Strike

The attack on alleged drug smugglers brings death toll of US military campaign against suspected drug boats to about 150.

The United States military has announced another strike in the Caribbean Sea that it said targeted drug smugglers, killing three people.

The Southern Command of the US military (SOUTHCOM) shared footage of the attack on Monday, showing a small boat exploding and going up in flames after the strike.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.

“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed.”

The attack brings the death toll from US boat strikes on boats allegedly smuggling drugs, which began last year, to about 150.

Rights advocates have said the US military campaign targeting alleged drug smugglers amounts to extrajudicial killings and risks violating international and domestic laws.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has argued that all the targeted boats were carrying drugs, but it has offered little evidence other than grainy footage of the strikes.

United Nations experts warned last year that the attacks “appear to be unlawful killings carried out by order of a Government, without judicial or legal process allowing due process of law”.

“Unprovoked attacks and killings on international waters also violate international maritime laws,” the experts added.

“We have condemned and raised concerns about these attacks at sea to the United States Government.”

The strikes started in September last year, as the US was building up its military assets in the Caribbean amid tensions with Venezuela. Since then, the attacks have expanded to also targeting boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

A separate US strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat on Friday also killed three people.

The campaign has continued even after US forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro early in 2026.

Trump and other US officials have argued, without providing evidence, that each bombing saves thousands of lives from overdose deaths. But it is not clear whether the deadly campaign has significantly affected the drug trade in the region.

The latest attack comes as Mexican authorities push to curb violence by drug cartels after the killing of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho”.

Trump has been pushing to present himself as launching a literal war on drugs across the Western Hemisphere.

“Mexico must step up their effort on Cartels and Drugs!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

The US has often accused its critics in Latin America, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro, of ties to the drug trade.

Meanwhile, in December, Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in US jails after being convicted of drug trafficking.

“The United States, after all, is not at war with every nation in the world.” The US Supreme Court has struck down Donald Trump’s use of a national emergency declaration to impose sweeping global tariffs. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna explains the court’s reasoning.

Feb. 19 (UPI) — The United States has put military forces in place in the Middle East for a potential strike on Iran but President Donald Trump has not decided whether to attack or continue negotiations on Thursday.

A strike could occur as early as this weekend, with naval and air forces quickly coming into place. National security officials met in the Situation Room on Wednesday to discuss courses of action against Iran.

U.S. armed forces have been assembling in the Middle East in recent weeks as the United States and Iran have negotiated a scaling back of Iran’s nuclear program. The latest conversations took place in Geneva on Tuesday, sans Trump who said he would be involved “indirectly.”

The negotiations between the United States and Iran ended without a resolution on Tuesday. Trump has called for Iran to end its nuclear program.

Iranian officials said they agreed with U.S. negotiators on a “set of guiding principles.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to expect more details about these negotiations to come forward in the weeks to come. She did not say whether Trump would take action before that happens.

“I’m not going to set deadlines on behalf of the president of the United States,” she said.

In recent weeks, the United States has moved warships to the Indian Ocean while Trump warned Iran over the killings and detainments of thousands of protesters against the Iranian regime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has an interest in Iran drawing down its missile capabilities as well. Israeli forces have been on alert over the possibility of an open conflict as tensions have continued to heighten.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is slated to meet with Netanyahu in Israel on Feb. 28, to provide an update on the negotiations with Iran.

The United States launched strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June, causing what Iranian officials called “serious and significant damage.”

A 15-day-old baby lost her father in Israel’s latest violation of the Gaza ‘ceasefire’ during attacks that killed at least 11 Palestinians in 48 hours.

Thousands of Uber, Bolt and Addison Lee drivers will log off on Valentine’s Day, urging customers to boycott ride-hailing apps as unions accuse firms and TfL of failing to address falling pay, safety risks and unfair working conditions.

Private hire drivers across the UK are urging customers to boycott major ride-hailing apps on Valentine’s Day as part of a protest over pay, working conditions and what they describe as regulatory failures.

Members of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) Private Hire Drivers branch are asking consumers not to use Uber, Bolt or Addison Lee on Saturday 14 February, while drivers log off the platforms and join a motorcade in central London from 5pm to demand legislative reform.

Nader Awaad, chairman of the IWGB Private Hire Drivers branch, described drivers’ experiences as “systemic exploitation” caused by fare structures, rising operating costs and what he calls insufficient oversight from Transport for London (TfL).

Awaad, 59, from Walthamstow, began driving in 2019 after being made redundant from a senior management role. He told The Mirror: “The UK’s private hire industry is a wild west. With no protection from unfair dismissal, drivers see their livelihoods disappear in the blink of an eye.

“With no real safety measures, we are left unprotected from passenger violence, frequently resulting in serious injuries or, in the tragic case of our member Gabriel Bringye, death. And that’s before we even start talking about pay,” he said.

Gabriel Bringye, 37, was a much loved private hire driver from Tottemham, north London. In February 2021, he was fatally stabbed during a robbery by a group of teenagers who had booked his cab by chance. He died from blood loss despite attempting to defend himself.

The attack left a deep mark on the driving community, and following the trial, Bringye’s family established Gabriel’s Campaign for Driver Safety, calling for stronger protections for private hire drivers and measures to prevent future tragedies.

According to the IWGB, drivers can work 12 to 18-hour days just to break even, covering fuel, insurance, vehicle maintenance, traffic fines and platform commission. Awaad highlighted a case where a Heathrow-to-central London ride cost £111 for the passenger, but the driver was paid only £29. “After expenses, many drivers are earning less than the minimum wage,” he told us.

He also criticised “upfront” or “dynamic pricing,” which sets fares for passengers and pays drivers via algorithms. Research from Oxford University found that Uber driver pay has declined since the model’s introduction. Under this system, drivers have no say over fares and can bear the cost of delays or route changes.

The protest follows the Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers are workers, entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay. Awaad argues operators responded by adjusting pay structures in ways that reduced earnings. Uber has said it complies with the ruling and provides worker protections, including holiday pay, pensions and minimum earnings guarantees.

Beyond pay, safety remains a concern. Drivers report risks of assault and abuse, along with sudden account deactivation by operators. Awaad insists TfL, as the licensing authority, should oversee any suspension decisions. The union also wants stricter passenger identity checks after incidents involving stolen or fraudulent accounts.

Awaad’s attempts to raise these concerns directly with TfL Commissioner Andy Lord, including offering detailed evidence, were reportedly declined.

When The Mirror reached out to TfL, a spokesperson said: “We take our responsibilities as the licensing authority seriously to ensure that everyone can travel safely and reliably. Operators must meet high standards in order to be licensed in London and we continually keep licensing requirements under review to ensure safe services for Londoners.”

The IWGB is lobbying Parliament for legislative changes addressing pay transparency, commission levels, safety protections, and due process in account suspensions.

Alex Marshall, IWGB president, urged public support: “If drivers and riders unite, we can push TfL and the government to implement protections similar to New York, France, Mexico and Barcelona. Drivers deserve fair pay, capped hours, holidays and safety measures. The time for change is now.”

Responding to concerns around pay and transparency, an Uber spokesperson said: “We regularly engage with drivers, especially through our industry-leading agreement with GMB Union, who are not taking part in this action. More and more people choose to earn with Uber because we offer flexibility over where and when they work, as well as offering the best benefits in the sector.

“Drivers have transparency over every trip they take – including the destination and their earnings – before they decide whether to accept it. All drivers receive a weekly summary of their earnings, which includes a clear breakdown of what Uber and the driver received from trips,” the statement concluded.

Similarly, a Bolt spokesperson said the company operates a different model outside London. “Through Bolt Flex, the first model of its kind in the UK, drivers outside London can set their own fares, negotiate directly with passengers, and operate on a transparent, flat commission with no hidden fees. Drivers are already earning up to 7% more per trip on average, while receiving 24% more orders per hour.”

