Iran Kilo Class Submarine. Photo courtesy wikicommons

According to several reports this morning, Iran is threatening to send warships to the U.S. East Coast in a shocking threat to the United States.  The threats come as Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari spoke at a ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq War.

At the ceremony, Sayyari declared “Like the arrogant powers that are present near our marine borders, we will also have a power presence close to American marine borders.”

Iranian navy officials said their ships may go as far as the Gulf of Mexico, and Iran may seek to establish a direct military hotline with the U.S., according to reports from the Iranian press.

The Pentagon, however, does not seem to concerned, dismissing any claims that Iran can pull off an operation of this magnitude.

A report from the ArmyTimes quotes Pentagon spokesman George Little, “We’ll have to see what they do or don’t do after these statements… Whether they can truly project naval power is a question in itself.”

Last week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at the United Nations Generally Assembly in New York, giving a controversial speech causing a number of U.S. and European diplomats to walk out.  In his speech, Ahmadinejad blamed Western powers for a number world problems including slavery, the two world wars and drug trafficking, and also questioned the Holocaust and the circumstances of the 9-11 attacks.

Note to self: Don’t tick off Oman.

Portsmouth, United Kingdom: Al Shamikh, the first of three ships being built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) has embarked on her first sea trials in the Solent.

Departing from the Company’s Portsmouth facility, a combined BAE Systems and RNO crew is putting the ship through her paces, undertaking extensive platform testing for speed, propulsion and manoeuvrability in the first demonstration of the ship’s capability at sea.

The corvette is a flexible and highly efficient platform, equipped to defend against both surface and air threats. Al Shamikh will be used to protect Omani territorial waters, conducting coastal patrols in peacetime, with the ability to conduct search and rescue, as well as disaster relief, while providing a highly sophisticated ocean going capability for use in deterrent operations during times of tension.

Al Shamikh is part of the Project Khareef contract, secured in 2007, for the design and build of three 99 metre corvettes for the RNO. Highlighting the company’s continued commitment to providing through-life support and services to its customers, the contract also includes training for RNO personnel, as well as an initial logistics support package for the ships.

Following Al Shamikh’s initial sea trials, she will return to Portsmouth before undergoing further integration and testing, with weapons trials set to take place in the New Year. The first of class is expected to be handed over to the RNO in 2011, following which the crew will undergo the UK Royal Navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training before the ship sails to Oman for warm weather trials. Al Rahmani, the second ship in the class, was launched in July 2010 and will undertake sea trials in 2011, whilst the third ship, Al Rasikh, will be launched in March 2011.

[Source: BAE Systems]

USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) moored at Everett Naval Station

Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, MS in 1973/4, USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) was the 2nd ship of the Spruance-class and is the only one left that hasn’t either been destroyed by missiles, torpedos, gunfire, or acetylene torch.

Since her decommissioning in 2003, her maneuvering and propulsion controls have been replaced by computerized systems that allow her to be remotely controlled.  Her new role as a Self Defense Test Ship requires that she be unmanned as it involves live-fire exercises at a barge towed 150-feet astern.  At 563 feet in length and 8,000 tons, she may very well be the world’s largest remote control vehicle.

As a newly frocked Ensign assigned to her between 2000 and 2002, my shipmates and I deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2001 in support of UN Security Council Resolution 687.  With the support of SEAL Team 2, we boarded over 100 ships bound for Iraqi waters.

This image was taken while she was sitting pierside at Naval Station Everett, WA in 2002.  The USS Fife (DD 991) is moored in the background.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Discovery Channel also has these interesting reads:

Wreck of British Warship Victory Found and Shipwreck Diary: The Last Days of The HMS Victory

Popular Science brings us Future Navy Ships – Littoral Combat Ship. They write:

This is a small, fast ship (capable of 45 knots) for sub-hunting, mine-clearing, and fighting small boats near coastlines—the littoral region. Each LCS would be equipped with one of three distinct mission modules: a set of plug-and-play ship sensors, missiles, small boats, unmanned underwater vehicles and specially equipped helicopters, for mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare or surface combat. The base configuration would include antimissile batteries and a medium-caliber gun. The ships could clear mines and chase subs away from an area before the rest of the fleet arrived.

Also included in the article are three other ships designed for future combat. You can view the full article with photos HERE.

Want to know more about The Protector? Popular Mechanics tells us;

Robots versus pirates—it’s not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase in worldwide pirate attacks this year.

The Protector, which comes mounted with a 7.62mm machine gun, wasn’t originally intended for anti-piracy operations. But according to BAE Systems spokesperson Stephanie Moncada, the robot could easily fill that role. “Down the line, it could potentially be modified for commercial use as well,” she says. Instead of being deployed by a warship to intercept and possibly fire on an incoming vessel, a non-lethal variant of the Protector could be used to simply investigate a potential threat. Continue Reading…

Also be sure to check out BitterEnd’s video find: Tres Cool – RIB boarding a Chinook

While we have been preoccupied with the Bay Bridge Allision readers of our Maritime News Discoverer know of this troubling news from the pacific;

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed.
At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world’s only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders.

That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory.

American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk – a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board.

By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier.

According to senior Nato officials the incident caused consternation in the U.S. Navy.

Continue Reading….