U.S. Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of naval operations, has told reporters in Washington that the Navy is adding four more mine-sweeping ships and four more CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters with mine-detection capability in the Persian Gulf to counter threats from Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz and stop the flow of oil [LA Times, 18 March].
Adm. Greenert has also said he plans to assign more patrol craft to the Gulf, possibly armed with Mark 38 Gatling guns. The same kind of guns that could be placed on ships, including carriers, to provide protection for aircraft carriers and other large ships. The guns are regarded as effective defense against any Iranian attempt to “swarm” large U.S. ships with their smaller speedboats. The Iranians are also thought to have been laying mines along the country’s coastlines.
The U.S. needs sufficient capability "to set the theater" in the gulf, Adm. Greenert added.
Slowly but surely it's all falling into place.
ReplyDelete"Iranians are also thought to have been laying mines along the country’s coastlines."
ReplyDeleteIf the Iranians have laid sea mines along their coast and have not declared it, that is a violation of Article 4, Section VII of the Second Hague Convention.
Not sure if this is contingency or war is moving closer. The US military is clearly concerned about Iranian "swarm attacks" though.
ReplyDelete@ TLAM Strike
ReplyDeleteSo? The Israelis also violated the Hague Convention by placing undeclared land mines along the Lebanese border yet the UN didn't do a damn thing about it.
It is no more than common U.S.'s psychological warfare campaigns against the mighty Islamic Republic of Iran, the regional superpower and the most powerful nation, militarily, in the whole region of the Middle East as clearly stated:
ReplyDeleteThu Mar 15, 2012 11:20AM GMT
A British Conservative MP has admitted saber rattling and sanctions are “having no effect whatsoever” on Iran saying everyone should quit “yesterday’s policies and recognize “Iran’s status as a regional superpower.”
“The policy of saber rattling and sanctions has not worked. They are yesterday’s policies. Iran is not going to be deterred from pursuing its nuclear program,” said John Baron in an interview with Russia Today news channel.
“I think we have to be realistic. The present policies have failed. The present policies are heightening tensions. What we want is now to pull back from any chances of military conflict and take a fresh look at the situation and adopt a fresh approach which I think should include an implicit recognition of Iran’s status as a regional superpower,” he added.
“I think we all know that a military strike by Israel or anybody else would be a disaster for the region. It would ignite Iranian fury. It would not work,” he said.
Why the hell would iran put mines around its own shores???????
ReplyDelete'ISRAEL TOO SMALL TO LAST EVEN ONE WEEK OF REAL WAR: SALEHI
ReplyDeleteFri Mar 16, 2012 3:47PM GMT
Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says despite Tel Aviv’s escalating war rhetoric against Iran, the Israeli regime is too small to survive even one week of real war.
“First of all we take every little threat serious even if it comes from the weakest country in the world,” he said in an interview with Danish television channel TV2.
Salehi added that Iran does not consider Israeli claims or threats as real threats.
“What is Israel? It is such a small entity that it cannot withstand one week of real war; not one week,” he emphasized.
“If Israel ever makes that mistake [attacking Iran's nuclear sites], that will set the time for the end of Israel. They know it very well…. We don’t consider Israel a country. Israel is an entity, the extension of the US influence in the Middle East…. So, the real threat is the US,” he said.
Iranian officials have vowed a crushing response to any act of aggression against the country.
"Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says despite Tel Aviv’s escalating war rhetoric against Iran, the Israeli regime is too small to survive even one week of real war."
ReplyDeleteIsrael doesn't need to last a week they are the country that defeated the entire Arab world in Six Days back in 1967!
"So? The Israelis also violated the Hague Convention by placing undeclared land mines along the Lebanese border yet the UN didn't do a damn thing about it."
The Hague Conventions do not govern the use of land mines.
The Ottawa Treaty governs LAND mines. Israel never signed it (nether did South Korea, the US, Russia, China, Iran or most of the Arab states.) Israel did sign and does abide by Protocol II the CCWC.
'NASTY SURPRISES AWAIT WARMONGERS IN PERSIAN GULF'
ReplyDeleteWed Feb 29, 2012 2:0PM GMT
The most important thing I've read these last few days is the excellent article 'Armageddon Approaches' written by Dr Lasha Darkmoon , a cautionary piece which points the reader towards some very scary background information.
For example, according to Russ Winter of The Wall Street Examiner , Iran’s Sunburn missiles, acquired from Russia and China over the last 10 years, have the capability of creating "a world of hurt" for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
"The Sunburn is perhaps the most lethal anti-ship missile in the world, designed to fly as low as 9 feet above ground/water at more than 1,500 miles per hour (mach 2+). The missile uses a violent pop-up maneuver for its terminal approach to throw off Phalanx and other US anti-missile defense systems. Given their low cost, they’re perfectly suited for close quarter naval conflict in the bathtub-like Persian Gulf.”
With its 90-mile range, the Sunburn can be fired from practically any platform, including a flat bed truck, and could hit a ship in the Strait in less than a minute.
Adding this warning, Mark Gaffney says , "The US Navy has never faced anything in combat as formidable as the Sunburn missile.”
He mentions the even more-advanced SS-NX-26 Yakhonts missiles, also Russian-made (speed: Mach 2.9; range: 180 miles) deployed by the Iranians along the Persian Gulf's northern shore.
“Every US ship will be exposed and vulnerable. When the Iranians spring the trap, the entire lake will become a killing field,”
“In the Gulf's shallow and confined waters evasive manoeuvres will be difficult, at best, and escape impossible. Even if US planes control of the skies over the battlefield, the sailors caught in the net below will be hard-pressed to survive. The Gulf will run red with American blood."
As both writers point out, the Iranians will have mapped every firing angle along their Gulf coastline. And the rugged terrain will not make detection easy.
“Shooting fish in a barrel”, but who are the fish this time?
Anon 7:57 AM
ReplyDeleteSo that the mullahs can keep the people as hostages to barter with.
TLAM Strike said...
ReplyDeleteIsrael doesn't need to last a week they are the country that defeated the entire Arab world in Six Days back in 1967!
They defeated them because of sheer incompetence of the military leadership of the Arab world (i.e. cronyism was rife among their military ranks) and I say this based on lengthy discussion with Israeli soldiers and historians on a forum many years ago. They even candidly admitted that if not for incompetency in the Arabian military leadership, the 1967 War would be a different outcome and most likely favor the Arabs.
Don't worry, all those US deployments in the Persian Gulf only serve to calm down zionist nerves.
ReplyDeleteMilitarily they don't have any meaning, as even an aircraft carrier can easily be sunk by supersonic Shkval torpedoes.
Those US vessels are sitting in the gulf like lame ducks waiting for the fox to catch them, entirely dependent on their electronic detection systems, which are far too slow for a supersonic device approaching them sub surface.
LOL @ Dr Lasha Darkmoon article. Has this guy every seen a Sunburn missile.
ReplyDeleteLaunched from a flat bed truck? HAHAHA.The truck would need a five ton capacity and a bed of over 30 feet. The weapon is huge!
Flies at 9 feet? HA! its cruise altitude is over 60 feet, and that is at a reduced maximum range. For target acquisition it files at a much higher altitude or must rely on another platform providing the target.
The US HAS N-22s. Bought them from Russia after the wall fell and experimented on them. These missiles are exactly what the Aegis system was designed to counter.
But most importantly: Iran does not have this missile!
They do not have the N-26 Yakhont either.
Battle of Sallamis hei ?? !!
ReplyDeleteDariush London