There are going to be a whole lot of warships in the Persian Gulf over the next few weeks. One carrier strike groups is already on the scene, and a second, led by the USS John C. Stennis, is set to arrive over the next two weeks. This will be the first time two carriers have been stationed in the Gulf since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group is also on its way, with a complement of seven warships and six thousand sailors and Marines. It’s official: “A U.S. naval build-up in the Persian Gulf is underway.” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the purpose of the build-up “is simply to underscore to our friends, as well as to our potential adversaries in the region, that the United States has considered the Persian Gulf and that whole area, and stability in that area, to be a vital national interest.” But we’re not the only ones making a show of force. Reuters reported yesterday that “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards will hold two days of wargames in the Gulf and Sea of Oman this week, focusing on launching missiles, Iranian news agencies reported on Tuesday.” And today the Iranians claimed to have successfully test-fired the Russian-made TOR-M1 air-defense system, which was only recently delivered after much protest from the Bush administration. Robert Work, a senior analyst at CSBA with expertise in naval affairs, says “it appears as though the Bush administration has started to refocus its sites on Iran.” He added that although “a lot of people think the U.S. is tied down in Iraq, that may be true of ground forces, but not naval and aerospace.” The build-up, he said, makes clear this country’s “intent to remain engaged in the region regardless of what happens in Iraq.” As for the Iranian navy, Work says it is largely comprised of small surface vessels, a few frigates, and a small sub fleet. And while those ships, and Iran’s land-based missiles, are still capable of causing considerable trouble for commerce in the region, they aren’t much of a match for “awesome combat capability” of the U.S. naval forces now present in the Gulf. Still, the close proximity U.S. and Iranian vessels, and the hostility between the two countries, could make for a dangerous situation. “Whenever you have a lot of forces that are wary of each other, both will be very careful. . . both will be very leery of being aggressive,” said Work. If the Iranians were to provoke an incident, Work is confident that the U.S. Navy would be ready. When an Iranian made C-802 anti-ship cruise missile struck the Israeli Naval Ship Hanit during last summer’s war with Hezbollah, the incident was blamed on an officer switching the ship’s defense systems from active to standby. Work says such a miscue is unlikely to befall U.S. ships in the region, which maintain a constant state of readiness when plying the unfriendly waters of the Gulf.
The USS Bataan
