At least two people familiar with U.S. intelligence told CNN Tuesday that Iran began laying mines in recent days, but noted that the operation is still in an early phase. They estimated that Iran has so far only laid a few dozen mines and still retains upward of 80 to 90 percent of its mine-layers, allowing for potentially hundreds of more mine placements within the bottleneck waterway, reported CNN.
The president’s tune changed very quickly after reports on Iran’s mine operation began to circulate.
Minutes later, Trump issued another statement, declaring that U.S. forces had “hit and completely destroyed” 10 inactive mine-laying boats in the area.
The U.S. could be caught in a difficult position if Iran chooses to escalate its mine-laying operation. In January, the Navy decommissioned four Avengers class mine countermeasures ships that were stationed in the Persian Gulf, reported The War Zone at the time. Despite plans to scrap the boats, they vessels were transported to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, via a heavy lift vessel. It was not clear why they were not retained and broken down in the region.
The LCSs were constructed for coastal support and combat, but proved neither dependable enough nor strong enough for that mission, lacking adequate firepower. They were also slated for retirement before the war began, Task and Purpose reported in February.
It remains to be seen if the LCSs are capable of countering Iran’s mine operation. The two ship classes are constructed entirely differently: the newer ones feature a metal hull, while the older ships were built with fiberglass-coated wooden hulls to reduce vulnerability. And two of the three LCSs were fitted with operational mine countermeasure packages just last year “after more than a decade of fits, starts, and failed systems,” reported USNI News.
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