Tag Archives: bab el-mandeb

CNO Gilday: Pentagon Weighing Reducing Middle East Aircraft Carrier Presence After Afghan Withdrawal

CNO Gilday: Pentagon Weighing Reducing Middle East Aircraft Carrier Presence After Afghan Withdrawal

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Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday use the 1MC to address the crew aboard the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Billings (LCS 15). Gilday visited Naval Station Mayport to engage with Sailors, speak to local Navy leadership and tour a number of commands in the area. US Navy Photo

The Pentagon is rethinking what naval presence in the Middle East will look like after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan later this year – in particular, carrier strike groups, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Thursday. Read More →

Iran’s New Missile Corvette Could Reshape IRGC Naval Doctrine

Iran’s New Missile Corvette Could Reshape IRGC Naval Doctrine

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An aritsits rendering of a Shahid Soleimani-class missile corvette. HI Sutton image used with permission

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC-N) is building a new class of warships, as first reported in Naval News last week based on satellite imagery. The catamaran design appears relatively large, modern and capable compared to existing IRGC commercial-based designs. Read More →

Top Stories 2020: International Naval Operations

Top Stories 2020: International Naval Operations

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Motor Tanker (M/T) Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel who fast roped aboard the ship from an Iranian Sea King helicopter as it hovered above on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.

Like the U.S., international navies grappled with not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but regional security concerns from China’s naval expansion and operations in the Pacific to Iranian and Russian operations in the Middle East. Read More →

VIDEO: Iran Inducts New Special Operations Ship  

VIDEO: Iran Inducts New Special Operations Ship  

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HI Sutton Image used with permission

Emblazoned with the pennant number “1” in on its superstructure, Shahid Roudaki joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) as its latest and most visible warship during a ceremony held in Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. Read More →

Iranian Spy Ship Commands Strategic Position on Vital Oil Route

Iranian Spy Ship Commands Strategic Position on Vital Oil Route

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HI Sutton Image used with permission

The Red Sea forms a physical and geopolitical choke point on much of the world’s trade. At its northern end the Suez Canal constricts the flow of ships, and at the southern end the Bab el-Mandeb Strait does. Millions of barrels of oil and other critically important goods transit the Red Sea every year, much of it destined for North America and Europe. Read More →

Votel: Russia Not Capable, Willing to Help End Syrian Civil War

Votel: Russia Not Capable, Willing to Help End Syrian Civil War

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Gen. Joseph Votel, U. S. Central Command commander, speaks at a commander’s call at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Feb. 23, 2017. US Air Force Photo

Time and again, Russia has failed to deliver the regime of Bashar al-Assad on Moscow’s promises to facilitate an end the Syrian civil war or even to have it comply with temporary ceasefires, the commander of U.S. Central Command told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Read More →