As well as beefing up its navy, the Middle East nation is reportedly preparing craft that can be used in suicide attacks. However, the commander of U.S. naval forces says Iran can be prevented from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital route that is used to transport one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

In recent weeks, Iran has threatened to block the Strait and disrupt shipping in the Gulf, and even launch attacks on U.S. forces in the region should sanctions shut down its oil trade. Iran’s renewed focus on bulking up its navy would suggest it’s preparing for a possible confrontation. U.S. Vice Admiral Mark Fox told Reuters:

“They have increased the number of submarines … they increased the number of fast attack craft. Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory. We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course … the development of their nuclear program.”

Smaller enemy craft have caused problems for the U.S. Navy in the past. In 2000, al-Qaeda suicide bombers attacked the destroyer U.S.S. Cole and killed 17 sailors on board. While the U.S. Navy is undoubtedly more powerful and more well-equipped than its Iranian equivalent, the prospect of facing small, fast vessels remains a concern to the U.S. However, Fox insists the navy is prepared for an attack at any time:

“We are very vigilant, we have built a wide range of options to give the president and we are ready… What if it happened tonight? We are ready today.”

The European Union enforced an embargo on Iranian oil last month. That begins on July 1, by which time Iran’s response may well be easier to predict.

Iran Preparing Suicide Bomb Boats, Claims U.S. Navy is a post from: The Inquisitr

It is not a good time to be a hostage taker. The U.S> Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including an American during a nighttime raid on Somalia.

Jessica Buchanan, 32, of America and 60-year-old Dane Poul Thistden were working with a relief organization when they were kidnapped in Somalia way back in October. The two workers were then held by “common criminals” with no known ties to any criminal groups in the area.

Navy SEALs arrived in two helicopters during the raid and as they approached the compound gunshots were exchanged and several of the hostage takers were killed.

Just as quickly as they arrived the SEALs loaded Buchanan and Thisted into helicopters and transported them to safety. Both hostages showed no signed of injury and are said to have been in relatively good condition.

At the time of their Oct. 25 kidnapping a self-proclaimed Somali pirate said the kidnapping was in response to Western nations’s efforts to stop the seizure of ships off the coast.

The first sign of a successful rescue attempt occurred on Tuesday night when President Obama entered the House of chambers for his State of the Union address and pointed at Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and said “Leion. Good job tonight. Good job tonight.”

The Navy SEALs were also involved in a successful rescue attempt that saved the lives of a group of Iranian fisherman two weeks ago. The group continues to attack and kill Somali pirates and other hostage takers who attempt to hold lives in the balance in exchange for ransom money.

It’s definitely not a good time to be a Somali pirate.

Do you think the US Navy SEALs are doing a good job against Somali pirate hostage takers?

Navy SEALs Rescue American Hostage In Somalia During Nighttime Raid is a post from: The Inquisitr

The US military is always looking for better technology and better ways of helping aid soldiers out on the battlefield. One such thing is autonomous vehicles that keep human beings out of harms way.

Currently, the US Navy is developing app-powered robotic helicopters for the Marines. Now, the helicopters will not be designed to attack enemies, but to aid soldiers by delivering needed supplies.

The project is quite a large undertaking. Named the Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) program, it’s a five year long program that will cost just under $100 Million. Main goal? Develop ”sensors and control technologies for robotic vertical take-off and landing aircraft.”

If worked out successfully, these new autonomous and app-powered machines can take troops further out of danger. Enemies take down jets and helicopters whenever they can so even if it was to happen with one of these, there will be no human casualties.

“It’s going to be designed to work with people who have no flight experience,” said AACUS program officer Dr. Mary Cummings. “An operator will pick up his iPad or Android and make an emergency supply request. He’ll request that the helicopter come to him and land as close to him as possible.”

This takes apps to a whole new level. The technology is here for us to use, it just means putting everything together in a safe and reliable fashion.

“Proposals for the AACUS program will be put before the Office of Naval Research by February 22 of this year, which plans to award up to two contracts in April.”

App-Powered Robotic Helicopters Under Development By US Navy is a post from: The Inquisitr

While the US Navy may be busily monitoring Iran Navy activity in the Strait of Hormuz that didn’t stop them on Thursday from rescuing 13 Iranian fisherman who were being held by pirates in the Arabia Sea.

The US Navy received a distress call from the fishing vessel after it was boarded by pirates one month ago.

After the Navy raid on the ship fifteen pirates were detained and are being held by the US Navy.

According to reports the men aboard the vessel were kept in harsh conditions and were forced to help the pirates.

