Page 7 - Us Military

US Secy of State Antony Blinken back in West Asia amid escalating tensions

Israel to launch more targeted assault on Hamas; Maersk warns of disruption

US tries to persuade shippers to sail Red Sea despite Houthi attacks

The Pentagon is engaged with industry on a near-daily basis to gauge needs and provide reassurance that the international community is there to help with safe passage

Red Sea attacks: US sanctions money network tied to Yemen Houthi rebels

The US on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of money exchange services from Yemen and Turkey alleged to help provide funding to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been launching attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the southern Red Sea including a drone and a missile that were shot down Thursday by the US military. Included in the sanctions are the head of a financial intermediary in Sana'a, Yemen, along with three exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey. U.S. Treasury alleges that the people and firms helped transfer millions of dollars to the Houthis at the direction of sanctioned Iranian financial facilitator Sa'id al-Jamal. The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans. Thursday's action is the latest round of financial penalties meant to punish the Houthis. Earlier this month, the U.S. announced sanctions against 13 people and firms alleged to be providing tens of millions

US military space plane embarks on another mission expected to last years

The US military's X-37B space plane blasted off Thursday on another secretive mission that is expected to last at least a couple of years. Like previous missions, the reusable plane resembling a mini space shuttle carried classified experiments. There's no one on board. The space plane took off aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at night, more than two weeks late because of technical issues. It marked the seventh flight of an X-37B, which has logged more than 10 years in orbit since its debut in 2010. The last flight, the longest one yet, lasted 2 1/2 years before ending on a runway at Kennedy a year ago. Space Force officials would not say how long this orbital test vehicle would remain aloft or what's on board other than a NASA experiment to gauge the effects of radiation on materials. Built by Boeing, the X-37B resembles NASA's retired space shuttles. But they're just one-fourth the size at 29 feet (9 metres) long. No astronauts are needed; th

N Korea threatens 'more offensive actions' to repel US-led military threats

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened more offensive actions to repel what he called increasing US-led military threats after he supervised the third test of his country's most advanced missile designed to strike the mainland US, state media reported Tuesday. Kim's statement suggests he is confident in his growing missile arsenal and will likely continue weapons testing activities ahead of next year's presidential election in the United States. But many observers say North Korea still needs to perform more significant tests to prove it has functioning missiles targeting the U.S. mainland. After watching Monday's launch of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, Kim said the test showed how North Korea could respond if the United States were to make "a wrong decision against it, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim stressed the need to never overlook all the reckless and irresponsible military threats of the enemies and to strongly counter them .

US military grounds entire fleet of Osprey aircraft following deadly crash

The US military has announced it was grounding all of its Osprey V-22 helicopters, one week after eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members died in a crash off the coast of Japan. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps took the extraordinary step of grounding hundreds of aircraft on Wednesday after a preliminary investigation of last week's crash indicated that a materiel failure that something went wrong with the aircraft and not a mistake by the crew led to the deaths. The crash raised new questions about the safety of the Osprey, which has been involved in multiple fatal accidents over its relatively short time in service. Japan grounded its fleet of 14 Ospreys after the crash. Lt Gen Tony Bauernfeind, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, directed the standdown to mitigate risk while the investigation continues," the command said in a statement. Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the ...

SpaceX's Starlink clears military tests in Arctic, paving way for contracts

The previously undisclosed testing found that StarLink to be a "reliable and high-performance communications system in the Arctic

US Navy shoots down drone launched by Houthis from Yemen, says official

A US Navy warship sailing near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait shot down a drone launched from Yemen, a US official said on Wednesday, in the latest in a string of threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The official said according to initial reports, USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, deemed the drone an Iranian-made KAS-04 to be a threat and shot it down over water in the southern Red Sea as the ship was moving toward the strait. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation not yet made public. The Wednesday shootdown comes a day after a Iranian drone flew within 1,500 yards of the USS Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier as it was conducting flight operations in international waters in the Arabian Gulf. Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, said the drone violated safety precautions by not staying more than 10 nautical miles from the ship. The drone ignored multiple warnings but eventually turned away. Earlier this mo

US military Osprey aircraft crashes in western Japan with eight onboard

The deployment of the Osprey in Japan has been controversial, with critics saying the hybrid aircraft is prone to accidents. The U.S. military and Japan say it is safe

Trump hints at expanded role for military within US to tackle unrest

Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states. Calling New York City and Chicago crime dens, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, The next time, I'm not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we're going to show how bad a job they do, he said. Well, we did that. We don't have to wait any longer. Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country's borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signalled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries. A law first crafted in the nation's infancy would give Trump as

2 missiles fired near USS Mason from Yemen after ship seizure: US military

Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen came near a US warship after it aided a tanker that had been seized in the Gulf of Aden, the US military said on Monday, raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war. A statement from US Central Command said the missiles splashed down in the water some 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from the USS Mason as it aided the tanker Central Park. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident," Central Command said. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the attack. Central Command also said it apprehended five armed attackers who targeted the Central Park.

