Nearly a dozen Iranian Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) vessels harassed
a formation of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships
in international waters in the northern Persian
Gulf, the Navy announced.
The U.S Navy statement read 11 Iranian vessels
“repeatedly conducted dangerous and harassing
approaches of the USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3),
USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60), USS Firebolt (PC-10),
USS Sirocco (PC-6), USCGC Wrangell (WPB-1332)
and USCGC Maui (WPB-1304) while the U.S. vessels
were conducting joint integration operations
with U.S. Army AH-64E Apache attack helicopters
in the international waters of the North Arabian
Gulf.
The IRGCN vessels repeatedly crossed the bows
and sterns of the U.S. vessels at extremely
close range and high speeds, including multiple
crossings of the Puller with a 50 yard closest
point of approach (CPA) and within 10 yards
of Maui‘s bow.”
This incident follows the interception of
a Hong Kong-flagged tanker just one day before.
The International Maritime Security Construct
or IMSC monitored this incident where Iranian
forces boarded the tanker operating in international
waters in the Gulf of Oman.
In this video Defense Updates why harassing
U.S Navy ship formation is not a good idea
for Iran?
Let’s get started.
This video is sponsored by War Thunder.
If you are, like us, fascinated by military
vehicles and technology, I recommend you give
War Thunder a try.
It's a military vehicle combat game which
you can download and play for free on PC,
PlayStation4 and Xbox One - with cross-platform
support.
It has a huge variety of more than 1200 playable
aircraft, tanks, helicopters and ships from
the 1930s to the 1990s, which you can take
to battle on land, in the air and at sea on
more than 80 theaters of war.
War Thunder has been kind enough to offer
all Defense Updates viewers a special bonus,
which will grant you a free premium tank or
aircraft or ship and three days of premium
account time for registering using our link
in the description below.
So, take the plunge and join the more than
20 million players from all over the world!
Tensions in the region escalated after the
U.S government under President Trump unilaterally
withdrew from Iran nuclear deal and imposed
stringent sanctions against Iran.
The deal offered Iran relief from sanctions
in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.
Trump administration is of the view that Iran
is misusing the deal.
Recent months have seen multiple spikes in
hostilities which include the U.S accusing
Iran for a series of attacks on commercial
ships and Iran downing of American RQ-4A Global
Hawk drone.
In July last year, USS boxer had a face-off
with an Iranian drone which was knocked down.
Iranians also seized a British tanker in the
strait in July and two oil tankers were attacked
in the nearby Gulf of Oman in June.
Images from the incident show three Iranian
vessels in close proximity to Puller at once,
one vessel crossing directly in front of Paul
Hamilton, four vessels coming up fast behind
Paul Hamilton, and more.
As has been the case in other similar incidents,
the IRGCN sends a large number of fast, nimble
boats to speed in and out of the paths of
much larger U.S. warships, causing an unsafe
situation for the larger ships that take longer
to stop or change direction.
The U.S Navy stated that the Navy and Coast
Guard crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge
radio, five short blasts from the ships’
horns and long-range acoustic noise-maker
devices, but they received no response from
the IRGCN for an hour.
When the vessels finally responded to the
radio calls and increased the distance between
the Iranian and U.S. ships.
US Navy added, “The IRGCN’s dangerous
and provocative actions increased the risk
of miscalculation and collision, were not
in accordance with the internationally recognized
Convention on the International Regulations
for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)
‘rules of the road’ or internationally
recognized maritime customs, and were not
in accordance with the obligation under international
law to act with due regard for the safety
of other vessels in the area,”
There are several passages in the world oceans
that are narrow, the Strait of Hormuz is one
of them.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the
Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
It provides the only sea passage from the
Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
It is one of the world's most strategically
important shipping lanes.
Around 33% of the world’s liquefied natural
gas and almost 20% of total global oil production
passes through the strait making it one of
the most important sea routes.
Because of its narrow width, it is kind of
a choke point.
Iran has strategized and implemented an asymmetric
warfare plan to control the Strait of Hormuz
and waters around it.
It has invested in these kinds of small vessels
and has developed strategies to deploy them
effectively in the strait.
It is recognized that Iran has a decent flotilla
of these vessels that can carry out operations
in the strait on short notice.
These boats carry short-range rockets, anti-ship
missiles, and torpedoes.
USS Lewis B. Puller expeditionary mobile base
vessel has 12 x .50 caliber machine gun stations.
USS Paul Hamilton Arleigh Burke Class destroyer
has multiple options to take out Iranian threat-
Mk. 45 gun, Phalanx Close In Weapon System
and M242 Bushmaster cannon
The Mk. 45 gun system has a range of 13 miles
or about 21 and is fed by a 600 round armored
magazine deep within the ship.
The Mk. 45 is primarily meant for shore targets
and other ships.
But new ammunition with proximity fuses is
being developed to counter swarms of small
armed boats, exploding in the air and peppering
small-sized ships with lethal shrapnel.
Some reports suggest few of the early variants
of the ammunition are already deployed in
ships that are in the Middle East keeping
in view Iran’s tactics.
The Phalanx CIWS is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled,
radar-guided gun that can defeat anti-ship
missiles and other close-in threats on land
and at sea.
It is a last ditch defensive weapon and is
effective against small boat swarms
It has a range of 2.2 mi or 3.5 km and has
a rate of fire of 4,500 rounds/minute.
It also has two M242 Bushmaster 25-millimeter
rapid-fire cannons, the same that arm the
U.S. Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle, for
the small boat threat.
USS Firebolt & USS Sirocco Cyclone-class coastal
patrol boats are optimized for close range
combat and has two Mk38 chain guns, two Mk19
grenade launchers, two .50 in machine guns
The guns are suitable for enemy suppression
because of their ability to fire at a rapid
pace.
USCGC Wrangell & USCGC Maui island-class patrol
boats are armed with Mk 38 25 mm chain gun
and two M2 .50-cal machine guns for the short-range
offensive.
US Navy in the ships in the formation has
the ability to shred the Iranian boat to pieces
within no time.
US Navy can also call for immediate backup
from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower & USS Harry
S. Truman Supercarriers
The U.S. Navy had been operating two aircraft
carriers in the U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. Central
Command area of operations for several months,
with CENTCOM Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie
telling lawmakers last month that it was an
effective deterrence against Iran.
Iran is boxed in, sanctions have taken a toll
on it.
More than 150 foreign corporations have stopped
doing business with Iran and many countries
like India and Japan have reduced oil imports
and may eventually stop buying completely.
The financial squeeze has resulted in a severe
crunch and the economy shrank by as much as
3.9 % in 2017-18, 5.4% 2018-19 and 7.6% 2019-20.
President Hassan Rohani had stated sometime
back that U.S. sanctions have cost the country
$200 Billion and losses are still mounting.
Now the price of crude oil which is its main
source for getting foreign revenue has plummeted.
At this point, any conflict with the U.S will
be unsustainable.
U.S military is showing restraint but there
are already lines drawn as per tactical warfare
escalation matrix, which if crossed by Iran
- will see quick and devastating American
response.