In the meantime the freed hostages were being sent home by the U.S. government and Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent Josh Schminky said the military has attempted to treat the fisherman as the would want to be treated.

“We went out of our way to treat the fishing crew with kindness and respect,” he said.

While Iran may be at odds with the United States over their growing nuclear ambitions the captain of the Al Molai says Schminky ”expressed his sincere gratitude that we came to assist them. He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months.”

The rescue comes less than a week after Iranian officials told the U.S. Navy carrier not to return to the area as tensions continue to rise with the United States preparing more sanctions against the country and any country that engaged in trade with Iran.

The countries military presence  just recently concluded 10 days of war games in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil transportation hub they have threatened to close down if the U.S. imposes any further sanctions.

Do you think the U.S. Navy made the right decision in helping the Iranian fisherman?

U.S. Navy Rescues 13 Iranian Hostages From Pirates is a post from: The Inquisitr

The U.S. Navy is preparing to test their Kamikaze Drone technology in uncharted waters, literally. Officials from the water based branch of the armed services announced on Tuesday that they will attempt to shoot one of the portable missiles from underwater, a first test of its kind.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Kamizaze Drones they are essentially self-propelled, remotely guided missiles that can track even at close range while fitting inside a soldiers backpack.

The Navy hopes the new missiles will allow them to fire a canister to the waters surface from a submarine at which time the missile will self launch to spy on enemy positions while relaying coordinates back to Navy officers.

The drones manufacturer Aero Vironment is calling the device a “magic bullet” while noting that it’s ”small size and quiet motor make it difficult to detect, recognize, and track even at very close range.”

The device is able to run autonomously and can be used for:

“Information gathering, targeting, or feature/object recognition.”

The Army’s cost for the Kamikaze Drone? $4.9 million in early 2011.

Do you think the U.S. needs more weapons added to submarines? I saw the more defensive and offensive weapons the better, it’s just a shame that their so expensive to obtain.

US Navy To Test Fire Kamikaze Drone From Submarine is a post from: The Inquisitr

The first kiss is a long-held Navy tradition, yet previously has always been shared by a male and a female. The smooch between Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta and Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell came three months after the repeal of the US military’s archaic “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule.

The 23-year-old Gaeta had been at sea for 80 days before disembarking from the USS Oak Hill amphibious landing ship, and Snell, 22, was waiting for her. Gaeta was dressed in her Navy dress uniform and Snell wore a black leather jacket with blue jeans. Spectators who watched screamed their appreciation and waved flags. Gaeta chatted to reporters after the kiss, saying:

“It’s something new, that’s for sure. It’s nice to be able to be myself. It’s been a long time coming.”

The kiss was described as a “non-event” by commanding officer of the USS Oak Hill, David Bauer:

“It’s going to happen and the crew’s going to enjoy it. We’re going to move on and it won’t overshadow the great things that this crew has accomplished over the past three months.”

Both women are Navy fire controlmen – essentially, their job is to maintain and operate weapons systems on ships. The couple met as roommates at training school, and have now been dating for over two years.

Navy First Kiss Finally Shared by Two Women is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’ve ever felt like (or were told) you were bad at your job, you can at least take comfort in the fact that you didn’t accidentally walk in front of an F/A-18′s path as it was attempting a landing.

That’s exactly what two crewmen aboard an aircraft carrier did this past month; as an F/A-18 jet was preparing for landing, two crewmen walked along the deck, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were seconds away from becoming on the deck.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen – the flight deck alerted the pilot of the wandering crewmen, and the F/A-18 was able to lift back up just in time. Probably still scared the daylights out of them, though.

via Gizmodo

F/A-18E narrowly avoids smashing into sailors [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sea Shadow, the U.S. Navy’s stealth spy boat that inspired the villainous supervessel in the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” is set to be dismantled and recycled according to U.S. officials.

The boat, which cost $195 million to develop, build and operate was never meant to be used for missions and was instead considered a “testing” platform for the Navy.

The vessel is 160 feet long and 70 feet wide and hasn’t been used in the last four to five years according to Lockheed Martin, developers of the boat, which means an oil change would definitely be required if a buyer came forward at the last moment before the ship was recycled.

So anyone ready to throw away millions of dollars to own the “original” James Bond Spy Boat?

US Navy To Retire “Sea Shadow” Stealth Boat is a post from: The Inquisitr

As a key base region for the US Navy there are currently approximately 38,000 US Troops stationed in the region alongside 43,000 US family members and almost 3,000 Department of Defense civilians, so it would make perfect sense that the US Navy is ready and willing to assist in whatever way possible with Japan Earthquake cleanup, recovery and rescue missions.

