An explosion struck an Israeli-owned cargo ship sailing out of the Middle East on Friday, renewing concerns about ship security in the region amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran. The crew and vessel were safe, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the …
Read More »Iran open to cooperation with US but within strategic limits
Iran may cooperate with the United States on oil and security in the Gulf, but not on Israel, the Iranian foreign minister said in remarks published on Saturday. Ties between Tehran and Washington worsened under the administration of former President Donald Trump, who in 2018 withdrew from Iranâs 2015 nuclear …
Read More »Revolutionary Guards conducted commando drills threatening Gulf
Iranian army commandos and paratroopers started exercises near the mouth of the Gulf on Tuesday, the last full day of U.S. President Donald Trumpâs administration. State television showed paratroopers landing behind mock enemy lines near the port of Jask on the Gulf of Oman and preparing attacks with missile launchers. …
Read More »Iran conducts maritime missile exercise oblivious to rising tensions
Iranâs military launched a short-range naval missile drill on Wednesday, Iranian state TV reported, at a time of high tension between arch foes Tehran and Washington. Iran has one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle East, regarding such weapons as an important deterrent and retaliatory force against U.S. …
Read More »UAE, Iran in COVID talks
The foreign ministers of longstanding regional foes Iran and the United Arab Emirates agreed on Sunday that they would strive to cooperate during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a video call during which they also exchanged greetings for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan told his Iranian …
Read More »Latest Iranian military drills in Gulf inflame tensions
Iranâs elite Revolutionary Guards launched a military drill in the Gulf on Tuesday, Iranian state television reported, at a time of high tension between Tehran and Washington. The U.S. military said the drill had caused two bases with American troops in the region to go on heightened alert and said …
Read More »US Military Drawdown in Saudi Arabia Threatens to Fuel Arms Race
The Trump administrationâs decision to withdraw Patriot anti-missile defense batteries from Saudi Arabia is likely to fuel an already brewing arms race as the kingdom attempts to catch-up with Iranâs nuclear development as well as its space, ballistic missile, and drone capabilities. By James M. Dorsey One thing is certain, …
Read More »US warship sails though Taiwan Strait for second time in a month
A U.S. warship has sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait for the second time in a month, Taiwanese and U.S. militaries said on Friday.Taiwan and US militaries are on heightened alert amid increased activity by China’s armed forces near the island, and a Chinese aircraft carrier passed near the island …
Read More »Iran threatens decisive response against US in Gulf
Iran will give a decisive response to any mistake by the United States in the Gulf, the Revolutionary Guards navy said in a statement published on the Guardsâ news site Sepah News. The U.S. military said on Wednesday that 11 vessels from the Revolutionary Guards navy had come dangerously close …
Read More »UAE re-routing flights, fears Iran war
Emirates Airline is re-routing flights away from areas of possible conflict in the Gulf, a spokeswoman for the Dubai-based company said on Friday, amid growing military tension between Iran and the United States in the region. âThe re-routings have minimally affected the arrival/departure timings of some flights,â she said, without …
Read More »Several hurt in chopper crash on US carrier in Pacific
A US Navy helicopter crashed on board a US aircraft carrier patrolling the Pacific on Friday, causing several injuries, the military said in a statement. “All injured personnel are in stable condition under evaluation by Ronald Reagan medical staff. While some personnel will be medically evacuated ashore, none of the …
Read More »Chinese warship sails within 45 yards of U.S. Navy destroyer in South China Sea
A Chinese warship sailed within 45 yards of a Navy destroyer in the South China Sea on Sunday in what American authorities described as an âunsafe and unprofessional maneuver.” U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Charlie Brown said the Luyang destroyer âconducted a series of increasingly aggressiveâ moves before it approached the …
Read More »Iran airs video of close encounter with USS Theodore Roosevelt in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s state TV has broadcast footage purporting to show a close encounter between the Revolutionary Guard’s navy and the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The incident purportedly happened in the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, the passageway for nearly a third of all oil traded by sea. Saturday’s footage …
Read More »US trying to make friends, counter China with massive naval exercise
The Pentagon kicked off the world’s largest naval war games last week, the biennial, month-long Rim of the Pacific exercises, known as RIMPAC, bringing together 46 ships and submarines, 200 aircraft and 25,000 troops from 25 nations. Missing from that contingent is China, which was disinvited from RIMPAC over its …
Read More »China hacked a Navy contractor and secured a trove of highly sensitive data on submarine warfare
Chinese government hackers have compromised the computers of a Navy contractor, stealing massive amounts of highly sensitive data related to undersea warfare â including secret plans to develop a supersonic anti-ship missile for use on U.S. submarines by 2020, according to American officials. The breaches occurred in January and February, …
