In March, CENTCOM Commander Marine General Kenneth McKenzie jnr announced his intent to retain two aircraft carriers in the Middle East to provide the US with greater flexibility and maintain what he termed “a profound deterring effect principally upon Iran”.
And second, the carriers themselves have become easy targets for Iran, whose anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities are sufficient to strike and perhaps even destroy a carrier transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
While these arguments have some credence, further scrutiny reveals that critics of Gen McKenzie’s strategy are not asking the right questions. The grey zone argument fails to account for the effect that US military force in the region has on Iranian doctrine. Similarly, the deterrent value of the carrier, itself, needs to be considered alongside Iran’s capacity to damage it.
The grey zone criticism of Gen McKenzie’s strategy betrays a lack of understanding of Iranian military doctrine. Critics suggest that aircraft carriers are unfit to challenge Iran’s use of proxies across the Middle East.
Read the article by Josh Cheatham in Defence Connect.
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