Iran
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From: Over the rainbow
Are these `Friendly Fire` incidents true mistakes or are certain regimes airing their opinion? F-15's shot down by a rogue F-18. Now drones being downed?
One has to wonder.
One has to wonder.
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From: La Rochelle.
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From: UK
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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From: Peripatetic
Maybe this will persuade Trump to back Ukraine rather than Moscow....
WAPO: https://archive.is/20260306110325/ht...ce-us-targets/
e.g.
WAPO: https://archive.is/20260306110325/ht...ce-us-targets/
Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say
Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East, the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating — even indirectly — in the war, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence.
The assistance, which has not been previously reported, signals that the rapidly expanding conflict now features one of America’s chief nuclear-armed competitors with exquisite intelligence capabilities.
Since the war began Saturday, Russia has passed Iran the locations of U.S. military assets, including warships and aircraft, said the three officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
“It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,” one of the people said......
Analysts said that the sharing of intelligence would fit the pattern of Iran’s strikes against U.S. forces, including command and control infrastructure, radars and temporary structures, like the one in Kuwait where six service members were killed.
The CIA’s station at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, also was struck in recent days.
Iran is “making very precise hits on early warning radars or over-the-horizon radars,” said Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “They’re doing this in a very targeted way. They’re going after command and control,” she added.
Iran possesses only a handful of military-grade satellites, and no satellite constellation of its own, which would make imagery provided by Russia’s much more advanced space capabilities highly valuable — particularly as the Kremlin has honed its own targeting after years of war in Ukraine, Massicot said.
Nicole Grajewski, who studies Iran’s cooperation with Russia at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, said that there had been a high level of “sophistication” in the Iranian retaliatory strikes, both in what Tehran has targeted and in its ability in some cases to overwhelm U.S. and allied defenses.
“They’re getting through air defenses,” she said, noting that the quality of Iran’s strikes appeared to have improved even from its 12-day war with Israel last summer.....
Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East, the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating — even indirectly — in the war, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence.
The assistance, which has not been previously reported, signals that the rapidly expanding conflict now features one of America’s chief nuclear-armed competitors with exquisite intelligence capabilities.
Since the war began Saturday, Russia has passed Iran the locations of U.S. military assets, including warships and aircraft, said the three officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
“It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,” one of the people said......
Analysts said that the sharing of intelligence would fit the pattern of Iran’s strikes against U.S. forces, including command and control infrastructure, radars and temporary structures, like the one in Kuwait where six service members were killed.
The CIA’s station at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, also was struck in recent days.
Iran is “making very precise hits on early warning radars or over-the-horizon radars,” said Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “They’re doing this in a very targeted way. They’re going after command and control,” she added.
Iran possesses only a handful of military-grade satellites, and no satellite constellation of its own, which would make imagery provided by Russia’s much more advanced space capabilities highly valuable — particularly as the Kremlin has honed its own targeting after years of war in Ukraine, Massicot said.
Nicole Grajewski, who studies Iran’s cooperation with Russia at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, said that there had been a high level of “sophistication” in the Iranian retaliatory strikes, both in what Tehran has targeted and in its ability in some cases to overwhelm U.S. and allied defenses.
“They’re getting through air defenses,” she said, noting that the quality of Iran’s strikes appeared to have improved even from its 12-day war with Israel last summer.....
Satellite imagery from Airbus Defence and Space appears to show a AN/TPY-2 Forward Based X-band Transportable Radar, the primary radar for the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) System, having been damaged and possibly destroyed by an Iranian drone or missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
According to an investigation by CNN into this satellite imagery and others from bases in the region, buildings housing similar radar systems were also hit by Iran at two locations in the United Arab Emirates.
According to an investigation by CNN into this satellite imagery and others from bases in the region, buildings housing similar radar systems were also hit by Iran at two locations in the United Arab Emirates.
Bahrain: 2 AN/GSC-52B
UAE: 1 AN/TPY-2 TH radar
Jordan: 1 AN/TPY-2 THAAD radar
Kuwait: 8+ satellite communications
Qatar: 1 AN/FPS-132 radar
Saudi Arabia: AN/TPY-2 radar
Bahrain: 2 AN/GSC-52B
UAE: 1 AN/TPY-2 TH radar
Jordan: 1 AN/TPY-2 THAAD radar
Kuwait: 8+ satellite communications
Qatar: 1 AN/FPS-132 radar
Saudi Arabia: AN/TPY-2 radar
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From: Peripatetic
Probably totally innocent, but after a the recent precision strikes on the leadership paranoia will be rife....
Arab media have reported the execution of IRGC special forces general Ismail Qaani for espionage on behalf of Mossad.
