Chinese Sea Mines Are Threatening the U.S. Navy

[rangerrebew]

September 13, 2019

Chinese Sea Mines Are Threatening the U.S. Navy

Chinese naval strategists want to push the United States Navy as far away as possible.
by Lyle J. Goldstein


In the closing phases of the Pacific War, American military strategists ingeniously combined two weapons systems, the revolutionary long-range B-29 bomber and the comparatively simple parachute-retarded influence sea mine with magnetic or acoustic exploders, to wreak havoc on the Japanese economy and Japanese morale. The effort to sow Japan’s waterways thoroughly with thousands of mines was named, aptly enough, Operation Starvation and this effort proved highly effective in helping to reduce Japan to its knees.  Nevertheless, the U.S. Navy has also been on the “receiving end” of skillfully employed mine warfare and these cases are more recent. The classic case is from the Korean War when mines laid off North Korea prevented U.S. forces from making an efficient invasion at Wonsan. A number of allied mine warfare ships were sunk in that operational fiasco.  During the Persian Gulf War, two U.S. Navy ships, the Tripoli and also the Princeton, were both seriously damaged by Iraqi mines.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/chinese-sea-mines-are-threatening-us-navy-80251

[Elderberry]

Chinese Mine Warfare

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/ship-mine.htm

China has taken notice of the U.S. Navy’s vulnerability to sea mines. One such example is when, in February 1991, “the billion-dollar Aegis cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) suffered a ‘mission kill’ from an Iraqi-laid Italian Manta multiple-influence bottom mine costing about $25,000…”

What is particularly menacing about the Chinese mine warfare capabilities is that the Chinese have a diverse selection of “dumb” impact mines as well as “smart” self-navigating and remote-controlled mines that could possibly be used in the South China Sea.

The “magnetic influence” triggering mechanism detects changes in the magnetic fields around the mine. When a ship with a steel hull moves though the earth's magnetic field, a slight distortion occurs in the surrounding area. Although slight, this distortion is significant enough to trigger a mine. A similar technology, electrical potential influence, detects the electric currents caused by dissimilar metals immersed in sea water. Since the hull of a ship and the propeller are made of different types of metal, an electrical current is created when the ship moves through sea water.

The magnetic influence trigger is susceptible to mine sweeping using equipment that simulates the magnetic distortion created by a ship. This equipment is pulled through the water creating a magnetic field that is similar to that of a larger craft causing the mine to detonate a safe distance away from the mine counter measure personnel. A few examples of mines using electromagnetic influence technology are the MINEA family of mines, the MANTA mine, and the Chinese EM-53 mine.

Chinese officials have begun to seriously consider the advantages of mine warfare and its application to its area-denial strategy. These ‘weapons that wait’ are the quintessential naval asymmetric threat, pitting adversaries’ strengths against what they perceive as naval and maritime weakness. Indeed, sea mines are key to regional navies’ antiaccess / area-denial (A2/AD) and sea-control strategies and operations. China’s sea mine warfare is an often overlooked asymmetric capability that poses a threat not just to U.S. shipping interests, but to those ships of any other country that seeks innocent passage through the South China Sea.