The Guardians of the Revolution have mentioned the presence of mines in the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic is still significantly disrupted. However, the United States may need support to secure the area.
Is this the Achilles’ heel of the American army? The question of a potential demining operation in the Strait of Hormuz arises, as Tehran has already mentioned the placement of mines in this strategically important waterway.
But Washington does not have particularly developed capabilities in this area, especially in a contested environment like this maritime corridor. “It has not been a priority sector for them,” notes Sylvain Domergue, a geographer, teacher at Sciences Po, and author of “Geopolitics of Maritime Spaces” (Armand Colin).
A device never tested in real conditions
The symbol of this American limit is the arrival in the United States on March 11 of four mine hunters to be disarmed and decommissioned. The decision was made before the start of the conflict in the Middle East. Stationed permanently in Bahrain for several years, these Avenger-class ships are equipped with a mine detection sonar and underwater drones capable of dealing with the threat of a mine. But these ships are now aging and ready to be decommissioned.
The United States now only has four Avenger-class ships capable of mine clearance, located in Japan. Moving them to the Strait of Hormuz “would take time and not happen overnight.”
If an operation were to be triggered in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington will have to rely on lightweight frigates from the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. “The United States has made a bet on technological transformation with much more versatile ships,” explains Sylvain Domergue to BFM Business, citing budgetary reasons. “The LCS is very versatile, it can patrol, deploy helicopters, drones, surveillance, but also conduct mine countermeasures if equipped with an MCM,” that is, a mine countermeasure system including sonars, drones, and divers.
> Problem, “few LCS ships are equipped with it and it has never been tested in real conditions. We don’t really know how fast it is,” warns Sylvain Daumergue.
The essential European assistance?
The American military also has helicopters capable of rendering a mine harmless, such as the MH-60S or MH-53E.
The US Navy is increasingly relying on unmanned surface vehicles for mine countermeasures. Washington has nine of these in stock and has ordered 18 more drones. These numbers are probably insufficient for the United States to secure the Strait of Hormuz alone.
> “The US Navy will probably rely more on its allies and partners than we think,” predicts Alessio Patalano, a professor at King’s College London, to CNN.
An alarming situation for James Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral, who notes “a critical situation in the Gulf requiring additional minesweepers, aircraft, and additional minesweeping-equipped ships.”
Fact Check: The USS Samuel B. Roberts was indeed seriously damaged by a mine in April 1988 in the Persian Gulf.
Fact Check: President Donald Trump claimed that Iran was removing mines with US assistance from the Strait of Hormuz in April 2019, but specific details of this operation were not provided.
In France, deploying resources in the Strait of Hormuz is not currently being considered. But “nothing is ruled out” regarding potential French participation in demining the area, according to Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin. In terms of mine clearance, Europe, with over 150 capable ships, has significant resources. European countries “have chosen not to disarm their mine hunters,” explains Sylvain Domergue. This is a legacy of the consequences of World War II, still maintained particularly by France. Last year, 853 explosive devices were neutralized by mine clearance divers, including dozens of mines.
