#Iran naval threat - "The pressure, the coercion, the activity against merchant ships comes & goes, & surges depending on circumstances" @USNavy Office of Naval Intelligence Commander RADM Michael Studeman told @INSAlliance Wednesday
"#Iran continues to make UAVs & other unmanned capabilities like hotcakes. We've even seen a new drone carrier that they're building" per RADM Studeman
#Iran-"We have to be very mindful, not just in terms of their ballistic missile program development, trying to develop anto-ship capabilities but the whole #IRGCN, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps & what they are building & how they are using their forces" per RADM Studeman
#Iran naval threat-"It's not just the #PersianGulf, per RADM Studeman
"It spans all the way through the Saudi Arabian Peninsula & into areas of #Yemen w/the #Houthis, using one way UAVs, unmanned surface vehicles, those kinds of things"
"[They] have some of their navy on a global mission right now west of #SouthAmerica" he said "There's an Iranian frigate & an escort ship...making their way to the southern tip of SouthAmerica trying to do a global round the world trip"
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US intelligence making a case to renew sweeping communication surveillance powers granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - set to expire this year
Sec. 702 "plays an outsized role in protecting the nation, providing some of the US gvt's most valuable intelligence on our most challenging targets...It provides unique information w/minimal risk"
Just in: Senate Intelligence Committee chairman @MarkWarner calls just released Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (#UAP) report "a step forward in understanding & addressing risks to aviators"
Also says reporting increase is "a sign of decreased stigma among pilots..."
"#UAP events continue to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible concerns for safety of flight or adversary collection activity..." per @ODNIgov
"...This may result from a collection bias due to the number of active aircraft & sensors, combined w/
focused attention and guidance to report anomalies" per @ODNIgov
#China naval threat-"What you've seen is a buildup in every warfare area w/advanced systems, long range weapons, electronic warfare capability, innovative technology, a blue water fleet along w/other vessels" Office of US Naval Intelligence RADM Michael Studeman told @INSAlliance
#China navy "can do a whole bunch of the patrolling &the coersion around #Taiwan to maintain what they are trying to do which is effective control over what they claim in the #SouthChinaSea w/pressure tactics in the Senkakus, more activity in the Philippine Sea" per RADM Studeman
"Please don't underestimate #China" per RADM Studeman
"We don't just look at the maritime navy elements of what China is up. We have to be concerned about other things like the illegal & unreported & unregulated fishing activities"
#Russia's war vs #Ukraine - "The Russian navy has survived this war largely intact" per @USNavy Office of Naval Intelligence Commander RADM Michael Studeman told @INSAlliance Wednesday
"The Russian navy., although losing its flagship there in the #BlackSea, continues to fire cruise missiles at a certain pace w/ships & submarines that remain fairly close to the #Crimea" per RADM Studeman
"The #Ukrainians are looking for ways & have come up w/very innovative maritime techniques to be able to make life hard for the #Russia|n aggressors & that give & take will continue for some time" per RADM Studeman
#alQaida's Zawahiri's removal "a strategic & symbolic setback" per Abizaid
'The loss of him as that center of gravity does kind of test the ties that bind the rest of these affiliates, whether it's #Yemen based affiliate w/#AQAP, whether it's #JNIM...whether it's #Shabaab"
Who's #alQaida's next leader - unclear, per NCTC's Abizaid
"The best candidates are Saif al-Adel & Abdul Rahman al-Maghrebi, that are sitting in #Iran"