Hormuz by night. How the US mission to protect shipping in the Strait works

According to the US military, oil exports from the Persian Gulf have returned to pre-war levels. Night after night, barrel after barrel, the US Navy has provided a daily escort to ensure cargo ships can pass through the Strait of Hormuz: fighter jets, helicopters, radar, drones and a great deal of technological superiority. What had previously emerged through various leaks was reported by the Wall Street Journal in an exclusive feature by Shelby Holliday, written on board the George Washington, the US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently stationed in the Arabian Sea. The military operation has two objectives: to maintain the naval blockade against Iran and to defend merchant traffic from attacks by the Pasdaran. According to the US military, over the past six months, more than three thousand merchant ships have managed to cross the Strait with their support. According to Centcom, the US command responsible for operations in the Middle East, 1.5 billion barrels of oil have been exported in this way since the summer.

Missions set off almost every night, when the George Washington’s catapult launches F-35C and F/A-18 fighter jets, armed with air-to-air missiles, from the deck. Above the Strait, they work alongside aircraft whose emissions are designed to jam enemy radar and communications, as well as radar aircraft monitoring the airspace and anti-submarine helicopters, forming continuous cover over the oil tankers in transit. Also taking part in the operations are a second aircraft carrier, an amphibious assault ship, over twelve missile-firing destroyers, and aircraft and drones stationed at bases across the region.

Their targets are the drones and anti-ship cruise missiles that Iran continues to launch from the coast. These are largely large subsonic missiles – that is, slower than the speed of sound – which some officers ironically refer to as ‘flying schoolbuses’. But the Strait of Hormuz is barely 32 kilometres wide: the airspace risks becoming saturated with flying objects, and American pilots have only a few seconds to identify the threat and fire. “If an anti-ship cruise missile or a drone is launched at those ships, those aircraft will intervene and shoot it down in no time at all,” U.S. Rear Admiral Jeffrey Heames, who commands the aircraft carrier strike group and its escort vessels, told the WSJ. The Americans say they have largely degraded Iran’s ability to detect and track merchant ships, and that 95 per cent of commercial traffic passes through the Strait of Hormuz unharmed. One pilot recounted that his squadron had protected all the ships whenever the jets were in the area and had sufficient ammunition, but admitted that Iran sometimes manages to strike more ships than the Americans can defend against. In October, for example, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre – a British maritime security organisation linked to the Royal Navy – recorded more than 35 incidents.

The missions are constant. “The more the aircraft fly, the more prone they are to breakdowns,” explained Officer Addie Schaefer to the WSJ. The George Washington’s machinery is always in motion. On board, four large lifts move several aircraft at a time between the flight deck and the hangar, armament personnel load and unload missiles, and technicians repair engines in the engine workshop.

Maintaining this pace comes at a human and operational cost. The United States has 50,000 troops and 20 ships in the Middle East. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the conflict costs between 2 and 3 billion dollars a month in ammunition, fuel and supplies. Some US officials acknowledge that this commitment limits the ability to counter Chinese influence or respond to other crises. The aircraft carriers have set modern-day records for mission duration and consecutive days at sea without a port call, and the head of naval operations, Admiral Daryl Caudle, has now announced a maintenance centre for the ships at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, as well as more port calls for the crews: “Sailors need to stop at a port.”

US President Donald Trump’s attempts to build an international coalition to protect the Strait have, so far, been unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the Pentagon continues to deploy more troops and ships. And the risks are not diminishing, because, as reported by the WSJ and others, the White House is said to have asked several Gulf states to prepare for a “short and intense” military campaign against Iran, which would begin after the mid-term elections on 3 November – though Trump has not yet made a final decision on the matter. Michael O’Hanlon, director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution, has instead suggested to Trump, in a comment to the WSJ, that he should wait: “Time is on his side. We need to make it clear that we are prepared to carry on indefinitely.” The war, it seems, will be decided by who controls the Strait of Hormuz for the longest period.