US Navy
World's largest navy by tonnage; Hormuz conflict, Baltic seabed surveillance, and AUKUS autonomous fleet expansion.
CENTCOM disclosed its first boardings under the Hormuz blockade on 3 August, redirecting 44 vessels, as Donald Trump the same week vowed the strait would soon reopen while warning Iran of harsh retaliation otherwise.
Last refreshed: 20 August 2026 · Appears in 4 active topics
Has the US Navy's Hormuz operation actually changed Iran's strategic calculus?
Timeline for US Navy
Mentioned in: A fresh carrier, and a worn-out crew
Iran Conflict 2026Mentioned in: The corridor number that does not divide
Iran Conflict 2026Mentioned in: US officials float a 10m barrel corridor
Iran Conflict 2026Struck the Vela Nova on 11 August, the distinct prior incident this strike is compared against
Iran Conflict 2026: Mentioned in: Unclaimed Hormuz strike kills one crew memberSigned a $22.9bn contract with Raytheon
Iran Conflict 2026: Navy buys seven years of TomahawksBackground
The US Navy is the naval warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces, established 27 October 1775 and today the world's largest fleet by displacement tonnage, with approximately 340,000 active personnel and 11 carrier strike groups. Its Middle East headquarters is US Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, operating under US Central Command.
The Navy's opening weeks of the Iran campaign set the pattern for what followed: a submarine sank the frigate IRIS Dena south of Sri Lanka in early March 2026, its first torpedo kill of an enemy warship since the Second World War, before it enforced a 66-day blockade of Iranian ports from 13 April to 18 June, redirecting well over a hundred vessels.
Beyond the Gulf, the Navy invests heavily in autonomous maritime systems, and under AUKUS Pillar II is expanding trilateral autonomous maritime trials with Australia and the UK through the Maritime Big Play programme. Domestically, the Navy committed alongside the Army to $675.93 million for the Joint Laser Weapon System, a scalable high-energy laser aimed at Cruise Missiles and drone swarms, one of the largest directed-energy procurement decisions in US history.
CENTCOM boardings widen the blockade
The Navy's Hormuz blockade hardened rather than lifted through late July: CENTCOM disclosed on 3 August that it had redirected 44 vessels, nine more than the day before, and revealed its first boardings of the enforcement effort. The figures arrived the same week Donald Trump promised the strait would reopen soon, leaving the Navy's own enforcement record running well ahead of any political timetable for lifting it.
That pattern set in on 14 July, when CENTCOM reimposed the blockade only two days after claiming the strait stayed open, sending Brent Crude to $87 a barrel as daily transits fell to roughly six ships. Each reversal has cost Washington little: mines and suspended war-risk insurance already kept commercial traffic away regardless of what CENTCOM announced.
The Navy widens its seabed autonomy programme
Away from the Gulf, the Navy has pushed autonomous seabed systems into frontline allied exercises. Its Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Group 1 operated the Iver3 AUV off Latvia during BALTOPS from 8 to 10 June, the first time in the exercise's 55-year history that an uncrewed underwater system took a core role.
The Navy is also opening its supply chain beyond US builders: the Defense Innovation Unit picked Norway's Kongsberg Discovery, alongside Oceaneering International, on 15 July to design a large uncrewed submarine for the fleet, with concept plans due by the third quarter of 2026. That breaks the pattern of America-only suppliers on a programme the Navy itself will operate.
CENTCOM boardings widen the blockade
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