The Fifth Fleet of the US Navy, based in the Middle East, said that it will deploy a new task force in the region, which will include air, surface and underwater unmanned vehicles.
The decision of the American naval group was announced after the recent attacks on merchant ships in the Persian Gulf region related to the ongoing tension around Iran, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Representatives of the US Navy declined to name which systems will be implemented by the 5th Fleet with headquarters in Bahrain. Nevertheless, they promised that in the coming months, combat and reconnaissance drones will be able to expand their capabilities in the region, "which is crucial for global energy supplies," the AP notes.
"We want to install more unmanned systems over the sea, on the sea and under it," said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads the 5th Fleet. — We want to monitor more what is happening there."
Eadaily says that the area of responsibility of the US 5th Fleet includes the most important Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which about 20 percent of all oil supplies to the world market pass. It also extends to the Red Sea near the Suez Canal, a waterway in Egypt connecting the Middle East with the Mediterranean Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.
