Gen. Kenneth McKenzie commander, U.S. Central Command, provides testimony at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on ending the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 29, 2021. DoD Photo
The U.S. is gathering over-the-horizon intelligence on terrorist activities in Afghanistan but hasn’t made a strike against ISIS-K and al Qaeda, the head of U.S. Central Command told a Senate panel said. Read More
Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, gives a speech at the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) change of command on March 5, 2021. US Army Photo
Iran is “the number one destabilizing factor” in the 21-nation region covered by U.S. Central Command, the nominee to head the command testified Tuesday. Read More
Iran’s Khalij Fars single-stage ballistic missile
Iran “wants some type of agreement” over its nuclear program as a way to lift sanctions on the regime, but Tehran views its ballistic missile arsenal “as their crown jewels” not to be bargained away, the senior American commander in the Middle East said Thursday. Read More
H I Sutton Photo Illustration for USNI News Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission
Iran’s drive for naval modernization and self-sufficiency has had another recent setback the when Iranian Navy’s newest frigate capsized in its dry dock. Last week, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps showed off more than 100 of their latest homegrown fast attack craft – new types of missile boats, unique torpedo boats and other craft – in Bandar Abbas. Read More
A key point in the new National Defense Strategy will be the recognition that “we have to compete only where it makes sense,” according to a senior Pentagon official.
Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC) battle watch captains and current operations officers provide the watchstanders and incident responders on the current status of Large Scale Exercise 2021 (LSE 21) on Aug. 5, 2021. US Navy Photo
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday believes the best way to counter Chinese gray zone cyber operations is to “be in the way” as the Navy is by operating forward in the Indo-Pacific region. Read More
ARABIAN GULF The amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) transits the Arabian Gulf during flight operations on Nov. 13. US Navy Photo
An Iranian Navy helicopter came within 25 feet of the USS Essex (LHD-2) while the ship was in the Gulf of Oman, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. Read More
Image from Iranian television of the tanker Sothys and a U.S. destroyer on Oct. 24, 2021.
A tanker once full of crude oil is back at sea more than two weeks after the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy took control of the merchant ship in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian officials said on Wednesday. Read More
USS Nimitz (CVN 68) enters Apra Harbor prior to mooring at Naval Base Guam for a scheduled port visit on June 24, 2020. US Navy Photo
The defense of Guam should be the centerpiece of the Biden administration’s focus on countering threats from China in the Indo-Pacific, an expert on missile defense said Wednesday. Read More
The two-ship Iranian Navy group that stalked the West Coast of Africa and the Baltic Sea this summer has returned home, as leaders in Tehran pledge more international naval operations. Read More
