2026年4月25日 美国东部时间早上6:00 / 福克斯新闻网
分析师称，美国海军在向无人系统转型之际，其扫雷能力处于“谷底”
作者：摩根·菲利普斯 福克斯新闻网
据报道，伊朗在霍尔木兹海峡布设了更多水雷
水雷专家、前爆炸军械军官汤姆·绍尔就美国在据报伊朗布设更多水雷后加强霍尔木兹海峡扫雷行动一事发表看法。
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随着伊朗威胁要切断全球最重要的航运航道之一，美国正加紧重新开放霍尔木兹海峡，这对近日已退役大部分专用扫雷舰、如今只能依靠规模更小的无人系统舰队执行任务的美国海军来说是一场考验。
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普已警告德黑兰不要进一步升级局势，并暗示美国准备采取行动确保海峡畅通，而伊朗军队则在这条承载着全球很大一部分石油贸易的狭窄水道布设水雷，并威胁要切断商业航运。
这场对峙目前正暴露了美国海军水雷战部署的一大弱点。在美国试图在伊朗的水雷威胁后重新开放霍尔木兹海峡之际，美国此前已退役大部分专门承担该任务的舰艇，如今只能依靠有限的老式舰艇和新型无人系统的组合，来清理这条全球最重要的航运航道之一。
当前，任何扫雷行动都在海峡的持续对峙背景下展开。美国已对伊朗港口实施海上封锁，伊朗则以袭击商船、扣押船只以及威胁完全封锁该水道作为回应。
赫格斯瑟抨击英国，称伊朗的混乱报复已将其盟友“推入美国轨道”
“海鹰号”商船在阿拉伯海湾航行，船上运送着退役的美国海军复仇者级扫雷舰：“破坏者号”、“灵巧号”、“斗士号”和“哨兵号”。（海军二等兵伊恩·佩奇 / 美国中央海军司令部 / 美国第五舰队供图）
近日至少有几艘商船遭到袭击，双方都在船只试图通过这一咽喉要道时拦截了船只，这凸显了恢复航道通行的任何行动都面临的风险。
伊朗将进一步谈判与解除美国海上封锁挂钩，而华盛顿则坚持要求获得安全保障并重新开放海峡，目前几乎没有直接达成协议的途径。
此次行动是在美国海军水雷战处理方式发生重大转变之后展开的。美国海军去年退役了其驻扎在巴林的四艘扫雷舰，结束了中东地区数十年来专用扫雷舰的部署存在。
在当前危机爆发之初，美国海军剩余的扫雷舰驻扎在日本，而非波斯湾，且配备扫雷装备的新型濒海战斗舰也并非全部部署在该地区。
多家新闻媒体援引情报评估报告称，伊朗已在海峡内布设了至少12枚水雷，不过一些估计数字更高。
如今，随着美国着手重新开放海峡，部分此类舰艇正被调回。近日有追踪显示，两艘复仇者级扫雷舰“切夫号”和“先锋号”正从东南亚向西航行前往中东，以配合扫雷行动的加紧准备。
“无需占领伊朗即可摧毁该政权的力量：更明智的战争计划”
图为土耳其海军的扫雷无人机版本。（阿里·阿特马卡/安纳多卢通讯社 via 盖蒂图片社）
这一转变使得美国海军只能依靠紧急调往战区的老式舰艇和用于探测并清除水雷的新型无人系统的组合来执行任务。
“说实话，我从未担心过扫雷舰退役的问题，因为我们已经引入了更先进的技术，”曾指挥美国海军第五舰队的退役副舰长凯文·多尼根告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
但分析师表示，美国海军在以新型系统取代老式扫雷舰的过程中仍处于转型阶段。
“我们目前正处于海军扫雷能力的谷底，”哈德逊研究所的国防分析师布莱恩·克拉克告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
克拉克表示，美国海军多年来一直在开发无人系统以取代老式舰艇，但目前可用于大规模行动的此类系统数量有限。
美国部队并非盲目地将舰艇派入水雷区。相反，行动首先以一波无人系统扫描海床，以识别潜在威胁。
水下无人机——有些呈鱼雷形状——以网格模式部署，绘制海底地图并探测可能是水雷的物体，利用高分辨率声呐将其与残骸区分开来。
“它们看起来有点像鱼雷，会绘制海底地图，”多尼根说。
与此同时，水面无人机在狭窄航道中拖曳声呐系统，而配备传感器的直升机则在靠近水面的位置扫描水雷，使海军能够详细掌握水域内的实际情况。
特朗普表达对北约的不满，称伊朗海军“已被摧毁”，美国正准备实施封锁
但识别水雷只是第一步。
“水雷清除环节才是整个过程中耗时最长的部分，”克拉克说。
一旦找到水雷，操作人员会部署遥控系统将其解除——要么就地引爆，要么使其穿孔沉没。即便如此，危险并未完全消除。
“之后还得由爆炸军械处置人员将其回收，”克拉克说，他指的是负责清理仍可能对过往船只构成威胁的残骸的爆炸军械处置小组。
美国海军目前已在与伊朗对峙期间对霍尔木兹海峡实施封锁。（斯蒂芬妮·孔特雷拉斯 摄 / 美国海军 via 盖蒂图片社）
扫雷仍是一个缓慢而有条不紊的过程，所需时间取决于水中水雷的数量和部署方式。
据《华盛顿邮报》报道，五角大楼已告知国会，这项行动可能需要长达六个月的时间。
克拉克表示，近期的兵棋推演表明，美国部队可以在数周内识别并开始清除水雷，但将它们从主要航运航道中完全清除可能需要更长时间。
“探测环节可以在几周内完成，”他补充说，清除水雷可能需要额外时间，而清理残骸并确保航道完全安全可能会使行动延长至数月。
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多尼根警告称，时间表很难预测，部分原因是美国部队必须首先确认伊朗声称布设水雷的区域是否真的存在水雷。
“当有人说某处布了雷，你必须先去核实这是否属实，而这需要时间，”他说。
US turns to drones after retiring minesweepers to reopen Strait of Hormuz amid Iran crisis
April 25, 2026 6:00am EDT / Fox News
Analyst says the Navy is at a ‘nadir’ of mine-sweeping capacity as it transitions to unmanned systems
By Morgan Phillips Fox News
Iran reportedly dropped more mines in the Strait of Hormuz
Tom Sauer, a mine specialist and former explosive ordnance officer, discusses the US ramping up mine-sweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran reportedly dropped more mines.
