The next time we have a big war, I think the Navy will be our armed service that is caught the most flat-footed.
Why? Because it hasn’t had its nose bloodied since 1945. That’s a long time to go without facing a serious combat challenge.
Yes, it has had violent losses, such as aboard the USS Stark. But there is not a single person wearing a Navy uniform that has experienced a full-on attack by an enemy fleet.
What will catastrophe look like? Well, to get a notion, rub together these two sentences from the September issue of Proceedings:
And then, just five pages later, this:
“Hypersonic threats are beyond the ability of any current U.S. systems to engage.”
See what I mean?
