Bahrain is being beefed up:
“Bahrain is going to suddenly emerge” in the eyes of the public and the Defense Department, [CNO Admiral Jonathan] Greenert said. He described a plan to bring two more coastal patrol ships to the island nation in the spring, along with a long-term proposal to port littoral combat ships, which could replace the current fleet of minesweepers that operate here. The first littoral combat ships are expected to arrive in Bahrain in 2018 with rotational crews, he said later in an interview with Stars and Stripes.
Those two ships would be the Cyclone-class vessels USS Hurricane (PC 3) and USS Monsoon (PC 4), as I noted in the summer.
Along with other assets like USS Ponce to support small boats and drones, and led by a larger LCS that is an acceptable (if still expensive) risk to show the flag, these are forces better able to grapple with the Iranians while the carriers stand out to sea in the Arabian Sea to project power into the Gulf and Iran's coastal regions in support.
