Officials from the US believe it could take six months from the end of the Iran war to clear mines laid in the Strait of Hormuz, thus creating an opening for autonomous surveillance vessels to secure the trade route.
One British firm is proposing swarms of autonomous solar-powered vessels to patrol the channel to detect dangers to shipping.
The micro-vessel known as Scout is just shy of two and a half metres long and fitted with solar panels that stay above the surface to create operational autonomy. Creating a fleet of surface craft would allow interested nations to patrol the troubled seas, picking up underwater threats and detecting Iran's fast boats and mine-laying activity within an 8km radius.
Data gathered would be sent back in real time to a cloud platform also developed by Scout’s makers, OnlineOceans. George Morton, the new defence company’s chief executive, believes a fleet of Scout vessels could be deployed to assist de-mining efforts in the Strait of Hormuz, without the need to put crews in the water.
“One of the challenges with de‑mining narrow, high‑traffic waterways like the Strait of Hormuz is persistent coverage,” he told The National. “Autonomous surface fleets allow continuous monitoring of the surface and subsea environment, helping identify anomalies or changes that may indicate the presence of mines, while crucially avoiding the need to put crews into hazardous waters.”
In the US, the Pentagon has informed Congress it could take six months to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines planted by the Iranian military, in a classified briefing leaked to The Washington Post. De-mining could be carried out only when the war ends, meaning the conflict’s economic impact could extend late into this year or beyond.
Iran is believed to have placed at least 20 mines in and around the strait. Some have been floated remotely using GPS technology, making it difficult for US forces to detect the mines as they are deployed.
The Iranian regime is known to have had a large stockpile of sea mines before the current war broke out. These include the Maham 3 that detonate once their magnetic sensors detect ships nearby.
OnlineOceans estimates it would take a fleet of five Scout vessels for a wide-area patrol, monitoring threats such as dark ships or illegal fishing, with each vessel costing a base price £19,000.
It can be fitted with a hydrophone that detects underwater sounds and classifies them using artificial intelligence, allowing for “real-time alerts” on shadow activity. The vessels are designed to last months at a time at sea.
The boat is not a weapon but a surveillance tool, which could be a crucial distinction at a time when international navies have indicated they would not send any warships or drones until the war's end.
The UK was in the process of withdrawing its manned minesweepers from service when the US-Iran war broke out. The British Royal Navy’s last remaining ship, HMS Middleton, left the Gulf in March, leaving a vacuum at a critical time.
The navy is now is expected to send drone minesweepers that can track and identity undersea threats, with the RFA Lyme Bay “mother ship” expected to be to based in Oman. Another proposal has been to charter passenger vessels as the mother ship to drones.
The Royal Navy motorboat Harrier could also replace manned minesweepers, with its ability to tow a system of hydrophones that scouts for mines while alerting other ships at sea and headquarters ashore.
Working at depth is also an option. Torpedo-like Iver4 underwater drones, which operate at a depth of 100 meters to locate and identify mines, could also be sent to the Strait of Hormuz.
