Rumours and Threats of Wars:

Matthew 24:6-8 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Mark 13:7-8 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

Rumours and Threats of Wars:  Iranian gunboats backed away in a showdown with a Royal Navy frigate after staring down the barrel of the ‘perfect weapon’

Ryan Pickrell Jul. 11, 2019, 4:41 PM Business Insider

When three Iranian gunboats attempted to seize a British oil tanker on Wednesday, a Royal Navy frigate intervened, reportedly taking aim at Iranian vessels with the “perfect weapon” while warning their crews to stand down.

The Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose positioned itself between the tanker and the approaching Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels and trained its deck guns on the gunboats, CNN reported, adding that the Montrose is equipped with two 30 mm guns designed to repel small fast-moving watercraft.

“The fact that it was military ships, the IRGC in this case, creates a certain level of tension. It moves the confrontation from a maritime safety issue into a security issue,” the retired US Navy Capt. Rick Hoffman told INSIDER.

The Iranians withdrew without the situation escalating further.

Hoffman, who frequently came in contact with Iranians while commanding frigates and cruisers in the Middle East, said the Royal Navy frigate was armed with guns ideal for targeting the Iranian gunboats.

“They are the perfect weapon,” he said of the 30 mm guns on the Montrose. “It has a high volume of fire, a high rate of fire, and it has a lethal kinetic projectile. I don’t have to hit that thing with many of those before the vessel is incapacitated or destroyed.”

The British Type 23, or Duke-class, frigates are equipped with hard-hitting DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun systems, which consist of a 30 mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II cannon on an automated mount. The guns can fire off a couple hundred rounds per minute at ranges in excess 2 nautical miles.

The Royal Navy began refitting its frigates with these weapons a little over a decade ago as part of the littoral Defensive Anti-Surface Warfare upgrade.

“We don’t know the British rules of engagement,” Hoffman told Business Insider. “If the commander felt there was a risk of a military action by those vessels, under rules of engagement that we have experienced in the past, they may very well have had the authority to open fire. And they have a huge advantage.”

At range, the ship with this weapon has a “substantial advantage,” he said. As the Iranian vessels close in, something they can do while the British vessel determines intent, the threats posed by these boats increases. Regardless, these small craft are going to be outgunned.

“They’ve got to come through that spray of fire with some sense of resolution,” Hoffman said.

The HMS Montrose also sent out a helicopter, an AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat that circled the Iranian gunboats, while the British warship issued warnings to the Iranian commandos before they departed, according to US and UK officials.

Iran has denied impeding the British oil tanker, the BP vessel British Heritage, saying that if it really wanted to seize this ship, it would have. The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz was filmed by a US air asset, but the US military has yet to release the video footage.