U.S. troop ship crossing from Iran's coast

In fact the USS "Ponce" almost ready for the museum. The transport ship was launched in 1966 should be scrapped in March 2012 even. Now it provides the U.S. Navy a great strategic advantage in the conflict with Iran in the Persian Gulf. For the "Ponce" was revived - and is a multi-function base off the coast of Bahrain. As the "New York Times" reported on Thursday, the warship arrived already in the last week in the crisis area. The first mission: demining in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important transport routes for oil at all. The "Ponce" will serve as a helicopter landing pad and mine divers as the base. In addition, smaller, more agile minesweepers on the high seas to be refueled and serviced. According to "NY Times" this is only part of the tasks that the armed forces in continuous conflict with Tehran have planned for the "Ponce". Should the situation worsen, could U.S. special forces and strike forces will be housed on the ship - and the "Ponce" start out their missions. It would take only a few mobile homes, which would find easily on the long deck of the ship space. Even then, would still be sufficient space available to make the land for use on land necessary helicopter. Therefore, the "Ponce", one of the oldest ships in the U.S. fleet, upgraded complex. Now they can take advantage of the speed boats and "Black Hawk" helicopter of the special forces as a mother ship. The decisive advantage over most other warships: According to "Washington Post", the "Ponce" with its large fuel reserves to remain at sea for a long time and also provide other vessels with diesel. For years, the leadership of the U.S. special forces required for such a mobile platform at sea, which can be moved quickly to crisis regions. Officially confirmed, this double feature of "Ponce" is not. 

New base ships in the pipeline?

It would have been not only a military calculus that has accelerated the transfer of a ship in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy is the concept of operating in international waters multifunction base so convinced that they would like to order only to complete two new ships of similar design. Cost: about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. This requires, however, the consent of Congress. Proven to be the "Ponce" now in the Iran conflict, which could improve the chances of a new building. What is new is the idea of ​​a floating base is not, however. During the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 granted the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier "Kitty Hawk" is empty and the Special Forces made him an ideal base for operations on land disposal. Originally saw the plan before games even more radical solutions. Oil drilling platforms they should be pulled together in crisis areas and connected to a giant runway in the sea. The idea was rejected: the less mobile islands would have been too easy target.