Following Iran’s continued blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the US stated that more than 90 military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island have been destroyed. The vital island in the northern Gulf serves as the terminal for nearly 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports. B-2s dropped 2,000 PGMs on the runway on the island, and Iran claimed that the US targeted air defences, a naval base, an airport control tower, and a helicopter hangar, but added there was no damage to the island’s oil infrastructure.
Thomas Buret, the CEO of the French company Exail, offered to help clear the mined waters, claiming that 40 of his company’s Unmanned Integrated Mine Countermeasures System (UMIS) could clear the Strait of Hormuz. This came as the US Navy retired its last four Avenger-class minesweepers from the region just days earlier and has two of its three LCS several thousand miles away.
Exail’s Inspector 125 is designed to serve as a standoff platform that deploys and recovers unmanned underwater drones directly into and out of the danger zone. These systems perform various phases of mine countermeasures, including detection, classification, identification, and neutralisation. It can also tow a minesweeping system.
The UAE Navy awarded Exail a contract in 2024 to supply its advanced UMIS 3rd Generation technology. This system represents a major improvement in mine countermeasure (MCM) capabilities, specifically designed to remotely locate, identify, and neutralise underwater mines. It is unlikely that the UAE would offer this capability to the US, as it could provoke retribution from Iran.
At the same time, NATO leaders rejected Trump’s demand that they send naval ships to the strategic waterway.
On 19 March, the Israel Defense Forces launched strikes targeting missile vessels and related infrastructure at a naval base in Bandar Anzali on the Caspian Sea. Although it was not the primary base of the Caspian Flotilla, also known as the Iranian Navy’s Northern Fleet, it was likely used to disperse IRIN ships and assets across multiple locations.
According to the IDF, at least two Sina-class missile boats were destroyed along with the corvette Hamzah.
Trump’s “big beautiful armada” lost half its strength when the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, deployed in operations against Iran, was withdrawn from the Gulf to undergo repairs at Souda Bay in Crete following a serious fire on board.
Another issue the US Navy faces is how to replenish and rearm its warships. This involves transporting stores, supplies, fuel, spare parts, ordnance, and missiles from the US to ports where US Navy logistics and support ships can operate safely, and then replenishing the ships at sea. To defend against attacks by Iranian Shahed drones on countries in the Persian Gulf, the US has used SM-6 ship-launched anti-aircraft missiles, each costing between US$7-8 billion, all of which need to be replaced.
by David Oliver
