https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/375095

The US military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels, American officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.

While officials offered few details of the plan, it comes as thousands of Marines and sailors on both the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship, are on their way to the Persian Gulf. Those Marines and sailors could provide the backbone for any armed guard mission in the strait, through which 20% of the world’s crude oil passes, noted AP.

Five US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal, acknowledged its broad details. The officials stressed no final decision had been made and that discussions continue between US military officials and America’s Gulf Arab allies in the region.

Officials said the Marines and Navy sailors would provide the security only at the request of the ships involved.

At the Pentagon, Brig. Gen Pat Ryder was asked about the plans and would only say that he has no announcements to make on the matter. More broadly, however, he noted that additional ships, aircraft and Marines have been deployed to the Gulf region, making it easier to respond more quickly to any Iranian provocations.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, speaking to reporters, underscored the importance of the strait and US concerns about Iranian harassment of vessels there.

“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital seaway that has a huge impact on seaborne trade around the world,” Kirby said. “It’s a critical choke point in the maritime world. And we have seen threats by Iran to affect that choke point.”

The US recently announced it would be beefing up its use of fighter jets around the strategic Strait of Hormuz to protect ships from Iranian seizures.

Later, the Pentagon said that the United States will send additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with a warship to the Middle East.

The US decided to beef up its presence in the region comes after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait last week, opening fire on one of them.

Officials have said that, in the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged commercial vessels.

In late April, Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet as it traveled in the Gulf of Oman. Six days later, it seized a second ship, the Niovi, a Panama-flagged tanker as it left a dry dock in Dubai.

The US deployment has captured Iran’s attention. On Wednesday, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a surprise military drill on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, with swarms of small fast boats, paratroopers and missile units taking part.

The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies, has often been a site of tense encounters between Americans and Iranian forces.

My concern is “Rules of Engagement”.

If the Marines are allowed to engage with lethal force, then I agree.

However, if the “Pussy-in-Chief” limits their ability to respond…no way in Hell!

Putting our fighters in harms way and limiting their ability to respond will only get them killed! Not acceptable!

Yea, wonder how much of the billions of hardware we left in the last war zone has made its way to Iren. Sooner or later it will kill American soldiers.

How are men, soldiers or civilians, with small arms supposed to deter a foreign military? There's no chance of their overpowering a serious military effort to take over the ship, but there's a good chance of it turning into a hostage crisis, in which the US would certainly cave and lose face. Seems to me, if we really wanted to prevent Iran from misbehaving in that neighborhood, we'd sink a few of their boats to let them know we're serious. But then, well, we're not serious.

I did a few deployments to the gulf back in the days of Ernest Will missions and the barge Hercules. Makes more sense to go back to that type of response then just putting personal on board ships.

And high tech fast moving fighter planes are the wrong tools for this job.

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And high tech fast moving fighter planes are the wrong tools for this job.

You beat me to it.

Would enjoy seeing the faces of the revolutionary guards upon boarding a vessel and the initial contact with fleet marines?

As I recall, 40 years ago, the US Navy had “Deluge wash down systems” on the ships. They were intended to wash the ship of anything chemical that might be deployed against it. They put a rather intense cloud of water over the entire ship.
There are already firefighting systems onboard seagoing vessels. Virtually all of them have pumps and use sea water as part of the system.
Why not install such a system with high pressure nozzles around the entire perimeter of the ship? Put it on the weather deck, just below the life lines. Point all nozzles downward.
Granted, it doesn’t stop bullets, but it would wash more than a few pirates into the ocean and might even sink a few small boats.

How about deploying a few A-10 Warthogs that TPTB are trying so hard to get rid of here at home? A half-second burst should send most Iranian attack boats to the bottom.

Is Iran in a declared state of war with either of those nations, or Dubai?

If not, regardless of whether or not the ships fly the Iranian flag, wouldn’t they be engaged in piracy?

What is the best for a swarm of piratical dinghies? Those converted crop duster planes? AC-130?

