The U.S. Navy has virtually no dedicated minesweeping assets in the Persian Gulf at the moment it needs them most. Two of the three littoral combat ships equipped with mine countermeasure packages and assigned to the Middle East were docked in Singapore as of March 18, after a maintenance stop in Malaysia. The third was reportedly somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

The vulnerability has come into sharp focus amid Washington's standoff with Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz, as former British Royal Navy officer Alexander Wooley has noted in the Washington Post, "Hvylya" reports. The Navy retired most of its Avenger-class minesweepers last year, with only four remaining in Japan. The replacements - Freedom and Independence-class littoral combat ships fitted with unmanned mine-hunting vehicles - remain untested in combat.

The LCS vessels have a troubled history. Wooley described the program as "disastrous," plagued by structural defects, mechanical breakdowns, and a lack of weaponry compared to frigates or destroyers. The Navy has acknowledged the ships "would be overmatched" against a peer competitor like China, admitting they lack "the lethality or survivability needed in a high-end fight."

During World War II, the U.S. Navy operated hundreds of minesweepers. Today it has a handful. The drastic reduction reflects decades of neglect toward mine warfare, a discipline Wooley called "an orphan, receiving the floor sweepings of defense budgets." The consequences are now tangible: until Washington recruits minesweeping assets from elsewhere, it has few options in the Gulf.

The gap leaves the U.S. dependent on allies - particularly European navies that historically handled the unglamorous work of clearing mines. But those allies have their own problems. Trump has demanded that Europeans clear the strait, yet even the combined Western fleet faces a transition from aging conventional platforms to unproven new technologies.

Also read: McChrystal earlier warned that even one tanker hit per week could effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz.