Looks like the war with Iran is cooking off

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Operation Epic Fury: The first 10 days



Click here for super large infographic showing US assets & Battle Map.


RAF Fairford now has 15 US Air Force bomber aircraft available for Operation Epic Fury, following the arrival of 3 additional B-1B bombers this afternoon:

B-1B 85-0064 #AE6BD3 (DY) "Eliminator"
B-1B 85-0088 #AE6BE1 (DY) (No nickname identified)
B-1B 86-0107 #AE6BEF (WA) "Dragon Slayer"
B-1B 86-0140 #AE6C0B (DY) "Last Lance"
B-1B 86-0120 #AE6BFA (EL) "Whiskey Pete"
B-1B 86-0121 #AE6BFB (EL) "Symphony of Destruction"
B-1B 86-0139 #AE6C0A (EL) "Drifter"
B-1B 86-0108 #AE6BF0 (EL) "Aliens with Attitude"
B-52H 60-0023 #AE587C (MT) "Bomber Barons"
B-52H 60-0060 #AE5895 (MT) "Iron Butterfly"
B-52H 60-0007 #AE5871 (MT) "Guardians of the Upper Realm"
B-1B 86-0138 #AE6C09 (EL) "Seek and Destroy"
B-1B 85-0072 #AE6BD6 (EL) "Polarized"
B-1B 86-0102 #AE6BEB (EL) "Bad Moon Rising"
B-1B 86-0129 #AE6C02 (EL) "The Black Widow"

Earlier today, 3 B-1B bombers from RAF Fairford launched to head on the first UK-based mission to Iran. The bombers will likely refuel at points during the journey, which sees the usually 36-hrs round-trip from the mainland US reduced to around 18-20 hours. Today's bombers are:

B-1B "TAFFY45" 86-0121 #AE6BFB "Symphony of Destruction"
B-1B "TAFFY46" 86-0120 #AE6BFA "Whiskey Pete"
B-1B "TAFFY47" 86-0139 #AE6C0A "Drifter"




The BONE roars again “Symphony of Destruction” taking off from England on an Iran strike mission this afternoon: https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2031417417293836750





B-1B Nose Art...




The Scream of the Sheiks losing all their $€£.




The Marshal Islands-bulker KSL Laiyang is running the Strait. She is broadcasting on AIS "China Owners & Crew". This is exactly what we saw happen in the Red Sea against the Houthis. Expect to see more of this. Also, expect to see Iran stop giving a shit what's on AIS.

France Commits to 10-Ship Naval Deployment to Secure Mideast Shipping

France has decided to dispatch a substantial naval force to the Mideast to protect merchant shipping, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday. It is the second major commitment Macron has announced towards controlling the economic impact of the U.S.-Iran conflict, following his earlier statement that the G7 would tap its strategic oil reserves.

In an "unprecedented" international mobilization, France will dispatch 10 ships to key regions vital to European shipping interests: the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Marine Nationale already has two warships in the Eastern Med; the additional force will include eight frigates and two helicopter carriers. Taken together, it will be by far the largest French naval deployment in recent memory.

Macron is also working with European and Asian partners to contribute additional warships to the mission, which will focus exclusively on "escort and support," he said.

Macron announced the mission at a news conference in Cyprus, and later transferred to the deck of the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, the nation's flagship. The carrier has repositioned swiftly from the Baltic to the Mediterranean to prepare for contingencies and is believed to be located off Crete at present. 

In comments to reporters after the speech, Macron predicted that the active phase of U.S.-Iran hostilities could persist for days or weeks.

Report: Saudi Aramco Shuts Down Two Supergiant Offshore Oil Fields

Saudi Arabia has joined Kuwait and Iraq in beginning the process of drawing down oil production, a response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a shortage of storage options. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Saudi Aramco has shut down the Safaniya and Zuluf fields, taking two million barrels per day of production offline.

Safaniya is the world's largest offshore oil field, containing more than 30 billion barrels of oil in proven reserves, and Saudi Aramco has invested heavily in a program to modernize its extraction infrastructure to sustain production at levels exceeding one million barrels per day. Zuluf is another supergiant estimated at about 30 billion barrels, and has a nameplate production capacity in excess of one million bpd.

Iraq has already shut in enough production to match the sudden stoppage in exports caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and is producing just enough to satisfy domestic demand. Kuwait has signaled that it is slowing production as storage fills up, but it is hoping to preserve the ability to restart quickly once the transport situation normalizes.

Saudi Arabia has more extensive tank storage options than its neighbors, and while it is normally dependent on Hormuz shipping for exports, it has another alternative. The Saudis operate a 750-mile pipeline connection from Gulf oil fields to a terminal at Yanbu, on the Red Sea. This circumvents the risks at Hormuz, though the Red Sea has security challenges of its own. The Saudi East-West pipeline can handle 7 million barrels per day and the Yanbu terminal can load up to 4.5 million barrels, according to Kpler - nearly half of all Saudi production, but not all of it.

Everyone...there is no need to panic about rumors of mines in the Persian Gulf.

The US Navy has kept four mine countermeasure vessels in the Persian Gulf for the past 35 years.  These ships and crews have trained for this very circumstance.

WAIT...what is this...



That leaves four active Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships with wooden-hulls and they are all in Sasebo, Japan.

According to the Navy Replacement Fleet: The Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) and USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) are already forward-deployed to Bahrain. They are the first ships to carry the Navy’s new MCM Mission Package.
New Capabilities: Unlike the legacy Avenger ships, the LCS platforms utilize a "stand-off" strategy. They deploy unmanned underwater drones and autonomous surface vessels to locate and neutralize mines, allowing the primary ship and its crew to remain outside the danger zone. The new tech (20 years worth of R&D) has never been tested in real war theater operations, like right now.


Meanwhile...


https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2031489675760640370


Trump is bluffing about sending ground troops into Iran — a million-soldier occupation is fantasy, but the real danger is elsewhere: turning this into a regional war by mobilizing Gulf monarchies, Turkey, and Azerbaijan against Tehran. Invading Iran will make Afghanistan and Vietnam look like a Sunday walk in the park. It's not Iraq nor Afghanistan.


Why does this feel like another treasure hunt for WMDs?


https://x.com/TreyYingst/status/2031433795283333207


Next on BBC: Meteors cause black rain and 'unprecedented' pollution in Tehran, scientists say.


Truth or deception from Senator (D-CT) Murphy...




Iran state media just published a new Lego AI short movie. "The Story of the Election of the Third Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran".