PN,
All links are obtained by google, and not the subject of intensive research.....
First of all, according to this link....
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/world_oi...ackground.html
....oil from the Straits of Hormuz goes mainly to USA, Japan, Asia and Western Europe. Therefore we can assume these countries "may" and I stress the word "may" contribute to a "coalition of the willing" to undertake some possible military response. Looking in more detail at these countries we see the following MPA available (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-3_Ori...tion_Navale,):
USA approx 150 P-3
Australia 18 P-3
Spain 10 P-3
Germany 8 P-3
Greece 6 P-3
Japan 80 P-3
NZ 6 P-3
Pakistan 10 P-3
Portugal 11 P-3
Canada 18 CP-140
France 26 Atlantique
Italy 12 Atlantique
You can comment all you like on the professionalism of some of these operators, but to consider that the Brits are the best of the bunch would be very arrogant. I haven't met or flown with many NATO MPA nations, but in my personal opinion the Dutch (before their unfortunate demise) were probably the best I did meet.
How many of the above would actally be willing to contribute in such a scenario is open to debate, but I think we could expect the USA, France, Australia and a couple of others, possibly including Japan, to take part.
Against all this, for a purely Tom Clancy like scenario which someone seems to be running with, the UK may be able to contribute up to 9 MRA4 in about 5 years time.....
By the way, given the geography of the Straits, and the tactics/platforms I would use if I were Iran, I would expect most MPA would end up working outside the Gulf anyway, defending the carriers, with most ASW being done inside the Gulf by Frigates and Helos..... I wouldn't expect to find the Iranian Kilos inside the Gulf.
In such a scenario, originally suggested by Roland I think, my preferred assets for neutralizing any Iranian sub threat wouldn't be MPA anyway! You (ex-)MPA people need to think outside the box more....
As I said before, (but nobody appears to be listening) I personally think the UK should have an MPA force, but nobody should be using some whacky Gulf scenario to justify the existence of such a force!