Global Conflict Reporting

Tag: US military

  • US targets Houthi territory in Yemen with wave of airstrikes.

    US targets Houthi territory in Yemen with wave of airstrikes.

    By. Scott Jackson

    March 15, 2025

    The U.S. has launch a wave of airstrikes on the Houthi sites in Yemen with confirmation that at least some of the strikes struck in Sanaa.

    “Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,”

    US President Donald Trump during the strike. He also said,

    “Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our troops and Allies. ”

    And..

    “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

    While Houthi attacks in international shipping had stopped since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas todays attack is in response to a statement put out by the Houthis two days ago saying that any Israeli or U.S. linked ship that came close to Yemen would be attacked in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Sare’e said on Twitter that the Houthi threat to attack these ships would be in place until Israel resumed Gaza crossings, as well as aid delivery’s into the region.

    Houthi militants had spent over a year, since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 7th, 2023 attacking any ship with (and some without) any link to Israel and the U.S. with several ships being damaged by anti-ship ballistic missile or drone attacks. The U.S., in response, deployed several CSG’s (Carrier Strike Groups) into the region to counter this Houthi threat. US carrier aircraft conducted a number of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Currently the Harry S. Truman is deployed to the area, having resumed her deployment after some repairs from an accident that occurred in the Suez.

    A Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile. The Houthis were the first to fire an ASBM in anger.

    This video shows the strikers launching from the USS Harry S. Truman. A mix of F/A-18 Super Hornets for air cover as well as for the actual strike task. These are accompanied by growlers who will cover all electronic warfare and jamming.

    Cue up “Danger Zone”

    This short video shows the strike on Sanaa. Houthi sources claim 13 killed and another 9 wounded. They also report an additional strike north of Sanaa near the border near Saudi Arabia.

    U.S. President Trump issued a direct warning to Iran for their support to the Houthis, promising to hold them “fully accountable” for the actions of the Houthis, Irans proxy. This comes two weeks after a letter was sent from the U.S. to Iran offering a path to restarting bilateral talks.

  • Video shows Chinese invasion ship’s in action for the first time.

    By. Scott Jackson

    Match 13, 2024
    A video, taken by Chinese beach goers shows one of Chinas new invasion ships.

    Several weeks ago, satellite imagery was taken of a number of Chinese PLA Navy harbor ships being in various states of being built and near complete. These ships have large bridges that can be deployed from the front as well as a system for raising the ships out of the rough waters making loading and unloading of equipment quick.

    This image released by Allsource analysis shows the shipyard where the harbor ships are being built. 4 are shown here with more being expected to be built.
    Image from Navel News shows a diagram of how the ships operate. The “Mulberry harbor” pulls up to the beach and deploys its stabilizers and bridge, other ships holding troops and vehicles pull up to the rear of the ship and unload straight through to the beach.

    These ships would allow China’s Navy to attempt to quickly land a sizable ground force at whatever point of an island as they wanted to. In a Taiwan invasion scenario these could be used to overwhelm defenders by spreading out the insertion points all across the island. China would also be able to quickly deploy such a large ground force that the U.S. would have little hope of managing to get them all off of the island without a long,drown-out confrontation that even if they could carry out would leave much of the island in ruin.

    There is little to these ships making the build time very quick.

    I reached out to PACOM but I’m still waiting on a statement. I’ll update if I get a response.

    Most amateur analysts seem to believe that these ships would make easy targets and wouldn’t last more than a few minutes under fire. However. These ships are ment to be deployed into any sort of direct combat, and would also have the cover of the missile defense of the Chinese PLA Navy. These ships would be deployed after the bulk of any resistance was taken care of.

  • US helicopter crashes in Honduras.

    By.Scott Jackson

    March 6th,2025

    A US Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk operated by the 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment under Joint Task Force-Bravo crashed in Honduras on Wednesday.

    I reached out to US SOUTHCOM for any info they could give me and received this via email.