In response to safety concerns, Bolt added: “The safety of drivers is our top priority. We have committed €100 million globally to strengthen safety across our platform, contributing to a 14% reduction in safety-related incidents year over year.

“Drivers are provided with passenger ratings and ride history before pickup, can share live trip details with trusted contacts, and have access to 24/7 in-app and phone support. Our Emergency Assist button connects directly to emergency services and alerts Bolt’s 24/7 safety team, and our trip monitoring technology flags unexpected or prolonged stops. We also offer one of the sector’s most affordable CCTV schemes for drivers.

“Drivers on the Bolt platform operate as independent partners, and access is conditional on compliance with our safety and community standards. Accounts are only ever deactivated following a full investigation, with a clear review process. We will continue working with drivers to raise standards across the sector.”

The Mirror contacted Addison Lee for comment.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the deadly strike was carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

A drone attack on a mosque in central Sudan has killed two children and injured 13 more, according to a Sudanese doctor’s association, amid a rise in similar attacks across the region. 

The Sudan Doctors Network said the attack was carried out at dawn on Wednesday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group engaged in a three-year civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces.

The children were reportedly studying the Quran at the Sheikh Ahmed al-Badawi Mosque in North Kordofan State when the building was hit by a drone in a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law and a grave assault on places of worship”, the doctors’ group said in a Facebook post.

“Targeting children inside mosques is a fully constituted crime that cannot be justified under any pretext and represents a dangerous escalation in the pattern of repeated violations against civilians,” the doctors said.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the RSF has previously targeted other religious buildings for attack, including a church in Khartoum and another mosque in el-Fasher, reflecting a “systematic pattern that shows clear disregard for the sanctity of life and religious sites”.

“The network calls on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights and humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to pressure for the end to the targeting of civilians, ensure their protection, open safe corridors for the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid, and work to document these violations and hold those responsible accountable,” it said.

The UN separately said on Wednesday that a recent series of drone attacks have been reported on civilian infrastructure in Sudan’s South Kordofan, North Kordofan and West Kordofan states.

A World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Kadugli was also hit by a suspected rocket attack on Tuesday night, according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. He did not say which group was responsible for the attack.

“The fact that we have to reiterate almost every day that civilians and civilian infrastructure, places of worship, schools and hospitals cannot and should not be targeted is a tragedy in itself,” Dujarric told reporters.

The UN has warned that Sudan’s civil war is expanding from western Darfur into the Kordofan region.

It has documented more than 90 civilian deaths and 142 injuries caused by drone strikes between the end of January and February 6, which were carried out by the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces.

Targets included a WFP convoy, markets, health facilities and residential neighbourhoods in southern and northern Kordofan, the UN said.

As he mulls over a decision about whether to attack Iran, President Donald Trump has reportedly ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group (CSG) to prepare for a Middle East deployment. However, even if that is authorized, it would take weeks for the vessels to arrive in the region.

The Wall Street Journal reported that in addition to being told to get ready to head to the Middle East, the ships could soon be ordered to deploy. If that happens, the CSG would join the USS Abraham Lincoln CSG already in the region.

“The order to deploy could be issued in a matter of hours,” the Journal posited, citing anonymous officials. However, the order hasn’t been given and plans can change, it added.

“One of the officials said the Pentagon was readying a carrier to deploy in two weeks, likely from the U.S. East Coast,” the newspaper noted. “The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is completing a series of training exercises off the coast of Virginia, and it could potentially expedite those exercises.”

We reached out to the Navy, which declined comment.

If a deployment order were issued today, it would still probably be mid-March before an East Coast-based CSG could arrive on station. Even with truncated pre-deployment workups, the ships would have to travel across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea or even further through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea.

Another CSG, with its embarked tactical aircraft and Aegis-equipped escorts, would certainly bolster the forces massing in the region for a potential conflict with Iran. As we have frequently pointed out, there is not enough tactical airpower there now for a major sustained operation. A second CSG would be provide a significant help.

While no decision has yet to be made about a second CSG, the journey of F-35A stealth fighters from the Vermont Air National Guard (VANG) has apparently continued toward the Middle East. There are indications that six of the jets, which online flight tracking data shows took off from Lakenheath Air Base in the U.K. on Wednesday morning, were headed to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Wednesday. 

The head of U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) has downplayed the current significance of Chinese efforts to develop new long-range strike aircraft with more global reach. He said that China remains, at best, a regional bomber force, though it continues to “aggressively” pursue new capabilities in this regard, like the long-awaited H-20 stealth bomber.

AFGSC commander Gen. Stephen Davis talked about Chinese bombers and other aviation developments with TWZ‘s Howard Altman last month. In that same interview, he also discussed his command’s role in any future conflict in the Pacific region, as well as new U.S. strategic capabilities that are in the works now, such as the B-21 Raider stealth bomber and the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), among other topics. This was Davis’ first interview since taking command of AFGSC in November 2025.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) recruitment video below from 2021 includes a teaser for the H-20 at the very end.

中国空军2021年度招飞宣传片完整版震撼发布！易烊千玺 吴京倾情加盟演绎强军路上精彩人生！「逐梦青春」| 军迷天下

“I can certainly understand their [the Chinese] desire to have a long-range strike capability like the United States, and I know that they’re pursuing it aggressively,” Davis said when asked for his thoughts on the H-20, as well as two very large stealthy flying wing-type drones that emerged in China last year. TWZ was first to report on the emegence of both of these designs, which appear to be at least in the initial flight test phase of development.

The H-20 is understood to be a stealthy flying wing-type bomber, very roughly analogous to the U.S. B-2 Spirit, and its development is said to trace back to the early 2000s. The U.S. military has previously estimated that it could have a maximum unrefueled range of close to 6,214 miles (10,000 kilometers), and noted that its reach could be further extended through aerial refueling. Past reports have also said that it might be able to carry up to 10 tons of ordnance, including land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles.

“What I can tell you is they’re just not there yet,” Davis continued. “I think our adversaries look at our long-range strike capabilities, and … want to mimic them, but they can’t.”

“There’s no other country in the world [besides the United States] that can take and deliver a long-range strike platform pretty much on any day, in any time and place that they’re choosing, right?” he added. “Really, China is a regional bomber force at best. I think they’re trying to continue to develop that.”

China’s bomber force currently consists of variants of the H-6, the core design of which was originally derived from the Soviet Tu-16 Badger. The H-6N version, which made its official debut in 2019, has enabled the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to re-establish a strategic nuclear triad. The N model is primarily designed to carry a single very large air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) under its fuselage and is one of the H-6 types that is capable of being refueled in flight. How many different types of missiles have been integrated onto the H-6N to date is unclear, but its arsenal does include the nuclear-capable Jinglei-1 (JL-1), as you can read more about here.

Gen. Davis’ comments are in line with past statements from U.S. officials on the H-20, specifically.

In 2024, an unnamed U.S. intelligence official said the H-20 Stealth Bomber was “not really” a concern, according to a report at the time from Breaking Defense.

“The thing with the H-20 is when you actually look at the system design, it’s probably nowhere near as good as U.S. LO [low-observable] platforms, particularly more advanced ones that we have coming down,” the same official said. “They’ve run into a lot of engineering design challenges, in terms of how do you actually make that system capability function in a similar way to, like, a B-2 or a B-21.”

“The H-20 … may debut sometime in the next decade,” the Pentagon subsequently wrote in its annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments later in 2024. That report also highlighted ongoing efforts in China to develop a stealthy medium-range bomber, which has been referred to in the past as the JH-XX.

The Pentagon’s most recent annual China report, published in December 2025, notably makes no mention at all, directly or indirectly, of the H-20 or JH-XX. That report did note that “of China’s currently fielded systems, the DF-26 IRBM [intermediate range ballistic missile and the H-6N’s ALBM are both highly precise theater weapons that would be well suited for delivering a low-yield nuclear weapon.” This underscores Gen. Davis’ comments about the continuing regional limitations of the Chinese bomber force.

