Sea State
Iran seized a US-bound oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last week, alleging that it had fled the scene after colliding with an Iranian vessel. Western media sources reported that Iran’s actions were in reaction to the confiscation of an oil tanker by the US in an effort to enforce sanctions on Tehran. The US Navy issued a statement saying the seizure was a violation of international law and a ‘threat to maritime security’.
The French Navy has conducted a maritime-strike and anti-submarine-warfare exercise with the Royal Australian Navy in the Timor Sea. Working with a RAAF F-35A Lightning II and P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, the Jeanne d’Arc 2023 group, consisting of a frigate and a landing helicopter dock, manoeuvred to locate, track and engage a submarine. Following the training, the French group visited Townsville before heading to New Caledonia for Exercise Croix Du Sud.
Flight path
Ukraine’s air defence force has shot down a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile over Kyiv using a recently acquired US Patriot air-defence system. Ukraine took delivery of the first Patriots last month. They are one of the most advanced US air-defence systems, and crews received extensive training to locate and destroy targets with them. Ukrainian General Mykola Oleshchuk congratulated the Patriot crew for its ‘historic’ downing of the Kinzhal, a capability first unveiled by Putin in 2018.
On 5 May, a US Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed in a field near a South Korean airbase. The crash occurred after a routine training exercise. The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft and was taken to a medical facility. Local firefighters were dispatched to the scene to extinguish the resulting fire, but no casualties or other damage were reported. The crash is under investigation.
Read the article by Afeeya Akhand, Luisa Gyhn, Marcus Schultz and Shivangi Seth in The Strategist.