UDT 2026: Unmanned MCM systems could help clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz in weeks, given permissive environment

A USV is embarked aboard the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30), as a part of the first embarkation of the Mine Countermeasures (MCM) mission package in 2024. (US Navy)

Wargaming has indicated that unmanned mine countermeasures (MCM) systems could clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines in a matter of weeks, given a permissive environment for their operation.

Speaking virtually at Clarion Defence's Underwater Defence Technology (UDT) 2026 exhibition, held in London from 14-16 April, Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director, center for defense concepts and technology at the Hudson Institute said that a tailored force of US Navy (USN) unmanned MCM systems and supporting manned assets could clear Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz within a few weeks. However, Clark said that this result was based on an operating environment in which the unmanned systems were not substantially opposed by Iranian forces.

The wargame, conducted by the Hudson Institute, posed a scenario of two potential minefields in the strait, each 40 km by 100 km, with an average scan width for minehunting sonar of 600 m, with 70 passes needed to cover each search box, and 280 scans in total required. Each scan would take about 10 hours.

Clark's presentation listed possible assets for the MCM mission as two Independence-class littoral combat ships (LCS) for command-and-control (C2), two barges to transport unmanned systems and short-range air defence (SHORAD) systems, five small unmanned surface vehicles (sUSVs) with towed minesweeping gear or mine neutralisers, seven further sUSVs with towed AQS-20A minehunting sonars, and 14 medium unmanned underwater vehicles (MUUVs) equipped with sonar.