Clearing the Strait: U.S. Navy tech beats Iranian mines in clearing a route through the Strait of Hormuz.

American Thinker ^ | 08/21/26 | J.R. Dunn

[SeekAndFind]

The U.S. Navy’s effort to establish a new route through the Strait of Hormuz and to shuttle tankers through it under cover of darkness appears to be a success so far. A lot of preparation went into this, involving both the destruction of Iranian surveillance and naval assets as well as clearing mines the Iranians had already emplaced in the straits.

The U.S. naval presence likely prevented the Iranians from mass mine-laying using dedicated ships. Instead, they turned to small boats that could carry a single mine and would simply drop it at random. As a result, Iran has no clear idea of where the mines have been dropped, a violation of long-accepted naval practice.

At the same time, that also means that very few mines -- some analysts suggested as few as a couple dozen, had been deployed. But it only takes one blasting a ship to wreck any plans to open the strait.

It appears that the Navy has succeeded in clearing the southern route along the coast of Oman. That would mark the first time that mines have been cleared with the use of Unmanned Underwater Autonomous Vehicles – that is, submarine drones.

The Navy has planned to use drones in the mission for some time, and in fact, recently mothballed its last minesweepers in anticipation of the new systems. (Though at least two minesweepers returned to the Gulf to take part in operations.) The drones were supposed to be operated from Littoral Combat Ships, but the two sent to Gulf early this year were soon transferred elsewhere, cementing the LCS’s reputation for perfect uselessness.

The major advantage of drones is that they can be used freely in mined waters without fear of losing personnel. Navy minesweepers were specially designed …

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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Iran; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: hormuz; mine; navy; oil

[SeekAndFind]

Navy drones operate as coordinated teams, one drone mapping the area using various sensors to detect possible mines while others destroy the mines that are detected.

The model generally used in the mapping role is the General Dynamics Mk. 18 Mod 2 Knifefish, a 22-ft., one-ton fully submersible drone. The Knifefish can carry out 16-hour missions with full autonomy. It maps a suspicious area and is capable of detecting all types of mines, including those that are hidden.

The Knifefish took a decade to develop and was nearly canceled. At one point, Congress actually cut funding for the program.

[Sequoyah101]

Surely we have some things so advanced nobody needs to know about them lest they are prompted to build something they never even thought or dreamed of.