Despite past PLA pronouncements that the program is on track, the current status of the H-20 is unclear. The present state of work related to the JH-XX, and whether it may have carried over into other programs, like the J-36 advanced tailless tactical combat aircraft, is also unknown. Starting in the late 2010s, there had been a surge in official and semi-official statements about how the H-20 was ‘coming soon,’ but this looks to have largely subsided in the past year or so.

This is despite a flurry in other very high-profile Chinese military aviation developments, including the aforementioned large flying wing-type drones, as well as the J-36 and J-XDS sixth-generation stealth fighters, the GJ-11 uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), the KJ-3000 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and more. The PLA Navy (PLAN) has also made major strides in advancing its carrier-based aviation capabilities in the past year or so.

As TWZ has noted in the past, a platform like the H-20 would give the PLA the ability to hold entirely new swaths of the Indo-Pacific region, including in parts of the continental United States, at risk. An expanded long-range strike aviation force would also expand China’s ability to target highly strategic outlying areas, including the U.S. island territory of Guam and Hawaii, as well as threaten regional competitors like Japan and India. If fielded, the aforementioned JH-XX could also have an important role in future regional operations.

The PLA has already been working to expand its routine bomber operations in the Western ends of the Pacific, especially around Taiwan and in the hotly contested South China Sea. Chinese bombers also now regularly integrate with their Russian counterparts and have made use of bases in that country for joint patrols. H-6K missile carrier aircraft flew in international airspace near Alaska for the first time ever during one of these joint operations back in 2024.

China and Russia conduct joint air strategic patrol over Bering Sea on July 25. This marks the eighth air strategic patrol organized by the two militaries since 2019.

Photos from China PLA Air Force Weibo accounthttps://t.co/g9w27FRnnM pic.twitter.com/oeZA4cUQR9

— Ryan Chan 陳家翹 (@ryankakiuchan) July 25, 2024

In his recent interview with TWZ, AFGSC commander Gen. Davis similarly highlighted the continued importance of American bombers in the Pacific.

“We have a requirement to be able to do that, day-to-day, for the President. We have to be able to penetrate adversary air defenses and deliver capabilities as directed,” Davis said when asked about the ever-growing threats posed by Chinese anti-access and area-denial capabilities. “We’ll continue to do that, as I said, by essentially, you know, taking all the information we can get, and integrating the B-21. Obviously, one of the great things about the B-21 is it’s going to be much more capable, it will have more sensors, it will have more inputs to it that will make it even stronger and more capable as a penetrating bomber.”

“Long-range strike, I think, contributes to every important mission set that we have in the Department of War,” the AFGSC commander also said when asked about how bombers could be employed against Chinese naval forces, specifically. “Obviously, one of the attributes of the modern force is the weapons they can carry, the variety of weapons they can carry, and the number and types of targets they can attack.”

“I think in any major confrontation that the U.S. would find itself in, you’re going to find your bomber forces are participating in bringing those skill sets to bear,” he added.

With this in mind, China is also still pursuing new long-range strike aviation capabilities, though it remains to be seen when the H-20 might finally emerge.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

L3Harris has highlighted the potential benefits of pairing its Red Wolf miniature cruise missile with the U.S. Air Force’s OA-1K Skyraider II. Standoff munitions like Red Wolf could help the OA-1K, originally designed for close air support and surveillance and reconnaissance in support of low-intensity operations, find a role in future high-end conflicts, but questions about the value of doing so remain. The U.S. Marine Corps is already acquiring the Red Wolf to provide a boost in capability for its AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for the same general reasons.

L3Harris announced today that it had shown “the ability to integrate” Red Wolf on its Sky Warden aircraft. The Sky Warden is based on the Air Tractor AT-802 single-engine turboprop crop duster. In 2022, the Air Force declared the two-seat Sky Warden the winner of its Armed Overwatch competition, subsequently giving the plane the designation OA-1K and the official nickname Skyraider II. The Air Force is planning to eventually acquire 75 OA-1Ks, which will be operated by units under the umbrella of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

L3Harris officially unveiled Red Wolf, as well as the companion Green Wolf (fitted with an electronic warfare payload instead of a high-explosive warhead), last July. However, the development of the “Wolf” family of systems dates back to 2020.

“Our customers demand a lean, agile aircraft that can fly, take off and land anywhere, anytime, outfitted with a wide range of payloads,” Jason Lambert, President for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Space and Mission Systems at L3Harris, said in a statement today. “Bringing together Red Wolf and Sky Warden demonstrates the rapid reconfiguration and customization of key L3Harris capabilities.”

The OA-1K can carry up to 6,000 pounds of munitions and other stores on as many as eight pylons, four under each wing. L3Harris has also said in the past that aircraft has a “robust suite of radios and datalinks providing multiple means for line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) communications.”

OA-1K Skyraider II Walk-Around Tour With Its Test Pilot

Adding Red Wolf to the Skyraider II’s arsenal would turn the aircraft into a true standoff weapons delivery platform. This, in turn, would help keep the aircraft further away from potential threats, reducing the risk to the crew.

The members of the “Wolf” family are all in the 250-pound class. They have a missile-like core design, powered by a small turbojet, and with at least a degree of low-observability (stealthiness). They are in the 250-pound weight class. “Their endurance has been proven in flight testing, demonstrating high subsonic speeds – 200+ nautical mile range at low altitudes and 60+ minutes duration,” per L3Harris.

Details about how Red Wolf or Green Wolf are guided are limited, but L3Harris says they are capable of “autonomous over-the-horizon engagements.” The Marine Corps, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, has used tablet-based control systems as part of the engagement process in past testing of Red Wolf.

L3Harris has also talked in the past about how members of the Wolf family could work together. The Green Wolves could help locate targets, especially hostile air defense assets, by zeroing in on their signal emissions, as well as clear a path for Red Wolves to actually strike them.

Red Wolf or Green Wolf are also only the start of what L3Harris hopes to be a larger family of configurations based around the central design. At least one Red Wolf was reportedly employed at the U.S. Army’s Experimentation Demonstration Gateway Event in 2021 (EDGE 21) configured as an airborne signal relay node rather than a munition.

“We can adjust the size of the warhead, the fuel tank, we can even put a parachute on the back of it, and we have,” Matthew “Guicci” Klunder, Vice President for Business Development at L3Harris, said in a promotional video released last year, seen below. “It can be a kinetic effect, it could be a non-kinetic effect, it could even be a decoy.”

Meet the “Wolf Pack”

Changing the size of the warhead would have impacts on range and endurance, as well as the terminal effect on the target. This also opens up the possibility of fitting different types of warheads, including ones with increased penetrating capability. A parachute system would allow for recovery and, by extension, potential reuse.

Overall, L3Harris describes the “Wolf” family collectively as “launched effects vehicles.” The U.S. military uses the term “launched effect” to refer to a broad swatch of uncrewed aerial systems that can be deployed from platforms in the air, on the ground, and at sea, and that can be configured as one-way attackers or to perform other missions. The Wolf family is just one of a growing number of modular, relatively cheap, and small systems that fall under that broad umbrella. Many of them increasingly blur the line between uncrewed aerial systems, especially longer-range kamikaze drones, and cruise missiles, as well as decoys.

As mentioned, just integrating Red Wolf onto the OA-1K would give it a standoff strike capability it currently does not have. Adding Green Wolf to the mix would further expand its capability, including adding a valuable, if not potentially critical, way to suppress hostile air defenses that might suddenly pop up.

In general, standoff capabilities for the Skyraider II could open up important new avenues to employing the aircraft in the context of future large-scale conflicts, including across the broad expanses of the Pacific. When the Air Force first initiated the Armed Overwatch program, U.S. military operations globally were defined by counter-terrorism operations in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria with entirely permissive airspace. By the time the decision was made to acquire the OA-1Ks, a shift was underway across the U.S. military to reorient toward preparing for high-end fights.

