Page 9: of Marine Technology Magazine (Mar/Apr 2023)

hen it comes to war, Lying in stark contrast is the US. Na- encapsulated torpedo mine, are under the old adage that the vy’s mine inventory, with just two types development. Quickstrikes are shallow best defense is a good of mines currently available – the Quick- water, air-dropped mines which are actu-

W offense rings true. No- strike and the Submarine Launched ally 500, 1000, and 2000 pound general where is this more the case than naval Mobile Mine (SLMM) – while two ad- purpose “dumb” bombs ? tted with tar- warfare, where initiative can make the ditional models, the Clandestine Deliv- get detection devices (TDDs). SLMMs difference between victory and defeat. ered Mine (CDM) and the Hammerhead are essentially heavyweight torpedoes

As an integral part of naval warfare, mine warfare – both mine countermea- sures and mine laying, or “offensive” mine warfare – will continue to in? u- ence naval operations. Yet the latter of these sub disciplines - the “other” mine warfare, as Admiral James Winnefeld,

Jr. calls it – has often been missing from mine warfare discussions. But as defense strategists assert that sea mines will play a role in future con? icts, par- ticularly in a war over Taiwan, atten- tion is increasingly being paid to this critical, if unglamorous, aspect of mari- time operations.

From the Revolutionary War to the present day, offensive mining has been a signi? cant factor in warfare at sea, send- ing ships and sailors to the bottom of the ocean, in? uencing enemies to alter or abandon operations, or even forcing bel- ligerents to the negotiating table. Mines are cheap, easy to deploy, and capable of generating tactical, operational, and strategic effects. Although highly de- structive, they can also be highly dis- ruptive; the mere presence of mines can impede merchant shipping, rattle global markets, or grind naval operations to a halt. And they don’t have to be ad- vanced to generate far-reaching effects, as we’ve seen recently in the Black Sea, where unsophisticated, Soviet-era con- tact mines have threatened grain ship- ments, and may have staved off a Rus- sian amphibious assault on Odessa.

Estimates of sea mine stockpiles vary, but Russia is thought to possess as many as a quarter million, with eighty thou- sand for China, ? fty thousand for North

Korea, and between three and six thou- sand for Iran. China has demonstrated a particular interest in offensive mining, and may possess as many as 30 differ- ent variants in its inventory, including encapsulated torpedo mines and rocket- propelled rising mines.

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