Iranian naval trump card
Sea mines - tested weapon deterrence
For several weeks now, the world media have been discussing the issue of whether Iran is able to block the Persian Gulf and cause a global oil crisis. American Command fleet the public assures that it will not allow such a development of events. Military observers of all countries calculate the quantitative and qualitative ratio of ships and aircraft of potential opponents. At the same time, almost nothing is said about mine weapons, and indeed it can become a Persian trump card.
MINUTE FACTOR IN STORIES WAR
31 March 1904, the battleship Petropavlovsk exploded on a Japanese mine. Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov died with the battleship. With the death of the commander, the active operations of the Port Arthur squadron ceased.
In August, the 1941 of the year during the evacuation of Tallinn on enemy mines, the Baltic Fleet lost 12 warships and some 30 transports.
In 1944 – 1945, due to the presence of mines in the Gulf of Finland, surface ships of the Baltic Fleet did not actually take part in the hostilities.
In October 1950, the American fleet lost its dominance in Korean waters, as the Yankees stumbled upon the mines that the Koreans had put up with fishing junks.
In 1972, the Americans decided to mine the Vietnamese waters near the port of Haiphong. The mine productions north of Vietnam was completely blocked from the sea for almost nine months.
As a rule, the third world countries cannot independently clear mines that they themselves instructed during local conflicts, and they appeal to superpowers.
Thus, from March 1972 to June 1974, a group of Soviet ships under the command of Rear Admiral Sergei Zuyenko conducted demining near the port of Chittagon, whose waters were mined during the Indo-Pakistani war 1971 of the year.
In October - November 1973, the Navy of Egypt in the Gubal and Inker-Channel channels of the Gulf of Suez put up minefields in five lines. Trawling them had to detachment ships of the Pacific and Black Sea fleets. Trawling was performed from July to November 1974. On the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, similar work was performed by minesweepers in western countries.
In 1984, during the Iran-Iraq war, someone laid mines in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez. During July - September 1984, 19 of transport ships were blown up by mines. This caused a significant reduction in the flow of ships through the Suez Canal. Usually around 60 of merchant ships passed through the canal daily, but in August their number dropped to 42.
18 ships from four NATO countries were sent urgently to the Red Sea: the United States, Britain, France and Italy. A group of Soviet ships headed by the Leningrad helicopter carrier went there. The French have killed ten ground mines, the British one, and the Italians none.
During the Gulf War in January-February 1991 of the year (“Desert Storm”), the Americans and their allies failed to land a naval landing in southern Iraq due to mine danger. Iraq mined the northern part of the Persian Gulf, especially at the approaches to the land-dangerous areas of the Kuwaiti coast. The Iraqi mines were hit by the American helicopter carrier Tripoli and the cruiser URO, Princeton, and the destroyer Paul Fausner ran into an old Japanese mine that did not explode.
In the trawling of these mines, naval trawlers and minesweepers from the USA, England, Belgium and Germany took part. In total for January - February, 1991 mines, mostly of Soviet production, such as AMD, KMD "Krab", were cleaned by them. However, until the end of the hostilities, not a single unit of the Allied forces landed on the shore.
PROSPECTS FOR MINING THE ORMUZY STRAIT
Well, what is the prospect of the use of mine weapons in the Persian Gulf? Let's start with what this bay is. Its length is 926 km (according to other information 1000 km), width 180 — 320 km, average depth is less than 50 m, maximum - 102 m. The entire northeastern coast of the bay, that is, about 1180 km - Persian. It is mountainous, steep, which facilitates the defense and placement of rocket and artillery batteries. The most vulnerable spot is the Strait of Hormuz. The length of the strait 195 km. The spill is relatively shallow - the maximum depth of 229 is m, and on the fairway the depth is up to 27,5.
Currently, ships in the Strait of Hormuz are moving along two transport corridors 2,5 km in width each. Tankers going to the bay go along the corridor closer to the Iranian coast, and the tankers, from the bay, go along another corridor. Between the corridors is a buffer zone 5 km wide. This zone is designed to prevent collision of oncoming ships. As you can see, the Persian Gulf in general and the Strait of Hormuz in particular are an ideal proving ground for the use of all types of sea mines.
