The war in the Middle East raged on multiple fronts March 16, as the U.S. and Israel pummeled military targets in Iran’s capital, Israel stepped up bombardments of Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and Iran retaliated with a drone strike that temporarily closed Dubai’s airport, a crucial hub for travelers.
President Donald Trump has delayed a trip to China this month as he pressures Beijing and NATO allies to send warships to help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz, throwing into question a long-planned effort to reset relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Earlier this month, an aircraft was approaching the Albuquerque airport, miles and miles and miles away from where a group of government officials had gotten together to test a secretive military laser in the New Mexico desert.
In China, the United States is facing “a strategic competitor that offers a new level of challenge,” and must move quickly to close gaps in manufacturing and secure access to critical minerals, the assistant defense secretary for industrial base policy said.
The Pentagon said March 16 approximately 200 U.S. service members have been wounded since the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran broke out. The “vast majority” of these injuries have been “minor” and over 180 troops have returned to duty, U.S. Central Command spokesperson, U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, told The Hill in a statement.
The Army-run counter-drone task force has selected Anduril’s Lattice software as the command and control backbone in an $87 million award as the first task order in a enterprise deal worth up to a staggering $20 billion over 10 years.
When President Trump ordered the U.S. military to strike Tehran’s nuclear sites in June, a formation of B-2 stealth bombers escorted by jet fighters ventured deep into Iran to strike their targets with massive bunker-busting bombs. But when Trump ordered widespread strikes on Iran’s military sites two weeks ago, the first aircraft to lumber across the border were slow-moving MQ-9 Reaper drones. They have been used in the battle against the Iranians ever since, attacking hundreds of targets.
President Donald Trump said March 16 that he is frustrated some countries will not join a coalition to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has been pressuring U.S. allies to send military forces to get oil exports flowing through the Strait. Tanker traffic through the narrow sea route has plunged due to Iranian attacks. This has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history, with crude prices surging about 40 percent since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago.
The Israeli Air Force claims that it destroyed the Iranian government’s Airbus A340 in a strike on Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. Last summer, the aircraft had been part of an exodus of Iranian state-operated airliners to Oman, but its apparent demise now underscores the intensity of the current airstrikes against Iran, which have been systematically removing aircraft of all types from the Iranian inventory.
