Update on Iran's attack tempo:
Its attack tempo noticeably slowed down earlier this wk as it shifted to longer range & more powerful BM while reducing attacks on GCC countries, especially UAE.
But that look to have changed last 2 days as Saudis & Jordan are getting attention
A simple look at the US tanker fleet action would point to the importance of Saudi Arabia, Jordan & Iraq toward continually supporting Coalition strikes on Iran.
As such, Iran has dialed up attacks on US bases & radar/command sites in this line.
It had some successes as 5 tankers were hit in the Prince Sultan AFB earlier while a huge contingent of USAF aircraft (including KC135 & E3).
They are defended by Saudi's immense air defense system. As such, Iran is also attacking oil facility to expend precious interceptors.
At the same time, attacks on Jordan has really picked up as it gained importance in this conflict after the nearby military bases got shelled really hard.
The huge concentration of bases mean that hitting them probably gives a good missile to damage ratio for Iran.
Iran's proxy in Iraq has picked up attacks on US bases in Erbil but also Basra.
Given the huge Shiite presence in Iraq + proximity to Iran, it seems just a matter of time b4 resistance gets overcome here.
Iran conserved some fire this wk as its proxy is doing all the work here.
The attacks on UAE & Bahrain have slowed down but not stopped. It seems like US forces in those 2 countries have shifted out of the bases & attacking Iran w/ Himars from civilian areas.
Iran has shifted attacks to really go after those areas + infrastructure to hurt UAE/Bahrain
If we shift our attention back to Israel, it seems like attacks on the major military bases have picked up recently. They seemed to have concentrate on Tel Aviv & Haifa earlier, but some initial targets are likely destroyed.
So, target now is toward suppressing IAF operations.
It should be obvious by now that Iran is getting significant intel help from both Russia/China w/ both HUMINT & satellites.
It looks like China has a live view of the conflict & is really studying up on what's happening here.
So what do I think will happen next wk?
Well, GCC + Israel have clearly not run out of AD missiles yet. Iran's firing rate has slowed down & interceptors are still getting launched.
Until Iran can suppress IAF & push USAF out of Saudi Arabia, they will continue to get hammered.
The obvious implication of USAF leaving this many military aircraft in Prince Sultan Airbase is that more of them will get damaged as Iran really shifts its focus toward Saudi Arabia & Jordan.
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Unmanned transport is taking off in China & more logistics companies are using them.
Recently, XAC's HH-200 had its maiden flight. It carries 1.5t up to 2360 km long. 2 workers can load cargo w/ ordinary forkLift in just 5 min. Significantly lowers opex.
Recent development 👇
In China's recent low altitude conference, JD's logistics arm signed order/LOI for 160 AR-E800 drone w/ CHAIF, 20 HH-200 w/ XAC & 20 CM-100 w/ SAC.
Using unmanned transport allow 24/7 aerial ops for JD & utilizing remote airport due to minimal requirement for workers.
It's not only JD. SAC has already partnered w/ China Post to plan out unmanned aircraft operation in airports & establish demonstrate routes + industry standards.
CHAIG & Shenzhen signed agreement on AR-series drones.
Low altitude flight testing & verification procedures also been worked on.
Weekly update on Iran conflict. Since ceasefire got announced, # of trips actually lowered for a couple of days there. This is the real pain for global economy.
Not that many tankers from the Gulf got out in March & they seem to be all headed to East Asia, likely Iran -> China.
Even w/ the Iranian & Russian supply, China banned Sulfuric Acid export recently + started tapping commercial oil reserves (not SPR).
It's unclear how much of 1.4B bbl are SPR vs commercial reserves, but China will only draw down latter, 1m bpd just keeps refineries going.
Iranian attacks mostly stopped a day after ceasefire got announced. Heavy final round on 4/8 after it got hit by UAE.
GCC AD batteries are exhausted by now. Iran can basically hit them whenever it wants & this is apparent from recent strike on Saudi Arabia pipeline. restarting conflict would be a disaster for UAE.
My weekly update on Iran conflict:
See Dimi's 3-day moving avg on Iranian firing rates + UAE's report on missile & drone attacks from yesterday.
Holding steady w/ higher launches yesterday likely due to reduced air pressure as US military was doing SAR missions in Iran.
US allies in the region are running out of interceptors after a month of attack & Strait of Hormuz remains shut unless you have a deal w/ Iranian & "pay the toll".
Iran's position in the conflict is increasing since more of its strikes can get thru & threaten GCC countries more
Yuan has become the default payment option for ships looking to transit Strait of Hormuz & this is boosting CIPS volume, helping out Chinese payment app stocks & keeping bond yield steady (others are going up).
China is a huge winner in this shift away from Petro $ & SWIFT.
Since 2025/5, China established regular rail freight traffic from Xian to Tehran thru Kazakhstan & Turkmenistan.
This reduced travel time from 30-40 days over sea to just 15 days. China supply chain + machineries to Iran in return for oil products. Why this is important?
Iran would provide a Russian-free rail option to Europe that is not limited by Caspian Sea. Can go through newly constructed CKU rail & Turkmenistan or thru Afghanistan or thru Kazakhstan+Turkmenistan or thru Pakistan.
Can also go thru Iran into GCC countries & Egypt.
See below for Iran's domestic rail, China's rail cargo to Afghanistan, Iran's rail connection to GCC countries & Egypt + China's gas pipelines across Central Asia.
Iran allows direct-over-land connection to the Gulf for energy & other trading. This is full Eurasian connection.
As we are 1 month in, the most noticeable change comes from the Coalition missile expenditure both on offense & defense.
RUSI report of 1st 16 days + Tomahawk report -> huge interceptors & standoff missile depletion on frontline. Effect of this is quite evident from past week.
Yesterday, another few tankers + 1 or 2 E-3 got taken out (only 6 E3 in theater in total), huge loss for USAF.
Israel saw Dimona & ICL struck earlier this wk + Ben Gurion airport -> Iranian missiles & drones are able to get thru w/ much fewer interceptions.
Iranian missiles now increasingly goes after Israel's MIC, hard industries & AF logistics, especially Ben Gurion & Nevatim.
IDF went after Iran's heavy industry yesterday, which has put entire GCC region's heavy industries into Iranian hit list as of yesterday.
This wk, China & Vietnam signed 4 docs on planning for 2 standard-gauge railway lines: Hanoi-DanDong & Hai Phong–Ha Long–Mong Cai.
This is on top of the Lao Cai–Hanoi–Hai Phong railway line that Vietnam started construction in 2025/12/19.
What does this mean for China/Vietnam?
Lao Cai - Hai Phong project connects Northern Vietnam from border w/ China in Yunnan to the biggest city next to Halong Bay.
390 km in total across 6 provinces & 32 stops & supporting 21mt freight/yr.
Complete by 2030.
China lowered project cost to $7.7B w/ preferential loan for 64% of total cost.
2 newly signed rail will connect Hanoi via standard gauge rail to Guangxi province via Dan Dong & Mong Cai.
There is already a 164km dual gauge line from Hanoi to Dan Dong allowing direct service to Nanning since 2009. This will be a new 167 km standard gauge line.