Overstretched: Can the U.S. Navy Protect Commerce from Iran?

August 5, 2021 Topic: U.S. Navy Region: Middle East Blog Brand: The Reboot Tags: U.S. NavyIranWarMilitaryMaritime Security

Overstretched: Can the U.S. Navy Protect Commerce from Iran?

Convoys are the worst of all strategies for protecting mercantile shipping against raiders. Except for all the others.

 

If it deters war in the Gulf, maybe convoy duty will come to count as a glamour mission after all.

James Holmes is J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College. The views voiced here are his alone. This article first appeared in 2019 and is reprinted here due to reader interest.

 

Image: U.S. Navy / Flickr