Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Pentagon briefing Friday, however, that there was \u201cno clear evidence\u201d of mines in the strait. <\/p>\n
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Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, said<\/a> Monday that U.S. forces destroyed storage bunkers for naval mines during a U.S. strike<\/a> on military targets on Iran\u2019s oil export hub, Kharg Island, on Friday. U.S. forces also destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers<\/a> last week, according to CENTCOM. <\/p>\n Iran is estimated to possess roughly 6,000 mines, according<\/a> to a congressional report published Wednesday. The stockpile may include limpet mines, which are typically attached to a ship manually by a diver; moored mines, which float below the water\u2019s surface and are tethered to the seabed; bottom mines that rest on the seabed; and drifting mines, which float above the water\u2019s surface and detonate upon contact.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at the U.S. Navy\u2019s arsenal of minesweepers, littoral combat ships equipped with countermine capabilities and helicopters outfitted with anti-mine technology.<\/p>\n Avenger-class minesweepers <\/p>\n The Navy currently has four Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships stationed in Sasebo, Japan, that it could forward deploy to the Middle East in support of Operation Epic Fury if necessary.<\/p>\n The service commissioned 14 Avenger-class minesweepers beginning in the 1980s, but has since retired nearly all of them.<\/p>\n The service had four deployable minesweepers stationed in Bahrain up until 2025, but they were decommissioned<\/a> and replaced with littoral combat ships equipped with minesweeping and mine-hunting capabilities. Each of the minesweepers decommissioned had served for over 30 years.<\/p>\n These vessels, which utilize sonar and tethered remote operating vehicles to identify mines beneath the water\u2019s surface, were used during the Gulf War to destroy over 1,000 mines off of Kuwait.<\/p>\n RELATED They sweep and destroy mines by detonating them with an acoustic device that emits a noise meant to trigger sound-sensitive mines or with an electromagnetic tool that emits an electromagnetic field to trick magnetically induced mines into exploding.<\/p>\n They also drag cables and cutters behind them to intercept and sever the tethers attached to moored mines. Once the tether is cut, the mine floats to the top and is destroyed.<\/p>\n Minesweepers are constructed of wood and fiberglass in order to produce a nonmagnetic signature and low acoustic footprint that will not trigger mines to explode, allowing the vessels to operate inside and near a mine-threat zone.<\/p>\n Minesweepers also host<\/a> two .50-caliber machine guns and two Mk 19 grenade launchers.<\/p>\n The Navy has sought to modernize its minesweeping capabilities by rotating out its aging minesweepers in Bahrain for Independence-class littoral combat ships uniquely fitted with a mine countermeasures mission package<\/a>.<\/p>\n The USS Canberra was<\/a> the first LCS with the MCM package to arrive in the Middle East on May 22, 2025. The USS Santa Barbara and USS Tulsa, two other littoral combat ships with the MCM package, joined it shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n All three are homeported in Bahrain.<\/p>\n As of Monday, the USS Canberra was operating in the Indian Ocean, parts of which fall under the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, the U.S. 5th Fleet told Military Times in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n The USS Santa Barbara and USS Tulsa were conducting brief logistical stops in Malaysia, according to the U.S. 5th Fleet.<\/p>\n \u201cU.S. forces routinely make port calls in Malaysia as part of our operations,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n The MCM package is used exclusively by Independence-class littoral combat ships.<\/p>\n Littoral combat ships are made of aluminum and do not possess the same unique ship architecture as the nondetectable minesweepers, and as a result, they can only operate outside a mine-threat zone.<\/p>\n The LCS employs unmanned surface and underwater vehicles to travel into an area where mines have been laid to discover and destroy the mines.<\/p>\n These unmanned vessels utilize the AN\/AQS-20<\/a> mine-hunting sonar system, which is towed and uses sensors to pinpoint the location of bottom mines and moored mines.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HZ7ROJ55LRBU3BBGT3U7I3BXQU.jpg\")
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An unmanned surface vehicle is craned aboard the USS Canberra as a part of the first embarkation of the MCM mission package, April 23, 2024. (MC1 Vance Hand\/U.S. Navy)Independence-class littoral combat ships <\/p>\n