MANAMA, Bahrain - Standing on the deck of the Navy’s USS Ponce, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the United States is entering a new nuclear pact with Iran “very clear eyed” and it remains to be seen whether Tehran is serious about keeping its nuclear development peaceful.
Hagel’s tour Friday of the ship gave him a platform to showcase America’s vow that its military commitment to the region remains strong and will not ebb as a result of the Iranian deal.
It also shined a spotlight on one of the Navy’s new warship programs that allows the U.S. to position a staging base for commando units or other troops anywhere in the region without treading on any other nation’s soil.
The next six months present a very wise opportunity “to see if the Iranians are serious about following through with commitments they have said they would make” about not developing their nuclear capabilities, Hagel told a crowd of Navy sailors and civilian mariners on the USS Ponce, which was docked at the U.S. base in Bahrain.
But at the same time, he said, “We are not going to change any of our military posture in this area or any part of the world during that six month period. We will keep the same kind of strong assets, the same exercises, the same partnerships, the same focus on our strategic interests as we did before we entered into this six month period.”
He was visiting Bahrain less than two weeks after international leaders reached a deal with Iran that would freeze parts of its nuclear program in exchange for some relief from Western economic sanctions.
The deal, however, has escalated tensions in the region, where some leaders worry it could embolden Iran and destabilize the area.
After his tour of the ship, he told crew members that the Ponce represents America’s ability to respond to threats in a region that he said remains dangerous, combustible and unstable.
“It’s as flexible and agile as any platform that we have,” he said.
Launched last year as a test program, the Ponce was a former amphibious transport ship that was retrofitted to become a floating staging base. For the past year, it has deployed through the Arabian Sea, participating in mine countermeasure exercises with other nations. It also has conducted several rescues of mariners, including one last month of four Bahraini men who were adrift in a fishing skiff for two days about 30 nautical miles off Bahrain’s coast.
The Ponce’s key ability, however, is to provide a base for special operations forces or other units that can then be quickly deployed into the region. It can accommodate two helicopters and also carries the Navy’s unmanned drone, the Scan Eagle. And beginning next year, it is expected to get the Navy’s first new laser weapon system that uses an infrared beam to defend the ship.
Navy leaders have concluded that the Ponce has been a successful experiment and have ordered the construction of four new ones at a projected cost of more than $2.1 billion.
The first, called a Mobile Landing Platform, has been delivered to the fleet and the second Mobile Landing Platform is under construction. They will be used largely as piers to support the transfer of equipment at sea. The other two ships will be larger floating staging bases with the ability to carry more troop gear and equipment. They will be used primarily for mine countermeasure and commando missions.
The third ship also is under construction, but because of budget constraints the contract for the fourth ship is being delayed.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/07/2013