Currently the US Navy is assessing their ships for damage, while simultaneously getting ships ready to move inland to protect the fleet, while the 7th Fleet is mobilizing to provide humanitarian and medical relief to Japan.

According to CSMonitor:

These vessels are being “positioned and prepared to provide any assistance necessary,” Lapan told reporters Friday. “We are in the process of determining what the requirements are, and how we might fill them.”

The relief efforts are being undertaken by various US vessels including a command ship which is on-loading humanitarian supplies from Singapore and the USS Essex in Malaysia which is preparing to service the hardest hit area of the tsunami and earthquake.

In a stroke of what might be called luck, the US, Japanese and Malaysian forces took part in a humanitarian aid practice mission early this week, providing a plan for action in this exact type of situation.

Military assistance will more than likely come in various forms including floating medical centers aboard US Navy ships, sandbag filling to prevent flooding and providing food, blankets and other supplies deemed necessary for survival.

US Navy Ready To Assist With Japan Earthquake Recovery Efforts is a post from: The Inquisitr

If there is one issue that is guaranteed to get everyone all stirred up (and no I’m not referring to Apple vs Microsoft) whenever it is mentioned it is talk about climate change. There are those that believe that the whole climate change discussion is nothing more than hot air but it appears that the U.S. Navy isn’t one of those groups.

With an eye to the future melting of the Arctic the Navy has recently created the Navy Task Force Climate Change (TFCC) who recently released their Arctic Roadmap in which they acknowledged that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the as the rest of the globe.

The report also suggests that the Arctic may experience nearly ice free summers by 2030 and this has cause them to develop a three-phase plan to secure U.S. interests in the Arctic.

One of the Navy’s main goals in the warmed-up Arctic is international diplomacy and “cooperative partnerships”. But amid rising military competition, the document also reflects preparation for potential discord. The plan includes an assessment of Arctic stakeholders and their motivations, to “determine the most dangerous and the most likely threats” and “provide opportunities for cooperative solutions.” That data will be used in strategic analysis, by applying game theory “to consider the interdependencies between actors and actions.” Then the Navy wants to strengthen key international military and business partnerships, to improve “operations, training and common investments.”

Source: Wired Danger Room blog

Gee the Navy seems to get what everyone else appears to want to ignore.

US Navy looks to climate change and the melting Arctic is a post from: The Inquisitr

It is one thing to watch the show from the ground but now that they have added video camera to the cockpit we can see the show from their perspective. Just make sure that if you have a queasy type stomach that you have a puke bag handy, ‘cause you just might need it.

hat tip to  Neatorama

Got your puke bag handy? [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

If there is one thing you can say about the US military it is that while they may be conflicted about soldiers using social media the military as a whole are more than willing to reach out to it in a big way. Everything from blogging Generals to flying Guy Kawasaki out to the USS Stennis for a 26 hour tour.

It turns out that the Navy has decided to expand on that trip by inviting 15 bloggers out to the USS Nimitz and these aren’t just military oriented bloggers either. Given the list of names those partaking of the trip are the who’s who across a wide spectrum of blogging niches

The other participants are:

• Charlene Li
• Beth Blecherman
• Jennifer Leo
• Jenny Lawson
• Pamela Slim
• Penelope Trunk
• Jennifer Van Grove
• Jennifer Jones
• Guy Kawasaki
• Bill Reichert
• Jefferson Wagner
• Robert Scoble
• Mike Arrington
• and Steve Wozniak.

Source: Andy Sernovitz – one of the 15 bloggers

You got to admit that’s a list of some pretty big names in the blogging world.

Bloggers headed to the sea is a post from: The Inquisitr

A US Federal Judge has awarded more than $65 million to several men captured and tortured by North Korea when the USS Pueblo was seized in 1968.

The Pueblo Incident, at the height of the cold war created fears of a new Korean War. The United States claimed that the USS Pueblo was in International waters, where as North Korea claimed the naval intelligence ship was in their waters spying. The crew was interned in POW camps and tourtured, although we defiant until their release, including showing their middle fingers in images taken by the North Koreans sent around the world.

The lawsuit filed by William Thomas Massie, Donald Raymond McClarren, Dunnie Richard Tuck and the estate of Lloyd Bucher was successful with North Korea not responding to the suit.

Massie, McClarren and Tuck each received $16.7 million. Bucher’s estate received $14.3 million and his wife, Rose, $1.25 million.

The ship is still in North Korean hands, and is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power.

North Korea is not expected to pay the damages however.

USS Pueblo Crew Awarded $65 Million By Judge. North Korea Not Expected To Pay Up is a post from: The Inquisitr