Hopeful about resuming military communication with China: US military chief

The top US military officer said Friday he has conveyed to China his hopes to resume the stalled communication between the world's two biggest militaries. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., told a selected group of journalists Friday in Tokyo that it is hugely important to ensure there is no miscalculation between the sides. He said he conveyed his desire to restart the dialogue in a letter to his Chinese counterpart. I'm hopeful, Brown added. China froze military exchanges in August 2022 when then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory. The two sides have shown indications in recent weeks that they are close to resuming the exchanges. Brown made his comment during the Tokyo leg of a trip to Asia ahead of next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, to be hosted by President Joe Biden in San Francisco. Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the ...

US military shoots down missiles, drones as it faces threats in Middle East

With tensions spiking in the Middle East, US forces in the region are facing increasing threats, as a Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel Thursday and American bases in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by drone attacks. The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the northern Red Sea, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. The action by the Carney potentially represented the first shots by the U.S. military in the defense of Israel in this conflict. Brig Gen Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters the missiles were potentially headed toward Israel but said the U.S. hasn't finished its assessment of what they were targeting. A US official said they don't believe the missiles which were shot down over the water were aimed at the US warship. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations that had not yet been announced. But an array of other dro

Is BJP allowing a US military base in India? Congress attacks Centre

Tiwari, citing the India-US joint statement released by the White House on Friday, said, "Is this a precursor to providing US military bases on Indian soil?"

US military equipment left in Afghanistan now in militant hands: Pak PM

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister claimed on Monday that US military equipment left behind during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan has fallen into militant hands and ultimately made its way to the Pakistani Taliban. The equipment which includes a wide variety of items, from night vision goggles to firearms is now emerging as a new challenge for Islamabad as it has enhanced the fighting capabilities of the Pakistani Taliban, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, have over the past months intensified attacks on Pakistan's security forces. They are a separate militant group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban. The Taliban overran Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the last weeks of their chaotic pullout from the country after 20 years of war. In the face of the Taliban sweep, the US-backed and trained Afghan military crumbled. There is no definite information on how much US equipme

8 US Marines remain in hospital after aircraft crash killed 3 in Australia

Eight US Marines remained in a hospital in the Australian north coast city of Darwin on Monday after they were injured in a fiery crash of a tiltrotor aircraft that killed three of their colleagues on an island. All 20 survivors were flown from Melville Island 80 kilometers (50 miles) south to Darwin within hours of the Marine V-22 Osprey crashing at 9:30 a.m. Sunday during a multinational training exercise, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said. All were taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital, and 12 had been discharged by Monday, she said. The first five Marines to arrive at the city's main hospital were critically injured and one underwent emergency surgery. Fyles said she would not detail the conditions of eight who remained in the hospital out of respect for them and their families. It's ... a credit to everyone involved that we were able to get 20 patients from an extremely remote location on an island into our tertiary hospital within a matter of hours, Fyles tol

3 US Marines killed, 20 others injured in an aircraft crash in Australia

Three United States military personnel were taken to a hospital, one with critical injuries, after a U.S. aircraft crashed on a north Australian island Sunday during a multination military exercise, officials said. One of the injured was in a critical condition and other two were in stable conditions, rescue helicopter operator CareFlight said in a statement. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said all three injured are American. The critically injured patient is a U.S. Marine, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed on Melville Island during Exercise Predators Run, which involves the militaries of the United States, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor, the Australian Defense Department said. The injured were flown by helicopter to Royal Darwin Hospital about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south, CareFlight said.

Military takeovers in Africa's Sahel hamper fight against terrorism: US

The United States warned Friday that the string of military takeovers in Africa's Sahel region will hamper the fight against terrorism and demanded that Afghanistan's Taliban rulers deny safe haven to terrorist groups including al-Qaida and the Islamic State. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a U.N. Security Council meeting that the United States is focused on the increasing terrorism threat across Africa and continues providing its African partners with critical assistance in disrupting and degrading IS and al-Qaida affiliates. The long-scheduled council meeting on combating terrorism took place days after the head of Russia's Wagner Group, Yevgeny Progozhin, and top associates were reportedly killed in a plane crash after leaving Moscow. They had just returned from Africa where Wagner mercenaries are active in now military-ruled Mali and Burkina Faso, which face escalating terrorist threats. Thomas-Greenfield was asked after the council meeting what the West should do t

US sanctions military leaders accused of exacerbating violence in Congo

The United States has imposed sanctions on six people it accuses of exacerbating violence in eastern Congo. The sanctioned Rwandan and Congolese individuals belong to one of four key militias or armed forces contributing to instability in the eastern (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and perpetrating serious human rights abuses, including targeting children and systematic sexual assault, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement Thursday. The new round of economic penalties comes amid a recent spike in armed conflict along Congo's northeastern border with Rwanda. Three decades of violence in the region displaced over 6 million people, according to the U.N., with the crisis intensifying since the rebel group M23 staged a resurgence in November 2021. M23, whose intelligence commander Bernard Byamungu is among those sanctioned, is one of more than 120 armed groups in the region fighting for control of valuable mineral resources, territory or community protection. Mass killings

Why the likelihood of UFOs, aliens playing peekaboo with humans is remote

Among those who have reported sightings are highly trained pilots equipped with cutting-edge technology, but…