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| U.S. moving submersibles to Persian Gulf to oppose Iran | |||
| 2012-07-12 | |||
| WASHINGTON — The Navy is rushing dozens of unmanned underwater craft to the Persian Gulf to help detect and destroy mines in a major military buildup aimed at preventing Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the event of a crisis, U.S. officials said. The tiny SeaFox submersibles each carry an underwater television camera, homing sonar and an explosive charge. The Navy bought them in May after an urgent request by Marine Gen. James Mattis, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East. Each submersible is about 4 feet long and weighs less than 100 pounds. The craft are intended to boost U.S. military capabilities as negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program appear to have stalled.
The U.S. already has sent two aircraft carriers and a squadron of F-22 fighters to the Persian Gulf, and is keeping two U.S. army brigades in Kuwait. Though much of the buildup has been publicly acknowledged by the Pentagon, the deployment of the submersibles has not been publicly disclosed, apparently to avoid alerting Iran.
It can be used against floating or drifting mines, which Iran has used in the past. It operates up to 300 meters deep, and moves at speeds of up to six knots. But the $100,000 weapon is on a what amounts to a suicide mission. The “built-in, large caliber shaped charge” it carries destroys the mine but also the vehicle itself.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 Huh? Anti-mine warfare? Did the carrier and surface forces fall asleep on the job? Any vessel can launch mines. The Libyans did it in the Red Sea, using merchant ships. The Iranians have done so in the past, using small auxiliary craft and even dhows. The Iranian mine-laying vessel that was captured and later sunk was caught in the act Last I checked, there isn't a hot war and Operation Praying Mantis is long over. Carrier and surface ships can't be used proactively. And it still doesn't deal with mine countermeasures, unles you want to do the "minesweeper - once" method. Why did a rival division of the Navy get any funds at all? The Marines won't be the ones using them. Mattis is head of CENTCOM (US Central Command). It's a joint-service command; he has the authority to request assets. It shouldn't surprise me that we have robotic minesweepers but it did There have been some around in various forms for decades. The (West) Germans were pioneers at it. These are the newest of the breed. I'm rather leery of launching them from helicopters. There's not a good track record with mixing ocean, fiber optic cables (or any cable for the matter), and helos. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-07-12 14:54 |
| #8 Thanks Steve. Found it. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2012-07-12 12:06 |
| #7 Skidmark, see the story on the USS Ponce posted by tipper. I think that's the reference you're seeking. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-07-12 10:54 |
| #6 I would think that the Russians might step up efforts to arm Iran with more anti-ship missiles. it's certainly plausible, given that Putin finds himself being outmaneuvered (politically) here. There are a lot of Western aircraft carriers positioned in a small body of water (Gulf). Tricky situation. |
| Posted by: Raider 2012-07-12 10:40 |
| #5 there is a chapter in the book "Night Stalkers" that involves the tanker and some of the ops that occured off of it's deck. They sank serveral ships laying mines and shot up some of the Iranian speed boats. |
| Posted by: bman 2012-07-12 10:15 |
| #4 Nah, Obumble doesn't even know about this. Well, unless he was the one who leaked it to the Times. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2012-07-12 10:02 |
| #3 Election time. Time for Obama to "wag the dog". |
| Posted by: Thusoter Bucket5259 2012-07-12 09:01 |
| #2 The SeaFox is small enough to be deployed from helicopters and even small rubber boats... Didn't we have a earlier story about reactivating a retired oiler with a added helicopter deck and a load of zodiacs? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2012-07-12 05:57 |
| #1 Huh? Anti-mine warfare? Did the carrier and surface forces fall asleep on the job? Why did a rival division of the Navy get any funds at all? It's about as unsexy as you can get, compared to cool-looking fighters and sleek cruisers. |
| Posted by: gromky 2012-07-12 04:46 |