Read More »China threatens military buildup in South China Sea after US Navy warship’s passage: paper
China will have no choice but to build its abilities in the South China Sea if the U.S. continues to âwantonlyâ provoke trouble in the waters, Beijingâs top newspaper warned on Monday. The response came after a U.S. Navy warship, the USS Hopper, sailed close to a contested reef west …
Read More »China says U.S. warship violated its South China Sea sovereignty
A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal claimed by China in the South China Sea this week, U.S. officials said on Saturday, and Beijing vowed to take ânecessary measuresâ to protect its sovereignty. Chinaâs foreign ministry said USS Hopper missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan …
Read More »US destroyer sails near contested reef in South China Sea angering Beijing
A U.S. Navy warship sailed close to a contested reef west of the Philippines this week, drawing the ire of Beijing which issued a statement Saturday accusing the U.S. of trespassing in its territorial waters. China has laid claim to the reef for more than five years. The incident took …
Read More »Former Navy pilot describes UFO encounter studied by secret Pentagon program
For most of his 18-year career as a U.S. Navy pilot, Cmdr. David Fravor said his mother-in-law used to ask him a question: Had he seen a UFO? For 15 years, the answer was no. But one clear afternoon off the coast of California in 2004, he says, that changed. Fravor, the commanding …
Read More »U.S. Navy plane carrying 11 crashes into Pacific Ocean off Japan, 8 rescued
Eight people have been rescued and are in âgood conditionâ after a U.S. Navy transporter plane carrying 11 crew and passengers crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan, the U.S. Navyâs 7th Fleet said Wednesday. The search for the remaining three is continuing. This is the latest accident to befall the 7th Fleet, …
Read More »20,000 sexual assault allegations in US military
US troops have reported more than 20,000 allegations of sexual assault at military installations over the past four years, the Pentagon said in a report Friday. The report, by the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, details allegations by service branch for the fiscal years 2013-2016, with the …
Read More »Remains of some sailors found on U.S. Navy destroyer
The remains of some of the 10 sailors missing since a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer collided with an oil tanker near Singapore have been found, but the search continues, a Navy commander said Tuesday. Ten sailors have been missing since the USS John S. McCain and a Liberian-flagged oil tanker …
Read More »US Navy ship and oil tanker collide near Singapore
Ten US Navy sailors are missing and five have been injured after a US destroyer and an oil tanker collided near Singapore, the Navy says. The guided missile destroyer USS John S McCain was sailing east of Singapore and preparing to stop in the port when the collision with the …
Read More »US warship sails close to China-held island in disputed sea
A U.S. warship sailed close to a Chinese man-made island in the disputed South China Sea in an operation that challenged Chinaâs excessive territorial claims in busy international waters, a U.S. Navy official said Thursday. The official told The Associated Press that Chinese vessels were in the vicinity when the …
Read More »Australian Navy locates missing US aircraft
The Australian Navy has located a missing US military aircraft that crashed off Australia’s east coast on Saturday, Defense Minister Marise Payne said in a statement Monday. Three US Marines have been missing since what the Marine Corps calls a “mishap” with an MV-22 aircraft. Twenty-three of the 26 personnel …
Read More »US Navy ship fired warning shots at an Iranian boat in the Persian Gulf
A US Navy ship fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat Tuesday in the northern end of the Persian Gulf, according to two US defense officials. The Iranian boat is believed to have been operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a defense official familiar with …
Read More »U.S. Navy Plane Takes âEvasive Actionâ to Avoid Chinese Fighter Jet
A United States Navy spy plane had to take evasive action to avoid crashing into a Chinese fighter jet that suddenly pulled up in front of the American plane in contested skies above the East China Sea on Sunday, the Pentagon said. Two Chinese fighter planes intercepted the Navy EP-3 …
Read More »Maritime Mystery: Why a U.S. Destroyer Failed to Dodge a Cargo Ship
There should have been lookouts on watch on the port, starboard and stern of the destroyer Fitzgerald â sailors scanning the horizon with binoculars and reporting by headsets to the destroyerâs bridge. At 1:30 a.m. last Saturday, off the coast of Japan south of Tokyo, they could hardly have failed …
Read More »U.S. Navy confirms all 7 missing sailors from USS Fitzgerald found dead
The U.S. Navy confirmed on Monday that all seven missing sailors on the USS Fitzgerald were found dead in flooded berthing compartments after the destroyer’s collision with a container ship off Japan over the weekend. The USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged container ship collided south of Tokyo Bay early on …
Read More »Seven sailors missing, three injured after U.S. Navy destroyer collides with container ship off Japan
Seven sailors are missing and three injured after a U.S. Navy destroyer collided early on Saturday morning with a Philippine-flagged container ship south of Tokyo Bay in Japan, the U.S. Navy said. The Japanese Coast Guard said the destroyer was experiencing some flooding but was not in danger of sinking, …
Read More »