The Emirati portal The National, citing unconfirmed sources, claims that Qaani was accused of espionage and executed.
Qaani, the head of the Quds Force special unit, survived numerous assassination attempts and was even with Khamenei during the U.S.-Israeli bombings, but managed to survive.
He also disappeared several times, for example, after Israeli strikes on Beirut in 2024, but later reappeared in public.
There has been no official confirmation of the information about his execution.
The Emirati portal The National, citing unconfirmed sources, claims that Qaani was accused of espionage and executed.
Qaani, the head of the Quds Force special unit, survived numerous assassination attempts and was even with Khamenei during the U.S.-Israeli bombings, but managed to survive.
He also disappeared several times, for example, after Israeli strikes on Beirut in 2024, but later reappeared in public.
There has been no official confirmation of the information about his execution.
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From: Peripatetic
..............
new: In a press conference, azerbaijan’s foreign minister jeyhun bayramov announced that president ilham aliyev has ordered the complete withdrawal of azerbaijani diplomatic staff from iran, including the embassy in tehran and the consulate in tabriz.
Separately, bayramov said iran has promised to investigate the drone incident in nakhchivan, after azerbaijan summoned the iranian ambassador following the strikes.
he also noted that azerbaijan’s armed forces have been placed on the highest level of readiness amid rising regional tensions
Separately, bayramov said iran has promised to investigate the drone incident in nakhchivan, after azerbaijan summoned the iranian ambassador following the strikes.
he also noted that azerbaijan’s armed forces have been placed on the highest level of readiness amid rising regional tensions
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From: Peripatetic
So much for that....
https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...ts-2026-03-03/
FT: https://archive.is/20260306015953/ht...9-2a2ba7437a25
Industry doubts Trump plan to insure Gulf oil tankers as Iran war halts transit
https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...ts-2026-03-03/
Trump orders oil tanker insurance support, says Navy could escort ships in Gulf
The US Development Finance Corporation is ~$200 billion short of the capacity needed to underwrite insurance policies for ships going through the Strait of Hormuz reports the FT.
Details include:
1. The US DFC was ordered by President Trump on March 3rd to insure vessels in the Strait of Hormuz
2. DFC reportedly has $154B of the $352B needed to underwrite insurance policies
3. Raising the total liability cap for the US DFC would require an act of Congress
4. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is now down by ~92%
Details include:
1. The US DFC was ordered by President Trump on March 3rd to insure vessels in the Strait of Hormuz
2. DFC reportedly has $154B of the $352B needed to underwrite insurance policies
3. Raising the total liability cap for the US DFC would require an act of Congress
4. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is now down by ~92%
Industry doubts Trump plan to insure Gulf oil tankers as Iran war halts transit
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From: Peripatetic
Not much use unless the Iranians don't have any RRP, otherwise they'll have to revisit every day and repeat. (Unless they took the opportunity in the following couple of hours to take out every exposed aircraft, revetment and HAS at the same time of course).
I note they used GBU-39s - pity nobody has anything like the JP-223 with denial submunitions any more.
Before/after video slideshows
I note they used GBU-39s - pity nobody has anything like the JP-223 with denial submunitions any more.
Before/after video slideshows
n the opening hours of the war, US/Israeli aircraft blanketed Iran’s Hamedan Air Base with GBU-39 SDBs, cratering runways, taxiways, and access points.
No intact stretch of asphalt longer than 1,000m remains, effectively rendering the base unusable for the IRIAF.
Dezful saw a similar treatment.
No intact stretch of asphalt longer than 1,000m remains, effectively rendering the base unusable for the IRIAF.
Dezful saw a similar treatment.
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From: Texas
‘Execution at sea’: Was IRIS Dena, Iranian frigate sunk by US in the Indian Ocean, unarmed?
Here is one such allegation.
Here is one such allegation.
While I don't know for a fact that the Iranians have the same approach to deployments away from home station, I suspect that it is similar.
Why?
If you get a signal from Fleet HQ for emergent tasking, you need to have the tools on hand to get your various missions done.
{*} The special case of Sixth Fleet deployments from Second Fleet, to the Med, was an exception. We'd have a partial load in transit, get topped off as we InChopped into the Med (from the ship that we were relieving), and then we'd in turn pass along the 'top up' to whomever relieved us as we OutChopped from Sixth Fleet. My helicopter experiences included carrying pallet-loads of ammo from one ship to another during such cross-decking...we managed to do it without mishap .
1. The enemy shoots back. Sometimes they hit what they are aiming at.
2. Coalition warfare has its own unique challenges with command and control, and airspace coordination.
The risks of blue-on-blue are increased as more parties are added to the mix. In this case it should surprise nobody that a few cases have cropped up. Disappointing, to be sure, but not wholly unexpected.
