US Military

CENTCOM said the cargo vessel had attempted ‌to transit regional waters after leaving an Iranian port

Trump says US-Iran discussions are productive and rules out an attack on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, while the US blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

A war that was intended to demonstrate the reach of American power has now done the opposite. It is a lesson in unintended consequences

The US Air Force has brought home its bombers stationed at a US-run military air base in England used to strike Iran following an investigation into a planned terror attack at the RAF Fairford base. The bombers were redeployed back to their home bases in the United States, according to a Pentagon official who was not authorized to discuss sensitive military movements and spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity. Aviation watchers such as the Military Air Tracking Alliance have observed dozens of B-52 and B-1 bombers operating out of RAF Fairford since the opening days of the Iran war. Observers noticed a host of B-1 bombers fly out of the base on Sunday. The move comes as President Donald Trump weighs options for his war on Iran - including new strikes - despite his initial promises to Americans that the campaign would last a matter of weeks. "We have decisions that I'll make about Iran. Iran's been decimated. So the only question is - it'll either be the easy way, or the hard way,"

The US military is dispatching roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, a US official said Thursday. The bolstering of the American military presence comes as President Donald Trump warned that new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon. The troop movement, which includes a third aircraft carrier, underscores the rapidly evolving dynamic of Trump's war against Iran as he ponders his next move, with midterm elections in the United States looming large and new signs that the nature of the conflict may be becoming more complex. Trump has threatened that a post-midterm election escalation - despite his initial promises to Americans of a campaign that would last a matter of weeks - remains a viable option. Further complicating matters, Trump told reporters Thursday that early indications suggest that Iran is linked to the FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain and tried to crash an Israel-bound flight on Wednesday. In an exchange with reporters at the Whi

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced some major changes to the US military on Wednesday in what he called his "State of the Force" address, including establishing a new drone command and cutting 20 per cent of the nation's generals and admirals. The Pentagon also will launch an effort to study the future of warfare that will be led in part by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Hegseth said. The Defence Department will create an Office of Religious Affairs and plans to build a new base for the first time in 40 years, he added. Hegseth made the announcements to junior officers and enlisted leaders at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia - the second year in a row that he has given such an address. But this time, the US military is seven months into a war with Iran with no clear end in sight, has captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and killed more than 200 people in strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in Latin America, among ...

The US military announced Wednesday that it completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group and prompting President Donald Trump to hail the conclusion of "a very expensive excursion into Hell." The last US troops left an air base in northern Iraq under a deal between Baghdad and Washington. Trump, in a social media post, described the withdrawal by a September 30 deadline as "orderly." Appearing soon after at a White House event celebrating Hispanics, he spoke at length about the withdrawal and said, "It's been a long time with very bad decision making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place. It was a quagmire. For many, many years it lasted. But soon that part of history will be over." He said the shift was a victory for the US, Iraq and a sign of victory over the Islamic State group. The withdrawal, agreed on two years ago, comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war between the United States

The US military announced on Wednesday that it has completed the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that U.S. troops and equipment had completed an "orderly departure" from the last air base where they had been present in northern Iraq. "This milestone reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region," he said. "It also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship.

Iraqi security experts say the withdrawal could give Tehran and its powerful allies free rein, while also allowing other US enemies to stage a comeback, including Islamic State

The US military attacked a boat suspected of being used to smuggle drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people, as the Trump administration continues its monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America. The attack on Saturday brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the US military to at least 231 in 69 strikes since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" almost a year ago. As with most of the military's statements on strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, US Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. A video posted on X showed an image of what appeared to be a moving boat followed by a flash. The Trump administration is pursuing deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sa

President Donald Trump announced Friday he has a deal with Denmark to bolster the US military presence in Greenland after months of threatening to take the island by force from the NATO ally - an agreement that also keeps the Arctic territory in Denmark's hands. Trump in a social media post announcing the deal said the agreement "gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many US concerns." He added that with the agreement his administration would "immediately" begin the process of developing a larger military presence on the mineral-rich Danish territory. The office of Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the deal will be signed by all three governments next week during the United Nations General Assembly, but parliamentary action is still needed by the Danish and Greenland governments before it can be enforced. In a statement she said "the agreement recognizes the sovereignty and ...

