Alert 5

U.S. forces sink alleged cartel refueling vessel in Eastern Pacific

Posted on September 4, 2026September 4, 2026 by alert5

The United States military sank a vessel it identified as a floating refueling station for drug traffickers linked to Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang, U.S. Southern Command said this week, the latest in a string of at-sea operations targeting cartel logistics networks in Latin America.

U.S. Navy San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17), right, sails underway in the Pacific Ocean while a vessel of interest is destroyed during a Maritime Interdiction Operation Sept. 02, 2026. The vessel of interest was boarded and cleared before being destroyed. U.S. military forces are deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility in support of Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, Department of War-directed operations, and the President’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking, deter malign actors and protect the homeland through continuous presence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo)

Ontario student’s airport photography for Chinese contact results in U.S. charges

Posted on September 3, 2026 by alert5

A University of Waterloo undergraduate is facing federal charges in the United States after admitting to investigators he photographed aircraft at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for a contact he believed worked for the Chinese government, according to court documents reviewed by The Detroit News, CP24 and CBC News. What separates the case from ordinary plane spotting, a hobby practiced openly using the same vantage points and flight-tracking tools, is not the camera but the tasking behind it.

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Ex-Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi begins voyage to become Indonesia’s KRI Gajah Mada

Posted on August 27, 2026 by alert5

Southeast Asia is set to gain its second aircraft carrier operator, following Thailand, which has held the distinction since it commissioned HTMS Chakri Naruebet in 1997. Indonesia’s turn arrived this week, as the carrier that will become its first, ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi, departed Italy on Monday night bound for a new home port in Lampung.

Photo: LPhot Barry Swainsbury/MOD, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Ramstein Air Base sees historic taxiway landing

Posted on August 25, 2026 by alert5

For the first time in its history, an aircraft touched down at Ramstein Air Base without ever using the runway. On Aug. 18, a 37th Airlift Squadron aircrew of the United States Air Force landed a C-130J on a taxiway during a wing exercise, marking the first time an airplane has landed at Ramstein without using a runway.

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Joseph Curzi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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U.S. Air Force retires last T-1A Jayhawk, closing out three decades of pilot training

Posted on August 22, 2026August 22, 2026 by alert5

The U.S. Air Force retired the T-1A Jayhawk on Aug. 20, quietly ending more than three decades of service for the twin-engine jet that trained generations of pilots bound for the airlift and tanker fleet. The last operational aircraft departed Vance Air Force Base for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where it will be received into the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, known widely as the boneyard.