US F-15E Strike Eagles have been flying patrols over the Strait of Hormuz armed with cluster munitions, as well as a variety of other weapons, The War Zone Drive website reported.
“These weapons could be useful for beating back swarms of small boats, such as those belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC,” said the site.
Images emerged of the cluster munition-armed F-15Es on July 31 as part of an official news item from the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing about the Surface Combat Air Patrols, or SuCAP, it said.
The 380th is the Air Force's main unit at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. The Strike Eagles, assigned to the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Wing, had arrived there in June, it said.
Pictures show at least some of the aircraft carrying Wind Corrected Munition Dispensers (WCMD), a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system guided canister that can carry a number of different cluster munitions, added the report.
The sorties come amid growing tensions between the United States and Iran, as well as the IRGC's harassment and seizure of a number of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks.
In Moscow, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday it had the impression that Washington was looking for a pretext for conflict in the Arabian Gulf.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing that a US move to create a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz looked like a crude attempt to pressure Iran.
