US Fears Iran’s New Naval Capabilities
The Washington Post famous US daily reported Friday that " Iran is rapidly gaining new capabilities to strike at US warships in the Persian Gulf, amassing an arsenal of sophisticated anti-ship missiles while expanding its fleet of fast-attack boats and submarines."
US officials feared that "the new systems...are giving Iran's commanders new confidence that they could quickly damage or destroy US ships if hostilities erupt."
"Although US Navy officials are convinced that they would prevail in a fight, Iran's advances have fueled concerns about US vulnerabilities during the opening hours of a conflict in the gulf," the report claimed.
In this context, current and former military analysts cautioned that the "increasingly accurate short-range missiles - combined with Iran's use of swarm tactics involving hundreds of heavily armed patrol boats - could strain the war capabilities of even the most modern US ships."
Last week, Iran's Foreign Ministry declared that the presence of US warships in the gulf constituted a "real threat to the region's security."
Analysts also cautioned an Iranian attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow passage through which about 20 percent of the world's oil passes from the Persian Gulf into open seas - in retaliation for international economic sanctions.
In either scenario, Iran's ability to inflict significant damage is substantially greater than it was a decade ago. A Pentagon study in April warned that Iran had made gains in the "lethality and effectiveness" of its arsenal. The Pentagon declined to comment for this article.
Iran's increased power to retaliate has led some military experts to question the wisdom of deploying aircraft carriers and other expensive warships to the gulf if a conflict appears imminent.
A 2009 study prepared for the Naval War College warns of Iran's increasing ability to "execute a massive naval ambush" in the Strait of Hormuz.
"If the US chooses to station warships in the Strait of Hormuz during the buildup to conflict, it cedes the decision of when to fight and allows the fight to begin in the most advantageous place for Iran," wrote the study's author, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Colin Boynton. "This could lead to a devastating first salvo on US Navy warships, which would most likely be operating under restrictive rules of engagement."
Since 2009, analysts clarified that "Iran has added defensive and offensive capabilities. Some of them have been on display in recent months in a succession of military drills, including a missile exercise in early July dubbed Great Prophet 7. The exercise included a demonstration of Iran's newly deployed Khalid Farzh anti-ship missile, which has an internal guidance system, a powerful 1,400-pound warhead and a range of 180 miles."
"Iran has sought to neutralize the US technological advantage by honing an ability to strike from multiple directions at once," they mention and point out that "the emerging strategy relies not only on mobile missile launchers but also on new mini-submarines, helicopters and hundreds of heavily armed small boats known as fast-attack craft."
A Middle Eastern intelligence official who helps coordinate strategy for the gulf with US counterparts warned that "some Navy ships could find themselves in a 360-degree threat environment," simultaneously in the cross hairs of adversaries on land, in the air, at sea and even underwater."
Source: Washington Post, Edited by moqawama.org