“How could we support them [friendly forces] if it’s in the Pacific or anywhere else? The OA-1K certainly has some roles and missions that can [provide] support there. And then in a large-scale combat operation, we are looking at, in partnership with other components of SOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command], what are some of the things that it could do,” a high-ranking Air Force official told TWZ in an interview last year. “Can it employ air-launched effects, at range, at standoff, in a flexible way that would provide value?”

“The beauty of the OA-1K is that it’s modular, it’s adaptable, and for a relatively small aircraft can carry a lot of payload. And so in a perfect world, in a resource-unconstrained world, I want to be able to have as big a menu as possible of things that I could hang from a hardpoint on there, or attach as a sensor,” Air Lt. Gen. Michael Conley, head of AFSOC, also told TWZ later in the year on the sidelines of Air & Space Forces Association’s main annual ocnference. “I’d love to be able to use long-range standoff mission munitions on multiple airframes.”

Conley was responding to a question specifically about integrating Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile (SCM), onto the Skyraider II. Leidos is developing Black Arrow for AFSOC now, but primarily as a new standoff capability for the AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. Questions have also been raised about how to ensure the future relevance of the Air Force’s AC-130 fleets in high-end fights.

Leidos completes successful test launch of a Small Cruise Missile

At the same time, exactly how great the benefit would be to making the OA-1K into a standoff shooter is a matter of debate. A key benefit the Skyraider II offers is its ability to operate with a very small logistical footprint from far-flung locales, including ones that are very austere and close to or even within contested areas. As such, an OA-1K would be able to launch munitions like the Red Wolf from within the enemy’s own weapon engagement zones or from other surprise vectors, and fly low and slow to literally stay out of the gaze of distant radars.

At the same time, the OA-1K’s range and speed are limited, with the aircraft said to have a combat radius of roughly 200 miles with six hours of loitering time once arriving on station. The Skyraider II’s ability to survive in a highly contested areas, even with a standoff capability like that offered by Red Wolf, is also questionable at best.

OA-1Ks could still provide useful support during a high-end fight, but in areas further away from hostile threats. As TWZ has pointed out in the past, in a Pacific scenario, the aircraft could provide force protection and surveillance on a localized level around forward operating locations, including island outposts.

AFSOC’s Conley, among others, has also stressed in the past that AFSOC will still continue to be called upon to conduct lower-intensity missions that require the kinds of capabilities that the OA-1K was originally designed for, as well.

Regardless, the market space for munitions like Red Wolf and Black Arrow is steadily growing, and includes many other designs already that might also find their way onto the OA-1K, as well as other platforms in the air, ground, and maritime domains.

Red Wolf does have the additional benefit of already being elsewhere in the U.S. military ecosystem. As noted, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army have been testing it in recent years. In January, L3Harris announced that the Marine Corps (by way of the Department of the U.S. Navy) had chosen Red Wolf for its Precision Attack Strike Munition (PSAM) requirement for a new air-launched standoff weapon primarily to arm the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. The Marines have been facing their own questions about how to keep the AH-1Z, as well as the companion UH-1Y Venom armed utility helicopter, relevant in future high-end fights.

Further orders for different members of the Wolf family from other branches of the U.S. military, and potentially foreign operators, could be advantageous when it comes to sharing the cost burden and driving down unit prices through economies of scale. There could be interoperability and other operational benefits from multiple services operating versions of the same platform, as well.

Whether Red Wolf or Green Wolf ultimately become part of the OA-1K’s arsenal, the demand for launched effects like this only looks set to grow across the U.S. military and globally. For the Skyraider II, some mixture of standoff capabilities increasingly looks to be in the plane’s future to expand its relevance beyond lower-intensity conflicts.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Feb. 2 (UPI) — A Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region has killed at least 12 miners and injured eight more, according to officials who are accusing the Kremlin of attacking unarmed civilians.

DTEK Group, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said a Russian drone struck a bus transporting staff from its Dnipropetrovsk mine, resulting in at least 20 casualties.

“The bus was hit as it was taking miners home after their shift,” the company said in a statement.

The strike was part of a large-scale Russian assault on DTEK’s mining facilities in the region, the company said as it extended its condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed.

Maxim Teimchenko, CEO of DTEK, accused Russia of conducting “an unprovoked terrorist attack on a purely civilian target.”

“This attack marks the single largest loss of life of DTEK employees since russia’s full-scale invasion and is one of the darkest days in our history,” he said.

“Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Serhii Berskresnov, a Ukraine Defense Ministry adviser, identified the weapon used in the attack on Telegram as an Iran-made Shahed drone.

Using a MESH radio modem, the drone pilot deliberately attacked the bus after spotting it on the road, he said.

The drone struck near the bus, with its blast wave forcing the driver to lose control and crash into a fence, he said, adding that as the injured were exiting the vehicle, a second Shahed drone struck.

“The operators operating from the territory of Russia 100% saw and identified the target as civilian, saw they were not military and made a conscious decision to attack,” he said.

“This is yet another act of terrorism. I have no words.”

Russia has been widely accused of committing war crimes in its nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine. From indiscriminate attacks on civilians to executions, torture and forced deportations, Russia has been repeatedly denounced for alleged war crimes that it denies.

The International Criminal Court has formally opened a war crimes and crimes against humanity investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has issued arrest warrants for Russian officials, including its authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin.

The strike was one of numerous Russian attacks across Ukraine on Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating on X that people throughout the country were without heat and electricity. Railway infrastructure was hit in the Sumy region, he said.

During the month of January, Russia launched more than 6,000 attack drones, 5,550 guided aerial bombs and 158 missiles at Ukraine, Zelensky said.

“Virtually all of it targeted the energy sector, the railways and our infrastructure — everything that sustains normal life.”

On Saturday, Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia, injuring six people, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svydenko.

“This is the nature of Russia’s war,” she said.

The attacks occurred during a cold February that has seen the temperatures drop well below freezing, according to the country’s hydrometeorological center.

The strikes come despite U.S. President Donald Trump stating last week that Putin promised him that Russia would refrain from hitting Ukraine for a week.

“I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to that,” he said during a cabinet meeting without making clear which towns, cities and regions that the Russian leader had agreed not to attack.

“We’re very happy that they did it.”

Trump has been pushing since before he returned to office to end the war, which he vowed to do during his first 24 hours back in the White House.

Zelensky confirmed Sunday that dates for the next trilateral meetings for a cease-fire between the United States and Russia have been set for Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” he said.

As the Writers Guild of America West prepares to negotiate a new contract with major studios, its staff union has authorized a strike of its own.

The labor group’s staff union (WGSU), which includes attorneys, research analysts and other positions, claims that “management has dismissed [its] staff’s needs and engaged in bad faith surface bargaining with no intent to reach a fair contract.” According to the union’s social media post, 82% of its members voted to authorize a strike.

The union wrote that 100 members participated in the vote, “demonstrating our unity and commitment to winning a fair contract. If management won’t bargain in good faith with us at the table, we will see them on the picket line.”

With a strike authorization vote, a strike is not guaranteed, but it gives union leaders the power to call one if needed.

WGSU claims it has been negotiating with the union since last September. The pending contract, according to a flier from the union, deals with issues such as AI protections, pay raises and “basic protections” like grievance procedures.

WGA has denied these claims, arguing that the union has offered “comprehensive proposals with numerous union protections and improvements to compensation and benefits.”

“Public claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate, and allegations of unfair labor practices are without merit. WGAW respects the staff’s right to engage in collective activity, and hopes to reach a first contract agreement with the staff union soon,” wrote a union spokesperson in a statement.

In response to the strike authorization, WGA West also released a four-page comparison of the proposals and counterproposals on Thursday. The document shows management has offered a minimum annual salary of $55,000 and the staff union is asking for a minimum of $59,737.

