Latest news with #USNavy
AU Financial Review
6 hours ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
The PM has more than cash to win over Trump on AUKUS
This month in Groton, Connecticut, thousands of shipyard workers got the first bump in what will be a 30 per cent pay rise over five years that Australian taxpayers indirectly helped them secure. The massive deal, struck between unions and shipbuilder Electric Boat, came after the US Navy in April awarded a $US12.4 billion contract for the construction of two nuclear-powered submarines that included federally funded wage rises and shipyard improvements.
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
US mainstay of Taiwan Strait patrols, the P-8, in spotlight at Paris Air Show
The US has highlighted its freedom of navigation operations at the Paris Air Show , with a display of the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft deployed in the Taiwan Strait and other geopolitical flashpoints. Advertisement US Navy mission commander Lieutenant Joseph Pitts, who captains a P-8 patrol plane, told reporters that freedom of navigation within international waters was at the core of his aircraft's mission set. 'We ensure that the international laws are being upheld, and that's kind of our primary mission whenever we're operating within all the AORs [area of responsibility],' he said in response to the South China Morning Post's inquiry about the P-8's role in the region. Pitts said he had been posted in 'pretty much every fleet [and] a little bit all over the world', including with the seventh fleet that operates in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, he was based in Japan. The deployment of the P-8 by US allies was helping to boost interoperability, he said. 'And especially the fellow P-8 platforms, helping, working with them, see what's the best way to operate this aircraft in the best state there could be.' Advertisement The Boeing P-8 is also used for anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. It is armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and sonobuoys – which are dropped from aircraft or ships to detect and track submarines and underwater threats.
New York Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Trump Will Decide on Iran Attack ‘Within the Next Two Weeks,' White House Says
Iran retains the naval assets and other capabilities it would need to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could pin any U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, American military officials say. In meetings at the White House, senior military officials have raised the need to prepare for that possibility, after Iranian officials threatened to mine the strait if the United States joined Israel's attacks on the country. Pentagon officials are considering all of the ways Iran could retaliate, as President Trump cryptically hints at what he might do, saying on Wednesday that he had not made a final decision. In several days of attacks, Israel has targeted Iranian military sites and state-sponsored entities, as well as high-ranking generals. It has taken out many of Iran's ballistic missiles, though Iran still has hundreds of them, U.S. defense officials said. But Israel has steered clear of Iranian naval assets. So while Iran's ability to respond has been severely damaged, it has a robust navy and maintains operatives across the region, where the United States has more than 40,000 troops. Iran also has an array of mines that its navy could lay in the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow 90-mile waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the open ocean is a key shipping route. A quarter of the world's oil and 20 percent of the world's liquefied natural gas passes through it, so mining the choke point would cause gas prices to soar. Image A satellite image of the Strait of Hormuz, showing the Iranian coast at top, and Qeshm Island and the United Arab Emirates below. Credit... Gallo Images, via Getty Images It could also isolate American minesweepers in the Persian Gulf on one side of the strait. Two defense officials indicated that the Navy was looking to disperse its ships in the gulf so that they would be less vulnerable. A Navy official declined to comment, citing operational security. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Iran has vowed that if attacked by American forces, it would respond forcefully, potentially setting off a cycle of escalation. 'Think about what happened in January 2020 after Trump killed Suleimani and times that by 100,' Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said. Qassim Suleimani, a powerful Iranian general, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, during Mr. Trump's first administration. Iran then launched the largest ever ballistic missile barrage at American bases in Iraq, leaving some 110 troops with traumatic brain injuries, and unintentionally hitting a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people aboard. 'Iran is strategically weaker but operationally still lethal across the region,' Mr. Katulis said, 'and Americans still have troops across that part of the world.' Iran has mined the Strait of Hormuz before, including in 1988 during its war with Iraq, when Iran planted 150 mines in the strait. One of the mines struck an American guided missile frigate, the U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts, nearly sinking it. Image The U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts being towed after hitting a mine in the Persian Gulf in April 1988. Credit... Associated Press Gen. Joseph Votel, a former leader of U.S. Central Command, and Vice Adm. Kevin M. Donegan, a former commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, each said on Wednesday that Iran was capable of mining the strait, which they said could bring international pressure on Israel to end its bombing campaign. But such an action would probably invite a massive American military response and further damage Iran's already crippled economy, Admiral Donegan added. 'Mining also hurts Iran; they would lose income from oil they sell to China,' he said. 'Now though, Iranian leadership is much more concerned with regime survival, which will drive their decisions.' Military officials and analysts said missile and drone attacks remained the biggest retaliatory threat to U.S. bases and facilities in the region. 'These would be shorter-range variants, not what they were launching against Israel,' Admiral Donegan said. 'That Iranian capability remains intact.' Admiral Donegan also expressed concerns about the possibility that the Quds Force, a shadowy arm of Iran's military, could attack U.S. troops. 