Iran's "Minesweeping Strategy" Exposes U.S. Navy's Weaknesses

Reference News Network, April 22 report According to the Spanish newspaper El País website on April 19, top intelligence reconnaissance and artificial intelligence capable of handling thousands of targets on the first day of war, as well as the deployment of three U.S. aircraft carriers, are all in vain. The Pentagon and Israel's military forces collided with Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a weapon that is low-key, inexpensive, yet highly lethal.

Tehran does not even need to formally acknowledge the laying of mines on the seabed; simply marking a "danger zone" in this 167-kilometer-long, 34-kilometer-wide "choke point" is enough to block 20% of the world's oil transport routes for up to seven weeks, leading to a ceasefire negotiation with the United States.

Interestingly, this weapon is by no means a secret, as Iran has threatened to block this waterway for decades and has put it into practice during the so-called "Tanker War" (during the Iran-Iraq War).

Why did the White House ignore these past lessons? Stéphane Oland, a research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations, stated: "I believe they did not underestimate any risks. The Pentagon certainly submitted a detailed report to the White House covering various possible scenarios and risks."

Oland firmly believes that Trump and Defense Secretary Esper "accepted Netanyahu's rhetoric," thinking that after the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian regime would collapse. "Under this premise, the risk of a mine blockade was deemed limited," he added.

Regarding the power of these explosives, Oland explained that the key lies in their price and the potential for massive destruction, "Merchant ships are almost impossible to detect them; they cost only tens of thousands of euros but can cause millions of euros in losses to ships, even sinking them."

However, the power of mines sometimes does not only stem from their own performance but also from the long-standing neglect of them by major powers.

Mine clearance has never been a priority for the Pentagon. Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "The U.S. has been accustomed to delegating this task to other allies in the past. Nowadays, most of these allies are unwilling to help, and the U.S. Navy can only rely on its own capabilities, which are clearly far from sufficient."

For decades, Washington has allocated less than 1% of its naval budget to mine warfare. However, since 1945, mines have caused nearly 80% of U.S. warship sinkings or incapacitations; since 1950, mines have accounted for over 75% of U.S. Navy personnel casualties.

The temporary ceasefire has briefly restored oil transport, but the lessons learned from the blockade over the past two months will be deeply etched in both sides' minds. Tehran has proven that it can play the "mine card," hidden beneath the sea and nearly invisible, at any time.

According to a report from the U.S. Wall Street Journal website on April 19, the U.S. military is using unmanned maritime equipment to help clear mines that may have been laid in the Strait of Hormuz, quietly working to alleviate Iran's control over this waterway.

The risk of being attacked is the main deterrent for ships passing through. U.S. officials have made conflicting statements about the number of mines and the risks they pose. However, military analysts say that clearing these mines is a necessary condition for ships to be able to pass through this strategic waterway again.

As traditional mine sweepers are retired, unmanned maritime equipment, including unmanned surface vessels and submersibles, is increasingly becoming an important part of the U.S. Navy's mine clearance capabilities.

The "Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle" manufactured by Raytheon Technologies is an unmanned system that tows a new sonar system called AQS-20, which can scan the seabed for mines, with a search width of 100 feet (about 30 meters).

Battery-powered unmanned systems such as the "Kingfish" and "Longfin" manufactured by General Dynamics can be deployed from small boats into the water and then scan for mines in a specific pattern.

Military analysts say that the military can relatively quickly scan for mines within the strait. After locating the mines, a second wave of maritime robots can be dispatched to destroy them using explosives or remote detonation. (Translated by Han Chao and Yang Xinpeng)