Looks like rehashed old footage?
2026 Israel-US vs. Iran conflict [Military updates/News Only]
- Thread starter Phead128
- Start date
This is def older video,
The fire lasted for 30 hours.
I would have assumed a carrier would have pretty impressive fire suppression system or something, must be some scary fire
Meanwhile:
IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri
I am aware of the limitations, these missiles are only interesting because they constitute the bulk of the USN stockpile of SM's.
They are so short on missiles that even with that bulk of SM-2 they can barely fill every VLS cell on every ship, if you strip these SM-2 away then a lot of VLS cells would be empty.
So I presume that SM-2 are on board of most if not all ships and are used over the rare SM-3 and SM-6 whenever possible.
There is an extended capability SM-2 but it uses an SM-6 seeker which is production rate limited, so it doesn't really fix any of the ammunition shortage issues. Seems merely a capability extension.
I found some speculation and rumours and some very flimsy math on those SM-2 numbers which do not add up.
Apparently the 8,500-8,800 stockpile number is calculated from the baseline of 12,000 total produced SM-2 in some old report, minus all the expenditures which happened.
But it is questionable if these 8,500-8,800 missiles actually exist. A lot of "procurement" was actually modernisation of existing missiles, and they did a lot of seeker swaps and the like, it is not straightforward to tell.
Also the older Block I and Block II and even some Block III were build for arm launchers, not VLS cells and it is unknown how many got converted.
But I found no reliable citable source for this and you have to pull together many sources and do some flimsy math to get there.
Would explain the 2,500 number from the FPRI report though. It seems likely that SM-2 stockpiles are much lower than the big numbers which are floating around.
If anyone has more solid numbers, I would be interested.
Ironically we have pretty good numbers on SM-3 and SM-6 but this bulk of SM-2 has been a ghostly mystery to me.
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Summary
- Gulf states now urge Washington not to stop short, sources say
- US presses Gulf states to join war, according to diplomats
- Gulf anger hardened after Iran struck oil hubs, ports, cities
- Quick end might let Iran threaten oil lifeline again in future
- Gulf leaders see degrading Iran’s power as long-term priority
Just to add, we need to see how many are actually within the vicinity to replenish those empty launchers. Also, with the major bases in and around Iran being legitimate targets and within reach of Iran, USN needs to go further out into safer harbours to reload.
Same thing for land based interceptors. Its Ukraine-Russia all over again....targeting resupply dumps and logistics nodes.
40 years ago, Trump openly discuss attacking and seizing Kharg island. In 1988, Trump mulled a hypothetical conquest of Kharg island.
In fact, Kharg island handle nearly 90% of its crude oil exports and functioning as a vital economic lifeline. The entirety of the Iranian oil export infrastructure and therefore income/revenue centers around Kharg Island's facilities.
Based on the content of the Newsweek article, it is essentially saying is the main thing stopping Trump from seizing Kharg is the possibility of Iranians turning the Gulf regional oil infrastructure into ruins, thus skyrocketing oil price. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) but in terms of oil infrastructure. Therefore, now US may be trying to reduce Iran's offensive capabilities , reducing drone and missile stockpiles, with the goal to to minimizing allied collateral damage in event Kharg is seized, and preservation of allied Gulf oil infrastructure, this oil price market... Now, this sounds like a game of chicken in escalatory ladder, unless one side sues for peace or suddenly declare mission accomplished.
In fact, Kharg island handle nearly 90% of its crude oil exports and functioning as a vital economic lifeline. The entirety of the Iranian oil export infrastructure and therefore income/revenue centers around Kharg Island's facilities.
Based on the content of the Newsweek article, it is essentially saying is the main thing stopping Trump from seizing Kharg is the possibility of Iranians turning the Gulf regional oil infrastructure into ruins, thus skyrocketing oil price. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) but in terms of oil infrastructure. Therefore, now US may be trying to reduce Iran's offensive capabilities , reducing drone and missile stockpiles, with the goal to to minimizing allied collateral damage in event Kharg is seized, and preservation of allied Gulf oil infrastructure, this oil price market... Now, this sounds like a game of chicken in escalatory ladder, unless one side sues for peace or suddenly declare mission accomplished.
Summary
- The shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has stranded about 15 million barrels/day of Gulf oil exports, giving Gulf Cooperation Council producers major leverage in the Middle East conflict.
- Gulf states could deploy an energy “nuclear option” by halting exports entirely, removing up to 20% of global oil supply.
- Doing so, they could potentially force the United States and Israel to reconsider military operations against Iran.
Will Trump Still Visit China?
Talks in Paris Monday between U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chinese officials were meant to prepare for the president's visit.“We had a very good two days here,” Bessent said, adding that a statement “reaffirming the stability” between the two countries would be issued “in the next few days.”
If Trump's request to delay the face-to-face visit with Chinese President is granted, it could spark major economic consequences. Over the past year, relations between Washington and Beijing have been fraught, with both sides threatening steep tariffs.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry official said only that the two countries had maintained communication about Trump's visit.
“Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-U.S. relations,” Lin Jian said at a daily briefing.
Bessent urged investors not to react negatively if Trump puts off the trip.
Speaking in the Oval Office Monday afternoon, the president said the U.S. and China had a very good relationship, but that the war in Iran took priority.
The U.S. national average price of diesel surpassed $5 a gallon on Monday, GasBuddy data showed. The only other time diesel retailed above that mark was in December 2022, when global oil markets were still reeling from Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week, has severely disrupted global diesel supply chains because the Middle East is a major supplier of both the fuel and the type of crude oil most suitable for its production.
Iran's near-complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz impacts between 10% to 20% of total global seaborne diesel supplies. Moreover, the slump in Middle Eastern crude oil flow to Asian refineries has pushed many of them to cut production, further hitting global diesel availability.
A string of measures announced by Trump and other world leaders, including a by industrialized nations, has to tame surging fuel prices.
U.S. national average gasoline prices stood at $3.76 a gallon as of 6:10 p.m. EDT, the highest since October 2023, GasBuddy data showed.