Alert 5

Japan’s CH-47s reach Indonesia for the Self-Defense Forces’ first overseas firefighting mission

Posted on September 11, 2026 by alert5

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) transport ship Kunisaki arrived at Kijing Port in West Kalimantan on Sept. 10, completing an eleven-day voyage from the Kure naval base that carries three Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) CH-47JA Chinook helicopters into Indonesia’s fight against a wildfire season that has scorched hundreds of thousands of hectares since July.

Photo: Japan Ministry of Defense
Continue reading “Japan’s CH-47s reach Indonesia for the Self-Defense Forces’ first overseas firefighting mission”

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.

Continue reading “Ontario student’s airport photography for Chinese contact results in U.S. charges”

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

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
Continue reading “Ramstein Air Base sees historic taxiway landing”