Featuring quotes from @proftalmadge.bsky.social and yours truly👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...

"Iran is using drones not just as strike assets, but as a campaign management tool....The data points to a model of warfare in which drones are not supplementary to missiles. They are the backbone of the pressure architecture" www.csis.org/analysis/unp...

ChatGPT, other AI chatbots approved for official use in US Senate, NYT reports reut.rs/4s24W8d

Honestly I'm only surprised it's taken this long. They don't even have to deploy that many - the shipping lane is narrow and even the threat of mines is enough to stop any sensible commercial ship captain from risking it. One does not successfully Leroy Jenkins through a minefield.

Initial reports indicate a small number of mines currently in the Strait of Hormuz, but it only takes the threat of mines to throttle shipping. U.S. mine clearing capabilities have badly atrophied, and mine clearing can’t be done in stride. Especially in the shadow of land-based ASCMs. 2/

In 1991, it took a multi-national mine clearing task force of 40+ ships (plus aircraft) four months to clear Iraqi mines *after the war ended* and they knew where the mines were because they had the charts. Today, unmanned systems help, but the process is still extremely slow and dangerous. 1/

Trump: "If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before."

Pretty sure the RN will consider renting the USA a couple of minesweepers

Turns out that America might occasionally depend on European help after all

Ladies and gentlemen, your MCM fleet. Don't count on that LCS MCM module any time soon. bsky.app/profile/wars...

“The Navy has refused near-daily requests…” www.reuters.com/world/middle...

In '91, the Royal Navy led mine clearing efforts in the Gulf because the US didn't have sufficient capability. Fortunately, in the last 35 years, the US Navy has... ah.

To be fair, all CENTCOM can do is register a demand for mine clearing missions It’s the Navy that has consistently under prioritized and under invested in mine countermeasures capabilities for decades

If you’ve never heard of Operation Earnest Will Now would be a good time👇 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...

The first topic I worked on when I started as a military operations analyst 23 years ago was Navy mine countermeasures. The Navy’s MCM capabilities then were far short of any reasonable projection of force requirements… …and it has even less now 😑

Time to repost this one again warontherocks.com/2025/06/a-st...

If the goal was regime change, then this is apt If the goal was to set their nuke & military capabilities back some years & make credible the threat of doing it again—a punitive expedition—then that mission is nearing accomplishment But it’s oddly unclear which it is & that undermines everything

Video footage published by Bellingcat appears to show a Tomahawk missile striking a compound adjacent to the school.

Iranian threats to the Strait of Hormuz are part of its core playbook. The threats are credible due to its arsenal of naval mines, fast assault craft for hijacking, short-range missiles, drones, limpet mines.

US officials: The Pentagon is transferring parts of the THAAD system from South Korea to the Middle East.-WaPo

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Iran launched new attacks on Tuesday at Israel and Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war that has impacted the region and beyond, sent oil prices surging and stunned global economies. @apnews.com

“Who could’ve seen this coming?” is highly unpleasant when the answer is “most people who know anything about this big topic and they’ve been saying so for years.”

It was weird simply as a journalist to be told by colleagues that I'm writing about a UFO type conspiracy that doesn't exist. For people this actually happened to, it was soul crushing.

Appears to be the first strike in Somalia since the start of the war with Iran. www.africom.mil/pressrelease...

“France will deploy eight frigates – more than the entire British fleet – along with two amphibious helicopter carriers and the country’s flagship Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier” in an attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That’s a hell of a play (and gap). www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

I want a looong book on the history of "small wars" of choice by states. Everything from Rome sending a legion to Judea to bring the client kingdom in line, to the chevauchee of the Hundred Years' War to the American Indian wars and the current American attitude of punitive expedition.

Those are punitive expedition goals

It is kinda funny that “taking over” Hormuz has become the get out of jail free card, the strait is merely the shortest part of the gulf, there is still hundreds of miles of coastline that Iran can lob drones and missiles from

The Defense Secretary told CBS News that the U.S. is “willing to go as far as we need to go,” as he again refused to rule out the possibility of putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran.

Ah. There it is. /cc @jjschroden.bsky.social www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-i...

“the war is very complete, pretty much…[Iran has] no navy, no communications, they've got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing" Those metrics = punitive expedition www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-i...

Israeli air strikes targeted an oil storage facility in Tehran on Saturday night, according to reports.

Trump tells NY Post 'nowhere near' deciding to send troops to Iran to secure nuclear stockpile reut.rs/4cxcrPP

Always a pleasure to write for @warontherocks.bsky.social 👇

Less than a year ago, @jjschroden.bsky.social wrote this important article: "A Strait Comparison: Lessons from the Dardanelles for a Strait of Hormuz Closure" warontherocks.com/2025/06/a-st...

Breaking news: Anthropic sued the Trump administration, calling on a federal judge to strike down a government order forbidding military contractors from partnering with the AI company on the grounds that it poses a risk to national security.

Anytime he’d like to pilot and/or financially underwrite a tanker through the SoH under threat of attack, I’m sure he’d be welcome do so

SOUTHCOM Strike on Suspected Drug Boat Kills 6 — USNI News news.usni.org/2026/03/09/s...

Meet The Female Journalist Risking Her Life To Report On Women In Afghanistan

Breaking News: A bomb that was thrown near the residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York is being investigated as a terrorism act inspired by ISIS.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei • More hardline than father • He’s the IRGC candidate • Relatively young: 56 • Avoids public • Trusted by father, clerics • Was in military during Iraq-Iran war • His wife, Zahra, killed in Israeli airstrike w his father

I know there's a lot going on in the world right now, but we need to talk about back-in parking. It's become a national crisis.