The Strait of Hormuz is vital to global economic stability due to the massive amounts of petroleum that are produced in the Arabian Gulf and only transportable by tanker. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait to traffic if provoked. The confined littoral battle space of the Strait is an extremely difficult tactical environment for the U.S. Navy. This paper examines the factors of time, space and force with regard to the operational design of a U.S. military plan to thwart Iranian aggression in the Strait. The evaluation of both tactical and economic factors is critical in this analysis. The conclusion reached is that the only logical outcome Iran hopes to achieve by attacking tankers in the Strait is to draw the U.S. Navy into the one place Iran believes it can be militarily successful. Through an understanding of Iranian aims and limitations the U.S. planner may craft an operational design which will defeat the Iranian strategy.


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    Title :

    Operations to Defeat Iranian Maritime Trade Interdiction


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    2009


    Size :

    28 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English