The United States Central Command sank several inactive Iranian naval vessels, including 16 minelayers, on Tuesday, as Tehran is reported to be starting to mine the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran is estimated to have between 2,000 and 6,000 naval mines, and according to two sources speaking to CNN, only a few dozen have been laid in recent days. CNN added that while the Americans have been targeting Iran’s navy, it still retains upward of 8090 percent of its small boats and mine layers, making it possible to lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.
Operation Roaring Lion (aka Epic Fury) has effectively halted tankers from going through the Strait of Hormuz along Iran’s coast. About 20% of the world’s oil moves through that important chokepoint, as well as 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas.
According to a report by the US Energy Information Administration released on Sunday, the price of Brent crude oil rose to $94.35 a barrel from $71.32 on February 27, before the war broke out.
Iran has a range of maritime platforms, such as mine-laying crafts, explosive-laden boats, and shore-based missile batteries. The US has said that it is working on options to get commercial maritime traffic moving along, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine quoted as saying during a briefing that the Pentagon will “look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that.”
Central to global trade
With three-quarters of the Earth's surface covered by ocean, the sea has long been central to global trade, security, and power projection.
Even before the war with Iran broke out, recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Red Sea accelerated the adoption of unmanned maritime systems, since for many countries, seas are their primary trade routes. Any disruption can significantly increase costs and impact both national and global energy security.
The sea also holds critical underwater infrastructure with networks of cables spanning an estimated millions of miles across the Mid-Atlantic seabed from North America to Europe and Asia. Disruptions to such systems can have devastating consequences to communications, financial transactions, electricity, and more.
Future of maritime warfare
Unmanned surface vessels have long been deployed in sea mine clearance missions to minimize risk to sailors. Israel has been developing and manufacturing USVs for close to two decades, with several companies fielding various platforms. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has the Katana USV and Blue Whale unmanned submarine, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has the Protector, and Elbit Systems has the Seagull USV.
Idan Levy, cofounder and CEO of Skana Robotics, which also designs and manufactures unmanned maritime platforms, told Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post that there needs to be a new approach to handling threats like naval mines.
“Naval mines are a classic asymmetric weapon: simple to deploy, but costly and dangerous to detect and clear, especially in strategic chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz. The emerging reality of maritime conflict, especially in regions like the Persian Gulf, where mines can be deployed rapidly by small boats, requires a different approach.”
Skana Robotics, a defense-tech company founded by veterans of naval special operations and robotics experts, has two autonomous maritime systems, the Bull Shark Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) and the Stingray Autonomous Underwater Vessel (AUV).
The Bull Shark is a tactical ASV designed for multiple missions, including ISR and interdiction. It features a scalable design and a payload capacity of up to 150 kilograms and it functions as a communications hub to coordinate multiple surface and sub-surface assets. It can carry out missions autonomously or be operated remotely, with advanced tracking and loitering.
It can also detect anomalous vessel behavior, using advanced sensors and AI-driven analytics, and alert operators in real time, allowing early intervention even before a minefield is established. The ASV has a maximum speed of 50 knots and a range of 120 nautical miles.
The company’s underwater deep-sea loitering vessel, Stingray, was designed for ISR,anti-submarine warfare (ASW)), and infrastructure protection in complex underwater terrains. It supports autonomous underwater navigation, seabed anchoring, and silent standby and reactivation mode. It can carry modular payloads for sonar, ELINT, strike mapping, and infrastructure protection of up to 15 kg.
Stingray operates from seabed docking stations and remains deployed in the area, connected to static sensing systems that continuously monitor the seabed. When an alert is triggered, Stingray launches immediately to investigate and verify the threat.
According to Levy, Skana Robotic’s platforms are designed to provide persistent presence, rapid identification of anomalies, and immediate operational response.
“This approach is built around mission-driven autonomy, where distributed autonomous systems operate as force multipliers alongside manned fleets. A truly hybrid fleet combines manned vessels with distributed autonomous systems – enabling immediate response without increasing risk to crews or placing additional strain on scarce and expensive naval assets,” he said.
“Through mass deployment, networks of autonomous surface and underwater systems can rapidly scan large areas, map the seabed, investigate suspicious objects, and secure maritime corridors, dramatically reducing the time required to identify threats and restore safe passage,” Levy added.
US Navy onboard
The US Navy has also been working on USVs. In July, it announced that it was looking for USVs capable of carrying large payloads, including missiles, thousands of miles at sea. According to a solicitation by the navy, the Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) program will see a high-endurance USV for its need for a fast, high-capacity, embarked payloads platform.
“MASC seeks to leverage cutting-edge technologies and modular design principles to create adaptable and resilient solutions that can effectively counter evolving threats,” the solicitation read.
MASC is also looking for platforms that can operate at high speeds in rough sea conditions, are interoperable with existing US Navy systems, and are capable of autonomous maneuvering with and without Radio Frequency (RF) emissions, and with open architecture software, as well as software that allows for multiple USVs to be controlled simultaneously.