Fog of War: that phrase was coined for a good and sufficient reason.
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From: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
I note they used GBU-39s - pity nobody has anything like the JP-223 with denial submunitions any more.
I think not.
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From: Under a recently defunct flight path.
According to The Times:-
Specialist British troops have been blasting Iranian drones out of the sky with cheap high-tech missiles fired from ground launchers, The Times can reveal.
A small unit operating in northern Iraq has downed more Shahed-style drones this week than squadrons of RAF fighter jets defending the airspace above Qatar and Jordan. Its soldiers are using laser-guided lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs) armed with 3kg fragmentation warheads, which obliterate targets with shrapnel at ranges of up to 8km. Although not publicly identified, they are thought to belong to the RAF Regiment’s specialist counterdrone unit, which serves as a last line of defence against unmanned aerial attacks.
The troops, who are protecting a coalition base housing UK forces, sprang into action when Tehran launched waves of kamikaze drones at Gulf nations in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed the country’s supreme leader last weekend. They destroyed one suicide drone on Saturday, multiple on Monday, and multiple more overnight on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said, without giving specific figures. Elsewhere in the region, RAF Typhoons took down two drones in Qatari airspace on Sunday and Monday, while F-35 warplanes destroyed multiple targets over Jordan on Monday.
The RAF Regiment is equipped with Rapid Sentry, a static turret-like ground launcher for LMMs, as well as surveillance radars and an electronic warfare system that can neutralise aerial threats. The missiles, nicknamed Martlets, are estimated to cost about £50,000 each, a quarter of the price of the Asraam short-range air-to-air missiles fired by RAF combat aircraft, which are about £200,000 per shot and have a range of up to 25km.
Earlier this week, weapons analysts criticised the RAF’s use of expensive air-to-air missiles to intercept cheaply made Iranian Shahed drones, which cost between £26,000 and £67,000 each to manufacture, depending on the variant. They argued the fighter jets were effectively “firing golden bullets at plastic targets”, and could instead use their cannon to bullseye slow-moving drones in the air. Questions were also asked about why the UK appears to have failed to learn lessons from Ukraine, which uses drones to intercept thousands of Russian kamikaze devices, as well as heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft artillery and helicopter gunships.
The government said on Tuesday that it was sending two Wildcat helicopters armed with LMMs to defend RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s large airbase in Cyprus. The announcement was made after the base took a direct hit from a Shahed-style drone that slipped past UK air defences and blew a hole in a spy plane hangar. The government also announced that UK and Ukrainian counterdrone experts had been deployed to the Middle East to bolster British air defences and assist allies.
A small unit operating in northern Iraq has downed more Shahed-style drones this week than squadrons of RAF fighter jets defending the airspace above Qatar and Jordan. Its soldiers are using laser-guided lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs) armed with 3kg fragmentation warheads, which obliterate targets with shrapnel at ranges of up to 8km. Although not publicly identified, they are thought to belong to the RAF Regiment’s specialist counterdrone unit, which serves as a last line of defence against unmanned aerial attacks.
The troops, who are protecting a coalition base housing UK forces, sprang into action when Tehran launched waves of kamikaze drones at Gulf nations in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed the country’s supreme leader last weekend. They destroyed one suicide drone on Saturday, multiple on Monday, and multiple more overnight on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said, without giving specific figures. Elsewhere in the region, RAF Typhoons took down two drones in Qatari airspace on Sunday and Monday, while F-35 warplanes destroyed multiple targets over Jordan on Monday.
The RAF Regiment is equipped with Rapid Sentry, a static turret-like ground launcher for LMMs, as well as surveillance radars and an electronic warfare system that can neutralise aerial threats. The missiles, nicknamed Martlets, are estimated to cost about £50,000 each, a quarter of the price of the Asraam short-range air-to-air missiles fired by RAF combat aircraft, which are about £200,000 per shot and have a range of up to 25km.
Earlier this week, weapons analysts criticised the RAF’s use of expensive air-to-air missiles to intercept cheaply made Iranian Shahed drones, which cost between £26,000 and £67,000 each to manufacture, depending on the variant. They argued the fighter jets were effectively “firing golden bullets at plastic targets”, and could instead use their cannon to bullseye slow-moving drones in the air. Questions were also asked about why the UK appears to have failed to learn lessons from Ukraine, which uses drones to intercept thousands of Russian kamikaze devices, as well as heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft artillery and helicopter gunships.
The government said on Tuesday that it was sending two Wildcat helicopters armed with LMMs to defend RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s large airbase in Cyprus. The announcement was made after the base took a direct hit from a Shahed-style drone that slipped past UK air defences and blew a hole in a spy plane hangar. The government also announced that UK and Ukrainian counterdrone experts had been deployed to the Middle East to bolster British air defences and assist allies.
