U.S. and 40 other allied navies gathered in Bahrain today to begin massive anti-mine exercises in the Persian Gulf. The International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX) will run through 30 May. The drills appear to be tailored to keep the shipping lanes at the Strait of Hormuz open in case of any future hostilities involving Iran.
A U.S. Navy statement released today said the IMCMEX will begin with onshore training and then move to the Gulf for maneuvers including mine-sweeping and search-and-seizure operations.
“We are very pleased to see that more than 40 nations have joined us here to take part in this opportunity to enhance international naval capability to preserve freedom of navigation in international waterways,” said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. Fifth Fleet. “If 41 nations are willing to come here and practice MCM, just imagine how effective the global mine response would be if someone actually put mines in the water.” (Xinhua, 6 May)
More than 100 divers, 35 ships and 18 unmanned submarines will take part in the drills.
BEIJING: China on Saturday commissioned a long range surveillance frigate to beef up its presence in the South China Sea. The ship named Yueyang is capable of long-range surveillance, air defence and anti-submarine operations, the state run Xinhua news agency reported. At a ceremony held in
Sanya, a port city in south China's Hainan Province, Jiang Weilie Commander of the South China Sea fleet, raised a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) flag and endorsed a naming certificate for the naval unit that received the frigate, said the media reports. According to white-paper published by the Chinese authorities, the PLAN has been training different formations of combined task forces composed of new types of destroyers, frigates, ocean-going replenishment ships and shipborne helicopters to increase it blue-water capabilities. China has scaled up its naval operations in South China Sea, after Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei along with Taiwan contested its claims of sovereignty over it.
How do the Israelis come to know about these terrorist weapons? Excellent intelligence ?
Only a few days after an alleged Israeli strike, Syrian media reports Israeli rocket fire targeted a military research center; Western intel sources confirm Syrian reports, say targets were Iranian Fateh-110 surface-to-surface missiles
he sources said the target was a shipment of Fateh-110 missiles. The Fateh-110 is a medium-range advanced guided missile capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 300 kilometers.
Pakistan Army maintaining contact with Taliban and hiding Mullah Omar in its headquarters in Rawalpindi after Abbottabad incident.
Taliban leaders are being disguised as lecturers and beard sporting prayer leaders in Pakistan Military Academy where cadets are being taught the Islamic glory of the bygone era.