The largest armada in history now assembling in Persian Gulf
Sep 25, 2012
Cruisers, aircraft carriers and minesweepers from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war....
In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise....
The war games are the largest ever undertaken in the region....
Defence sources say that although Iran’s capability may not be technologically sophisticated, it could deliver a series of lethal blows against British and US ships using mini-subs, fast attack boats, mines and shore-based anti-ship missile batteries....
Those "anti-ship missile batteries" don't sound all that threatening, do they? But it is known that Iran has a lot of Sunburn missiles, which they have acquired from Russia. These missiles travel at mach 2.1 (at low altitude) or mach 3 (at high altitude), or 2-3 times the speed of sound. The US navy ships have no proven defense against them. Read about them here:
http://rense.com/general59/theSunburniransawesome.htm
The Sunburns are also known as the "Mosquito."
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/moskit.htm
A high supersonic speed was specified to reduce the target's time to deploy self-defense weapons, indeed the weapon was designed specifically to strike ships with the Aegis command and weapon control system and the SM-2 surface-to-air missile....
The 3M82 "Mosquito" missiles have the fastest flying speed among all antiship missiles in today's world. It reaches Mach 3 at a high altitude and its maximum low-altitude speed is M2.2, triple the speed of the American Harpoon. The missile takes only 2 minutes to cover its full range and manufacturers state that 1-2 missiles could incapacitate a destroyer while 1-5 missiles could sink a 20000 ton merchantman. An extended range missile, 9M80E is now available.
Is that Pearl harbor I smell?