Navy destroyers are concentrated in the Middle East as U.S. forces conduct operations against Iran, according to U.S. Central Command — a move that puts renewed operational demands on a fleet that has experienced prolonged maintenance periods.As of Sept. 14, two Navy guided-missile destroyers were operating in the Red Sea and another 13 were in the Arabian Sea, according to the U.S. Naval Institute’s fleet tracker, which uses both Navy and public data. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout also departed Naval Station Norfolk on Monday to begin deployment operations after months of training, maintenance and certification events, according to Naval Surface Force Atlantic.The demand facing the class has been significant, even before the start of the Iran war. The USS Carney spent 235 days deployed from September 2023 to May 2024 and conducted 51 engagements against Houthi-launched weapons, according to the Navy. The campaign demonstrated what operations around one of those chokepoints can demand from destroyers.When USS Carney returned in May 2024, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti told the crew that the last time the Navy had directly engaged an enemy to that degree was during World War II.The renewed demand for destroyers in the Middle…

September, your Buck of the Month has arrived. After a brief sojourn into folders in August, we’re back in fixed blade land with this one, a special, amped up and blacked out version of the 662 Alpha Scout Elite. The Alpha series is relatively new to the Buck catalog; the company began building this line out in 2023, when the fixed blade family headlined their SHOT Show offerings. Like many Buck fixies, the Alpha models targeted the outdoorsman demographic, with traditional lines filtered through a modern but subdued design eye. The Scout is the smallest of the series, with a 2.86-inch drop point blade; it can work as a companion piece to its two bigger brothers, the Hunter and the Guide, carried solo for less-demanding adventures, or even carried as an EDC knife if that’s your style. The Kydex sheath comes with a carbon fiber finish on it And what does this BotM edition bring to the table? Well this month the changes are essentially cosmetic – but even so this is a performance-oriented variant, with MagnaCut making another appearance here, just as it does on the standard Alpha Scout Elite model. What is new on the blade side of…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Two pilots were killed when a firefighting helicopter crashed while battling a wildfire in Yosemite National Park.The helicopter went down while conducting water bucket drops on the Dome Fire on Sunday, according to The Associated Press (AP).The pilots were the only people aboard the aircraft. They worked for Precision Helicopters, a company contracted to support the firefighting operation, the AP reported.’WE THOUGHT WE WOULD DIE’: PASSENGERS THROWN INTO CEILING DURING TERRIFYING FLIGHTThe deceased pilots were later identified as Ryan Cutter and Greg King, according to social media posts from Precision Helicopters.Cutter had been a helicopter pilot since 2011, including a year-and-a-half with Precision Helicopters, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was described as a “deeply loved husband, son, friend and godfather” on GoFundMe.King had previously worked on wildland fires in Alaska and extensively alongside the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection, according to a statement from the agency. The agency said King had close ties to its wildland firefighting community, including loved ones who currently work for the division.”Greg was a dedicated aviator and a dear friend to many of us,” the agency said. “We are mourning both pilots who bravely…

Missing a drone? Call your local fishing charter to see what it’s dragged out of the water recently.Hot Spots Charters in Florida fished out a unique catch while chartering near Eglin Air Force Base on Saturday: a delta-wing unmanned aerial drone.The drone resembles a Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, used by the U.S. military during Operation Epic Fury. The platform, built by SpektreWorks, is a one-way attack drone that was reverse-engineered after the Iranian Shahed-136 and can be launched by catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff and mobile ground systems.LUCAS drones cost the U.S. military $35,000 per platform and are a variation of the company’s FLM 136 target model, which is designed for counter-drone training while resembling Iran’s Shahed-136. On Thursday, two days prior to the charter crew finding the drone, a LUCAS UAS “impacted” the water during a routine, scheduled test on the Eglin range, a base spokesperson told Military Times.“The aircraft has been recovered and is back in the Department’s possession,” the spokesperson said.The base would neither confirm nor deny if it was the same drone.The base’s test and training range is approximately 120,000 square miles of overwater airspace, covering part of the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Canadian sociologist Marshall McLuhan famously declared that “the medium is the message.”But what if the message is just “medium?” Or, perhaps in today’s vernacular, “mid.”Both sides are trying to curate what they say to voters in order to coax them to vote for their party in November.”The message matters,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., on Fox. “We have accomplished a ton. No taxes on overtime. No taxes on tips. We raised the child care tax credit. The list goes on and on.”EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE VANCE’S INTIMATE CAPITOL HILL HUDDLE AS REPUBLICANS CONFRONT TOUGH MIDTERM TERRAIN Those are all vestiges of the Big Beautiful Bill which the Republican-led Congress passed last summer. Now Republicans are scrambling to remind voters what they did.”It was a great message last year and we missed the opportunity, in my view, to talk about the good things we did last year,” conceded Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.But Cramer says voters want to know what you’ve done for them lately. And that’s where the GOP could struggle.”People’s rearview mirror is getting shorter and shorter all the time,” said Cramer. “What you are going to do for me today is…

