U.S. airstrikes have significantly targeted Iran's naval mines, reportedly destroying 90 percent of its formidable stockpile in recent months. Despite these efforts, the perceived risk from even a few remaining Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz has paralyzed shipping traffic in this critical global waterway.
Scott Savitz, a RAND senior engineer and mine warfare expert, assesses that clearing the Strait could be swift, potentially days, if Iran refrains from firing on mine-hunting ships. However, the effort could protract for months if attacks persist, given the slow, predictable patterns and lack of self-defense capabilities of mine countermeasures assets, making them perfect targets. Iran's arsenal includes both classic moored mines and harder-to-detect influence mines that sit on the seabed. Savitz emphasizes that mines are exceptionally disruptive weapons, citing the Korean War's impact and their potential role in Taiwan's defense against a Chinese amphibious invasion by disrupting, delaying, and channelizing immense quantities of personnel and materiel.
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