The US military's price tag for the Iran war has grown to USD43.6 billion as of September 3, according to a new estimate provided this week to lawmakers. The figure from US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, offers the most up-to-date cost for the conflict since it was launched by the United States and Israel on February 28. A Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday said the war had cost USD 38 billion through August 1 and will continue to rack up expenses of around USD 3 billion a month depending on the conflict's intensity. The new breakdown, seen by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Punchbowl News, also showed the continued use of expensive munitions by American forces. Weapons costs jumped by more than USD 6 billion in just over a month, from USD 21.7 billion listed in the CBO report to USD 28.1 billion in US Central Command's estimate. The financial cost is just one measure of the impact of the Iran war, which also is affecting

American troops need to prepare for combat not only in Earth's orbit but around the moon, President Donald Trump's top military adviser said Wednesday, looking ahead to a new frontier in warfare after the US revealed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told service members and industry figures at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference outside Washington that the US military should adapt now so it "is prepared to fight, endure and win ... from the seabed to cislunar space." Space Force, the newest military service, which was created by Trump in 2019, is preparing to fight in space and around the moon because "humanity is advancing deeper into space - the Space Force's job is to help be prepared to defend US interests," Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of the force's Combat Forces Command, told reporters separately. The announcement that the US military is ready to fight in the area between high Earth orbit and the

The US military has destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers following attacks on a US warship by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, US Central Command said in a social media post on Tuesday. The US strikes were in response to two Iranian efforts to hit the warship with ballistic missiles over the past two days, the statement added. Iranian state television also reported the strikes, saying US forces attacked at least three Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. It said the crews were evacuated. The latest tit-for-tat strikes come as Washington and Tehran lurch back toward fighting during more than six months of war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US will not allow Iran's attacks to go unanswered. "Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships. And for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers. And I think you'll see that again today," Rubio told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the latest .

Iran said Sunday it struck an unmanned US vessel trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that the US military dismissed as a "total lie." The purported attack came a day after the US military said forces struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Navy warships being targeted with ballistic missiles. Experts called it a dangerous escalation after Iran's previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping. The war began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. But since a fragile ceasefire agreement was announced in June, on-and-off fighting has persisted, with both sides trying to inflict military and economic pain as negotiations have collapsed. Strikes came about a week after fighting resumed ------------------------------------------------------- The United States and Iran resumed attacks last week, following a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz and areas along Iran's southern coast again being targeted. At least five people were killed ear

The US Army announced Wednesday that it plans to add nuclear microreactors at five military bases from New York to Texas as a reliable source of energy independent of the commercial electric grid. The announcement comes as the Trump administration pushes hard to develop the next generation of nuclear power, including billions in loans for large nuclear reactors to meet skyrocketing power demand from data centers and a pilot program to boost advanced reactor designs and projects for military and civilian use. No nuclear microreactors are supplying power to the commercial electric grid in the United States today. Five companies selected by the Army will be awarded up to USD 2.2 billion in total over five years to own, construct and operate the microreactors, if they hit set milestones along the way for their performance. The Army expects that more than 20 nuclear microreactors will be built and operated. Army and industry officials say microreactors offer a resilient power source for

The review follows extensive damage to American installations during the Iran conflict, with officials assessing future base configurations and whether damaged facilities should be rebuilt

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the proposed fleet of 15 nuclear-powered battleships could become the most expensive US warship programme ever undertaken

Recent fighting with Iran used up more of the US military's already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors, potentially putting American troops at more risk if hostilities resume, a new analysis says. Shrunken inventories of Patriot and THAAD interceptors may force the US and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defences, according to the analysis from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. For example, it said, American forces may launch fewer missiles against incoming Iranian drones and missiles, raising the chance of one getting through. "That percentage may not go up a lot, but it goes up a little," said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and now senior adviser at CSIS who co-authored Monday's report with research associate Chris H Park. The nation's advanced weapons stockpiles have become a flashpoint in the five-month-long conflict, along with the threat to the lives of American service ...