Iran
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From: Dorset UK
The great circle from Alaska to Qatar goes almost over the North Pole slightly on the Russian side. I don't think an Asian routing would be very easy as there are not many USA friendly air bases. Coming via the UK gives lots of alternates if things go wrong.
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From: Under a recently defunct flight path.
More attacks on shipping. (The Guardian)
Reuters reports that the vessel was a crude oil tanker owned by an Athens-based company.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the assaults, though they follow a months-long campaign by the rebels targeting shipping through the Red Sea corridor over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
After a recent two-week pause, their attacks resumed after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, amid concerns of a wider regional war. Iran backs the Houthis as part of what it calls a regional “Axis of Resistance.”
In the first attack, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded close to the ship Thursday, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Two smaller craft, with men aboard wearing white and yellow raincoats, launched the RPG, the UKMTO said.
The second attack came early Friday, with a missile “exploding in close proximity to the vessel,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel and crew are reported to be safe.”
The private security firm Ambrey reported that the ship was hit by a drone that caused no injuries or physical damage.
“The vessel was assessed to be aligned with the Houthi target profile,” Ambrey said. “The vessel was assessed to have been targeted earlier in the day.”
Then came the third attack with the drone boat, where private security guards on board “opened fire and (were) able to successfully destroy the vehicle,” Ambrey said.
Though the Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, it sometimes can take hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults. They’ve also claimed others that apparently haven’t happened.
Crude oil tanker in Bab el-Mandeb Strait targeted in suspected Houthi attack
The Associated Press reports that three suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait linking the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, including one that saw private security guards shoot and destroy a bomb-loaded drone boat, authorities said on Friday.Reuters reports that the vessel was a crude oil tanker owned by an Athens-based company.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the assaults, though they follow a months-long campaign by the rebels targeting shipping through the Red Sea corridor over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
After a recent two-week pause, their attacks resumed after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, amid concerns of a wider regional war. Iran backs the Houthis as part of what it calls a regional “Axis of Resistance.”
In the first attack, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded close to the ship Thursday, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Two smaller craft, with men aboard wearing white and yellow raincoats, launched the RPG, the UKMTO said.
The second attack came early Friday, with a missile “exploding in close proximity to the vessel,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel and crew are reported to be safe.”
The private security firm Ambrey reported that the ship was hit by a drone that caused no injuries or physical damage.
“The vessel was assessed to be aligned with the Houthi target profile,” Ambrey said. “The vessel was assessed to have been targeted earlier in the day.”
Then came the third attack with the drone boat, where private security guards on board “opened fire and (were) able to successfully destroy the vehicle,” Ambrey said.
Though the Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, it sometimes can take hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults. They’ve also claimed others that apparently haven’t happened.
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From: Royal Berkshire
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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From: Peripatetic
Dont believe a word of it. Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Jarida is reporting that on Friday the first hotline ever between Washington and Tehran was established to allow direct communication between the United States and Iran in order to prevent a full-scale regional war and to allow for de-escalation; with senior U.S. officials claimed to have already used the line to demand that any kind of Iranian retaliatory strike against Israel be postponed by at least two weeks, which is said to have been Aareed to by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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From: Peripatetic
U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and Carrier Strike Group 3, which departed Guam yesterday, to expedite their deployment to the Middle East.
The group was planned to replace that of the USS Theodore Roosevelt but is, in at least the short term, to provide reinforcement. The Roosevelt has already deployed at least one of her squadrons to Jordan*.
USS Georgia (SSGN-729), a conventionally armed Ohio class armed with Tomahawk SLCMs, has been ordered to reposition from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and Gulf.
* https://simpleflying.com/armed-f-a-1...ornets-jordan/
I refer you back to post #1286 which said intelligence predicted a coordinated Hezbullah/Iranian attack on Israel tonight.
Iran
The group was planned to replace that of the USS Theodore Roosevelt but is, in at least the short term, to provide reinforcement. The Roosevelt has already deployed at least one of her squadrons to Jordan*.
USS Georgia (SSGN-729), a conventionally armed Ohio class armed with Tomahawk SLCMs, has been ordered to reposition from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and Gulf.
* https://simpleflying.com/armed-f-a-1...ornets-jordan/
I refer you back to post #1286 which said intelligence predicted a coordinated Hezbullah/Iranian attack on Israel tonight.
Iran
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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From: Peripatetic
Lebanese media is reporting that Hezbollah has evacuated its headquarters and offices in Beirut, due in anticipation of large scale Israeli strikes following an Iranian/Hezbollah attack.
Truckloads of electronics, furniture, and documents said to have been moved out of the city to locations in the countryside, while senior military and political leaders have gone into hiding.
