Ukraine is ready to send a number of minehunting vessels currently docked in Portsmouth to assist the British and French-led multinational mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, The Times has reported, with Ukrainian Navy officers already said to be taking part in the planning meetings currently underway at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood.
The claim comes as military planners from more than 30 nations gather for a two-day conference to translate the diplomatic consensus reached at last week’s Paris summit of 51 countries into a detailed military plan for reopening the Strait, with the mission to include merchant vessel protection and mine clearance operations.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Defence Secretary John Healey said “the task, today and tomorrow, is to translate the diplomatic consensus into a joint plan to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Strait and support a lasting ceasefire.”
The vessels are Sandown-class minehunters that were transferred to Ukraine in 2023 and have been based in Portsmouth ever since, as they are unable to return to the Black Sea, with their crews training alongside the Royal Navy and receiving NATO certification to participate in naval task groups.
Ukraine’s extensive mine countermeasures experience in the Black Sea, where both Russia and Ukraine laid hundreds of mines following the 2022 invasion, makes its potential contribution to a Hormuz clearance operation practically significant rather than merely symbolic.
Mine clearance is expected to be one of the most demanding elements of any reopening mission, with Iran having mined the Strait and the US Navy already deploying autonomous systems including unmanned surface and underwater vehicles to assess and begin clearing the threat. France has also repositioned two Tripartite-class minehunters from Brest toward the Mediterranean in preparation for a possible contribution, while Germany has indicated it could provide minehunting vessels and an escort ship subject to conditions being met.
The planning conference at Northwood runs over two days and will cover military capabilities, command and control arrangements and how forces would deploy to the region, with any mission explicitly contingent on a sustainable ceasefire agreement being in place first.
But they’re obsolete 🤔
Surely you need tiny toy boats to do this nowadays ?
Oh and Great big Blue (Whale) Motherships to base Humanoids on ?
I’m sure I read It somewhere.
🥱
Ha.
Typical Spock response 🤦♂️
I know you were being sarcastic mate.
They are so obsolete NATO is still full of them.
The new autonomous kit is impressive,
but it is a shame that the conventional MCMV capability has been run down so fast before the replacement USV capability is fully bought, and up and running.
We have a handful of systems and no motherships yet ordered to base them off, except the usual measure of taking a Bay class from it’s amphibious role.
Surely an even bigger juicer target than a MCMV in those dangerous waters?
I know chaps, let’s spaff £££ on autonomous under water counter mine systems and chin off our proven minehunters so that we can meaningfully contribute to counter mine warfare. Ahh, there seems to be a problem and we’ve got foxtrot alpha that actually works in a meaningful way.
Pryvit khloptsi (Hello chaps) Let’s take as many traditional minehunters as we can, crew them up and offer them back to NATO, so that when we come back, we will get tea, medals and glory, huzzah! At the same time, our pongos will offer meaningful counter drone technology to the Arab States, earning us $$$$$ and wide-spread approval, huzzah.
One nation with a industrial plan and almost renowned Armed Forces and one nation that has an Armed Forces in a near state of disgrace with no exports?
Meanwhile, 3 more ships attacked by IRG’s.
Well done Trump the Chump.