How can US protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz? (part 2/2)

TL;DR

Protecting Strait of Hormuz shipping requires 15–20 destroyers, ~160 aircraft, and convoy systems the US currently lacks the assets to sustain.

Key Points

• 1.Air patrols alone are vastly insufficient. Covering the full Gulf with constant fighter coverage would require ~300 aircraft — more than the entire US Middle East inventory — making convoy-based patrol groups of ~160 jets the realistic minimum.
• 2.Radar horizon limits make ship-based air defense dangerously short-ranged. Burke destroyers can only detect low-flying cruise missiles and drones from ~20 miles; AWACS integration can extend SM-6 and ESSM Block 2 engagement range to 30–50 miles but those missiles are scarce and reserved for China contingencies.
• 3.The US would need 15–20 destroyers just to run convoy escorts. Running ~4 convoys per day for 24 ships requires roughly a dozen air-defense ships minimum; the US currently has ~11 Burkes in the region, with one carrier group departing for repairs, leaving a shortfall of ~10 ships.
• 4.Missile stockpiles are a critical constraint. At 50 Iranian munitions per day, interceptors are consumed at 300–700 per week; older ESSM Block 1, RAM missiles, and the 127mm deck gun are preferred to preserve SM-6 stocks, with guns and lasers limited to very short ranges (~5 miles).
• 5.Exotic solutions like seizing Iranian islands offer only partial relief. Smaller islands (Siri, Abu Musa, Farur) could feasibly be taken with limited casualties, but Iran retains other launch sites; Qeshm Island is too large and well-defended, and US officials have conceded full escort operations aren't viable until at least April.