Kharg Island is the crown jewel of Iran’s oil industry. This tiny coral island handles 90% of Iran’s oil exports. The island has terminals for loading ships with up to 6 million barrels per day and can store 30 million barrels of crude oil and. Of course, it’s under the control of the loathsome Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, who mix money and terror.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” President Donald Trump told the Financial Times back on March 29. Then on Thursday, Trump bandied about a U.S. military seizure of Kharg Island. Clearly, it remains at the top of the list for strike options.
Can you imagine Iran’s oil spigot in Trump’s hands?
Just the credible threat of seizing the oil export terminals on Kharg Island might be enough to make even Iran’s hardliners sign Trump’s deal.
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This no idle threat. In fact, taking Kharg Island is a much more straightforward prospect now than it was before Operation Epic Fury. Here’s the main point: from a tactical perspective, an air assault on Kharg Island is well within the skill set of U.S. forces now in place in the Persian Gulf. The Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli have this capability. So does the 82nd Airborne Division, which deployed elements to Kuwait in March.
First off, the IRGC military infrastructure on Kharg Island has already been softened up. On March 13, U.S. forces carried out “a large-scale precision strike” and “destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites. U.S. forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure,” U.S. Central Command stated. Kharg Island targets were hit again on April 7, just before the ceasefire took hold. Remember U.S. Central Command has kept Kharg Island under 24/7 surveillance this whole time.
This would be an air assault like no other. The island is far up in the Persian Gulf and 21 miles from Iran’s coast. However, the basic concept is to fly in forces with helicopters and tiltrotors. Assault forces seize objectives, and set up defenses, essentially turning Kharg Island into one giant forward arming and refueling point. The island already has a small runway.
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It goes without saying that U.S. Special Forces will be heavily involved. In fact, the initial assault on Kharg Island could look a lot like Operation Absolute Resolve, the January raid to apprehend former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Space and cyber effects would hammer down any remnants of Iranian military activity.
Nor will it take a large occupying force to hold the island. The U.S. Air Force and U.S Navy control all the air and sea approaches. Admiral Brad Cooper at U.S. Central Command will layer in counter-drone defenses, and massive airpower.
Worried about Kharg Island becoming one big target? Don’t be. U.S. Central Command has had months to refine assault plans, defenses, and logistics. The challenge is akin to defending a forward airbase in Afghanistan, or protecting a strategic site like Guam.
If there is a U.S. assault on Kharg Island, look for these five weapons systems to play a big role.
AH-64E Apache Helicopters. Apaches didn’t stop flying after one AH-64E ditched in the Persian Gulf. These assault helicopters have been driving off IRGC small boats and functioning as drone killers for weeks. Their 30 mm guns, rockets and Hellfire missiles, plus advanced sensors, form a roving patrol with ample strike power flatten IRGC resistance.
MV-22s. The tiltrotor Osprey is part of the air assault equipment aboard USS Tripoli. The Osprey takes off like a helicopter, but can fly straight and fast like an airplane. Ospreys can move both Marines and cargo onto Kharg Island.
F-35B Lightning stealth fighter. Also aboard USS Tripoli are the Marines’ jump jets, F-35Bs with a lift fan engine for short and vertical take offs from the ship. These F-35Bs, long with their cousin variants flown by Navy carrier pilots and the Air Force, are fighter-bombers with specialized infrared detection capabilities. The Marine F-35Bs specialize in support to Marines assaulting objectives. F-35s are also expert at tracking cruise missiles and drones.
DDG-51 Arleigh-Burke-class Guided Missile Destroyers. With nearly a dozen in the Gulf region, the destroyers define the front lines, whether running through the Strait of Hormuz or providing sea-based defense against Iranian ballistic missiles.
Drone Killers. The military has raced ahead with new counter-drone systems from the quadcopter, first-person-view Bumblebee, up to the “SLAMRAAM,” a counter-drone surface-launched variant of the top-notch medium range air-to-air missile. The Army’s tube-launched Coyote drone interceptor can take on single enemy drones or swarms and defeat them with kinetic kill or electromagnetic wipe out. The system works so well the Navy has modified it for shipboard use.
An air assault of Kharg Island does entails risks. President Trump will have been briefed on casualty estimates, as he is for every major operation. But let there be no doubt. Under the blanket of U.S. air, space and maritime dominance, Kharg Island is there for the taking.
And even if no assault is ordered, the Chinese will get an eyeful of capabilities that could be used just as effectively in the Pacific.
Source – https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/five-american-weapons-could-bring-irans-oil-fortress-knees