The Writers Guild made headlines in 2023 for the second-longest strike in the union’s history. At the time, film and TV writers were boycotting major studios and fighting for fair compensation. WGA West staffers also played a key role in the strike, as they too joined the picketing lines.

A contract was settled after a 148-day work stoppage, but it’s set to expire on May 1. The strike authorization vote comes as the WGA’s east and west coast groups get ready to once again sit down with major movie studios and streaming companies. Negotiations between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to begin March 16.

Manchester United produce stunning winner to beat Fulham 3-2 in Premier League thriller at Old Trafford.

Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick extended his perfect start as Benjamin Sesko’s stoppage-time strike sealed a pulsating 3-2 win over Fulham on Sunday.

United took the lead through Casemiro’s first-half header and looked in command when Matheus Cunha netted after the interval at Old Trafford.

In an incredible finale, Raul Jimenez’s penalty with five minutes left gave Fulham hope before Kevin’s wonder-goal hauled the visitors level in stoppage time.

To United’s immense credit, they hit straight back as the much-maligned Sesko’s fourth goal in his last four games sealed Carrick’s third successive victory.

After new manager Carrick masterminded surprise wins over Manchester City and Premier League leaders Arsenal, this remarkable encounter suggested the former United midfielder might have the Midas touch.

Unbeaten in their last seven league matches, United moved up to fourth place as their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League gathers pace.

Reaching the Champions League would be a significant statement for Carrick, who was sacked by second-tier Middlesbrough last year.

Only once in former manager Ruben Amorim’s turbulent 14-month reign did United win three games in a row. And Carrick has matched that run within weeks of his appointment until the end of the season.

United’s hierarchy may have to consider hiring Carrick on a permanent basis if he can continue his impressive run.

Whether that is enough to appease the 1958 Manchester United fans group is another matter after they staged a protest against the owners outside Old Trafford before kickoff.

Hundreds of fans, some wearing clown masks, gathered to express their frustration with United’s decline under the Glazer family and the lack of improvement since co-owner Jim Ratcliffe took charge of football operations.

The group claimed United are “being dragged through chaos by clown ownership” and are “run like a circus”.

Fans chanted against the owners and held aloft banners as flares filled the air on Sir Matt Busby Way.

When the smoke cleared, Carrick’s intuition paid off as he brought Cunha into the starting lineup to replace the injured Patrick Dorgu after the Brazilian scored the winner at Arsenal last weekend.

Only Arsenal had taken more points than in-form Fulham over the previous eight games, but United found the formula to end that strong spell.

United thought they had won a penalty for Jorge Cuenca’s foul on Cunha.

But a VAR check showed the offence took place just outside the area.

It was only a temporary reprieve for Fulham as United took the lead from the resulting free kick in the 19th minute.

Bruno Fernandes swung his delivery to the far post, and Casemiro rose highest to thump a towering header past Bernd Leno.

United struck again in the 56th minute with Cunha’s sixth goal this season.

It was a goal made in Brazil as Casemiro’s clever no-look pass found Cunha inside the Fulham area, and he smashed a fine finish past Leno from an acute angle.

Fulham were controversially denied a lifeline when VAR disallowed Cuenca’s 65th-minute goal.

Samuel Chukwueze was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins when he prodded Jimenez’s free kick to Cuenca.

But United were wobbling and Jimenez converted an 85th-minute penalty after the Mexican was fouled by Harry Maguire.

United looked to have collapsed in stoppage time when Kevin cut in from the right wing and curled a sublime strike into the far corner from the edge of the area.

Two minutes after Kevin’s leveller, United showed their spirit as Sesko took Fernandes’s pass and drilled high into the net from 12 yards to spark wild celebrations.

After a tumultuous month of continued national immigration raids and the ICE shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, nationwide protests are set to occur today amid calls for a general strike. Small businesses across the L.A. area announced Friday closures in observation of the strike, while others who voiced support said the decision to close is impossible — especially for independent restaurants, which suffered an outsized string of hardships through 2025, causing a growing number of permanent closures.

Many operators who say they are unable to close are donating a portion or all profits from Friday’s business to immigrant rights causes. Some say they’ve left the decision up to their staff, who rely on the day’s wages. One restaurateur, who requested anonymity for fear of ICE retaliation, said their employees’ earnings regularly pay for undocumented staff’s private transportation to and from work, and they cannot afford to close for even a single night.

Some of L.A.’s restaurants, bars and cafes closed in observance of the strike and protests include Proof Bakery, Wilde’s, South LA Cafe, Lasita, Bar Flores, Canyon Coffee, Chainsaw, Yellow Paper Burger, Kitchen Mouse, Bacetti and Civil Coffee.

Guelaguetza‘s co-owner and Independent Hospitality Coalition member Bricia Lopez took to social media Thursday afternoon to provide tips for fellow restaurateurs who can’t afford to close their businesses today. They included donating to immigrant rights organizations or spotlighting specific fundraising dishes, as many across the county now are.

Some local restaurants are opting to remain open but are donating the day or the weekend’s proceeds to nonprofits and legal funds, or they’re temporarily flipping their dining rooms to centers for community action such as making protests signs.

Guelaguetza is offering free horchata and cafe de olla for protesters or those who can provide proof of donations to immigrant communities through 3 p.m. In Glassell Park, a pop-up tonight will raise funds for street vendors currently avoiding work for fear of ICE. Taiwanese chef Vivian Ku is fundraising at her downtown and Highland Park restaurants, while she closes Silver Lake’s Pine & Crane to the public in order to use it as a staging ground for aid groups today.

“For a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, etc., they’re just a few bad days from being upside down for the month, and a few bad months from having no business at all,” an owner of Highland Park’s Santa Canela posted to Instagram on Thursday. “We understand the weight and power of collective action, but plain and simple: We didn’t feel comfortable making financial decisions on behalf of our entire team as to whether or not they could afford to lose another shift at the end of the month at a time when cost of living has never been higher.”

Home-style Chinese restaurant Woon, with locations in Historic Filipinotown and on the edge of Pasadena bordering Altadena, will remain open, too.

“I wish we had the luxury of closing our doors, but we will keep them open as we stand in solidarity with our community and neighbors,” chef-owner Keegan Fong posted to Instagram. “We’ve given our staff the option to take the day off while also allowing those who need the hours to continue to work.”

Even those who are closing today have stressed the importance of supporting local restaurants.

Historic Filipinotown bar Thunderbolt posted its decision to close on Friday morning, with a statement on Instagram that read, “This strike isn’t about small businesses, but they will bear the weight of it…For small business in the food and beverage industry, closing the doors on a Friday night — during an already brutal January — can be catastrophic.”

Here are some L.A.-area restaurants remaining open today but fundraising for immigrant rights.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats reached a deal with the White House late Thursday to prevent a partial government shutdown by moving to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, providing more time to negotiate new restrictions for federal immigration agents carrying out President Trump’s deportation campaign.

The deal follows widespread outrage over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens — Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti — by federal agents in Minneapolis amid an aggressive immigration crackdown led by the Trump administration.

Under the agreement, funding for the Department of Homeland Security will be extended for two weeks, while the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as the health, education, labor and transportation departments, will be funded through Sept. 30, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed to The Times.

While the Senate could approve the deal as early as Thursday night, it is unclear when the House will vote for the package. To avert a government shutdown, both chambers need to approve the deal by midnight EST Friday.

After the agreement was reached, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was “working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government without delay.”

“Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before),” Trump said.

He added: “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”

The move to temporarily fund DHS is meant to give lawmakers more time to negotiate Democratic demands that include a requirement that federal immigration agents use body cameras, stop using masks during operations and a push to tighten rules around arrests and searches without judicial warrants.

The breakthrough comes after Senate Democrats — and seven Senate Republicans — blocked passage of a spending package that included additional funding for DHS through Sept. 30 but not enough guardrails to muster the 60 votes needed to pass the chamber.