    Pilots flying a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter made a precautionary emergency landing approximately five miles east of Soto Cano Air Base at 9:34 a.m. Wednesday.  All five crew members were evaluated by medical personnel, and no significant injuries have been reported. The aircrew was performing routine training in the area. An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the incident. The aircraft and aircrew are assigned to 1-228th Aviation Regiment out of Soto Cano Air Base near Comayagua, Honduras.

    Steven Mcloud (SOUTHCOM Media relations officer)

    The crashed Sikorsky Uh-60 Blackhawk.

    The Blackhawk received significant damage on impact appearing to have snapped its tail off. The fuselage appears mostly intact, likely saving the crews life, although injuries were initially reported. Those injuries haven’t been confirmed but were reported by other outlets who spoke with Carlos Padilla, head of Air Navigation at the Honduran Civil Aeronautics Agency (AHAC).

    Before the crash the crew had declared an emergency Mayday distress signal according to AHAC.

    Video of the aftermath of the crash.

    The military will conduct its investigation and depending on the findings will release its report sometime in the future. Whether this crash was mechanical or pilot error is yet to be determined.

  • Footage released showing US forces conducting targeted airstrike killing senior Huertas Al-Din members.

    Footage released showing US forces conducting targeted airstrike killing senior Huertas Al-Din members.

    By Scott Jackson

    02/02/2025

    On February 23rd US Central Command (US- CENTCOM) forces carried out a targeted airstrike on an automobile driven by Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, a military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate operating in Northern Syria.

    Video shows the airstrike on a vehicular claimed to be occupied by Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay.

    The airstrike took place in Northern Syria on February 23rd while the video was not released until yesterday. The attack was carried out with a Hellfire AGM-114 R9X “Flying Ginsu” or “knife missile”. The AGM-114 R9X is a regular hellfire missile with the

    AGM-114R9X

    As we have said in the past, we will continue to relentlessly pursue these terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region,”

    Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command

    The strike was the 3rd strike in February that targeted a member of one of the groups located in Northern Syria and the 4th strike of this nature since U.S. President Trump took office. During the Biden administration the group, made up of about 2,500 soldiers at best estimate, was given the designation as a terrorist outfit and strikes were carried out periodically that would target upper leadership. The group made a standby after the fall of Assad that they would be disbanding however US surveillance drone flights have increased in the northern Syria and Idlib region to make sure that the groups members don’t migrate to other theaters of conflict.

  • US Airforce conducts show of force flight through the Middle East.

    US Airforce conducts show of force flight through the Middle East.

    By: Scott Jackson

    February,20th 2025

    February 17 concluded a 24 hour flight for a number of US aircraft that went on a “show of force” mission. Also called a “force projection” demonstration through the Middle East.

    Flying out of RAF Fairford, South of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, 2 US B-52 Stratofortress long range bombers made their way south over Europe and into the Mediterranean and then on to the Middle East.

    The Bombers were joined by a number of escorts from 4 regional partner nations at various points during its mission as well as at least 2 U.S. F-15 Strike Eagles.

    B-52s flying with 2 US F-15 Strike Eagles as well as two unknown partner nation F-16s Vipers.

    “Bomber Task Force missions demonstrate U.S. power projection capability, commitment to regional security, and ability to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the CENTCOM region”said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander.

    While being mainly a power projection mission the bombers also took part in dropping live munitions on several target ranges located in partner nations.

    Live fire range bombing (location unknown released by US CENTCOM)

    These bombers are apart of the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron that just started the U.S. Air Forces first European bomber deployment for the year. They will fly out of RAF Fairford and are under command of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFA).

    Some of the B-52s in Europe had already been photographed earlier this week when a picture was released by USAFE out of the cockpit of a B-52 showing them flying alongside French Dassault Rafales, Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripens, and Finnish F/A-18 Hornets,other photos were later released of the the flight. (shown below)

    Operation APEX COMMANDER shows the U.S. Bombers operating with European allied fighters.

    “Bomber Task Force missions reinforce our ability to rapidly project combat power, demonstrating U.S. lethality and readiness in a dynamic security environment,” Maj. Gen. Joseph Campo, U.S. Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces

    While the U.S. has shown a desire to back away from European security it’s likely that the bomber deployments will, at least for the moment remain. US Allies do not, for the most part, have the ground attack capabilities that aircraft like the B-52, the B-1 and the B-2s can bring (as well as the new B-21 Raider. and interest in training alongside these bomber forces remains high.

