃號一樣的設備,不過,出事的兩艘驅逐艦水兵多年來幾乎只在西太平洋值勤,熟諳區域地理和戰術,而且只針對西太平洋可能發生的衝突情況操演,這樣獨特的實務經驗短期內很難取代。
第七艦隊是美國海軍旗下的遠洋艦隊之一,司令部設在日本橫須賀港,是美國最大的海外前線投送部隊,有五十到七十艘軍艦,包括十四艘驅逐艦和巡洋艦與十二