“Republicans in Congress cannot allow this violent status quo to continue,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after the vote. “We’re ready to fund 96% of the federal government today, but the DHS bill still needs a lot of work.”

Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) condemned Democrats for jeopardizing funding for other agencies as they pushed for their demands.

“It would be disastrous to shut down FEMA in the middle of a major winter storm. It’s affecting half the country, and it appears that another storm is along the way,” he said. “A shutdown would mean no paychecks for our troops once again, no money for TSA agents or air traffic controllers.”

The standoff comes after federal ICE agents shot and killed Pretti, an American citizen and nurse who attempted to help a fallen woman during an ICE operation in Minneapolis. Pretti’s death was the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in the city in less than two weeks, following the killing of Good earlier this month.

The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is one of the Air Force’s most ambitious weapons programs, designed to carry out deep-penetrating nuclear and conventional strikes over heavily defended skies and other missions its predecessor, the B-2, was never envisioned as doing. As the head of the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), one of Gen. Stephen L. Davis’s main tasks is guiding the development of the Raider, of which 100 are currently slated for procurement and that number could grow substantially larger in the coming years.

In his first interview since taking command on Nov. 4, 2025, from Gen. Thomas Bussiere, Davis offered The War Zone exclusive insights about the B-21 and what it can bring to the table in a future high-end fight. As the leader of AFGSC, Davis also oversees B-1B Lancer, B-2A Spirit, and B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers and all U.S. Air Force intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). During his Monday morning conversation with us, Davis talked about a host of other topics beyond just the Raider, including the future of the E-4C “Doomsday Plane,” the way forward for the troubled Sentinel ICBM program, and challenges posed by China and Russia.

You can read the first part of our interview here.

Some of the questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: What capabilities will the B-21 have by the time it achieves initial operating capability (IOC), and what will come later?

A: Right now, I’m focused on delivering the initial capability. And unfortunately, I can’t talk too much about the capabilities of the bomber. They are significant, and they are impressive. From the command’s perspective, we’re concentrating on getting everything in place up at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota to bed down that capability. Really, it’s the acquisition community that’s still delivering that plane, and I’m certainly interested in that, but I’m probably more focused on the bed down and getting those things right.

Q: Can you provide an update on the Raider’s Initial Operating Capability (IOC)?

A: As for IOC, we are thinking of it in an OPSEC framework. We are not building prototypes, and the infrastructure to support the B-21 is on time. The program remains a benchmark of acquisition and has validated the value of the digital engineering that went into it from the beginning; I can tell you that the penetrating global strike platform we are building and will get with the Raider is amazing.

Q:  Will the B-21 still be optionally manned?

A: That’s a future capability for the aircraft. Right now, we’re planning for the manned implementation of that aircraft and getting the crews ready to be at Ellsworth when the plane arrives.

Q: What roles will the B-21 be capable of executing beyond the standard deep strike mission set of the B-2? Will they be able to defend themselves kinetically from air threats as well as ground threats?

A:  I really don’t want to talk about those specific attributes of the B-21 because some of those are classified. What I can say is that it will continue to build on the capabilities of the B-2. As you know, in the environment and the places where it might operate, those people are improving their defenses, and likewise, we have to improve the capabilities so we can deliver for the president and the nation a penetrating bomber. Clearly, with a nuclear mission, there are places that we’re going to have to go to deliver nuclear weapons, if ever called upon by the president of the United States, and that’s something that I have to provide to the Department of War and to the president.

Q: We have heard so much about the Long-Range Strike family of systems, but so far, we only know of two members of that family, the B-21 and the Long-Range Stand-Off Weapon (LRSO). What other types of systems make up this family and when will we be able to meet them in the future? 

A: Well, once again, you hit me on all the classified aspects of the program. I would say any platform operating today is in a family of systems that’s connected to other things within the Department of the Air Force, and the Department of War, and that’ll continue to be the case of the B-21. And, as a matter of fact, we’re going to extend those, and it will be more connected than the B-2 in order to do its penetrating global strike mission. I think one thing you could add to family systems is the F-47 6th-generation fighter. You know, it’s going to be paired with the F-47 under certain circumstances. So we certainly consider that new 6th-generation stealth fighter as part of the family of systems that might be employed with the B-21.

Q: Any update on that program?

A: Nothing other than I believe it still remains on track. I was recently out of St. Louis, and they got a chance to take a look at the work that they were doing out there. As you know, Air Force Gen. Dale White has just been announced as the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Critical Major Weapon Systems, leading the F-47 and the B-21 programs, so that will create some integration there as well. I know Dale. He’s a very talented acquirer, so I think that bodes well for both those programs.

Q: How will unmanned systems, specifically aerial drones, be paired with the future bomber force? What capabilities are you looking at in this regard? 

A: In terms of what we might incorporate into both the B-21 and the B-52 in future environments, we’re going to take every bit of information we get on board that aircraft to improve situational awareness. So I’m agnostic on where that comes from, whether that’s overhead capabilities, whether that’s remotely piloted capabilities, or UASs. Our plan is to integrate as much information as we can of that platform.

Q: Will B-21s be able to control collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs) or longer-range drones? What about the B-52J?

A: In terms of CCAs, I think where the Air Force is right now is that they’re building those to be incorporated into the F-47 primarily in fighter aircraft. That’s the first step. It’s certainly possible in the future that they might become part of that family of systems. When you think about long-range strike, when we’re doing [continental U.S.] CONUS-based missions, it really would limit the ability to use some of those platforms as they don’t quite have the extended flight envelopes that the B-21 and the B-52 have.

Q: And with the B-52, as far as working with CCAs, is that still to be determined?

A: I would say yes. I would think that the B-21 would be the more logical partner for that. But once again, we have to deliver that capability that the Air Force does and integrate with fighters. That’s the first step. Assuming that goes well. I think we’ll look at the next steps.

Q: What will it take to pierce China’s A2AD [anti-access/area denial] umbrella? What capabilities do you need to do the job, from a [ground moving GMTI/AMTI target indicator/air moving target indicator] space layer to drones to accompany B-21s? What is your vision?

A: We have a requirement to be able to do that day-to-day for the president. We have to be able to penetrate adversary air defenses and deliver capabilities as directed. And we’ll continue to do that, taking all the information we can get and integrating it into the B-21. Obviously, one of the great things about the B-21 is that it’s going to be much more capable. It will have more sensors. It will have more inputs to it that will make it even stronger and more capable as a penetrating bomber.

Q: What role will your bombers play in taking down the Chinese Navy?

A: That’s an operational plan. I really can’t talk much about it, other than to say that long-range strike contributes to every important mission set that we have in the Department of War. Obviously, one of the attributes of the modern force is the variety of weapons they can carry, and the number and types of targets they can attack. I think in any major confrontation that the U.S. would find itself in, you’re going to find your bomber forces are bringing those skill sets to bear.

Q: What makes the move to put a single pilot onboard the B-21, along with a weapon systems officer (WSO) instead of two pilots, possible, and why is that the right call? 

A: In terms of the crew complement for the B-21, that’s an ongoing discussion within the Department of the Air Force. No final decision has been made. Frankly, we had the same discussion on the B-2 on how it would be manned. And ultimately, they went with two pilots, in part because of the cost of the platform and the number they were producing. Actually, at the time, it was a requirement to have navigator or WSO experience to be a B-2 pilot. We went away from that over time, but that was one of the initial requirements. With B-21 pilots, it’s a different plane, as it has a number of different capabilities. So we think that the right thing to do is look carefully at that crew complement and decide how to best make that the most capable combat platform we can.

Q: Will the B-21 have creature comforts that the B-2 doesn’t have to help the crew out during long missions?

A: I think the B-21 is going to be largely like the B-2 in how it supports the crews. There’s enough room for crew members to go on rest status. There’s a place to go to the bathroom, obviously, and to prepare food. All those things will exist in the B-21.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

WASHINGTON — Families of two Trinidadian nationals killed in a Trump administration boat strike last October sued the federal government on Tuesday, calling the attack a war crime and part of an “unprecedented and manifestly unlawful U.S. military campaign.”