'Our Arab partners have done well over the years to root most of that out of their countries, however, that Quds Force and militia threat still remains in Iraq, and to some extent in Syria and Jordan,' he said. Iranian officials are seeking to remind Mr. Trump that, weakened or not, they still can still find ways to hurt American troops and interests in the region, said Vali Nasr, an Iran expert and a professor at Johns Hopkins University. Striking Iran, he said, 'gets into such big unknowns.' He added, 'There are a lot of things that could go wrong.' Image Damage from a suspected Iranian missile attack in Petah Tikva, Israel, this week. Credit... Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times Much is at stake for Iran if it decides to retaliate. 'Many of Iran's options are the strategic equivalent of a suicide bombing,' said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'They can do enormous damage to others if they mine the Strait of Hormuz, destroy regional oil facilities and rain a missile barrage against Israel, but they may not survive the blowback.' But Iran can make it hugely expensive, and dangerous, for the U.S. Navy to have to conduct what would most likely be a weekslong mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to one former naval officer who was stationed on a minesweeper in the Persian Gulf. He and other Navy officers said that clearing the strait could also put American sailors directly in harm's way. Iran is believed to maintain a variety of naval mines. They include small limpet mines containing just a few pounds of explosives that swimmers place directly on a ship's hull and typically detonate after a set amount of time. Iran also has larger moored mines that float just under the water's surface, releasing a hundred pounds of explosive force or more when they come in contact with an unsuspecting ship. More advanced 'bottom' mines sit on the seafloor. They use a combination of sensors — such as magnetic, acoustic, pressure and seismic — to determine when a ship is nearby and explode with hundreds of pounds of explosive force. The Navy has four minesweepers in the Persian Gulf, each with 100 sailors aboard who have been based in Bahrain and are trained in how to deal with underwater hazards. Should Iran place mines in the Strait of Hormuz or other parts of the Persian Gulf, a small Navy contingent in Bahrain called Task Force 56 would respond. Usually led by a senior explosive ordnance disposal officer, the task force would take advantage of technologies like autonomous underwater vehicles that can scan the seafloor with sonar much more quickly than the last time Iranian mines threatened the strait. And while the Navy has been experimenting with underwater robots to destroy mines, the task force will still need to deploy small teams of explosive ordnance disposal divers for the time-consuming and dangerous task of approaching each mine underwater and carefully placing charges to destroy it.
New York Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Trump Will Decide on Iran Attack ‘in the Next Two Weeks,' White House Says
Iran retains the naval assets and other capabilities it would need to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could pin any U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, American military officials say. In meetings at the White House, senior military officials have raised the need to prepare for that possibility, after Iranian officials threatened to mine the strait if the United States joined Israel's attacks on the country. Pentagon officials are considering all of the ways Iran could retaliate, as President Trump cryptically hints at what he might do, saying on Wednesday that he had not made a final decision. In several days of attacks, Israel has targeted Iranian military sites and state-sponsored entities, as well as high-ranking generals. It has taken out many of Iran's ballistic missiles, though Iran still has hundreds of them, U.S. defense officials said. But Israel has steered clear of Iranian naval assets. So while Iran's ability to respond has been severely damaged, it has a robust navy and maintains operatives across the region, where the United States has more than 40,000 troops. Iran also has an array of mines that its navy could lay in the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow 90-mile waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the open ocean is a key shipping route. A quarter of the world's oil and 20 percent of the world's liquefied natural gas passes through it, so mining the choke point would cause gas prices to soar. Image A satellite image of the Strait of Hormuz, showing the Iranian coast at top, and Qeshm Island and the United Arab Emirates below. Credit... Gallo Images, via Getty Images It could also isolate American minesweepers in the Persian Gulf on one side of the strait. Two defense officials indicated that the Navy was looking to disperse its ships in the gulf so that they would be less vulnerable. A Navy official declined to comment, citing operational security. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Iran has vowed that if attacked by American forces, it would respond forcefully, potentially setting off a cycle of escalation. 'Think about what happened in January 2020 after Trump killed Suleimani and times that by 100,' Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said. Qassim Suleimani, a powerful Iranian general, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, during Mr. Trump's first administration. Iran then launched the largest ever ballistic missile barrage at American bases in Iraq, leaving some 110 troops with traumatic brain injuries, and unintentionally hitting a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people aboard. 'Iran is strategically weaker but operationally still lethal across the region,' Mr. Katulis said, 'and Americans still have troops across that part of the world.' Iran has mined the Strait of Hormuz before, including in 1988 during its war with Iraq, when Iran planted 150 mines in the strait. One of the mines struck an American guided missile frigate, the U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts, nearly sinking it. Image The U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts being towed after hitting a mine in the Persian Gulf in April 1988. Credit... Associated Press Gen. Joseph Votel, a former leader of U.S. Central Command, and Vice Adm. Kevin M. Donegan, a former commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, each said on Wednesday that Iran was capable of mining the strait, which they said could bring international pressure on Israel to end its bombing campaign. But such an action would probably invite a massive American military response and further damage Iran's already crippled economy, Admiral Donegan added. 