During the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, both sides, starting in 1984, attacked neutral tankers bound for the Persian Gulf. In total, 340 vessels were attacked during the “tanker war”. Most of them were attacked by boats and aviation, and in some cases were fired at by coastal rocket or artillery mounts. Mine productions were extremely limited. Two ships were damaged by mines in 1984, eight in 1987 and two in 1988. I note that the restriction on the use of mines was associated not with technical, but with political reasons, since both sides claimed that they attack only ships calling at enemy ports. It is clear that mines are not yet able to carry out such selection.
16 May 1987 on the way to Kuwait, the Soviet tanker Marshal Chuykov was blown up. The tanker got a hole in the submarine area of about 40 square. Due to the good condition of the watertight bulkheads, the vessel did not die.
14 April 1988 of the year in 65 miles east of Bahrain on an old anchor mine of the 1908 model of the year, the American frigate "Samuel Roberts" with a displacement of 4100 tons was blown up. During the five-hour struggle for survivability, the crew managed to leave the ship afloat. Frigate repair cost US taxpayers 135 million.
Now there is little doubt that in the event of a large-scale attack on Iran, its naval forces will begin an unlimited mine war in the entire Persian Gulf, including, of course, the Strait of Hormuz.
THE TERRIBLE WEAPON OF THE IRANIAN SEAMEN
What types of mine weapons do the Iranian Navy possess? Not sure if his list is in the Pentagon. Mines, unlike ships, tanks and aircraft, it’s easier to hide, including when delivering from third countries. There is reason to believe that Iran has the majority of samples of post-war mines. He could buy them both in the USSR and in the newly formed republics. Recall how Iran received the Flurry from the Dastan plant in Kyrgyzstan. In addition, Iran could receive mines through Libya, Syria and several other countries.
What are modern mines?
One of the most sophisticated classic mines created at SRI-400 (since 1991 of the year - “Hydropribor”) was UDM-2 (universal ground mine), which was put into service in 1978. It is designed to combat all classes of ships and submarines. The laying of mines can be done from ships, as well as from military and transport aircraft. At the same time, the statement from the aircraft is made without a parachute system, which provides greater secrecy and the possibility of setting mines from low altitudes. In case of contact with land or shallow water, the mine will self-destruct.
Mina UDM-2 is equipped with a three-channel proximity fuse with acoustic and hydrodynamic channels and has multiplicity and urgency devices.
The length of the mine 3055 / 2900 mm (aviation / naval version), caliber 630 mm. Weight 1500 / 1470 kg. Charge weight 1350 kg. The minimum depth of the location of the 15 / 8 production is m, and the maximum depth is 60 / 300. The service life is one year, as is the case with the rest of the Russian mines.
In 1955, the aircraft was taken into use by the aviation mine of APM. Mina was designed at SRI-400 under the direction of F.M. Milyakova. It was a galvanized mine, automatically kept on a given recess by a pneumatic flotation device. Mina had a two-stage parachute system, consisting of a stabilizing and main parachutes.
Mina APM ensured the defeat of a surface ship upon the impact of its hull against one of the four galvanized detonators of the mine located in its upper part. The compressed-air navigation device maintained the mine at a given recess with an accuracy of ± 1 m. The compressed air supply ensured the service life of the mine to 10 days. The mine was designed for use in areas with depths greater than 15 m. The minimum speed of the ship, ensuring reliable operation of the galvanized detonator - 0,5 node.
A more sophisticated floating mine MNP-2 was created in 1979 year in the SKB machine-building plant them. Kuybyshev in Kazakhstan under the direction of Yu.D. Monakova. MNP stands for zero buoyancy mine. The adjective "floating" disappeared from the title, since the floating mines were prohibited by international agreement.
MNP-2 is designed to destroy surface ships and submarines in harbors or at anchor near the coast, as well as for the destruction of various kinds of hydraulic structures. The carriers of the mine are self-propelled special purpose underwater means, operated by combat swimmers. The “means” themselves are delivered to the combat area by ultra-small or ordinary submarines.
The length of the mine is 3760 mm, caliber 528 mm. Weight 680 kg. The weight of TNT 300 kg. The range of depths of swimming from 6 to 60 m. The time spent under water in a combat position - up to 1 year.