The lawsuit is thought to be the first wrongful death case arising from the three dozen strikes that the administration has launched since September on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The complaint will test the legal justification of the Trump administration attacks; government officials have defended them as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States but many legal experts say they amount to a brazen violation of the laws of armed conflict.

The complaint echoes many of the frequently articulated concerns about the boat strikes, noting for instance that they have been carried out without congressional authorization and at a time when there is no military conflict between the United States and drug cartels that under the laws of war could justify the lethal attacks.

“These premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification. Thus, they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and obeyed by military officers in the chain of command,” the lawsuit says.

The Defense Department said in an email that it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit was filed by the mother of Chad Joseph and the sister of Rishi Samaroo, two Trinidadian nationals who were among six people killed in an October 14 missile strike on a boat traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad. The men were not members of any drug cartel, the lawsuit says, but had instead been fishing in the waters off the Venezuelan coast and were returning to their homes in Trinidad and Tobago.

The two had caught a ride home to Las Cuervas, a fishing community where they were from, on a small boat targeted in a strike announced on Truth Social by President Trump. All six people aboard the boat were killed.

“These killings were wrongful because they took place outside of armed conflict and in circumstances in which Mr. Joseph and Mr. Samaroo were not engaged in activities that presented a concrete, specific, and imminent threat of death or serious physical injury, and where there were means other than lethal force that could have reasonably been employed to neutralize any such threat,” the lawsuit says.

The death toll from the boat strikes is now up to at least 126 people, with the inclusion of those presumed dead after being lost at sea, the U.S. military confirmed Monday. The figure includes 116 people who were killed immediately in at least 36 attacks carried out since early September, with 10 others believed dead because searchers did not locate them following a strike.

The lawsuit is the first to challenge the legality of the boat strikes in court, according to Jen Nessel, a spokesperson for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts on behalf of the families, along with the ACLU and others.

Nessel said in an email that the center also has a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the release of the legal justification for the strikes.

Tucker and Finley write for the Associated Press.

Jan. 26 (Asia Today) — People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk was discharged from a hospital Monday after four days of treatment following an eight-day hunger strike, but party officials said the timing of major pending decisions, including a motion to expel former party leader Han Dong-hoon, remains uncertain.

The conservative People Power Party said Jang has expressed a strong desire to return to party duties soon, but medical staff advised he needs rest and recovery. The party said Jang will continue examinations and outpatient treatment after leaving the hospital.

Jang was taken from the National Assembly hunger strike site on a stretcher Thursday and hospitalized. He had staged the hunger strike from Jan. 15 to Jan. 22, urging the Democratic Party to accept what the party calls “dual special prosecutors” to investigate allegations tied to the Unification Church and a separate nomination-related bribery case.

At a general meeting of lawmakers Monday, People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seok called for unity as the party prepares to resume its campaign as the main opposition force. Song said the special prosecutor bills are needed to ensure “black money” does not take root, arguing no one should be exempt from scrutiny.

Even if Jang returns to party work as early as Wednesday, party leaders said it is unclear when the expulsion motion involving Han will be submitted as an agenda item. Chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon told reporters that the motion was not on Monday’s agenda and said its timing has not been decided.

Park said the period to request a retrial in Han’s disciplinary case has passed and that Han did not submit a defense during that window, leaving the next step dependent on Jang’s decision.

Park added that Jang’s condition appears more serious than initially expected, citing cardiopulmonary symptoms and low oxygen saturation. He said further examinations, including cardiac testing, were scheduled Monday and that the disciplinary motion could be handled as early as Monday.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260127010012299

An elite U.S. Navy test and evaluation squadron, the VX-9 “Vampires” based out of NAWS China Lake, are now flying the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A model. The Navy traditionally flies the carrier-capable F-35C and the Marines fly both the short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B and the F-35C.

The news that the seagoing service is operating the A model of the Joint Strike Fighter came from aviation photographer @Task_Force23, who captured the VX-9 F-35A as it did a low-approach at Mojave Air and Space Port on January 23rd. He was kind enough to share his photos with our readers.

The aircraft in question was 17-5240, an F-35A that had previously served in a test capacity with the USAF’s 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron based at Nellis Air Force Base. As for how the jet ended up being flown by the USN, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) tells us:

“We have a service agreement whereby the Air Force can loan the Navy an aircraft and they have done that before.”

We have asked additional questions about the arrangement to the JPO, we will update this post when we hear back.

Regardless, it makes sense that Navy can pull from the Air Force’s much larger F-35A fleet for test and evaluation duties, the activities of which often benefit both services due to the joint nature of the F-35 program. The entire F-35C production target for the Navy and Marines is 273 aircraft (as of 2024), and many of those aircraft are yet to be ordered and delivered. In comparison, the USAF had well over 500 F-35As in its inventory at the start of fiscal year 2025. That number has only grown.

The F-35C that the Navy flies has much larger wings than the A, allowing it to approach the carrier at lower speeds. It also has a beefier landing gear for carrier operations, a robust tail hook, and it carries more fuel, among other tweaks. While the two fly similar and conversion from F-35C to A is likely relatively seamless, the C model is restricted to 7.5Gs compared to the A’s 9Gs. Due to the big wing and G restriction, they perform different in areas of the envelope, such as turns. High speed performance is also a bit different due to the big wings on the C. But those differences are fairly minimal, especially for test duties of a relatively mature aircraft that often have more to do with avionics, software, and weapons integration than raw performance and flying qualities. There are other use cases VX-9 could have for F-35As, as well, but generally this would be a capacity issue.

Still, it is certainly… different… seeing an F-35A emblazoned with NAVY on its side and VX-9’s iconic bat on its tail.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

The U.S. military buildup for a possible attack on or from Iran took another step forward Monday as the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) entered the U.S. Central Command region, a U.S. official confirmed to The War Zone Monday morning. Meanwhile, Iran on Monday said it was “prepared to defend itself against any new aggression” while its proxies in Yemen and Iraq have vowed to enter the fight on Tehran’s behalf. The Houthis on Monday released a video suggesting an attack on the Lincoln. More on that later in this story.

Elements of the Lincoln CSG were dispatched to the region from the South China Sea by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran over its brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests, resulting in thousands killed. The carrier, along with three Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers escorting it (and usually a fast attack nuclear submarine), is currently located in the Indian Ocean, a U.S. Navy official confirmed to The War Zone.

The arrival of the Lincoln CSG to the region follows a U.S. Air Force Central (AFCENT) announcement on Sunday that it will be conducting Agile Spartan, “a multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.” AFCENT told us that Agile Spartan is “part of its regular exercise schedule and not in response to current tensions.” However, the optics of the timing are hard to avoid.

All these moves come amid a large surge of offensive and defensive assets to the Middle East. As we have previously reported, at least a dozen additional F-15E Strike Eagle fighters have been deployed to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, along with cargo jets and aerial refueling tankers across the region. In addition, online flight tracking indicates the movement of new air and missile defense systems to the Middle East as well. As we projected, the U.S. is sending additional Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems to the Middle East for increased protection from any Iranian attack, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Despite the buildup, it remains unclear what orders Trump will issue. Aside from threatening to strike Iran, Trump on Jan. 13 also promised those taking to the streets that help was on its way.

However, he relented after being told the killings would stop and reportedly called off a strike against Iran last week. According to some accounts, Trump does not want to become involved in a protracted battle with Iran while still contemplating regime change. There are lingering concerns in Washington and Jerusalem about not having enough assets in the region to defend against an expected Iranian response, which in part led Israel to urge Trump to hold off any attack. This was also our analysis at the time.

Regardless of his intent, the influx of additional assets to the region will give Trump a greater range of potential action and allow for the ability to defend against an Iranian attack, whether in response to U.S. military actions or not. 