    (more…)
  • Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a vessel at the Egyptian port of Said.

    Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with a vessel at the Egyptian port of Said.

    By:Scott Jackson

    February 13th,2025
    USS Harry S. Truman.

    Yesterday at around 11:46pm local time the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) collided with the M/V Besiktas-M, a merchant vessel at the Egyptian port of Said near the mouth of the Suez Canal.

    Position of the ships at the time of writing. (2:25PMEST) Both ships seems to be moving under their own power. Highlighted vessel is the Truman, the other goverment vessel shown to the south of it is the Guided Missile Destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) a part of its Strike Group.

    Statements from navy officials say that no flooding occurred because of the collision and that the Truman was undamaged and her nuclear power plant was safe and secure. The status of the Besiktas-M is unknown at this time.

    M/V Besiktas-M

    The Truman was most recently deployed to the Red Sea and Mediterranean to combat the threat from Iranian backed Houthis in Western Yemen, as well as projecting power in the region and supporting other US and allied forces in the area. Recent Iranian actions have made maintaining a force in the Middle East increasing only important.

    The Truman will likely continue or already has continued on its journey back to the Red Sea area. It was returning from a port call in Souda Bay, Crete Greece. NSA Souda Bay provides logistical and operational support to the components of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group

    BWhile it might seem absurd to think a merchant vessel could get close enough to a carrier to collide with it in the first place because of the almost absurd amount of security around a U.S. Aircraft Carrier. However, in a restricted space such as close to the Suez Canal there isn’t room for everybody to maintain a distance from the carrier strike group and from how I understand it, all anybody can do is follow the international maritime “rules of the road” which have no requirements that merchant vessels make way for a carrier. All the U.S. can legally do is ask them to keep their distance. That’s how I understand it but if I’m wrong I welcome corrections.

    Update

    (5:00PM EST)

    Some more info has come on the merchant ship Besiktas-M. It is a Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo ship. The ship has been heading north through the Suez canal heading to its destination states as being Constanta in Romania on the Black Sea. The Truman was heading south at the time when the mishap took place. The bulk carrier is said to have moderate damage above the waterline but continued under its own power.

  • Navy Growler crashes over San Diego harbor. 

    Navy Growler crashes over San Diego harbor. 

    By: Scott Jackson

    February 12,2025
    EA-18G Growler.

    Today, at around 10:15 PDT A US navy Boeing EA-18G Growler Electronic Attack Jet assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 135 crashed while taking off at NAS (Navel Air Station) North Island. The pilot and copilot are both unharmed as they ejected into the San Diego harbor and were picked up. The crew were originally picked up by a sport fishing charter boat the M/V Marietta, before being transferred to a Customs and border patrol craft according to radio calls made in the area that were recorded. The customs patrol boat  transported them back to shore where they are now receiving medical attention at UC San Diego Health. 

    With the crew being recovered emergency crews will respond to the wreckage to investigate as well as clean up and debris and fuel from the crash. According to radio calls from the area there is a large amount of fuel and the navy has dispatched response teams.

    The cause of the crash is under investigation. 

    CCTV Video shows the EA-18G Growler coming in down in a quick descent. Essentially falling out of the sky. The camera barely catches it.

    The aircraft had traveled to San Diego for ongoing exercises, leaving its home airbase at NAS Whidbey Island in Washington State. It’s unknown if the aircraft was taking part in the Bamboo Eagle 25-1 exercise currently taking place in the pacific. 

    NAS Whidbey Island

    Bamboo Eagle is a massive event focused on a possible high stakes conflict in the Pacific Ocean with China. Being led by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center in Nellis it has brought dozens of not hundreds of military aircraft to the region for this combined arms operation with the U.S. and several key allies. 

    Video taken from twitter user San Diego web cams shows footage from their livestream as well as the radio calls that happens after the crash.

