The U.S. and International Mine Countermeasure Exercise in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea

The United States and its allies have commenced a large-scale annual exercise in the waters of the Persian Gulf, Oman Sea, and Red Sea. This exercise, which is the fourth 'International Mine Countermeasure Exercise', began on Monday, April 5, with a symposium in Bahrain, the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet (part of Central Command or CENTCOM), and will last for 22 days until April 26. The exercise is managed by the U.S. Fifth Fleet and involves 30 countries across a range of Middle Eastern waters, covering three critical maritime chokepoints: the Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Suez Canal. Rear Admiral Kevin D. Donegan, commander of the Fifth Fleet, explained the broader objectives of the 'International Mine Countermeasure Exercise' to regional and international media representatives in Bahrain, stating that the exercise aims beyond mine clearance and hunting, representing international will to ensure freedom of navigation and the free flow of maritime trade. He further noted that nearly 20% of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and a sudden disruption in oil flow due to the closure or even restrictions on maritime routes could have very adverse effects on the global economy. The exercise is conducted in three phases, similar to previous years. The first phase, primarily for coordination, was executed with a symposium in Bahrain where senior participating officers reviewed the execution of the exercise at sea. The second phase began with the movement of ships to sea, currently underway, which will include 'maritime security operations', 'mine countermeasure operations', and 'protection of maritime infrastructure operations'. In the third phase, participants will share experiences and lessons learned from the exercise to be considered in future exercises. Within the second phase, 'maritime security operations' aim to maintain open maritime routes, including escorting and protecting commercial vessels from port of origin to destination, searching and inspecting suspicious vessels, combating piracy, and countering suicide missions by speedboats carrying explosives. Regarding 'mine countermeasure operations', the official U.S. Navy website reports that these operations have expanded compared to last year's exercises and have three dimensions: aerial mine clearance, surface mine clearance, and underwater mine clearance. For aerial mine clearance, heavy helicopters will be used to drag mine-clearing devices over water to clear various types of mines while maintaining a safe distance from cleared mines. For surface mine clearance, mine-hunting and mine-sweeping ships will be employed. Mine-hunting ships will use sonar to locate laid mines and neutralize them with divers or underwater robots. Mine-sweeping ships will eliminate floating or active mines on the seabed using mechanical, acoustic, or magnetic devices. For underwater mine clearance, the U.S. Navy emphasizes the use of divers and unmanned underwater vehicles. In terms of 'protection of maritime infrastructure operations', the website states that these operations focus on protecting ports of origin and destination for vessels, meaning the places where ships load and unload their cargo. In other words, these operations aim to protect ports, anchorages, coastal and offshore facilities such as oil rigs, using port security personnel, various means such as special patrol boats, diving teams, ship inspection teams, and helicopters. Besides the phases of the international mine countermeasure exercise, their execution provides a suitable opportunity for participating countries to enhance personnel training and test their equipment, thereby increasing the efficiency of their naval units. Highlighting the importance and values associated with the command and control system, meaning coordination of operations and execution of the exercise through command, control, and communication among the 30 participating countries, is also considered one of the achievements of this international exercise. Regarding this achievement, based on lessons learned from previous exercises, the U.S. Navy website noted: 'In previous years, we faced fundamental problems and deficiencies. Some participating countries lacked the necessary capability for reliable communication at sea, and others had systems that were not compatible with others. Therefore, through efforts made in recent months, we have succeeded in coordinating our communication systems, and we believe this will improve the results of the recent exercise.' Furthermore, conducting exercises like this will strengthen coordination and cooperation among naval forces and shipping companies, a point that the Fifth Fleet commander described as one of the 'strengths' of the fourth international mine countermeasure exercise. The U.S. Navy website and media have not reported the number of ships, vessels, and personnel participating in this exercise. However, considering the scale and scope of this exercise is similar to last year's exercise, the figures will likely be close. The third international mine countermeasure exercise lasted from October 27 to November 22 last year, involving 44 countries, 38 ships, 22 commercial vessels, 6,500 military personnel, and 700 civilians. Nevertheless, Rear Admiral Kevin D. Donegan stated that the ongoing mine countermeasure exercise will utilize new technologies and equipment such as unmanned underwater transport vehicles, and the capabilities of high-speed transport vessels like 'Chuk Toh County' and the 'Ponce', a forward-deployed floating base equipped with laser weapons, will be showcased. The mentioned transport vessel, measuring 103 meters in length and capable of speeds of 43 knots (80 kilometers per hour), can transport three marine commando companies with weapons, equipment, and necessary vehicles. The Fifth Fleet commander emphasized the importance of maintaining maritime routes against extremist and terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS without mentioning Iran, but the execution of part of this exercise in the Persian Gulf carries a message for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Navy, which has chosen asymmetric warfare and mine-laying as effective factors for deterring the U.S. Additionally, IRGC commanders have repeatedly spoken of their complete control over the Strait of Hormuz and even closing it if necessary. Iran possesses about 2,000 naval mines, including Chinese 'EM 53' mines, and is capable of laying mines using surface units and submarines. Two weeks before the start of the recent exercise, on March 22, following a ground exercise of 30 Arab and Islamic countries in Saudi Arabia called 'Northern Thunder', the U.S. conducted a naval exercise with Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in the coastal waters of Egypt in the Red Sea, aimed at practicing patrol methods and gathering intelligence, and countering enemy air attacks. This exercise was named 'Eagle Salute 2016'.