The Air Force Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program completed vertical stacking of the inert missile, confirming that all subsystems are on track for initial flight testing in 2027.The LGM-35 Sentinel program finalized a four-month testing campaign by vertically stacked the inert missile at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, according to a recent release.The campaign verified the viability of all missile stages, propulsion elements, shroud and subcomponents to be assembled into a single configuration test pad. The operation also showcased that all handling processes and personnel are capable of executing field assembly through verifying segments of the weapon system’s operational lifecycle, per the statement.“From cross-country transport and specialized crane lifts to precision interface checks on the pad, bringing all of these elements together validated our technical baselines and proved Sentinel is ready to support the next phase of development,” Maj. Gen. William S. Rogers, Air Force portfolio acquisition executive for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, said in the release.Alongside the on-pad integration, the first flight test design review, done by Air Force Test Center’s 719th Test Squadron, was completed, demonstrating that the missile’s design maturity and hardware testing satisfies requirements for safety and mission assurance ahead of 2027 flight testing.Sentinel is on track…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Taylor Swift has the clock ticking – and Swifties are scrambling to figure out what happens when it hits zero.Swift set the internet ablaze Tuesday after a countdown appeared on her website. The countdown was set to end at 2 p.m. ET on Sept. 22. It’s unclear what will appear on the other side, but many fans have theories online.The countdown comes after Swift’s team seemingly added a third page to the letter Swift wrote to fans after buying back her life’s work in May 2025. Her bio on Instagram and X also changed to read, “And, baby, that’s sh0w business f0r y0u.” Each o in the phrase was replaced with a 0.TAYLOR SWIFT STEALS EMMYS SPOTLIGHT, WATCHES HUSBAND TRAVIS KELCE’S CHIEFS GAME WITH TOM CRUISE Fans are speculating this could mean the release of the re-recording of her debut album, “Taylor Swift.” Others believe it might have something to do with her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl” – whether it’s a tour announcement or a deluxe album release has not been agreed on by fans.Swift has seemingly been dropping hints at something big since the Emmy Awards. The singer-songwriter…

An F-16 fighter jet assigned to the US air base Spangdahlem in western Germany crashed on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, adding that one pilot had ejected safely and was receiving medical treatment.The cause of the incident is under investigation, the military said in a statement, with emergency response personnel at the scene of the crash.Germany’s air traffic control authority, in a separate statement, said a total of four F-16s had been taking part in a training exercise.“Two were still in the training area, while two were returning to Spangdahlem Air Base. One of these two jets is believed to have crashed while on approach,” it said, adding the remaining F-16s had landed at the US Air Force base in Ramstein. Read the full article here

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Expectations are low for breakthroughs when Xi Jinping meets President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. this week.If China remains intransigent during the high-stakes diplomacy, it will be time for America to end decades of dialogue with Beijing.The Trump administration is setting the bar low for the summit. A continuation of last October’s trade truce, reached when the two leaders met in South Korea, is the most that officials are now hoping for. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been talking with a Chinese delegation about an extension. The truce expires November 10.XI PREPARES CHINA ‘FOR BATTLE’ AS EXPERT WARNS OF GRAVE DANGER FACING US AHEAD OF DC SUMMITThe Chinese should be happy with no disruption in the relationship. On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in the words of China’s Global Times, that “China-US relations have generally moved along the path toward a constructive relationship of strategic stability.”Of course, China wants “stability.” The Chinese side, in a stable environment, will be able to continue dangerous and unacceptable conduct, such as selling fentanyl, stealing U.S. intellectual property, engaging in predatory trade practices, supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine,…