Quote:
Originally Posted by BudW
Strait of Hormuz, full battle group
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The obvious first line of defense are strike aircraft, though in a sneack attack the CVN may not be able to sortie F/A-18s loaded with Harpoons fast enough to make a difference, except in the counterattack.
If there are any amphibs available you may get get some USMC AH-1. which would absolutely rape the Iranian boats. Another tactic I've seen is to deploy several AAVs to serve as gunboats if the seas aren't too rough. The 50 cal/Mk 19 combo wiould do a number on a speed boat.
Of course the ship's themsleves has 5 inch guns (3 inch on the Perrys), the Phalanx in anti-surface mode, as well as crew served 25mm guns and 50 cal and 7.63 MGs.
Also, the ESSM and Standard SAMs have surface attack modes I believe, and there's a proposed update that will give the RAM a surface attack mode.
All of that means lots of dead Iranians.