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The U.S. is racing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as Iran threatens one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, testing a Navy that has recently retired most of its dedicated minesweepers and is now relying on a smaller fleet of unmanned systems to do the job.
President Donald Trump has warned Tehran against further escalation and signaled the U.S. is prepared to act to keep the strait open, while Iranian forces have laid mines and threatened commercial traffic in the narrow waterway that carries a significant share of global oil.
The confrontation is now testing a weakness in the Navy’s mine-warfare posture. As the U.S. moves to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian mining threats, it is doing so after retiring most of the ships once dedicated to that mission and while still relying on a limited mix of legacy vessels and newer unmanned systems to clear one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
At the current moment, any mine-clearing effort is unfolding amid an active standoff in the strait. The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Iran has responded with attacks on commercial vessels, seizures of ships and threats to close the waterway entirely.
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The merchant vessel Seaway Hawk sails in the Arabian Gulf while transporting decommissioned U.S. Navy Avenger-class Mine Countermeasures Ships, USS Devastator, USS Dextrous, USS Gladiator and USS Sentry.(Petty Officer 2nd Class Iain Page /U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet)
At least several commercial ships have come under fire in recent days, and both sides have intercepted vessels as they attempt to move through the chokepoint, underscoring the risks facing any operation to restore traffic.
Iran has tied further negotiations to the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, while Washington has insisted on security guarantees and reopening the strait, leaving little immediate path to a deal.
The operation comes after a major shift in how the Navy handles mine warfare. The service retired its four Bahrain-based minesweepers last year, ending a decades-long presence of dedicated mine-hunting ships in the Middle East.
At the start of the current crisis, the Navy’s remaining minesweepers were based in Japan, not the Persian Gulf, and newer littoral combat ships equipped for mine countermeasures were not all positioned in the region.
Multiple news outlets have reported Iran has laid at least a dozen mines in the strait, citing intelligence assessments, though some estimates put the number higher.
Now, as the U.S. moves to reopen the strait, some of those assets are being brought back in. Two Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships, USS Chief and USS Pioneer, were tracked sailing west from Southeast Asia toward the Middle East in recent days as preparations for mine-clearing operations ramp up.
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Image shows the Turkish Navy’s version of the mine-sweeping drone.(Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The shift has left the Navy relying on a mix of legacy ships being surged into theater and newer unmanned systems designed to detect and neutralize mines.
“To be honest, that the minesweepers retired was never a concern to me, because we had brought in newer technology,” retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, who previously commanded the Navy’s 5th Fleet, told Fox News Digital.
But analysts say the Navy is still working through a transition as it replaces its older minesweepers with newer systems.
“We’re sort of at this nadir of the Navy’s mine sweeping capacity,” Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, told Fox News Digital.
Clark said the Navy has spent years developing unmanned systems to replace legacy ships, but currently has a limited number of those systems available for large-scale operations.
U.S. forces are not sending ships blindly into minefields. Instead, the operation begins with a wave of unmanned systems scanning the seabed to identify potential threats.
Underwater drones — some torpedo-shaped — are deployed in grid patterns to map the ocean floor and detect objects that could be mines, using high-resolution sonar to distinguish them from debris.
“They kind of look like torpedoes and they map the bottom,” Donegan said.
In parallel, surface drones tow sonar systems through narrow lanes, while helicopters equipped with sensors scan for mines closer to the surface, allowing the Navy to build a detailed picture of what is actually in the water.
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But identifying mines is only the first step.
“The mine neutralization part is really the long leg of the process,” Clark said.
Once a mine is located, operators deploy remotely controlled systems to disable it — either by detonating it in place or puncturing it so it sinks. Even then, the danger is not fully removed.
“You’ve got to then retrieve this thing with EOD personnel,” Clark said, referring to explosive ordnance disposal teams tasked with clearing debris that can still pose a hazard to passing ships.
The U.S. Navy has currently launched a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz amid a standoff with Iran.(Photo by Stephanie Contreras- U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Clearing mines remains a slow and methodical process that can stretch timelines depending on how many devices are in the water and how they are deployed.
The Pentagon has told Congress the effort could take as long as six months, according to a Washington Post report.
Clark said recent war-gaming suggests U.S. forces could identify and begin neutralizing mines within weeks, but fully removing them from key shipping lanes could take significantly longer.
“The finding part, you could do within a couple of weeks,” he said, adding that neutralizing mines could take additional time and that removing debris and ensuring lanes are completely safe could extend operations into months.
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Donegan cautioned that timelines are difficult to predict, in part because U.S. forces must first confirm whether mines are actually present in the areas Iran has claimed.
“When somebody says they mined it, you have to go validate if that’s even true, and that takes time,” he said.
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