A MK 62 Quick Strike mine is deployed from the starboard wing of a P-3C Orion. Credit Photo: US Navy
National Interest: Get Ready, China and Iran: American Naval Super Mines Are Coming
The stand-off mine concept has slipped its tether. Naval warfare may never be the same.
Mines are the ninjas of warfare: silent, deadly and a bit unsavory. Sneaky weapons that are extremely effective not just for the damage they cause, but also for the fear and uncertainty they sow.
Naval mines are especially potent. American air-dropped mines in Japanese waters in 1945--chillingly but accurately code-named Operation Starvation--sank more ships than U.S. submarines in the final months of the war. The 1972 mining of Haiphong harbor helped drive North Vietnam to the peace table, while Saddam Hussein's underwater booby traps threatened U.S. naval supremacy in Desert Storm. “In February 1991 the Navy lost command of the sea—the North Arabian Gulf—to more than a thousand mines that had been sown by Iraqi forces. Mines severely damaged two Navy warships, and commanders aborted an amphibious assault for fear of even more casualties,” says a U.S. Navy mine warfare history.
WNU editor: This U.S. advantage is not going to last long. I would not be surprise if the Russians/Chinese/Iranians/etc. start to develop the same type of naval mine in the coming years.
1 comment:
When the big powers go to war, the use of mines, anti ship missiles, and anti area weapons will force the big Navies into port or be sunk.
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