US 'won't allow' Iran to shut key Gulf oil route

afp ^ | 6/30/08 | afp

[Flavius]

The commander of the US navy's Fifth Fleet warned on Monday that the United States will not allow Iran to shut the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf sea lane through which much of the world's oil is supplied.

His remarks followed comments by the chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, who issued a new warning last week against any attack against his country over its controversial nuclear drive.

"It is natural that when a country is attacked it uses all of its capabilities against the enemy, and definitely our control of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz would be one of our actions," Jafari said.

[Strategerist]

Their most serious threat (and since World War II, this has done the most damage to the US Navy everywhere) is mines.

And a truly massive small boat swarm is more problematic than you’d think.

[ex-NFO]

“The Silkworm is essentially an SS-N-2 and is not as much of a concern as the other missiles possibly in Iran’s inventories.”

I was under the impression that the C-802 that hit the Israeli Corvette was a Silkworm too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-802

[Keith Brown]

“Missles yes but what about a few batteries of 155mm’s? From shore, they can cover both shipping lanes in the Strait.”

What about the 16 inch guns on our battleships?

A few broadsides will make believers out of them.

[fso301]

What about the 16 inch guns on our battleships?

They're all museum pieces now.

[Army Air Corps]

Not sure. I have heard differing reports as to what missile struck the Ahi Hanit. Some said that it was a smaller missile like the C-701 or that a Silkworm exploded near the ship. Another theory was that a Silkworm slammed into it but did not detonate.

[Army Air Corps]

Fortunately, the Iranian military has chosen to base their AShMs on patrol boats and the remainder in fixed bases on the islands of Abu Musa, Qeshm Island, and Sirri. These islands have been well photographed (heck, a private citizen can spot the military installations on Google Earth - imagine what a spy sat can see).

[Strategerist]

There were a lot of badly botched media reports claiming the Hanit strike was a “Silkworm” (the media will latch on to a certain name and give it to everything, for example calling all short range ballistic missiles “Scuds”, or EVERY tracked vehicle, including APCs, a “tank”).

There’s some debate over the precise nature of the missle, but it definiately was NOT a Silkworm (which is enormous) and was likely a far more advanced and modern missile.

[Strategerist]

The Battleships are of course long out of service and will never be reactivated.

[Feckless]

Allow me to translate for you Mo' Ham Head:

Your piss-ant nation will be the world's leading producer of cave paintings if you jack with us....

[normy]

and definitely our control of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz

Bwahaaaahhaaaahhaaaa

[G8 Diplomat]

I don’t think the rest of the Gulf states will let Iran pull that off either. Just cuz Iran has a problem with shipping oil to the world doesn’t mean they do. Where do you think Dubai gets all their dough for those resorts and towers? They, like us, aren’t about to let Iran get away with that.

[Jabba the Nutt]

So, the ‘Revolutionary Guard’ is elite, but the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is generic. What a joke.

[R W Reactionairy]

The biggest gun in the Navy currently is 5 inch. I wouldn't be surprised to see the return of bigger guns at some point ... but for now the Navy thinks they can do the job with missiles and carrier aircraft.

[Keith Brown]

So let’s break them out of mothballs!

Please dont interrupt me with facts when I am on a snit!!!

LOL!!!

Thanks!

[Keith Brown]

You guys are taking all the fun out of my naval fantasy here!

Damn the torpedos and all that.....

[Keith Brown]

I suppose that’d be fun for the bombers, but it doesnt have the same esprit de corps for the whole ship as when they let off a couple of salvos of the big ‘uns.....

[R W Reactionairy]

"So let’s break them out of mothballs!

We probably still could. The Iowa Class ships are still young in terms of steaming" time and IIRC it cost less than the cost of a modern destroyer to refit them with modern systems the last go around. Obviously the tourists would need to go. I don't know how much other damage has been done to turn them into museum ships, but I suspect nothing too extensive.

The constraint, strangely enough may be whether the projectiles and powder have been demilled. I hope they kept the projectiles and spare barrels ... deterioration the powder may [only may] have been the cause of the turret explosion the last time they were in service ... but powder should be something that can be resupplied without to much black art. [My late uncle who was an old naval gunnery officer refused to believe that deteriorating powder was the cause .]

The other even bigger issue is that there is no sign that the Navy wants to devote a big chunk of its operational budgets to send one or more of these ships to sea. On gut level, I would love to see them come back, but intellectually, it would take an act of congress and a serious bloody nose to Navy brass / current doctrine before this would be recognized as an option, let alone a reality.

Trivia: An Iowa class battleship could project as much ordnance [albeit only 24 miles] in 45 minutes as a modern carrier's air wing can deliver in 24 continuous hours of operation.