Truckloads of electronics, furniture, and documents said to have been moved out of the city to locations in the countryside, while senior military and political leaders have gone into hiding.
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From: Northumberland
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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From: Peripatetic
Video…#Iran 🇮🇷: "Jaish al-Adl" militants ambushed and killed Iranian Head of the Khash City's Intelligence Department in #Sistan & #Baluchestan.
The attack was carried out by three militants who were armed with a #Chinese 🇨🇳 Type 56-1 assault rifle and two AKM-pattern assault rifles.
The attack was carried out by three militants who were armed with a #Chinese 🇨🇳 Type 56-1 assault rifle and two AKM-pattern assault rifles.
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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From: Peripatetic
As forecast….
https://www.defensenews.com/news/pen...bollah-attack/
Two US aircraft carriers to stay in Middle East after Hezbollah attack
The Pentagon has extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group after a largely failed attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah on Israel over the weekend.
Choosing to keep the second carrier in the Middle East means there will now be two carriers and their warships available for U.S. Central Command amid the threat of a full regional war erupting.
The TR arrived in the Middle East in early July, while fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln steamed into the region last week.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the decision in a statement over the weekend.
Theodore Roosevelt replaced the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose deployment to the region had itself been extended multiple times, earlier this summer.
In addition to Lincoln, another fighter jet squadron, and other assets have also been rushed to the region. The Georgia, a ballistic missile submarine, is still on its way to CENTCOM, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday.
Ryder didn’t say how long the Roosevelt would be extended or exactly when the decision was made, only saying Austin chose to do so over the weekend……
https://www.defensenews.com/news/pen...bollah-attack/
Two US aircraft carriers to stay in Middle East after Hezbollah attack
The Pentagon has extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group after a largely failed attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah on Israel over the weekend.
Choosing to keep the second carrier in the Middle East means there will now be two carriers and their warships available for U.S. Central Command amid the threat of a full regional war erupting.
The TR arrived in the Middle East in early July, while fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln steamed into the region last week.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the decision in a statement over the weekend.
Theodore Roosevelt replaced the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose deployment to the region had itself been extended multiple times, earlier this summer.
In addition to Lincoln, another fighter jet squadron, and other assets have also been rushed to the region. The Georgia, a ballistic missile submarine, is still on its way to CENTCOM, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday.
Ryder didn’t say how long the Roosevelt would be extended or exactly when the decision was made, only saying Austin chose to do so over the weekend……
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From: Texas
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Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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From: Peripatetic
It's an SSGN, not an SSBN, and in order to deter Iran from launching any action the threat it represents needs to be publicised.
Revealing the fact it is approaching the CENTCOM area does not in any way locate or endanger the submarine or it's operations.
Revealing the fact it is approaching the CENTCOM area does not in any way locate or endanger the submarine or it's operations.
Sloppy reporting.
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From: Peripatetic
Guess he won't see sunshine for a while....
https://theaviationist.com/2024/08/2...parts-to-iran/
US-Iranian National Charged for Attempting to Export Military Aircraft Parts to Iran
The US DoJ (Department of Justice) charged a US-Iranian citizen for attempting to illegally export “four types of aerospace components” into Iran, some of them meant for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
According to the DoJ, Jeffrey Nader, associated with the California-based company Pro Aero Capital, was trying to smuggle nearly three dozen of such aircraft components since early-2023.
Nader falsely identified himself and Pro Aero Capital as the end-users of the parts and upon acquiring the parts, attempted to send them to his business associates in Iran by transshipping them through the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
“The items discussed in the indictment, however, were detained by a Special Agent with the Department of Commerce, and none were successfully exported from the United States,” the DoJ said in a statement........
https://theaviationist.com/2024/08/2...parts-to-iran/
US-Iranian National Charged for Attempting to Export Military Aircraft Parts to Iran
The US DoJ (Department of Justice) charged a US-Iranian citizen for attempting to illegally export “four types of aerospace components” into Iran, some of them meant for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
According to the DoJ, Jeffrey Nader, associated with the California-based company Pro Aero Capital, was trying to smuggle nearly three dozen of such aircraft components since early-2023.
Nader falsely identified himself and Pro Aero Capital as the end-users of the parts and upon acquiring the parts, attempted to send them to his business associates in Iran by transshipping them through the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
“The items discussed in the indictment, however, were detained by a Special Agent with the Department of Commerce, and none were successfully exported from the United States,” the DoJ said in a statement........
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From: West
Carrier Group Commander comments
Navy commander who oversaw carrier strike group in Red Sea says US command rejected suggestions to hit the Houthis harder over concerns about Iran (msn.com)
Rear Adm. Marc Miguez said in an
that the US National Command Authority had to consider Iran's response.
