U.S. moving submersibles to Persian Gulf to oppose Iran [anti-mine drones, not manned subs]

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. Three rounds of talks since April between Iran and the five countries in the United Nations Security Council plus Germany have made little progress.

Some U.S. officials are wary that Iran may respond to tightening sanctions on its banking and energy sectors, including a European Union oil embargo, by launching or sponsoring attacks on oil tankers or platforms in the Persian Gulf. Some officials in Tehran have threatened to close the narrow waterway, a choke point for a fifth of the oil traded worldwide.

I have a different take. The Iranian Navy is something I have looked into frequently because my boy serves on one of our carriers.

First, the basics. Iran has a greenwater navy. This means they are not going to go into deep blue water and stand toe to toe with our boys. The only chance ther navy has is to fight like the terrorists do on land ... hit and run tactics.

OK, but kinda hard to sneak up on a battlegroup ... and if you are spotted ... we got jets, we got missles, we got mini-guns ... not a happy day at the office. So, Iran has been investing in a lot of very light craft ... basically speedboats, as well as very small subs.

Seeing this, our brass figured out their strategy. In short, they are gonna go kamikazi on us. To overcome the planes, missles and guns, they need an overwhelming force of suicide vehicles. Estimates I have heard was that 1000 speedboats would have a high probability of taking out at least a couple ships in a battlegroup. Now, add to that some kamikazi subs. Even if we got ALL the speedboats, it would be almost impossible to do an effective hunt for subs.

So enter these mini-subs on our side. These little guys may have a primary purpose of blowing mines, but here is the deal ... in the type of attack I described, they become wire-guided sub-killers. Put a picket line of rescue craft out in front of the fleet, and have each of them launch and hunt with a couple of subs, and you just built an underwater perimeter around the navy.

It’s called the swarm tactic. Renders a DDG, FFG, or CG pratically defenseless... even with a CAP. Get the swarm in quick enough and the major caliber guns are useless which levels the field to a minor caliber slugfest. Get alongside, throw over caving ladders and we’re pretty much hand to hand from there. Scary stuff.

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