Military Preparedness

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has made various comments on why the United States can safely maintain a smaller navy and why we don't need to buy more F-22 fighters, the most advanced fighter plan in the world.

Regarding the U.S. Navy, Gates has said:

"It is important to remember that, as much as the U.S. battle fleet has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, the rest of the world's navies have shrunk even more. So, in relative terms, the U.S. Navy is as strong as it has ever been."

The problem is, the United States hasn't fought a significant naval battle since World War II, yet a powerful navy is critical to our national security. The reason is geography: we are (fortunately) far from many of the places in the world where wars and conflicts occur, and we need a powerful navy to project power from the Continental United States to up to 10,000 miles away.

As example, the United States has shrunk its aircraft carrier fleet from 15 to 11, and with a number of ships out of commission at any one time for refit and maintenance, we have not yet been able to deploy a carrier to the Mediterranean in case it is needed in action against Libya. Such a carrier is not relevant for defeating Libya's navy, but could be critical if we enforced a no-fly zone or provided tactical air support to the rebels.

Likewise, Gates has said we don't need more of the very expensive F-22 fighters.

But one of the problems in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya is that our military feels it needs to suppress Libyan air defense before allowing our F-15, F-16, or F-18 fighters to patrol over Libya. In reality, such air defense suppression could be done, but no doubt the Obama administration is wringing its hands because more of the enemy might be killed while taking out their air defenses.

However, another option could exist. The Wall Street Journal quotes a former top Pentagon official, who said:

"You could put a squadron of F-22s in southern Italy and it could operate inside Gadhafi's airspace with impunity" due to its stealth, the higher altitude at which it flies, and speed.

So even against a weak military like Libya, we could find great political and military advantage by using the F-22.

The Libyan situation is exposing real weaknesses in America's military preparedness. It is a profoundly disturbing fact.