Back in 1951, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 4482 was issued, according to which the development plan of the Research Institute-400 from 1952 included the development of the Kambala reactive pop-up mine. By decision of the leadership, a group of design officers of the NII-3 Navy, headed by B.К. Lyamin
In the course of work on this topic, Lyaminym created the world's first near-bottom reactive-pop-up mine, known as CRM. It was adopted by the Navy by the Council of Ministers Decree No. 152-83 of January 13 of 1957.
As a separator in the KRM mine, a passive-active acoustic system was used, which detected and classified the target, gave the command to detach the warhead and launch a jet engine that delivered the warhead from the combat charging compartment to the surface of the water in the area where the surface target was located.
The dimensions of the KRM mines were: length 3,4 m, width 0,9 m, height 1,1 m. Mina was set from surface ships. Weight mines 1300 kg. Explosive weight (THGG-5) 300 kg. The mine could be installed to a depth of 100 m. The width of the response zone of the fuse 20 m.
However, the width of the CRM response zone was recognized by the leadership of the Navy as insufficient. Later, on the basis of the KRM mine, an anchor jet-pop-up aviation low-parachute mine RM-1 was created. It was put into service in the 1960 year and became the first universal missile on targets, ensuring the defeat of both surface ships and submerged submarines.
In 1963, the bottom anchor jet pop-up mine PM-2 was put into service. Mina created in NII-400. Its diameter is 533 mm, length 3,9 m, weight 900 kg, weight explosive 200 kg. Depth of setting mines 40 - 300 m. Active acoustic fuse. Mina was put out of submarine torpedo tubes.
The anti-submarine missile PMR-1 was the first domestic wide-band self-targeting mine-rocket. Initially, it was intended to defeat submarines in a submerged position, but could also hit surface targets. PMR-1 was established in 1970, at Scientific Research Institute-400, under the direction of L.P. Matveyev.
The laying of mines is carried out from submarine torpedo tubes or by dropping surface ships from the deck of the stern. PMR-1 is an anchor mine, consisting of interconnected jet-charging and instrument-mechanical compartments, as well as anchors.
The jet-charging compartment is a solid-fuel rocket, in the head of which are placed a charge of explosive and electronic equipment of the battle channel. In the instrument-mechanical compartment there is a control system, a power source, mechanisms for tilting the mine and installing it on a given recess, a drum with a cable, and more.
After resetting, the mine is submerged under the effect of negative buoyancy, and when the depth reaches 60, a temporary device is started. After working off the specified time, the casing that connects both compartments is reset, then the anchor is given, and the mincoil winding begins. After a set time, the mine is brought to a combat position.
When an enemy submarine enters the danger zone of a mine, a direction-finding system operating on the principle of sonar is activated. Electronic acoustic equipment determines the direction of the boat and includes an aiming system. The hydraulic tilt mechanism induces the jet-charging compartment at the target, and then issues commands to start the jet engine. Charge burst is produced using a proximity or contact fuse.
High speed of the rocket and short movement time - from 3 to 5 with - exclude the possibility of using anti-submarine means of counteraction or an avoidance maneuver.
The total length of the mine is 7800 mm, diameter 534 mm, weight 1,7 t, weight of charge 200 kg. Depth setting mines from 200 to 1200 m. Service life 1 year.
At the end of 1960-s, several modifications of PMR-400 mines were created at SRI-1: MPR-2, PMR-2М, PMR-2М.
Of the American mines, the hunter mine is the most interesting. It can be placed from aircraft, surface ships and submarines. After placing the mine on the bottom, it is buried in it with the help of special devices, and only the antenna remains outside. Mine can be in a "sleep" condition up to two years. But at any time can be activated by a special signal. The body of the mine is made of plastic. After activation, the two-channel fuse detects an enemy ship and launches the self-guided torpedo Mk-46 or Stigray.
I note that the design and mass production of the simplified Hunter model, even if without a homing torpedo, is within the reach of any country, especially Iran. Well, and the bottom of most of the Persian Gulf is muddy, which facilitates the burying of torpedoes. Visually, it cannot be detected either by a diver or by a special unmanned vehicle - a mine seeker.
The production of any type of mines mentioned above can be carried out by Iranian aircraft, helicopters, various boats and vessels. In the interaction of mine weapons with artillery and missiles of coastal installations and ships, as well as aviation, Iran has every chance to completely block shipping in the Persian Gulf. Technically, this is quite achievable, only political will is needed.
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