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US sends in amphibious warship USS Bataan and support vessels with 2,500 Marines on board into the Eastern Mediterranean and places military bases in Iraq on full alert as Iran attacks Israel
2024-04-14
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • US Congressional sources say the amphibious war ship Bataan is leading a US naval task force in the Eastern Mediterranean

  • The Bataan has two support ships and together they have about 2,500 Marines onboard, with guided missile destroyers already in the area

  • The decision comes after Iran unleashed a drone attack on Israel in response to a drone strike that left 12 Iranians dead earlier this month

The US also has several guided missile destroyers including the Carney in the area.

US bases in Iraq have been placed on full alert and will also attempt to shoot down missiles and drones aimed at Israel.

In addition, the US has two destroyers and a Cruiser in the Red Sea that are fully armed with anti-missile weapons and they too are under orders to shoot down any Israeli bound missiles or drones.
Posted by:Skidmark

#13  Guess the Marines found a boat with a rudder.
Posted by: Skidmark   2024-04-14 23:11  

#12  More direct attacks? Iran may be done hiding behind proxies
Posted by: Grom the Reflective   2024-04-14 14:06  

#11   It appeared to "flood the zone" locally in vic an Israeli Air Base and punched through 6 or 7 hypersonic ballistic missiles.

Tennessee: This is from the Ynet Breaking News link:

IDF: 'We intercepted 99% of Iran's threats'; air base hit by missile is functioning
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Hagari said in a special statement Sunday morning that Israel intercepted 99% of the "threats" that Iran sent overnight. "Iran launched dozens of surface-to-surface missiles toward Israeli territory. The vast majority of the missiles were intercepted outside of the State of Israel's borders by our Aerial Defense Array. A few missiles fell within Israeli territory; at this stage, we are aware of one child who was injured, and a hit on an IDF base in the south, where there was only minor damage to infrastructure. I repeat, the damage to the IDF base in the south was minor and to the infrastructure only." The base has been identified as Nevatim air base, which is continuing to function.
Posted by: trailing wife   2024-04-14 13:56  

#10  The Iranians did manage to hit Nevatim air base with 7 ballistics. It's where Israeli F35's fly out of.
They didn't manage to actually hit a target there, though. Base remains at full function. Evidently Iranian ballistics are life lobbing mortar rounds, and they basically have to 'paint' an area.
As far as moving the Bataan in, if you're not going to invade somewhere, why? They're just targets in the current fracas. I can see that they might want the Burke destroyers that are in the group, but the Bataan in the current environment is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Posted by: ed in texas   2024-04-14 13:56  

#9  Their stuff is crap. If they didn't send their best crap this time they still didn't fool anyone.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2024-04-14 10:32  

#8  And did the Persians send over their very best drones? Was this a test of the Emergency Broadcast System Israeli/Allied defense system?
Posted by: DooDahMan   2024-04-14 10:30  

#7  /\ Valid assessment.
Posted by: Besoeker   2024-04-14 09:59  

#6  #3 I heard someone, a talking head, on the teevee last night use the term.... "flood the zone." My fear was the cruise missiles and drones would mask a ballistic missile attack. Thankfully, that did not happen.

There was a comment about the drones having their landing lights turned on. This might have been a good method for Iranian ground observers to observe the drones that managed to evade the AAA.


I think the Iranians did achieve their goal in at least one location. It appeared to "flood the zone" locally in vic an Israeli Air Base and punched through 6 or 7 hypersonic ballistic missiles.

IMO if the lights were on the drones, it was for terror effect as well as targeting.

Both sides learned last night, as well as us, the Russians, and Chinese.
Posted by: Tennessee   2024-04-14 09:57  

#5  Well, the US has robust sat assets for detecting ballistic missile launches and flight.

How much of that we want the iranians, nkors and china to see is the question.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2024-04-14 09:30  

#4  #1 How many anti-missile weapons left to them?
Posted by: Grom the Reflective   2024-04-14 09:25  

#3  I heard someone, a talking head, on the teevee last night use the term.... "flood the zone." My fear was the cruise missiles and drones would mask a ballistic missile attack. Thankfully, that did not happen.

There was a comment about the drones having their landing lights turned on. This might have been a good method for Iranian ground observers to observe the drones that managed to evade the AAA.

If the IDF pursues a counter-attack, it will likely come in the hours of darkness. Just my guess.

Our news people are so lame and uniformed. Calling jet powered (visible jet exhaust) cruise missiles, prop driven drones. I would have hoped we could have had better, more enlightened reporting.


Posted by: Besoeker   2024-04-14 09:24  

#2  Shooting down missiles will be the key skill in fighting the nex few wars until mass drivers from orbit come along.

Money will have to be spent, unless the "diplomats" can get the aggressor parties to stop shooting.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2024-04-14 08:53  

#1  US has two destroyers and a Cruiser in the Red Sea that are fully armed with anti-missile weapons and they too are under orders to shoot down any Israeli bound missiles or drones.

I would not have been surprised if Iran had sent a commercial civilian flight along with the drones, hoping for a propaganda coup if the US shot it down.
Posted by: Glenmore   2024-04-14 08:48  

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