Obviously dollars per dead pirate is a significant concern.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
As I recall, 40 years ago, the US Navy had “Deluge wash down systems” on the ships. They were intended to wash the ship of anything chemical that might be deployed against it. They put a rather intense cloud of water over the entire ship.
There are already firefighting systems onboard seagoing vessels. Virtually all of them have pumps and use sea water as part of the system.
Why not install such a system with high pressure nozzles around the entire perimeter of the ship? Put it on the weather deck, just below the life lines. Point all nozzles downward.
Granted, it doesn’t stop bullets, but it would wash more than a few pirates into the ocean and might even sink a few small boats.

All of this is wonderful.

Are you aware that these aren’t pirates in the Strait of Hormuz, but armed military in dedicated small craft?

This isn’t Somalia in 2011, and your solution likely wouldn’t work there either.

quote:

Originally posted by tsmccull:
How about deploying a few A-10 Warthogs that TPTB are trying so hard to get rid of here at home? A half-second burst should send most Iranian attack boats to the bottom.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
What is the best for a swarm of piratical dinghies? Those converted crop duster planes? AC-130?

Obviously dollars per dead pirate is a significant concern.

Since it’s against actual military craft, I would say a jet so it gets to the conflict before it’s over, and be slightly effective against anti-air.

We could just blow up Bandar Abbas. Sink everything with an Iranian flag painted on it. Shoot down everything with an Iranian flag on it.

Problem solved.

I’m sick of tit-for-tat bullshit. It’s a waste of time, lives and treasure. You don’t stop a bully with a bitch slap. You stop a bully by beating the ever loving shit out of him.

It’s well past time we beat the ever loving shit out of Iran. Our hostages, the Marine barracks in Beirut, all our service men and women killed or maimed in Iraq and A-stan with Iranian support.

We’ve been at war with Iran for forty years. Maybe we should act like it. It might make other bad actors take notice and rethink whatever stupidity they are planning…Cough…China…cough

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
What is the best for a swarm of piratical dinghies? Those converted crop duster planes? AC-130?

Obviously dollars per dead pirate is a significant concern.

As a FFG we carried 3 army AH-6 little bird variants called Seabats in one helo hanger, one was set up as an observer capable of establishing a real-time video link with the ship and 2 that were outfitted with chain fed mini guns on one side and 2.65(?) inch rocket pods on the other. I can attest to their effectiveness against boats.

A-10s would probably be pretty damn effective except for, as with any fixed wing response, getting them on site when you need them. These attacks pop up with no warning and often times are over before you would have time to respond. You can't keep air cover up in that area 24/7 and Iran does have air radar.

Letters of Marque. Roll back to the 19th century and let some forward-thinking contractors outfit a few decent "privateers" to wander through the Strait.

Impractical for political reasons, but I'm betting a nice profit incentive would fix this post-haste. Insurers would be happy, shipping lines would be happy, and I'd be giggling like a schoolgirl.

You guys know that a good number of their boats have torpedos and missiles on them, right?

quote:

We could just blow up Bandar Abbas. Sink everything with an Iranian flag painted on it. Shoot down everything with an Iranian flag on it.

I’m in this camp at this point. These arrogant assholes could use a severe dressing down on the world stage. Of course, it would require an administration that was not only a bunch of pussies, but a bunch of leftist, anti-American folks themselves.

Just to point out some facts: A-10s have indeed been deployed for some time now in that region, then they added F-16 and then F-35.

Iranian military is also not similar in capabilities as the Somalian pirates, even though they are committing piracy acts. They have anti aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, drones (many are being used in Ukraine), etc. This was the reason for the fast jets.

Water hoses will not deter them.

The question I have is that most of the oil transiting out of that strait aren't going to America. Maybe China, India or elsewhere? Why aren't those countries stepping up?

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
You guys know that a good number of their boats have torpedos and missiles on them, right?

Torpedos, not sure about that, we sunk their Vosper Thornycraft boats back in OP Ernest Will/Nimble Archer/Praying Mantis.
As for anti-air, while limited to MANPADS fired off Boston Whalers their threat was minimal since most engagements were either too fast for the crews to use or, at night; again crews were not competent enough to engage our aircraft.

This shit keeps up, time to put the IRGC navy back onto the bottom of the Gulf, Bander Abbas was effectively neutralized for most of the 90's due to the above mentioned operations.