Cuban government sources have confirmed that 32 Cuban Armed Forces personnel were killed in action when engaged by U.S. forces in Venezuela on January 3. This followed confirmation from Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Lopez that most of President Nicholas Maduro’s security detail was killed during the operation by U.S. Army Delta Force special forces to abduct him, although the full number of casualties was not specified. Unconfirmed reports indicate that many of the Cuban personnel killed in action were part of the president’s security detail, although U.S.
Author: Michael
Iranian-designed Shahed 136 single use attack drones being produced under license in Russia as the Geran 2 have been modified to provide them with air-to-air capabilities, with Ukrainain Armed Forces personnel reporting that the Igla man-portable air-defence systems had been attached to the aircraft. The Shahed aircraft was fitted with a camera and a radio modem, while the missile launch is controlled by the drone’s remote operator. It remains unconfirmed whether this configuration is experimental, or has been more widely adopted.
Open Source Intel has reported a large deployment of USAF transport aircraft to RAF Fairford in England. After this deployment, SOF rotory-wing aviation assets were seen operating in the area according to reports.
An AC-130 gunship, a Navy P-8 reconnaissance aircraft, and fighter refueling tankers have also been deployed to the UK.
One theory is an airbridge being created for operations in Iran. However, the deployment of SOF aviation to the UK does not give them capability in Iran.
The Japanese Ministry of Defence reported that Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force H-6 bombers, J-16 fighters, and Y-9 intelligence aircraft transited between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island, with Air Self Defence Force fighters from the Southwest Air Defence Force scrambled to respond. This occurred less than a month after People’s Liberation Army Navy J-15 carrier based fighters operating from the aircraft carrier Liaoning formed radars locks on a Japanese F-15 fighter over international waters southeast of Okinawa Island on December 6.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Ground Force personnel from the 75th Group Army have trained for rapid insertion by helicopter during a ground-aerial coordination training exercise, highlighting the rapid enhancements which have been made the service’s rotary wing airborne insertion capabilities. Personnel descended by fast rope from a Z-20 medium weight transport helicopter, a type which first entered service in 2019 and can carry an estimated 20 personnel. These were escorted by lighter Z-10 attack helicopters.
World War II forced the United States into a lot of unfamiliar territory. Nowhere was that more apparent than in its fight against sabotage and espionage along the East Coast. The government discovered that safeguarding the waterfront required more than patrols and paperwork; it required access to communities it did not control. The crowded piers, ethnic neighborhoods, and dockside taverns around New York Harbor were governed not by federal agencies, but by powerful crime syndicates whose influence reached far deeper than any official badge.
The Saturday attack on Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro was carried out by U.S. Army special operations units, who inserted via helicopter into Caracas and grabbed Maduro and his wife after a firefight with Venezuelan forces. While they were carrying out the raid, roughly 150 aircraft covered them in the skies and carried out airstrikes on Caracas and other parts of Venezuela.
The force included a mix of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps bombers, fighter jets and electronic attack planes, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said on Saturday.
Not all oil is created equal, and Venezuelan crude is about as different from typical American light oil as heavy molasses is from a bottle of gasoline. That difference shapes everything from how refineries are built to how much it costs to turn crude into fuel to whether U.S. companies even want those barrels in the first place.
Related: How the US deleted Venezuela’s air defenses so quickly (and why the real war might be starting)
Venezuela sits on enormous oil reserves, especially in the form of extra-heavy crudes in the Orinoco region.
This video describes the military situation in
New images have provided the first clear look at China’s first intercontinental range stealth aircraft, showing what appear to be twin internal weapons bays that would confirm the aircraft is intended to serve as a long range bomber. The unmanned aircraft was first seen in satellite footage from a People’s Liberation Army Air Force test base near Malan, Xinjiang province, which was published in mid-June. Subsequently on October 19 images or the first time showed the aircraft in flight.