Posted on 05/15/2013 8:11:34 PM PDT by neverdem
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — The U.S. Navy is putting underwater drones through wartime-style drills as part of international mine-clearing exercises in the Persian Gulf following similar maneuvers by Iran.
The U.S.-led exercises, which began last week, include operations by the unmanned SeaFox devices, which are equipped with sonar and an explosive charge designed to shoot and destroy mines. It is part of the Navy's plans to increasingly deploy automated surveillance and protection systems, including aerial drones.
Navy commanders insist the exercises, comprising more than 41 nations, are not intended solely against possible Iranian threats. But Iran has previously warned it could block critical Gulf oil routes in retaliation for Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program...
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxny.com ...
Thanks for the link.
The Sea Fox costs $45,000 each. They can only be used once. You can’t bring them back aboard once they’re armed to hunt. So, if the object you’ve tentatively identified as a mine turns out to be the engine off a crashed WWII plane, you have to self-destruct it. The Iranians have an estimated 30,000-70,000 mines ready to deploy. There is no way to clear the straits of that many mines.
Mine sweeping (where your towed device looks like a ship) is traditionally done three times and then the area is declared mine-free. But with that many mines you can set the ship counters at 20 or 100 ships and THEN the mine activates.
The only way to keep the straits clear is to bomb the mines before they are deployed. But that would take a president with testicles. In other words, we’d need President Sarah Palin. (Or, her equivalent.)
Thanks neverdem. IOW, in a few days Osama bin Obama will withdraw the Navy, blame sequestration and Republicans, and apologize to the mullahs.
I wonder if the navy scientists have ever thought of a torpedo that in itself can fire multiple smaller torpedoes?
Each mini torp rocket assisted?
Put one on a programmed cruise pattern like in the baffles in silent mode, instant snapshot.
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