What we're looking at here are oil tankers being blown up in the straight of Hormuz. Iran has successfully blocked this critical waterway, leaving the US with few options to unblock it, including sending in ground troops. But such an operation would be far from simple. The strait is heavily defended and Iran is almost certain to resist any US attack. All of which begs the question, what weapons has Iran got in the straight and what would US troops need to do to overcome them? We're going to break down everything we know about Iran's defenses and US forces currently massing in the region to find out. This is the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that runs between Iran, Oman,

and the UAE. In order to reopen it, the US will need to send warships loaded with troops into the straight. There they will face three layers of defenses, each designed to exploit a different geographical feature of this unique terrain. The first is naval mines. These are explosive devices that sit on or under the water's surface and explode if a ship passes by. Some are contact mines, meaning they will explode if a ship touches them, but others are more sophisticated and will go off if they detect passing magnetic, acoustic, or pressure signals. These devices exploit the narrowness of the straight, which is just 35 mi across at its narrowest point. That means it's very easy to

mine. Just a handful of explosives placed in this waterway will make it extremely dangerous for US warships to sail through. The next is anti-ship missiles and aerial drones. These are fired or launched from these islands or the Iranian mainland at warships in the straight. These weapons exploit the high mountains on the Iranian shore, which give good visibility over the waters below. In order to hit a moving target, you have to be able to see it and track it. Iranian observers placed in the mountains can easily do that. Once the target has been acquired, an attack team then needs to launch the drone or the missile. Here, the mountains help out again, providing plenty of hidden launch

sites from which to get the weapons into the air. On Keshum Island, here Iran is thought to have dug underground tunnels and bunkers for the same purpose. Finally, there's sea drones and attack speedboats. These are small craft armed either with missiles and machine guns or loaded with explosives. The terrain feature they exploit is the rugged coastline on the northern part of the straight. Just like the mountains, this provides plenty of coes and caves where the boats can be concealed until they're needed. Once launched, they power into the straight and attack from close range, either firing at the warships or

crashing into them and blowing up. In a one-on-one fight, a US warship would easily overpower them. But deployed as a swarm from close range and utilizing their speed to strike quickly, they could cause significant damage. Once these defenses have been neutralized, America can deploy its ground forces. There are various options for how they could be used. First, thousands of Marines could be sent to seize some of the small islands on the inside of the straight. This would involve using Osprey helicopters, hovercraft, and other landing boats to get the troops and armor onto the shore. These islands are thought to be lightly defended, so eliminating Iranian forces there shouldn't be much of a problem. Once in

control of the islands, US troops could set up aerial defenses to help guard the strait from attacks by drones and missiles. And they could act as spotters, identifying areas of the coast or larger islands from where Iran is launching its boats and sea drones so they could be hit by US air strikes. Once the missiles and boats are neutralized, that clears the way for special mine sweeping ships to move into the straight and clear the mines. All three layers of Iran's defenses would then be out of the way, allowing tankers to flow through once more. A second option is that the Marines could attack the larger islands much closer to the Iranian shore. They are more heavily defended. So fighting here would be harder and likely result in more

casualties. But it would also allow the Marines to eliminate more drone, missile, and boat launch sites, reopening the straight more quickly. or the Marines along with US special forces could be sent to the Iranian mainland to wipe out all of Iran's missile and drone launch sites in one go. This option carries the most risk. Fighting up mountains against a well-impeded enemy with reinforced defenses is very hard work. Casualties would likely be heavier than option one or two, but this would be the most decisive. A fourth option requires us to pan out a bit. This is K Island. This is important to Iran because it refineses 90% of its crude oil. Taking it would not reopen Hormuz

in and of itself, but it would hand America a major bargaining chip which could be exchanged for reopening the straight. To pull this operation off, US warships would first have to fight their way through the straight of Hormuz. Once in position off K Island, they could launch an assault on it, likely backed by thousands more US paratroopers flying out of somewhere like Uwait. Iranian defenses on this island are thought to be substantial. These include anti-ship missiles which could fire at the warships and landing craft and anti-air missiles which could hit the aerial transports. The IRGC, the fanatical army of the regime, is thought to have bases here and would almost certainly contest

the landing. However, once defeated, Iran is not thought to possess the capability to launch a counterattack and retake the island. And targeting the island with drones or missiles would also be difficult because it would involve Iran shooting at its own valuable oil refineries. This is the Hail Mary play, the largest, riskiest, but potentially most rewarding option open to the US. If we go back to the tapes, then we can see some of what we were just talking about in action. Here we can see footage of Iranian boat drones. This is thought to be a video of one hitting an oil tanker that tried to pass through Hormuz early during the war. You can see how it strikes the side of the vessel and then explodes. And

this footage shows an Iranian test of one of these weapons. They're not sophisticated, but if they can find their targets, they're very destructive. Meanwhile, this footage shows Iran test launching its anti-ship missiles, effectively carrying out target practice for any US ships that enter the Strait of Hormuz. And this video shows its aerial drones. Again, they're not sophisticated, but Tran is thought to possess tens of thousands of them. Used together as a swarm, they can easily overwhelm defenses and have proved to be Iran's most destructive weapon of the war so far. Finally, this is the Marine

Expeditionary Unit that America has just deployed to the Gulf. These troops are on training exercises here, but could soon find themselves doing all of this for real. And these are the paratroopers. Again, this footage is from an exercise. But they could soon find themselves jumping out of a jet and into combat. So, what does all of this mean for the war? Well, the outlook isn't positive. Iran has succeeded in choking off the world's energy supplies and looks unlikely to stop unless it's forced to. And America's options for using force aren't great. Until now, it has been relying solely on air power. But that alone is very unlikely to get the oil flowing again. But all those operations we just saw are fraught with

risk. Not so much seizing the islands themselves or destroying the coastal defenses. It's what comes next that's the real problem. Once on the islands or the Iranian mainland, the US military would be faced with a tough choice. Stay or go. Of the two, going is obviously the more attractive. They go in, destroy what they need to destroy, and then get out. That exposes them to the minimum possible amount of risk and stops the war spiraling into the kind of endless occupations we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it also means that once the troops are gone, Iran can simply come back and reoccupy their old positions. From there, they can start launching attacks on oil tankers again. And it won't take many of those to stop

civilian ship captains from sailing. Unless the raids are so devastating that Iran capitulates there and then, and there seems to be little prospect of that at the moment, then they could end up being a temporary fix, which is good, but not great. America may find itself having to relaunch the whole operation just a few weeks or months later. Staying on the islands or the Iranian mainland means that can't happen, but comes with a ton of risks of its own. Being on those islands means being within range of Iranian drones, missiles, even some kinds of longrange artillery firing from the mainland. The islands are fixed, so they won't be difficult for the Iranians to hit, and

US troops will have to work very hard to defend themselves. Almost certainly some of them will be killed, putting further pressure on Trump's already unpopular war. Either way, sending in US troops seems more likely to escalate the war than to end it. But Trump may feel he has no choice. Keeping things the way they are, with global oil supplies slow to a trickle, isn't sustainable. The US appears out of good options and easy wins. What comes next is likely to be a lot more difficult and costly. That's where this tape stops, but we'll be back soon to play you through another episode of War on Tape.

Hey everyone, thanks for watching. If you want more videos like this in your feed, don't forget to hit like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.