Breaking: SAS operators wounded in Syria, at least one in critical condition

Two Special Air Service (SAS) troopers were seriously injured during an Islamic State (ISIS) missile attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Syria. At least one Kurdish fighter was killed in the attack. The special operators were attached to Kurdish forces, providing their partners with essential joint terminal attack control (JTAC) capabilities—that is, coordinating airstrikes. […]

Hubris or rehearsal? Iran to deploy naval task force close to the US

The Iranian government has announced its intention to deploy a naval task force in the Atlantic Ocean in the next few months. The decision is intended as a response to American and Western belligerence in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. According to the IRNA state news agency, the naval flotilla will depart for […]

Like it or not, Trump got it right on Syria

In 2013 MSNBC host Rachel Maddow authored a book titled “Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power.”  The book explores America’s steady march towards perpetual war, one that has echoes of George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 in which propagandized citizens recite that, “we are war with Eurasia, we have always been at war with Eurasia.”  […]

Turkey puts pressure on US to extend Iranian oil waiver as operations in Syria ramp up

With operations in Syria ramping up, Turkey’s Trade Minister, Ruhsar Pekcan, told reporters on Thursday that she expected the United States to extend the current waiver which allows the country to buy Iran’s crude oil. In November, the US placed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, but granted several exemptions to the Gulf state’s biggest customers, allowing […]

Mission Accomplished 2 for US SOF? No Easy Answers in Syria

President Trump ruffled quite a few feathers both here in the United States and abroad when he tweeted out a few days ago that our troops were being pulled out of Syria. The President said, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” which he said during […]

Israeli SOF Units Are Preparing New Tactics to Face Hezbollah in Lebanon

With the news that Hezbollah is turning Lebanese villages along the border with Israel into military bases, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) specifically their Special Operations Forces are expecting an urban guerrilla warfare scenario. And they are preparing their forces and training to meet the threat. Hezbollah has been constructing tunnels from Lebanon into Israel […]

SOCOM’s long-term drone program

The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has just awarded an $18 million contract to Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, as part of the MEUAS III unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program. Insitu manufactures the ScanEagle UAV for the U.S. military. The ScanEagle is an ISR-capable drone that can operate at high altitudes (its maximum operational ceiling is […]

How Iran tries to keep its F-14s flying

Before the Iranian Revolution, which began in 1978, Iran was a steadfast U.S. ally. Consequently, the Iranian military arsenal was packed with American-made weapons. Iranian infantry carried M-16s; Iranian tankers drove M-60 Pattons; Iranian pilots flew F-4 Phantoms and F-14 Tomcats — a superb airframe, that was immortalized by the movie Top Gun. Since that […]

Trump: Iranian terrorism? This is how we’ll deal with them

Since the Iranian Revolution in 1978, Iran has been the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Working through the Quds Force, a unit that conducts, among others, covert intelligence gathering and special operations around the world, the Iranian government has been assisting Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, […]

Watch: Naval weapons test range shows off different ways to blow you up from the sky

California’s expansive Mojave Desert serves as a valuable testing and training ground for a number of U.S. military assets. The United States Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, for instance, is the largest installation in the branch — spanning out across a massive 998 square miles, much of which is devoted specifically to […]