Fierce fighting in the Red Sea! It was not the US military that did it, but the Indian army, which was keeping a close eye on every move of the Chinese navy under the banner of escort protection.
Foreword: The U.S. escort operation in the Red Sea has been underway for some time, but due to too much international pressure, many countries have not really participated, however, in this context, the Indian army has stood out, not only sending the navy, land and air force, but also directly firing the first shot, staging a battle to seize the ship. The reason behind it is that all parties are looking at China and Pakistan, what is going on?
(Illustration: An 84,000-ton cargo ship was hijacked by unknown armed men, and then the Indian Navy came to the rescue)
1. The U.S. escort operation, the Indian armed forces were dispatched
More than 20 countries joined the US "Red Sea Alliance", but who expected that half of the countries did not dare to disclose their identities, and the remaining half did not have strong support, resulting in this much-anticipated action becoming a farce.
It is worth mentioning that at a time when all sides were secretly observing and did not dare to act rashly, India's navy, land and air forces swaggered all the way into the Red Sea.
Indian media reported that the Indian military dispatched the largest number of troops in the entire "Red Sea Alliance", including 1 supply ship, 5 destroyers, a Boeing P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft, and 1 MQ-9 UAV.
The above warships and planes had only entered the Red Sea for only one week, and they were one step ahead of the United States and had a close clash with the armed men.
In the wee hours of the morning, a Liberian-flagged freighter sent two distress signals in quick succession. The British Maritime Trade Organization revealed that the first distress signal showed about 5-6 armed men trying to approach the freighter, and by the time the second distress signal was issued, these armed men had all boarded the ship and took control of the 21 crew members on board.
The Indian army took the lead, the P-8A rushed to the scene as soon as possible, and the destroyer "Chennai" followed, and when there were still dozens of kilometers away from the freighter, the first round of ship-grabbing operations was launched.
At the same time, the assault team also airborne the freighter, raided the armed men, and the two sides engaged in close combat, and in the end, the Israeli army rescued the freighter and its crew.
(Illustration: China built a high-speed railway for Saudi Arabia through the Arabian Desert, and India was blushing when it saw it)
2. Show strength and isolate the Iranian Resistance Front
Why, then, did the Indian Navy, Army and Air Force dare to collectively strike hard when none of the 20 countries dared to easily provoke a conflict in the Red Sea?
We speculate that there is probably a threefold purpose behind this: to show strength, to build a united front with the United States, and to compete with China.
First of all, India's close cooperation among the three armed forces and the successful rescue of the cargo ship and its crew undoubtedly demonstrated its strength in front of other countries and proved that it has the "potential of a great power".
Second, India wants to further enhance its competitive advantages with China and Pakistan through cooperation with the United States, such as the establishment of the "India + Middle East + European Economic Corridor".
Prior to that, China had struck a deal with Saudi Arabia to help build a high-speed railway in the Al-Haramain Desert from Mecca to Medina. With a length of about 450 kilometers, this move not only successfully opened up the international market, but also enhanced the international image and allowed more countries to see China's infrastructure capabilities.
It is for this reason that India also wants to expand its influence in the Middle East.
Finally, the United States is trying to join forces with India to isolate the resistance fronts with Iran as the core, Hamas, Jihad, Allah, the Houthis, Syria, and Iraq through the above-mentioned economic corridors.
Once realized, the United States will be able to improve the efficiency of India-Europe transportation, help India rise rapidly, and attract more "helpers" for Israel.
To put it bluntly, India is another "proxy" that the United States is looking for in the Middle East.
(Illustration: Calcutta-class destroyer, with unique Indian characteristics, installed with a variety of equipment from many countries)
3. Punching the Houthi eyes on Pakistan, the Indian army flipped the table
Of course, in addition to flaunting its might in the Red Sea and doing things that 20 countries did not dare to do, the Indian army also quietly "pointed" its guns at the Chinese and Pakistani navies in an attempt to "flip the table."
Analysts said that in recent years, Pakistan has been equipped with a number of Chinese-made warships, such as the 054AP-class frigate, which is equipped with SR-2410C radar, 32-unit anti-aircraft missile launch system, and can launch Falcon-80N anti-aircraft missiles, CM-302 anti-ship missiles, etc., and the interception range covers far, medium and near targets.
Therefore, the improvement of Pakistan's naval strength has put pressure on the Indian Navy to send troops to the Red Sea to monitor the Chinese and Pakistani warships that carry out escort and anti-piracy missions here.
However, the problem is that even if you observe carefully, in terms of the performance of warships, Indian warships may not be as good as PLA warships. In addition, once the Red Sea really fights, will the Indian warships have the strength to escape the danger?
It is reported that the warships involved in the US escort operation are mainly Calcutta-class destroyers.
In terms of performance, the Calcutta-class is different from the Chinese and American destroyers, our four-sided phased array radar is mainly located on the four sides of the bridge, while the radar of the Indian destroyer is at the top of the mast.
On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with this design, and it can be condescendingly detected and enhanced surveillance capabilities. However, it faces the same trouble as the Indian Air Force fighters, and that is the "Wanguo brand".
(Illustration: Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile successfully hits a freighter)
4. The question is, is it forbidden for the Indian army to beat up?
From the Kolkata-class destroyers, we can clearly see the Israeli phased array radar, the Barak-8 missile and the electronic warfare system, as well as the Russian fire control radar, the French alert radar, the combat command system and the data link.
In short, in real combat, there is still a question mark over whether Indian destroyers have the ability to cooperate in combat.
The most important thing is that this warship is okay to deter Pakistani frigates or the Bangladesh navy, but it will be a "live target" in the face of the Houthis.
After all, the Houthi missiles are the US warships that are trying to avoid the existence of frontal rigidity.
In December 2023, the Houthis used missiles to accurately and heavily damage a 26,000-ton "Mediterranean Palace 3" giant ship, becoming the world's first case of hitting a moving ship with an anti-ship ballistic missile in actual combat.
It is important to know that it is not easy to possess the combat capability of anti-ship ballistic missiles, and it is necessary to master the four major parts of anti-ship ballistic missiles, strategic and tactical reconnaissance systems, long-range communication systems, and integrated combat command systems at the same time.
In other words, the Houthis launched a missile, but what really showed it was its anti-ship prowess.
Taking China's anti-ship combat system as an example, the primary requirement is to "detect and accurately locate the enemy first, and cover all targets in the second island chain", which can continuously track and locate enemy targets through aircraft carriers, unmanned aerial vehicles, early warning aircraft and other equipment, and at the same time connect the combat platforms of different services with the help of powerful long-range communications and integrated command systems.
Perhaps the Houthis are not able to do this at present, but relying on missiles and drones is enough to cause a lot of trouble to the US Red Sea Alliance, not to mention that the Houthis dare to directly attack US warships, which can be described as a "feat".