Upgrades Boost U.S. Naval Capabilities Against Iranian Threat
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The 41-year-old refurbished transport vessel overseeing an international Middle East mine-hunting exercise can defend itself from Iranian speedboats with two new machine guns cued by long-range cameras bought under a special Pentagon program.
The USS Ponce is also carrying an underwater drone being tested that’s capable of taking sonar and video images of the Persian Gulf’s bottom in search of mines as deep as 300 meters (984 feet).