Analysis: U.S. Navy Prepares For Protracted Middle East Conflict

2 weeks ago

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Tensions with Iran have escalated rapidly as the Middle East braces for possible fallout of a wider conflict, and the United States continues to deploy assets to the Middle East to ensure U.S. forces and regional allies are protected.

Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15 Detachment IIA (DET IIA), based in Bahrain, embarked on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) on August 2nd. At least two MH-53Es of HM-15 stopped in the United Arab Emirates before moving on to the Roosevelt‘s position in the Gulf of Oman, roughly 70 kilometers east of the UAE. One of many moves made by the U.S. Navy as the United States prepares for the possibility of an attack on U.S. and allied forces in the region.

HM-15 is the U.S. Navy’s only MH-53E squadron following the deactivation of its sister unit, HM-14, in 2023. It retains permanent detachments worldwide, providing Navy forces with additional aircraft for VIP transport, Vertical Onboard Delivery (VOD), and Airborne Mine Countermeasures Missions (AMCM).

MH-53Es are commonly deployed on amphibious assault ships and amphibious landing docks, with very limited instances of deployments onto aircraft carriers. The last publicly known instance of an MH-53E embarking on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier was in 2018 when an HM-15 MH-53E embarked on the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) during routine carrier readiness exercises.

(April 23, 2018) Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Joshua Solo watches an MH-53E Sea Dragon from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 14 land on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). The ship is underway conducting routine training exercises to maintain carrier readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brooke Macchietto)

Breakdown of the MH-53E Sea Dragon

The MH-53E Sea Dragon’s primary mission is the Airborne Mine Countermeasure Mission (AMCM) with a secondary role for Vertical Onboard Delivery (VOD) and VIP transport. Its main feature is the Mk 105 minesweeping sled which is towed in the water behind the helicopter to trigger mines.

The MH-53E also features the A/N37U-1 Mine Clearing Set used to sever mine moorings, the Mk104 Acoustic Mine Sweep used to trigger mines by mimicking ship acoustic signatures, the AN/AQS-14(V)1 Sonar Detecting Set high-resolution towed sonar used to locate and identify mines, and the AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) which uses lasers to map undersea objects.

Compared to the MH-60S Knighthawk, a helicopter common in Carrier Air Wings, the MH-53E Sea Dragon has a more diverse set of capabilities with the ability to destroy or disable more mines per sortie. The deployment brings much needed additional capabilities to the Roosevelt CSG if a mine threat arises, most notably from Houthi forces in Yemen and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

A MH-53 Sea Dragon from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 attached to USS Anchorage (LPD 23) controls a Mk-105 magnetic mine sweeping sled during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise 2014. (U.S. Navy Photo by Ensign Lindsay Lewis/RELEASED)

Additional U.S. Navy Assets Deployed to the Middle East

The deployment of minesweeping helicopters was followed by the forward deployment of VFA-25, an F/A-18E squadron previously embarked on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, a move aimed to bolster U.S. forces tasked to defend against a possible attack by Iran targeting regional allies. Both deployments of MH-53E Sea Dragons and F/A-18E Super Hornets are a posturing move to better protect U.S. allies and forces in the region.

In a phone call with Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) to accelerate its transit to the 5th Fleet Area of Operations. The USS Abraham Lincoln has Air Wing Nine embarked, an Air Wing Of The Future (AWOTF) that fields advanced weapons and technology including the F-35C Lightning II and AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer which Naval News reported on here.

The Lincoln departed Naval Base Guam on August 8th after a four day scheduled port call, joined by three escorts from Destroyer Squadron 21 (DESRON 21); USS O’Kane (DDG 77), USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG 121). USS Spruance (DDG 111) departed Saipan to join CSG-3 simultaneously. The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is set to relieve the Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in roughly two weeks.

PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 4, 2024) The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), pulls into Guam alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Abraham Lincoln, flagship of Carrier Strike Group Three. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kassandra Alanis)

A Ticonderoga-class cruiser, USS Lake Erie (CG 70) also deployed with the Theodore Roosevelt CSG but did not accompany the carrier into the 5th Fleet AO. It most recently trained with Filipino, Canadian, and Australian Navy forces in a quadrilateral Maritime Cooperation Activity. USS Lake Erie may join the Lincoln CSG as the strike group transits through the West Pacific.

A second aircraft carrier, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), is in the final days of a COMPUTEX which precedes deployment. It is set to deploy to the 5th Fleet AO with the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Naval Aviators signal an F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to the “Knighthawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136, from the landing signal platform on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), Aug. 1. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is underway in the Atlantic Ocean completing integrated naval warfighting training. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Nass)

The U.S. Navy’s preparation for a conflict will continue in the following days as additional assets rotate into the region. The United States does not view conflict as inevitable, but does view the current crisis as a possible catalyst for regional war. Additional diplomatic efforts are well underway between Iran and the United States to mediate the ongoing crisis, but the U.S. Navy is preparing for any eventuality.

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