In a major move, the US Navy seems to have redeployed its Littoral Combat Ships USS Tulsa and USS Santa Barbara to the Indo-Pacific from the Middle East, where they had been forward-deployed for over a year. The minesweeper vessels were spotted at a port in Malaysia’s Penang, having left Bahrain.
The ship deployment in Indo-Pacific comes as Iranian attacks on commercial ships that transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz continue. The ships were spotted at the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) in the Port of Penang, according to a report by The War Zone.
The ships were among the select number of Independence-class LCSs fitted with a mine countermeasures mission package, which includes towed mine-hunting sonar for the ships, Common Unmanned Surface Vehicles (CUSV) with mine-sweeping gear, and mine detection and neutralisation systems carried by embarked MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters, the report added.
While the US Central Command (CENTCOM) of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is yet to issue a statement in this regard, moving US warships out of port in Bahrain could be a security measure as the Gulf state is very much within the range of Iranian missiles and drones.
According to The War Zone, other factors, including the availability of suitable friendly ports and diplomatic considerations, could be at play here.
However, there is no sight of the third LCS, the USS Canberra, which had also been forward-deployed in the Middle East at least as of January. It is also unclear whether any other minesweeper ships may now be headed to the Middle East.
Interestingly, the US Navy decommissioned half of its Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships last year and began replacing them with LCS that possess anti-mine capabilities. At that time, the US Navy claimed that the vessels possess the capability to locate, identify and neutralise sea mines at a safer distance than the Avenger-class vessels.
However, these Independence-class LCSs have never been deployed in combat, unlike the Avenger-class vessels.