    The EA-18G Growler is the U.S. Navy’s Electronic Attack aircraft that began to replace the EA-6B Prowler around the late 2010s. Based on the airframe of the F/A-18(E/F) It has since then become an integral part of the carrier air wing. The Growler swapped out the Super hornets main cannon with a strong AN/APG-79 AESA Radar. The plane has 9 weapons hard points but will almost always have 5 of those hard points taken up by ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming pods. The hard points that are left open are usually equipped with either AIM-120 AMRAAM for air threats or more likely AGM-88 HARM Anti-Radiation Missile that track enemy radar signals. The two wingtip rails that would usually hold AIM-9X sidewinders was replaced for AN/ALQ-218 passive radar warning receivers to detect enemy radar.

    While mostly known for jamming enemy radar enemy communication can also be jammed by the Growlers suite of comms jamming systems.

    Australian EA-18G Growler

    While the growler with its jamming pods can defeat all current air and surface threats it comes up against its future is always in question as new and more advanced radars are developed and fielded and it’s jamming pods become out of date. The airframe is only as good as its equipment that needs to be updated in the near future.

    Author note.

    We here at GCR respect and appreciate any aircraft and crew capable of the roles of SEAD and DEAD. Suppression and destruction of enemy air defense is one of the most important roles in the always critical task of establishing aerial supremacy. The Growler holds a special place in my heart as did the Prowler that came before. Hats off to all of today and yesterday’s Electronic Attack Planes as well as the F-4 that carried out the insane Wild Weasel missions.

    If you are somebody with knowledge of this story contact Scott at GCR. My contact info is on the Website and I would love to talk on or off the record regarding this story.

  • Daily Briefing

    February 5th,2025

    By Scott Jackson

    Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyer, USS Preble (DDG-88) utilizing its High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) Weapons System. 

    USS Preble (DDG-88) firing its HELIOS system.

    Helios is apart of a larger program aimed at the development of Solid State Lasers (SSL). Some of the other lasers being developed include the 

    -Ruggedized High Energy Laser (RHEL);

    -Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN); -Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) 

    -High Energy Laser Counter-ASCM Program (HELCA), for shooting down anti-ship cruise missiles. 

    All of these I’ve listed are in varying states of development and wont be fielded until a future date however HELIOS has been in a testing phase since 2021 and now has been fully integrated into the combat systems of at least the USS Preble (DDG-88) where it will be used to counter drones, small boat threats and missiles. 

    The main advantage of the direct energy weapons is the price. Lasers cost about $1 to fire compared to some missiles getting into the tens of millions of dollars. 

    Russias losses in Ukraine for the month of January reached almost 50,000, the second highest since the early days of the war.

    According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the month of January 2025, the Russian armed forces lost 48,240 soldiers and 573 Russian armored vehicles and 230 tanks. In the Russian order of battle this is roughly equivalent to 3 motorized rifle divisions. In that time the Russian army has managed to take roughly 500 sq. kilometers (193 sq miles) in the Kursk Region as well as Ukraine. These numbers are almost identically to December of 2024 numbers except they took 100km more territory.

    The situation in Ukraine remains much as it has the past couple months. Ukrainian forces continues to reinforce defensive points while Russia has kept its army’s pushing into enemy territory. Ukrainian forces have stepped up the intensity of attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure, with the Ukrainian security services (USB) targeting the regions of Volgograd and Astrakhan.

    Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant

    Future daily briefs will have more Ukraine reporting as I reconnect with my sources and find new ones.

    Iraqi airstrike kills 5 ISIS operatives in Iraq.

    On January 31, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), supported by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted an airstrike near Kirkuk, Iraq. The attack killed 5 ISIS fighters according to CENTCOM.

    “An initial post-strike clearance found multiple explosive suicide belts and other materials,”

    CENTCOM confirmed in a statement, underscoring the strike’s role in weakening the group’s operational capabilities.

    “ISIS remains a threat to the region and beyond, and CENTCOM, along with partners and allies, will continue to aggressively pursue these terrorists to protect the homeland,” 

    This operation was backed by Coalition Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CTF-OIR), which provided intelligence and technical support for the strike.

