CNN: US Navy faces mine warfare gap in Strait of Hormuz

Amid emerging reports that Iran has begun laying naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, attention is shifting to how the United States Navy could respond to a potential threat to one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.

The US Navy has not maintained dedicated minesweepers in the Persian Gulf since September, when the last of four specialised mine-countermeasures ships long stationed in the region was decommissioned at the Navy’s facility in Bahrain. In January, the four former minesweepers were loaded onto a heavy-lift vessel and transported back to the United States for scrapping, CNN reports.

At the time, US Naval Forces Central Command said that minesweeping responsibilities in the Gulf would be assumed by four littoral combat ships (LCS) deployed to the region.

The LCS fleet, which consists of about 30 active vessels, was designed to carry out two primary missions using interchangeable mission packages of hardware and software. One configuration supports surface warfare operations, while the other is intended for mine countermeasures, according to the Navy.

However, the programme has faced persistent criticism. Since the first ships were commissioned in 2008 and 2010, the fleet has been dogged by reliability concerns and questions over its operational relevance. Critics have derisively referred to the vessels as “Little Crappy Ships,” describing the program as one of the most significant failures in US shipbuilding history. Several of the earliest models have already been retired after only a few years in service.

Before the outbreak of war with Iran, CNN tracking data indicated that three LCS vessels were operating in the Persian Gulf region.

Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain and military analyst, expressed skepticism about their potential deployment to counter Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Navy bureaucracy will employ them to make the design seem useful” and “justify their excessive cost,” he told CNN.

Schuster added that deploying the ships to the Strait would be “more of a publicity stunt than anything else.”

By Sabina Mammadli