Iran's Strait of Hormuz gambit creates economic woes, but U.S. Navy can still strike Iran from the Gulf of Oman.
By Kris Osborn, Warrior
Iran’s attempted closing of the Strait of Hormuz presents well-known global economic pressures, yet the move also carries substantial tactical and strategic implications for the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran
Certainly Iran has sought to maximize whatever leverage it may perceive it has to exert pressure upon those needing safe passage through the Strait. A huge percentage of the world’s oil, to include some U.S. oil, must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. It is quite a narrow passageway, spanning only 21 miles at its narrowest point. Overall the strait itself is about 35-to-60 miles wide and connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. In order to facilitate safe and efficient passage, the Strait operates specific shipping lanes about two miles wide separated by a buffer. Roughly 20-percent of the world’s oil, approximately 21 million barrels a day, pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Can the U.S. Navy Still Attack?
Perhaps of even greater significance, the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike Group is capable of striking Iran and conducting air operations over Iran without needing to transit through the Strait. Therefore, any pre-emptive Iranian move to attempt to close it is not likely to make strategic or tactical sense, and it certainly makes no political sense given the number of countries around the world which depend upon oil passing through the area. Carrier-launched fighter jets, warship fired Tomahawk missiles and submarine strikes could all happen easily from the Gulf of Oman, meaning the U.S. Navy can easily strike Iran without needing to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Navy warships, aircraft and even submarines and countermine vessels could simply “engage” the area to ensure it opens up again, yet a Naval combat operation of this kind could prove quite difficult given Iran’s known abilities with mines, drones, small boats and ballistic missiles. Given the narrow size of the passageway and its proximity to Iran, any U.S. Navy vessels operating there would offer a large, visible, potentially close-in target for Iranian launched drones, missiles or small boat swarms. U.S. Navy ships clearing the Strait would not have the expansive defensive “ranges” they operated within when under attack in the Red Sea, a circumstance which might make it more difficult to successfully defend large, deep-draft warships. Warships would not only need to benefit from Aegis radar, satellite ISR threat tracking systems and multi-domain targeting technology, but they would need to address potentially more challenging “closer-in” threats as well.
Iran Small Boat Threat
Iran has a long and documented history of using swarming small boats to intimidate or harass international commercial vessels as well as U.S. Navy platforms, one reason why the U.S. Navy has in recent years massively upgraded its close-in ship defenses such as deck-mounted guns and interceptor weapons such as SeaRAM and Close-in-Weapons-System.
Should Iran manage to keep the Strait closed as part of its hostile military moves, there would not only be concerning security implications but the world’s economy would be severely impacted. The actual task of closing the Straight might not have been too difficult given that its passageways are only 2 miles wide. Iranian boats would merely need to occupy or “blanket” with boats, barriers or mines to close shipping lanes. Even large U.S. Navy warships could, in some circumstances, be threatened by small boat swarms. The idea with boat swarm attacks would simply be to overwhelm ship defenses with fire from so many different angles at one time, that deck-mounted guns or other countermeasures would simply be unable to fully defend the ship.
Ballistic Missile Threat
A U.S. Navy military effort to re-open the Strait would also need to account for the reality that the area is well within the clear reach of Iran’s massive short, medium and long-range ballistic missile arsenal. A significant research paper from Iran Watch shows that indeed Iran does possess a massive arsenal of ballistic missiles, at least five of which can reportedly travel distances of 1,300km or more. The famous Shahab-3, for instance, is listed by Iran Watch as capable of traveling 1,300km with a 1,000kg warhead. The liquid fuel, single stage Shahab-3 rocket is now deployed and exists in large numbers. The longest range ballistic missile listed by Iran Watch is the Khorramshahr 1,2, and 4 .. weapons cited as able to travel as far as 2,000 to 3,000km. This means the missile could hit anywhere in Israel from Tehran or most places throughout Central and Western Iran. Other Iranian Medium Range Ballistic Missiles capable of traveling 1,600km or more are the now-deployed Ghadr, Emad and Paveh missiles, according to Iran Watch. The Iranian Sejjil MRBM can travel 2,000km.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University