"There are definite strategies that were put forward, but our National Command Authority decided that those — I would call more aggressive postures and more aggressive strikes — was not something we wanted to challenge," Miguez said in the interview published Monday.
"We all know Iranian-backed groups like the Houthis, where that threat's emanating from," he said. "And so that is the calculus that's handled at echelon zero, at the National Command Authority, with NSA, and everybody else."
"Those are things that I don't dabble in," he added.
Miguez told Carroll that the carrier strike group launched seven dedicated attacks on Houthi targets during its twice-extended deployment from October 2023 to June 2024.
The group, which includes the aircraft carrier Ike, was previously reported to have launched more than 500 munitions to hit the Yemeni rebels directly and intercept their drones and missiles as they attacked commercial ships in the strait.
Since the Eisenhower group departed, the Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups have moved into the Middle East as regional tensions continue to soar.
Miguez indicated that he believed the US should adopt a more aggressive posture with the Houthis.
"Moving forward, we are going to have to continue to deal with this," he said. "It'll be up to our National Command Authority to probably be more aggressive with our strike groups and all of our assets, not just Navy."
The Houthis have said they only target ships linked with Israel over the war in Gaza. But the group has also launched attacks on vessels from other countries that have no apparent ties to Tel Aviv.
More recently, the rebel group attacked a Greek-flagged oil tanker that caught fire and was left drifting in the Red Sea.
Miguez said that to stop the attacks, the US needed to marshal all of its resources more aggressively, including diplomacy and economic policy.
"If we can get that focus with a whole-of-government approach, I think that's what's going to result in a freedom of navigation in that critical strait, which impacts about 20% of the global commerce," he said.
Miguez was appointed as the Navy's chief of legislative affairs in July.
Since leaving command of the Eisenhower carrier strike group, he's been vocal about the US needing more training to fight drones after seeing how extensively the Houthis used them in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon's press service didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
- Rear Adm. Marc Miguez said US leaders declined more aggressive strategies with the Houthis.
- High command was concerned about Iran at the time, Miguez said in a recent video interview.
- Miguez was in charge of a carrier strike group that defended commercial ships in the Red Sea for months.
Rear Adm. Marc Miguez said in an
"There are definite strategies that were put forward, but our National Command Authority decided that those — I would call more aggressive postures and more aggressive strikes — was not something we wanted to challenge," Miguez said in the interview published Monday.
"We all know Iranian-backed groups like the Houthis, where that threat's emanating from," he said. "And so that is the calculus that's handled at echelon zero, at the National Command Authority, with NSA, and everybody else."
"Those are things that I don't dabble in," he added.
Miguez told Carroll that the carrier strike group launched seven dedicated attacks on Houthi targets during its twice-extended deployment from October 2023 to June 2024.
The group, which includes the aircraft carrier Ike, was previously reported to have launched more than 500 munitions to hit the Yemeni rebels directly and intercept their drones and missiles as they attacked commercial ships in the strait.
Since the Eisenhower group departed, the Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups have moved into the Middle East as regional tensions continue to soar.
Miguez indicated that he believed the US should adopt a more aggressive posture with the Houthis.
"Moving forward, we are going to have to continue to deal with this," he said. "It'll be up to our National Command Authority to probably be more aggressive with our strike groups and all of our assets, not just Navy."
The Houthis have said they only target ships linked with Israel over the war in Gaza. But the group has also launched attacks on vessels from other countries that have no apparent ties to Tel Aviv.
More recently, the rebel group attacked a Greek-flagged oil tanker that caught fire and was left drifting in the Red Sea.
Miguez said that to stop the attacks, the US needed to marshal all of its resources more aggressively, including diplomacy and economic policy.
"If we can get that focus with a whole-of-government approach, I think that's what's going to result in a freedom of navigation in that critical strait, which impacts about 20% of the global commerce," he said.
Miguez was appointed as the Navy's chief of legislative affairs in July.
Since leaving command of the Eisenhower carrier strike group, he's been vocal about the US needing more training to fight drones after seeing how extensively the Houthis used them in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon's press service didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
Last edited by havoc; 27th August 2024 at 20:56. Reason: corrected sentence that was cut off
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From: Oz
Interesting video on the military infrastructure capability of the Iranians. I had no idea they were so advanced in terms of built infrastructure.
A full-on joust with the Iranians is going to be much more complicated that I had thought. Their bunker system and network of tunnels is impressive.
A full-on joust with the Iranians is going to be much more complicated that I had thought. Their bunker system and network of tunnels is impressive.