'Mining also hurts Iran; they would lose income from oil they sell to China,' he said. 'Now though, Iranian leadership is much more concerned with regime survival, which will drive their decisions.' Military officials and analysts said missile and drone attacks remained the biggest retaliatory threat to U.S. bases and facilities in the region. 'These would be shorter-range variants, not what they were launching against Israel,' Admiral Donegan said. 'That Iranian capability remains intact.' Admiral Donegan also expressed concerns about the possibility that the Quds Force, a shadowy arm of Iran's military, could attack U.S. troops. 'Our Arab partners have done well over the years to root most of that out of their countries, however, that Quds Force and militia threat still remains in Iraq, and to some extent in Syria and Jordan,' he said. Iranian officials are seeking to remind Mr. Trump that, weakened or not, they still can still find ways to hurt American troops and interests in the region, said Vali Nasr, an Iran expert and a professor at Johns Hopkins University. Striking Iran, he said, 'gets into such big unknowns.' He added, 'There are a lot of things that could go wrong.' Image Damage from a suspected Iranian missile attack in Petah Tikva, Israel, this week. Credit... Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times Much is at stake for Iran if it decides to retaliate. 'Many of Iran's options are the strategic equivalent of a suicide bombing,' said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'They can do enormous damage to others if they mine the Strait of Hormuz, destroy regional oil facilities and rain a missile barrage against Israel, but they may not survive the blowback.' But Iran can make it hugely expensive, and dangerous, for the U.S. Navy to have to conduct what would most likely be a weekslong mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to one former naval officer who was stationed on a minesweeper in the Persian Gulf. He and other Navy officers said that clearing the strait could also put American sailors directly in harm's way. Iran is believed to maintain a variety of naval mines. They include small limpet mines containing just a few pounds of explosives that swimmers place directly on a ship's hull and typically detonate after a set amount of time. Iran also has larger moored mines that float just under the water's surface, releasing a hundred pounds of explosive force or more when they come in contact with an unsuspecting ship. More advanced 'bottom' mines sit on the seafloor. They use a combination of sensors — such as magnetic, acoustic, pressure and seismic — to determine when a ship is nearby and explode with hundreds of pounds of explosive force. The Navy has four minesweepers in the Persian Gulf, each with 100 sailors aboard who have been based in Bahrain and are trained in how to deal with underwater hazards. Should Iran place mines in the Strait of Hormuz or other parts of the Persian Gulf, a small Navy contingent in Bahrain called Task Force 56 would respond. Usually led by a senior explosive ordnance disposal officer, the task force would take advantage of technologies like autonomous underwater vehicles that can scan the seafloor with sonar much more quickly than the last time Iranian mines threatened the strait. And while the Navy has been experimenting with underwater robots to destroy mines, the task force will still need to deploy small teams of explosive ordnance disposal divers for the time-consuming and dangerous task of approaching each mine underwater and carefully placing charges to destroy it.
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Denmark to deploy ‘saildrones' in Baltic to protect undersea cables from Russian threat
Denmark is deploying floating drones on the Baltic Sea to protect undersea infrastructure and bolster maritime surveillance amid the growing threat of hybrid attacks from Russia. The arrival of Saildrone, a California-based company, has prompted criticism in Denmark over forging tighter bonds with the US in such a sensitive area as digital security. The backlash comes amid rapidly changing alliances, evolving technology and ongoing tensions between Copenhagen and Washington after Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland, which is part of the Danish kingdom. The 10-metre unmanned vessels, known as 'saildrones', resemble sailing boats but are designed solely to collect data. Using onboard AI, saildrones compile data using multiple sensors, cameras and radar to produce a more detailed picture of maritime activity than satellites can provide. The company has previously worked with the US navy, which used its vessels to support counter-drug trafficking and illegal fishing operations. Its arrival in Denmark marks the first time it has been used for defence purposes in European waters. 'The purpose of Saildrone is to give eyes and ears where we previously didn't have eyes and ears,' said Richard Jenkins, CEO of Saildrone. As concerns grow over Russia's so-called shadow fleet – ageing tankers used to circumvent sanctions by transporting crude oil to China and India – saildrones can be used to verify vessel identification and flag unusual movements that may point to undersea sabotage of pipelines or data cables. 'What we're seeing now is commercial shipping fleets being used in military applications,' said Jenkins. 'So whether it's the shadow fleet for Russia trafficking illegal supplies that is getting around sanctions or whether they are trying to do nefarious things like damage infrastructure, we need to be able to track that.' The Danish armed forces are deploying four saildrones in the Baltic for operational testing to improve its capacity for maritime surveillance and intelligence gathering. However, the partnership has raised concerns among Denmark's tech leaders. The software engineer and entrepreneur, David Heinemeier Hansson, told Danish broadcaster DR: 'The problem with American companies is that they have to follow American law, American decrees and the American president. He can demand data at any time, and he can close an account at any time.' Jacob Herbst, head of the Danish Cybersecurity Council, said: 'With the international situation we are currently seeing, you obviously have to think very carefully when choosing American suppliers in this area.' Jenkins said they are not getting classified data in Denmark and that data is fully encrypted. The floating drones can be powered by diesel, wind and solar and can remain at sea for over a year but their average deployment is 100 days. Between 10 and 20 saildrones would be needed to cover the whole of the Baltic.
