Pentagon wants $100 million extra to be prepared for a war with Iran.
The money, requested from the Congress, is to beef up US military
presence in the Persian Gulf and rapidly upgrade weapons to more
effectively combat Iranian armed forces.
US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Gulf
region, wants them prepared to defeat the Iranian fleet and shore
artillery. They also want additional drone capabilities and mine swiping
equipment to clear the Strait of Hormuz, should Iran act to set mines
there as it threatened to, reports The Wall Street Journal.As
part of the push, US spec-op team stationed in the United Arab Emirates
has also been ordered to be prepared to take parting in military action
in the region, the newspapers says citing defense sources. The unit is
currently training elite forces of the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and other US
allies in the region.The Pentagon submitted the request for
extra funding on February 7, saying it is needed "bridge near-term
capability gaps" in the Persian Gulf. The request is yet to be made
officially public after lawmakers review it.It comes on top of
changes made last summer that provided Central Command with about $200
million for additional upgrades, some of which could be used in areas
outside the Gulf region. The earlier request asked money for a torpedo
defense system, airborne anti-mine weapons and new cyber weapons. It was
approved by the Congress.The Iranian Navy deploys relatively
small fast-moving heavily armed vessels. US naval forces have been made
to fight against larger targets and may lag in efficiency against
Iranian, American military planners believe. To close the gap, US
warships would need to be equipped with rapid-fire machine guns,
anti-tank weapons and smaller caliber guns.The planned upgrade comes on top of the nearly $82 million program to improve the Massive Ordnance Penetrator,
the largest bunker-buster bomb deployed by the Pentagon. The weapon may
be used against Iranian fortified sites, but some experts believed the
bomb would not be good enough to destroy those.Tension has been
building rapidly over the months over Iranian controversial nuclear
program. The US and its allies accuse Tehran of secretly developing a
nuclear weapon under the guise of civilian research, an allegation the
Islamic Republic denies. There is no conclusive proof of the allegation,
and even US intelligence doubts Iranian nuclear ambitions.
Nevertheless, the US and the EU issued sanctions against Iranian oil
exports in a bid to put leverage on the country.There is
speculation that Israel may launch an attack on Iranian military
facilities in a pre-emptive strike. Tehran threatened to respond with
military force against such an attack. It also said in case of a
conflict it would block the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20 per
cent of all world’s traded crude passes.http://rt.com/news/pentagon-upgrade-persian-gulf-201/