The Lincoln CSG would boost U.S. striking power in the region. Its embarked CVW-9 Carrier Air Wing consists of eight squadrons flying F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, CMV-22B Ospreys and MH-60R/S Sea Hawks. Its escorts, the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers USS Frank E Petersen Jr., USS Michael Murphy, and the USS Spruance of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 bring a large number of missile tubes that could be used to strike Iran. These vessels could also be used in the defense of U.S. and allied targets during a reprisal.

The presence of Strike Eagles in the region, especially those coming from RAF Lakenheath, is in itself not new. These jets have maintained a steady presence at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan for nearly a decade, and their recent arrival in the Middle East was largely expected due to the current instability and saber-rattling. F-15Es played a key role in defending against multiple Iranian drone and cruise missile barrages on Israel and they are now more capable of that mission than ever. Beyond its offensive capabilities, if Iran were to launch a major attack on Israel and/or U.S. assets in the region, preemptive or in retaliation, the F-15Es would play a key part in defending against those attacks.

In addition to U.S. assets, the Royal Air Force’s “joint Typhoon squadron with Qatar, 12 Squadron, has deployed to the Gulf for defensive purposes, noting regional tensions as part of the UK-Qatar Defense Assurance Agreement, demonstrating the strong and enduring defense relationship between the U.K. and Qatar,” the U.K. Defense Ministry (MoD) announced on Thursday.

RAF Typhoon jets have deployed to Qatar in a defensive capacity.

The UK and Qatar have been close defence partners for decades. This deployment builds on that relationship, supporting regional stability and keeping us secure at home and strong abroad. pic.twitter.com/83FkaBPJng

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 22, 2026

While these are significant additions to the standing force posture in the region, more fighter aircraft would be expected for a major operation against Iran. We have not seen evidence of those kinds of movements just yet, although some movements are not identified via open sources.

Beyond tactical combat aircraft in the region, the U.S. can fly bombers there from the continental United States, as was the case when B-2 Spirits attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer last June. However, satellite imagery observed by The War Zone shows that no aircraft have arrived for a sustained operation in the Middle East.

As U.S. assets pour into the region, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad highlighted a warning Trump delivered to Iran last week.

“We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon aboard Air Force One. “We have a big force going toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely.”

Israel, for its part, is preparing for both offensive and defensive actions toward Iran, its longtime archenemy.

IDF Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo said Sunday that the military is preparing for the possibility that a US strike on Iran could trigger Iranian retaliation against Israel, according to Israeli media.

“We don’t know where this is heading,” Milo said in remarks broadcast by Channel 12 News, as tensions continue to mount,” the Times of Israel noted. “We see the force buildup the Americans are carrying out, both in the Persian Gulf and throughout the Middle East.”

Milo said the military is on heightened alert for any escalation, should the US decide to attack Iran.

“We are prepared and ready so that if the U.S. decides to strike Iran, we understand it could affect Israel, with part of the Iranian response possibly reaching here,” he said.

“The IDF is preparing for a possible American strike this coming weekend,” a high-ranking IDF official told us on Monday. “But again, there is no certainty.”

“Everything depends on the mind of one man,” he added, referring to Trump.

In another sign of a potential new conflict, Israel’s civil authority has told foreign airlines that Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 could be a period of security sensitivity, a likely reference to a U.S. military strike on Iran. If Israeli airspace is closed, foreign airlines will be given priority of exit.

Israel civil air authority tells foreign airlines that 31 January & 1 February might be the start of a period of security sensitivity (hinting at possible US military strikes on Iran). If Israeli airspace is closed, foreign airlines given priority of exit. https://t.co/HStZIOjwtN

— David M. Witty (@DavidMWitty1) January 25, 2026

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper was recently in Jerusalem to talk about regional security issues. Israel’s Channel 14 news, a right-wing outlet closely aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that Cooper and IDF officials have yet to come up with an attack date, that the U.S. “will need time to build up a significant force,” but will strike immediately if needed.

The U.S., according to the news outlet, wants “a clean, swift, and inexpensive operation” to “focus on those who harmed civilians and protesters. America is “ready to replace the regime in Iran,” Channel 14 added.

The War Zone could not independently verify these claims. Neither CENTCOM nor the IDF put out official statements on these conversations.

Summary of the meeting between CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper and senior IDF officials:

— No date for an attack on Iran

— The Americans will need time to build up significant force

— US also for an immediate strike if necessary

— The Americans want a clean, swift, and… https://t.co/7CuO62LPSc

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) January 25, 2026

Iranian officials maintain that they are prepared to fight both the U.S. and Israel.

Iran’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik warned Israel and the U.S. over any potential attack, saying it would “be met with a response that is more painful and more decisive than in the past.” Talaei-Nik was likely referring to the limited response Iran took in June 2025, attacking Al Udeid Air Base in retaliation for the Midnight Hammer strike.

“Iran is fully prepared to defend itself in the event of any renewed aggression,” said First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref. He stressed that “comprehensive forecasts have been made and a structured economic plan has been designed to confront a potential future war.”

Spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry:

“We face daily threats from the U.S. and Israel, as they aim to undermine regional security.”

“If we are subjected to any aggression, Iran’s response will be comprehensive.”

“Any attempts to destabilize the region will not target… pic.twitter.com/dGeWj2B6bI

— Global Insight Journal (@GlobalIJournal) January 26, 2026

Any U.S. or Israeli military action would come without the tacit support of the United Arab Emirates.

“The UAE affirms its commitment to not allowing the use of its airspace, territory, or waters in any military operations against Iran,” the UAE Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on X. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that the UAE is committed to not allowing the use of its airspace, territory, or waters in any hostile military operations against Iran, and not providing any logistical support in this regard. It renewed its affirmation of the UAE’s belief that enhancing dialogue, reducing escalation, adhering to international laws, and respecting state sovereignty represent the optimal foundations for addressing current crises, emphasizing the UAE’s approach based on the necessity of resolving disputes through diplomatic means.”

الإمارات تؤكد التزامها بعدم السماح باستخدام أجوائها أو أراضيها أو مياهها في أي أعمال عسكرية ضد إيران

أكدت وزارة الخارجية أن دولة الإمارات تلتزم بعدم السماح باستخدام أجوائها أو أراضيها أو مياهها في أي أعمال عسكرية عدائية ضد إيران، وعدم تقديم أي دعم لوجستي في هذا الشأن.

وجددت…

— Afra Al Hameli (@AfraMalHameli) January 26, 2026

Iran is not the only threat facing the U.S. and Israel. Iranian proxies like the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Houthis of Yemen and Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group have all vowed to respond to any strike on Iran.

The Houthis, who waged a campaign against U.S. and allied military and commercial shipping from Nov. 2023 to May 2025, released a new video on Monday suggesting a missile and drone strike on the Lincoln.

The Israeli Air Force is stepping up attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, partly to blunt the group’s ability to join any Iranian retaliation. Hezbollah is already a shadow of prior self after Israel executed a protracted campaign to decimate the group.

IDF says it killed Hezbollah artillery chief Muhammad al-Husseini in southern Lebanon

Separately eliminated Jawad Basma, a Hezbollah operative linked to weapons manufacturing pic.twitter.com/hs307ZbY6T

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 25, 2026

The death toll from the unrest that began in Iran on Dec. 28 over rising prices, devalued currency that saw the rial crater now to basically nothing, a devastating drought, and brutal government crackdowns may be in the tens of thousands.

“As many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone,” TIME reported, citing two senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Health. “So many people were slaughtered by Iranian security services on that Thursday and Friday, it overwhelmed the state’s capacity to dispose of the dead. Stocks of body bags were exhausted, the officials said, and eighteen-wheel semi-trailers replaced ambulances.”

As U.S. military assets continue to flow into the region, this remains an increasingly tense situation that could erupt without notice. We will continue to monitor it and provide updates.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com