Experts: Full U.S. control of Strait of Hormuz would require large force and difficult operational change

Efforts to keep or restore stable passage through the Strait of Hormuz face major operational hurdles, CBS News reported July 14, with experts saying that achieving full U.S. control of the waterway would be significantly harder than many planning assumptions suggest. The key challenge, they said, is not only confronting threats at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, but also maintaining continuous security long enough for commercial traffic to return to earlier volumes.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical shipping corridor for energy shipments, and CBS News focused on what it would take for the United States to project enough maritime security to enable oil tankers to move without sustained disruption. According to the report, restoring tanker traffic to prewar levels would likely require a much bigger U.S. naval presence than planners may have envisioned.

Experts cited the difference between temporary deterrence and longer-term control. Limited operations can reduce immediate risk, but full control implies persistent surveillance, repeated defensive actions, and the ability to respond across a wide area over time. That kind of sustained posture, CBS News said, would put a premium on ship numbers, aircraft coverage, intelligence collection, and the coordination required to manage multiple threat vectors, including those aimed at shipping lanes and offshore assets.

CBS News also reported that some experts estimate the manpower required could be extremely large if the strategy depends on land-based pressure inside Iran. In that scenario, the report said, the operational demands might translate into tens of thousands of American troops on Iranian soil, rather than relying primarily on naval forces operating from the region.

The report framed the difficulty as a matter of risk management and feasibility. Bringing traffic back to prewar levels is not only a diplomatic objective, but also an operational one for shipping companies and insurers, which must judge whether threats are likely to persist. Experts told CBS News that even when certain routes temporarily reopen, the question is whether an adversary can continue to disrupt traffic under a new security environment, and whether the United States can maintain the necessary readiness for as long as commercial shippers require.

CBS News’ reporting emphasized that any strategy aimed at controlling the strait would be costly, time-consuming, and politically and legally complex. Full control would likely involve sustained deployments that could expand the scope of conflict and draw intense scrutiny over rules of engagement, escalation risks, and the practical limits of enforcing maritime dominance in a contested environment.