US military aircraft and helicopters begin the fight to unblock the Strait of Hormuz - WSJ
Kyiv • UNN
The Pentagon has deployed A-10 attack aircraft and Apache helicopters to eliminate Iranian ships and drones. More than 120 IRGC ships have already been destroyed during the operation.
The US and its allies have intensified their fight to open the Strait of Hormuz, sending low-flying attack aircraft over sea lanes to destroy Iranian naval vessels and Apache helicopters to shoot down deadly Iranian drones, citing US military officials, The Wall Street Journal reports, writes UNN.
Details
This intensification of the operation is reportedly "part of a multi-stage Pentagon plan to reduce the danger from Iranian armed vessels, mines, and cruise missiles that have paralyzed shipping in the strait since early March." If the danger can be reduced, the US may send American warships through the strait and eventually escort vessels into and out of the Persian Gulf.
"But the US will likely still need several weeks to dismantle the Iranian network of assets that have hampered the movement of ships through the choke point, through which 20% of the world's oil exports and a significant portion of commercial shipping pass," the publication notes. The de facto closure of the strait led to a sharp rise in Brent crude oil prices above $100 per barrel - briefly reaching $119 before closing at $108.65 on Thursday, up 1.2% - and forced the Trump administration to grapple with the economic consequences of the war it launched with Israel on February 28, the publication writes.
Air Force General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed details of the operation at a Pentagon press conference on Thursday, stating that heavily armed A-10 fighter jets, known as "Warthogs," as well as Apache attack helicopters, were flying sorties over the strait or near the southern coast.
"Currently, the A-10 Warthog is engaged in combat on the southern flank, striking fast-moving vessels in the Strait of Hormuz," he told reporters at the Pentagon. He added that Apache helicopters "have joined the fight on the southern flank."
He said some allies, without naming them, are using Apaches to "combat attack drones," one of the most effective weapons Iran has used to strike neighboring Arab states and their energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.
According to a US official, both A-10s and Apaches have been destroying Iranian fast-moving vessels that have been harassing commercial shipping in the strait for several days. Fighter jets already in the region can also help destroy small Iranian fast-moving vessels and missile threats, but additional aircraft are intensifying the campaign, the official added.
The US is bombing bases and heavily fortified cruise missile batteries manned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization responsible for defending the strait along with the Iranian navy, which has its own fleet of attack vessels. More than 120 Iranian naval vessels have been damaged or destroyed in the strikes, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Thursday.
Despite the strikes, Iran is still believed to have a huge stockpile of mines, truck-mounted cruise missiles, and hundreds of undamaged boats in hidden deep-dug tunnel caches along the coast and on islands, said Farzin Nadimi, an expert on Iranian defense at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"I think it will take weeks to reach a point where operations in the strait can be conducted safely," he said. "Even then, many Iranian assets will survive."
Iran has attacked dozens of vessels in the strait, often with small unmanned explosive vessels or drones. Other vessels have been hit by shells in the strait, as well as in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
On Thursday, the issue of regaining control of the strait gained new urgency as Iran began developing plans to allow individual vessels to pass, and Tehran's parliament is considering legislation to charge a transit fee, the publication writes. This raised fears that Iran could use its position to strike deals with countries that need oil, gas, and other goods produced in the Persian Gulf region.
Reducing the threat to a point where ships can resume passage through the strait is "possible, but it takes time, and you'll probably never get to 100%," said Michael Connell, an Iran analyst at the Washington-based Center for Naval Analyses. "We can get to a stage where we let ships through, and they may still get lucky," he added.