First B-52 mission?

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India appears to have met an accommodation with Iran re transit through the SoH;

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news...-gulf-of-oman/

Photos

Video

Confident enough that there are no MANPAD around to do a strafing run?

Impossible to confirm the date and time of the footage.

There is only little enthusiasm around the world for Mr Trumps idea of having other nations lie in the bed he made around the Strait of Hormuz.

From Japan, I hear that the "legal requirements for sending Japanese ships are rather high", which is a clear No if I understand their traditions right.
Korea has stated that they are observing the situation closely.
Great Britain is of the opinion that this is not a NATO mission and never was going to be one.
Germany also stated that NATO is not responsible for the Strait of Hormuz.
Australia has shown no interest either.
China stated that they were in contact with all parties and called for de-escalation.

The general feeling seems to be that the US have brought this on themselves and there is no need for other worldwide armies to come and stay a little back also in this war.

Wait until he asks Putin for help. … "Net"; high oil price helps Russia
But we have had our butt kicked, help … how can I get out of this mess (it's made by 'you', Israel, everyone else's fault).

Loss of face (nothing to lose) vs committing the fleet to action.

What is the practicality of US boats in the Persian Gulf; can air power alone provide safety, or is it boots on the ground?
An interesting time for war studies.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eliza...cB7hU2U_S8Iv3k

Two historical events come to mind... the dutch fire ships on the Thames that messed up the RN rather well, and the whole saga of the Russian fleets debacle from departing St Pete's and points north and blundering their way towards Port Arthur, to meet their destiny in the straits of Tsushima.

Plonking the USN in an area that requires the SoH to be open within range of every munition the Iranians own seems to be a gift to the recently departed ayatollah. Russia has shown how many drones Iran could produce for export let alone their own defence. Hope the USN has lots of reloads of their SMs and phalanx ammo and a means to get it to the target fleet.

The last couple of days there has been some heavy noise (different to the usual commercial stuff) overhead me in deepest Wiltshire, but unable to see anything due to cloud cover. However one day FR24 showed a single B-1 and yesterday were 3 KC135s' circling around. The B-1 associated noise has been heard again but no longer shows on FR24 surprisingly.

As noted later on another thread, two KC-135s and accompanying B-1s came over south eastern London on Saturday morning, the second B-1 was busy taking on four star and leaving a narrow stream of vapour in its wake. Quite a sight over a suburban area - rather noisy too; a 135 and three or four F-15s went right over the top a week or two earlier and seemed quieter - though they were higher and above cloud...

What is going on with shipping.
Latest update from Sal who has been doing a great job reporting on the Commercial Shipping.aspect of the “War”, “Military Operation” or “Excursion”. ( pick one or make up your own )

For those who wish too I highly recommend subscribing to his You Tube page

Commercial Shipping is vital, something that seems to have escaped the attention of folks in certain lofty positions of power.

Remember Winston Churchill’s statement in his memoirs, “The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.”
Without the needed cargo, fuel, food and troops WW2 may have been lost or greatly lengthened.

Given that the US is currently self-sufficient in oil - and most of Europe isn't - I'd think it might be in NATO's self-interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

I think I can sum up the Iran "expedition" from the European perspective as follows:

Week 1: We've won, we don't need any assistance"
Week 2: "We're still winning, we're the greatest"
Week 3: "Send help immediately"

A cynical view might be that assistance in keeping the Straits of Hormuz open is potentially exponentially more dangerous than anything that the US has carried out so far as it's been done entirely from the air and / or with stand-off missiles. So Trump's cunning plan is to put other nations assets and personnel directly into the firing line because any US casualties would seriously lose him support at home. Because after all the "we're winning / we've won" rhetoric, Iran is seemingly still able to fire missiles and drones at complete will and the narrow Straits of Hormuz would easily become a bloodbath.

So the card of "you need to do more, we've always been here for you" to other nations is being played so US assets and personnel are not in the front line and any casualties will not be American. Call us Europeans cynical....but many are much smarter than he seems to think.

Two questions.
1. Why can't shipping go around?
2. If we are to commit ships to opening the Strait how well equipped are they at defending against mines and mass drone attacks?
It's not like the old days where a few Destroyers and Mine Sweepers can keep a shipping lane open. We are fighting an enemy that is going to use asymmetric warfare against us. Carriers with aircraft isn't going to do a lot against mass repeated drone attacks.

Go around what?

May I suggest the simple act of "looking at a map" ...... :)

This might help you understand the statement... "The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points."

Would it be rude of me to point out that the Strait of Hormuz would be open right now if the US hadn't crashed in to the region uninvited and unilaterally started a war?

Checks map...Ahh, I see. I'm confusing the Strait with the Suez Canal. Fair enougth, I'll get me coat.

Any western warships entering the Straits will be undoubtedly get the undivided attention of the Iranian regime, who would go all out to sink one.

Trump has clearly had this explained to him, hence his desire to get others involved to share the burden (AKA take a hit for Uncle Sam).

See reply 3901