US Bulks Up Iran Defenses
Adam Entous, Julian Barnes, WSJ, Feb 25 2012
The Pentagon is beefing up US sea- and land-based defenses in the Persian Gulf to counter any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. The US military has notified Congress of plans to preposition new mine-detection and clearing equipment and expand surveillance capabilities in and around the strait, according to defense officials briefed on the requests, including one submitted earlier this month. The military also wants to quickly modify weapons systems on ships so they could be used against Iranian fast-attack boats, as well as shore-launched cruise missiles, the defense officials said. CENTCOM chief Mattis asked for the equipment upgrades after reviews by war planners last spring and fall exposed “gaps” in US defense capabilities and military preparedness should Tehran close the Strait of Hormuz, officials said. A US military officer said:
When the enemy shows more signs of capability, we ask what we can do to checkmate it. They ought to know we take steps to make sure we are ready.
CENTCOM officials have told lawmakers they want the new mine-detection systems fielded before this fall, according to defense officials, who say the Pentagon submitted a request to Congress on Feb 7 on behalf of CENTCOM seeking to reallocate $100m in defense funding to “bridge near-term capability gaps” in the Persian Gulf. The request has yet to be made public because it is still being studied by lawmakers, defense officials said. The money will be used to upgrade patrol craft and unmanned drones, as well as to add small arms on surface ships, the officials said. Among the upgrades the military has requested are: decoys as countermeasures against torpedoes; equipment to detect opposing submarines; upgrades to the MK38 naval gun; tests for Javelin and Griffin missiles against fast boats; technologies to stop small vessels by entangling propellers; additional SeaFox mine defense systems; remotely controlled antimine drones; retrofitting existing infra-red and electro-optical surveillance systems for aircraft carriers; expanded use of high-resolution images to identify mines and other threats; and small Scan Eagle drones to improve surveillance of swarms of small boats. Congress was told the money was urgently needed, according to an official briefed on the plan, who said:
You can buy it and deploy it rapidly.
The new money comes on top of changes made last summer that provided CENTCOM with about $200m for additional upgrades, some of which could be used in areas outside the Persian Gulf, defense officials said. The earlier request, which included money for a torpedo defense system, airborne antimine weapons and new cyber-weapons, was made by defense officials and backed without fanfare by Congress. That request also included additional deployments of the SeaFox underwater drone, which is launched from a helicopter and uses a warhead to destroy mines. The system was deemed “an urgent operational need” by the US Fifth Fleet, according to Navy officials. The Pentagon and other US agencies generally submit such reprogramming requests when they can’t wait until the next fiscal year. The Pentagon started making some adjustments as early as a year ago, but those didn’t require reprogramming. The Pentagon told Congress that some of the new money would be used to modify existing weapons systems to be used against seaborne threats in the Persian Gulf and, specifically, the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC deploys some of the fastest naval vessels in the Persian Gulf. These craft may be as small as 17 m in length but they can carry machine guns, torpedoes and the Iranian-made “Kowsar” antiship cruise missile. Some can reach speeds of 60 to 70 knots, according to US military intelligence analysts. Antitank weapons are being reconfigured for use against swarms of these boats that could threaten US warships, the Pentagon told Congress. Similarly, rapid-fire machine guns designed to shoot down missiles are being tested for use against small boats. Pentagon war planners believe the addition of smaller-caliber guns would quickly make US destroyers, which were designed mainly to fight other large ships, more effective against the Iranian craft. A senior defense official said:
We are using capabilities we already have in a different way.
The additional money for equipment upgrades is on top of the nearly $82m the Pentagon sought in January to improve its largest conventional bunker-buster bomb, the 30,000 lb Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The US Navy has 14 minesweepers, three of which are stationed in Bahrain. Mackenzie Eaglen of the AEI said US minesweeping capabilities have slipped because the military has deferred critical maintenance, a shortcoming it is working overtime to address.
