Originally Posted by
Martin the Martian
So Iran has built the type of navy and sea defences it needs to defend its coastline and territorial waters in a relatively narrow waterway, enough to give a potential opponent a bloody nose and think twice.
Seems like a sensible idea.
Also the sort for it wage war against others in the region, forge alliances with Russia and China, and to support proxy and grey zone activities against their neighbours and the international community. I am not sure how giving things like anti ship missiles to their proxies in Lebanon and Yemen counts as defending their territorial waters.
I hope the politicians remember that the Atlantic is not the only place ASW is needed. I also hope that for all this talk of the Indo-Pacific, we are still in the Atlantic.
From
Fundamental factors influencing British defence policies:
The Atlantic is a famously stormy ocean, and so are most of its subsidiary seas. These waters both directly link the UK to, and insulate (not isolate) it from, a huge swathe of the world. The Atlantic and North Sea also give access to the Baltic and Mediterranean and their littoral countries, as well as to the Arctic Ocean and its littoral countries (which include Russia).
The Atlantic also gives access, directly and indirectly, to the other great oceans of the world. In nautical terms, Argentina, Canada, Russia and South Africa, and every country in between, are neighbours of Britain.