Perhaps the most dangerous thing at sea is neither missiles, nor submarines or aircraft carriers, but those invisible things.
The center of the tense situation in the Strait of Hormuz is a killer weapon: mines. They are powerful, low-cost, abundant, hard to detect, and can deal with billion-dollar ships.
Mines come in many types, each designed for different traps:
* Drifting mines, which float freely with the current and detonate upon contact with the water surface.
* Floating contact mines, located just below the water surface, which explode when a ship touches their probes.
* Moored contact mines, fixed to the seabed with ropes, like underwater tripwires, waiting for their moment.
* Influence mines are more intelligent, capable of detecting a ship's magnetic field, engine noise, or pressure waves.
* Bottom mines lie quietly on the seabed until a target passes overhead.
* Self-burying mines are hidden in the sediment, making detection extremely difficult.
There is also the most advanced type: rising torpedo mines, which detect a target and then launch a torpedo upward to hunt down ships or submarines.
This is why mines are a "hidden dagger" geopolitical weapon. It doesn't even need to sink a ship; just having everyone know that these things are floating in the sea makes it impossible for ships to pass through.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1859446704576512/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.