Calls for allied help during the recent Iran conflict exposed a shortage of mine-countermeasure ships that were free and suitable for deployment. Several NATO navies had removed specialist forces on the assumption that another ally would retain them. Because many governments made the same calculation, the alliance discovered that no one possessed enough of the supposedly shared capability. Collective planning fails when every member treats the same niche as someone else's responsibility.
Notable Point · 3:48:06-3:49:22
Allied reliance created a mine-countermeasure gap
Several allies discarded mine-countermeasure capacity while assuming another navy would retain it, leaving no ready force when demand returned.