China has now demonstrated multiple times the ability to not only assemble, but also coordinate the movements of approximately 200,000 civilian boats and small speed boats. Certainly Iran also has an estimated 3,000 and 5,000 vessels in and around the Persian Gulf, and more importantly the Hormuz Strait, operated by the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Several hundred are armed with light anti-ship missiles while almost all of the remaining vessels are operated like technical vehicles, with mounts for large machineguns and other smaller arms like anti-tank rockets. Only the Japanese appear to be contemplating plans to neutralize this unorthodox mass of small vessels. Clearly the large swarms of medium craft are the more significant threat than the smaller boats, but surely they all will pose a major security threat.
My question to the forum is, barring extremes like nuclear weapons, how do you deal with the threat of a large group of coordinated boats and medium craft swarms? Let's say we see threats in at least four categories: (1) groups of approximately 100 vessels, (2) groups of approximately 1,000 vessels, (3) groups of approximately 10,000 vessels, and (4) all of the available Chinese vessels coordinated in one attack. Do you wait for them to coordinate in open water or pre-emptively strike them in their home ports? Come up with ideas how to deal with one or more category.
My question to the forum is, barring extremes like nuclear weapons, how do you deal with the threat of a large group of coordinated boats and medium craft swarms? Let's say we see threats in at least four categories: (1) groups of approximately 100 vessels, (2) groups of approximately 1,000 vessels, (3) groups of approximately 10,000 vessels, and (4) all of the available Chinese vessels coordinated in one attack. Do you wait for them to coordinate in open water or pre-emptively strike them in their home ports? Come up with ideas how to deal with one or more category.