    U.S. forces have recently stepped up strikes against ISIS targets since the fall of the Assad Regime in Syria. With the state being weakened it was a possibility that Daesh could attempt a comeback.

    On the same note….

    US Africa Command carries out airstrikes on ISIS in Somalia.

    On February 1st, 2025, US president Donald Trump, in his first major U.S. Strike overseas since he took office, ordered US forces to carry out airstrikes on ISIS targets in Northern Somalia in the Golis Mountains. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “multiple operatives” were killed in the strike.

    F/A-18 Super Hornet

    The strikes were carried out by planes from the navy and Air Force. FA-18 Super Hornets took part from the USS Harry S. Truman currently stationed in the Red Sea.

    While the main threat in the area has been Al-Shabab, ISIL has been involved in attacks in Southern and Central Somalia. Even while facing the threat of US bombings as well as the policing actions of the Somolian Security Forces, and a fierce rivalry with Al-Shabob ISIS (ISIL) continues to grow and gain a strong foundation in the country.

  • Daily Briefing

    By. Scott Jackson

    February 1st, 2025

    US Forces kill senior operative of Terror Group Hurras al-Din in Syria.

    The aftermath of the airstrike that killed Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir in Northwestern Syria.

    On January 30th US CENTCOM (Central Command) forces conducted an airstrike in northwestern Syria targeting a senior operative of the US classified Terror group Huertas Al-Din (HaD) an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. The target was Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir a former ISIS member who later went on to become a member of the Syrian At-Qaeda branch. Not much else is known about him besides that CENTCOM describes him as a “Senior member” in the group. 

    A statement from CENTCOM on the strike:

    “The airstrike is part of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond”

    It ends with a warning from commander of CENTCOM, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.

    “CENTCOM will continue to hunt and kill or capture terrorists and defend our homeland against groups that plot to attack U.S. and allied personnel,”

    (more…)

    Pages: 1 2

  • American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. army helicopter in Washington DC.

    January 30th, 2025

    By. Scott Jackson

    Wreckage of Flight 5342
    Search and rescue efforts underway.
    Images from a rescue helicopter show the debris in the river.

    PSA Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700 passenger jet ,registered N530EA, was on a Wichita, Kansas -to-D.C path when on final approach for runway 33 at Ronald Regan Airport (DCA) when a Blackhawk helicopter, carrying 3 people collided with the plane sending it into the Potomac river with its 60 passengers and 4 crew aboard.  One person on the ground was also killed as both aircraft fell into the river. 

    ADS-B exchange shows the flight of the CRJ at the time of impact.
    ADS-B shows the path of the Blackhawk before impact.

    A search a rescue effort involving over 300 people has failed to turn up any survivors. 18 body’s have been pulled from the river at the time of writing. 

    Initially, there was some confusion on the identity of the helicopter as it was first mistakenly reported as apart of the DC metro police fleet and then again misidentified as UH-60 used for VIP transport. Heather Chairez, a spokesperson for the joint task force-National Capital Region confirmed the aircraft was a UH-60 Blackhawk on a training mission. 

    Airports have altitude restrictions for helicopters, usually keeping them around 200ft above ground level at the point of impact the plane would have been around 400-500 ft. Audio released after the accident confirms that the plane was pointed out to the helicopter crew. It’s likely that when asked to confirm they could see the plane, they might have looked at another plane that was coming in at the same time to land on a different runway. The plane was in a blind spot that would have been difficult to see.

    More information will come out in the following days. This is all based on information I’ve gathered from statements given by officials as well as open sources and could possibly be flawed.

    Info will be added here as it come out.

    Updates.

    • Helicopter was with Bravo Company 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It was conducting a training flight at the time of the crash.
    • Several aviation enthusiasts around the DC area have said that a crash like this around Ronald Reagan was a case of “when not if” Helicopters regularly fly that route down the river coming within a couple hundred feet of airplanes on final.

    Hi, this is Scott. I just wanted to say that my heart goes out to those affected by this accident. Tragedies like this are the hardest for me to write about but I know that doesn’t compare to the pain felt by those affected.