James McHugh

We know what that looks like.

But we also know that if you're very close to the coast, that becomes quite hard to defend against.

And they're very mobile.

Iran's launches are very mobile.

They've configured themselves specifically to be hard to strike back.

And so that's threat number one.

Threat number two is the surface threat, by which I mean their fast attack craft and their uncrewed drones.

They've got well over 3,000 of those.

And these aren't pulled up in a base that you can attack.

These are dispersed along the coastline in people's garages, packed with explosives.

And they've had 30 years to coordinate how to practice this without necessarily getting command and control from Tehran.

So it's not very sophisticated, but it's very hard to defeat.

And then there's the subsurface threat, which is the mini submarines and the mines.

And the mines, of course, could change this metric on its head almost instantly if they start getting used.

So if you're to escort, you have to be able to deal with all those three things.

Or, and this is critical, you have to write them down to the point where they are no longer a threat.

Has there ever been a reason for that?

I mean, has it been some sort of dispute between the authorities in New Mexico and federal investigators?

Has it slipped between the cracks there?

Because, as you say, it does seem extraordinary.