Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Central Command)
The United States military has escalated operations in the Strait of Hormuz, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announcing on March 26 that A-10 Thunderbolt II jets And AH-64 Apache helicopters are now launching strikes against the Islamic Republic.
Speaking after attending a cabinet meeting at the White House, Hegseth said that A-10s and AH-64s have been flying freely at will throughout Iranian airspace.
“See, you only send these slow, low-flying, close-air support platforms when the enemy has no meaningful air defenses left. [Therefore], their presence is proof that Iran’s air defenses are gone, their command and control is shattered, and their top leaders [are] hiding in underground bunkers,” Hegseth said, shortly after reporting that more than 150 Iranian navy vessels have been sunk since the start of the war on the Islamic Republic.
A day earlier, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine said that the A-10s and Ah-64s are now actively targeting Iranian fast-attack boats, including remote-controlled vessels laden with bombs that threaten oil tankers. He added that Apaches are also engaging drones and “Iranian militia-linked threats.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously warned that any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be attacked, and the waterway — where roughly 20% of the world’s oil production passes daily — has effectively been closed since the start of the American-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic, with many vessels hit by Iranian fire there and in nearby waters.
The A-10 is a subsonic attack aircraft, especially designed to provide close air support. The jet is best known for its massive GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm seven-barrel gatling gun, which can fire 3,900 rounds per minute and has an effective range of 1,200 meters.
The jet is likely using its gun to hunt down Iranian fast-attack boats, although the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has not yet released footage showing such an engagement.
Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Central Command)
The Apache also carries a 30 mm chain gun, the M230, under its forward fuselage and four hardpoints on stub-wing pylons for armament and stores.
Interestingly, last year CENTCOM released footage revealing that at least some of the Apaches deployed in the Middle East have been upgraded to fire Israeli-made Spike NLOS missiles. With a range of up to 50 kilometers for its latest generation, the optically-guided missile gives the helicopter a unique capability.
Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Anthony Till)
The U.S. military is clearly now using all means at its disposal to escalate operations in the Strait of Hormuz. However, the waterway remains firmly under Iranian control.
Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement, the U.S. appears to be inching closer towards launching ground operations in Iran.
The U.S. has been weighing using troops to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s most critical maritime oil export hub, in the northeastern Persian Gulf as leverage over the Islamic Republic to coerce them to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Warplanes like the A-10 and AH-64 are critical for such assaults, thus, their activities near the waterway show that CENTCOM is preparing for ground operations.
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we’re doing whatever we want to iran…heheheh
if true that means they are operating out of oman, uae, qatar saudi arabia and kuwait.
iran should just do the arabian peninsula desalation plans, and send most of the 100+ million arabitch snakes packing to the eu, that way istaelis and yews can move in without a fight and realize the greater israel project once and for all.
we don’t even have to nuke their aas to take their gas.
well said amigo. we are going to rule the world again.