Question for navy folks

The Coffee Shop
1

…will you be put on high alert? :slight_smile:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran raised the prospect on Tuesday of sending military ships close to the United States’ Atlantic coast, in what would be a major escalation of tensions between the long-standing adversaries.
“Like the arrogant powers that are present near our marine borders, we will also have a powerful presence close to American marine borders,” the head of the Navy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, Sayyari gave no details of when such a deployment could happen or the number or type of vessels to be used.
The declaration comes just weeks after Turkey said it would host a NATO early warning radar system which will help spot missile threats from outside Europe, including potentially from Iran. The decision has angered Tehran which had enjoyed close relations with Ankara.
And it comes a few months after Iran sent warships through the Suez canal, after the fall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the first time the Islamic Republic had deployed navy vessels in the Mediterranean.
The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to stop it getting nuclear weapons. Tehran denies it is developing nuclear arms saying its atomic program is for purely peaceful purposes.
Iran has dismissed the threats, warning that it will respond by hitting U.S. interests in the Gulf and Israel if any such attack happened.
Analysts say Tehran could retaliate by launching hit-and-run strikes in the Gulf and by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway where about 40 percent of all traded oil passes.
The Islamic state often launches military drills in the country to display its military capabilities amid persistent speculation about a possible U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

2

Maybe they just want some good libo ports?

3

When I first read this I thought it must be a joke. That Iranian prez must be even more of a nutball than we already thought. I can’t imagine the the Iranian “navy” parking itself off the eastern US seaboard. How many ships do they have?

Looking forward to hear slowguy’s opinion on this.

4

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_current_ships_of_the_Iranian_Navy&mobileaction=view_normal_site

Not exactly Jane’s in detail but it gives you a good idea. Not really a blue water threat but their corvettes/missile boats could cause some issues in the straits. Regardless of platforms the training of the ship’s crew is important and I dont think they can come close to our men and women out on the surface ships.

5

I hadn’t seen anything about this until I found it here in the LR. That should tell you how excited the US Navy is getting about this, as of right now.

I wouldn’t consider Iran to be a credible naval threat to US ports here in CONUS. They have more important interests in the Gulf, and would need to keep everything they have there. I’m not sure they can afford to send anything across to North America, if they can even get ships across, which is not an easy task from a logistics and maintenance perspective.

6

Given the size of the Iranian ships, it looks to me like this is something that the Coast Guard is perfectly suited for. The Iranian Navy ships seem comparable to the Coast Guard cutters out there; plus, you wouldn’t have to move any US Navy ships back to the shore, since “guarding the coast” is kind of built into the name, you know?