In the Strait of Hormuz, French mine clearance divers are preparing to intervene

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France is ready to secure and clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz. Mine clearance boats, the Lyre and the Andromeda, are already nearby to reach the area. One of our teams was able to follow the clearance divers from Toulon (Var). Likely to reach the Strait of Hormuz, they are training to spot and explode several types of mines. Real-scale simulation of naval mine elimination. A scourge, all wars combined. “Since the Second World War, every time there is a conflict where maritime space is at stake, there is the mine threat that faces”specifies Lieutenant Vianney, second in command of the Mediterranean Clearance Divers Group.

In the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranians may have laid several types of mines. They can be floating or between two waters. In this case, they explode when a ship hits them. Others are triggered when they capture a magnetic mass or acoustic elements. The underwater explosion then causes a shock wave, a gas bubble that can lift the ship. On a boat, one of the sonar drones used by the French Navy to locate underground mines is launched. “It will leave autonomously to carry out its research and hunting work. The drone’s work will be to map the seabed for us using sonars. Once it has done all this hunting, we will recover it on the surface”, explains a soldier.

Even more sophisticated, an unmanned boat acquired by the Belgian navy is equipped with robot drones. No risk of hitting a mine since there is no one on board. The drone will detect and identify each mine. It transmits all information in real time to boats or command centers located in safe areas. Then another device will neutralize the target. But do we know how many mines the Iranians have laid? “Maybe ten, maybe more, maybe none. It’s really a very strategic weapon because it’s a deterrent without needing to be used.”deciphers Admiral Didier Maleterre, vice-president and defense advisor of EXAIL.

To simply verify the presence and number of mines in the Strait of Hormuz, it takes at least two weeks. The complete resumption of maritime traffic is not for tomorrow.