Built in an unknown location, the ‘Eagle 44’ site can launch fighter jets and drones
The Iranian Army unveiled a new underground air base on Tuesday. Situated in an undisclosed mountainous location, the base is impervious to bombing and can service, fuel, arm, and launch fighter jets, bombers, and drones.
Video footage of the ‘Oqab 44’ (Eagle 44) facility was shown on Iranian state media, featuring what appears to be an F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber emerging from behind blast doors, before taxiing through a wide tunnel and taking off from an external runway.
The base is equipped with command posts, hangars, maintenance sites, fuel depots, and navigation equipment, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported. The Iranian military has constructed several such sites across the country, IRNA added, noting that while their locations remain a secret, all are built “under the mountains.”
Iran on Tuesday unveiled its first underground air force base, called "Eagle 44", the country’s official news agency IRNA reported."It is one of the army's most important air force bases, with fighters equipped with long-range cruise missiles and built in the depths of earth.” pic.twitter.com/KACSXkljyc
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 7, 2023
Footage from one of these bases – a drone site named ‘Strategic UAV Base 313’ – was revealed by the Iranian military last year. However, ‘Eagle 44’ is the Islamic Republic’s first underground base capable of hosting fighters and bombers that has been publicly revealed.
“Any attack on Iran from our enemies, including Israel, will see a response from our many air force bases including Eagle 44,” Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri told reporters during a visit to the base on Tuesday.
The unveiling of the base comes at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel, with Tehran blaming the Israeli military for a drone strike on a military site in the city of Isfahan last month. While Israel neither confirmed or denied its involvement, media reports claimed the attack was masterminded in West Jerusalem, while Ukrainian officials cryptically suggested that the strike was somehow connected to Iran’s alleged supply of ‘kamikaze’ drones to Russia.
Moscow and Tehran have both denied that Iranian drones are being used in Ukraine, with the Kremlin stating that it uses domestically-made UAVs to target Ukrainian military and infrastructure targets.
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