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From: Texas
Rumor; aviation content; unconfirmed.
Hearing from a few VP vets that a P-8 was on maritime patrol/surveillance mission, spotted the combatant, and provided the locating data that was fed to the sub.
Which made me wonder: has the US established, or declared, a maritime exclusion zone (rather, a Military Exclusion Zone, Maritime) in the Arabian Sea, or in portions of the Persian Gulf, associated with the outbreak of hostilities on Feb 28?
I'll do a little checking but I had not heard that such had been done.
From this, I infer that this has not been done.
For Lyneham Lad. Thanks for that article. Such a tool would be handy against helicopters (manned or unmanned) as well.
Hearing from a few VP vets that a P-8 was on maritime patrol/surveillance mission, spotted the combatant, and provided the locating data that was fed to the sub.
Which made me wonder: has the US established, or declared, a maritime exclusion zone (rather, a Military Exclusion Zone, Maritime) in the Arabian Sea, or in portions of the Persian Gulf, associated with the outbreak of hostilities on Feb 28?
I'll do a little checking but I had not heard that such had been done.
From this, I infer that this has not been done.
For Lyneham Lad. Thanks for that article. Such a tool would be handy against helicopters (manned or unmanned) as well.
Last edited by Lonewolf_50; 6th March 2026 at 14:29.
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From: Peripatetic
A weapon with near-suicidal delivery requirements, with sub munitions which can be blasted clear with high pressure water jets from something like the 'Big Wind' of 1992?
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From: Peripatetic
Oops....
A US stealth pilot who took off from Israel's Ovda Air Base forgot to turn off his transmitter on the way to Iran and was detected over Saudi Arabia, as reported by KAN correspondent Itay Blumenthal, citing Flightradar24.
This comes after Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia thanked Riyadh for pledging not to allow its territory or airspace to be used in attacks during the US-Israeli war on Iran.....
This comes after Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia thanked Riyadh for pledging not to allow its territory or airspace to be used in attacks during the US-Israeli war on Iran.....
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From: Peripatetic
Video from Iranian media:
Reportedly, a tanker is on fire in the Strait of Hormuz after being attacked by an Iranian drone.
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From: Peripatetic
Quite interesting that some of the tanker relays out of Ben Gurion have started to transmit an ADSB signal as of today. Not all are, but we are seeing their refueling orbits for the first time.
Since Mar 01, the orbits over the Northern reaches of the Persian Gulf would pop up briefly. Mode S was being used and tracking via multilateration was pretty spotty.
As of the today, ADSB signals are popping up and tracking is visible following the Saudi/Iraqi border to the same PG orbits and also to orbits over Nassiriyah in Iraq.
Why they would do this is beyond me.
Since Mar 01, the orbits over the Northern reaches of the Persian Gulf would pop up briefly. Mode S was being used and tracking via multilateration was pretty spotty.
As of the today, ADSB signals are popping up and tracking is visible following the Saudi/Iraqi border to the same PG orbits and also to orbits over Nassiriyah in Iraq.
Why they would do this is beyond me.
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From: Den Haag
I see all the UK Press are referring to the F35 pilot, who is wearing RN Lt rank slides and FAA wings, as a "Hero RAF pilot"!
For example: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...wn-iran-drones
For example: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...wn-iran-drones
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From: Peripatetic
.................
Medical staff are leaving as IRGC and Police Commanders use Tehran hospitals as shields:
"I am a member of the medical staff at Labbafinejad Hospital. Today, many of the doctors and I left the hospital.
Einollahi and General Radan are currently stationed in a room in the basement of Labbafinejad Hospital. They only have two or three others with them and brought no additional forces to avoid drawing suspicion.
Dr. Nafar (Head of Internal Medicine) and Dr. Simforoush, both of whom constantly pressure staff with threats of forced attendance or dismissal, and who are said to have played a direct role in the events of January 8th and 9th، are also in the basement with them.
Unfortunately, the hospital is full of patients."
"I am a member of the medical staff at Labbafinejad Hospital. Today, many of the doctors and I left the hospital.
Einollahi and General Radan are currently stationed in a room in the basement of Labbafinejad Hospital. They only have two or three others with them and brought no additional forces to avoid drawing suspicion.
Dr. Nafar (Head of Internal Medicine) and Dr. Simforoush, both of whom constantly pressure staff with threats of forced attendance or dismissal, and who are said to have played a direct role in the events of January 8th and 9th، are also in the basement with them.
Unfortunately, the hospital is full of patients."
New reports suggest Radan is currently sheltering at the children’s hospital Mofid in central Tehran.