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Navy Nuclear Submarine & Missile Cruiser Collide off Florida Coast During Training Exercise

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A U.S. Navy nuclear submarine collided with a cruiser Saturday afternoon during a routine training exercise off the coast of northeastern Florida, according to officials.

No service members either aboard USS Montpelier or USS San Jacinto were injured in the crash, Pentagon officials said, adding that the sub’s nuclear reaction ‘was unaffected by this collision.’

The incident took place while Montpelier, a nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, and San Jacinto, an Aegis-class missile cruiser, were participating in a ‘group sail’ along with another vessel.

ABC reported that the vessels were preparing for an upcoming deployment as part of the strike group for the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, which was also on hand.

According to a Navy official, at around 3.30pm, the bridge watch aboard the San Jacinto saw the sub rise to periscope depth less than 200 yards ahead of them.

The bridge ordered ‘all back,’ but it was too late and the vessel slammed into the Montpelier.

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Egypt Allows Iranian Navy Ship Through Suez After Complaining About US Ships Just Last Year

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Egypt has again allowed an Iranian Navy ship to pass the Suez Canal toward Syria.

A senior official said the Egyptian Navy approved the passage of an Iranian ship loaded with weapons to move from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The official said Egypt dismissed a request by the United States to stop the Iranian ship at the canal.

“The Egyptian Navy refused a U.S. request to strike an Iranian ship loaded with weapons that was on its way to Syria through the Suez Canal,” Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said.

Mamish, a former member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said he was authorized to make all decisions on the canal, a leading earner of revenue for Egypt.

Mamish, whose remarks were also reported by Egypt’s official daily Al Ahram, said the Egyptian military objected to deployment of U.S. Navy ships at the southern entrance of the canal in January 2011. At the time, President Hosni Mubarak faced massive unrest, which led to his ouster by the military 18 days later.

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Probing Obama: Russian sub moves undetected in Gulf of Mexico for a month

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Photo credit: DVIDSHUB

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores.

The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow.

The submarine patrol also exposed what U.S. officials said were deficiencies in U.S. anti-submarine warfare capabilities—forces that are facing cuts under the Obama administration’s plan to reduce defense spending by $487 billion over the next 10 years.

The Navy is in charge of detecting submarines, especially those that sail near U.S. nuclear missile submarines, and uses undersea sensors and satellites to locate and track them.

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US rushing dozens of submersible killer drones to Persian Gulf

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The Navy is rushing dozens of unmanned underwater craft to the Persian Gulf to help detect and destroy mines in a major military buildup aimed at preventing Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the event of a crisis, U.S. officials said.

The tiny SeaFox submersibles each carry an underwater television camera, homing sonar and an explosive charge. The Navy bought them in May after an urgent request by Marine Gen. James Mattis, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East.

Each submersible is about 4 feet long and weighs less than 100 pounds. The craft are intended to boost U.S. military capabilities as negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program appear to have stalled. Three rounds of talks since April between Iran and the five countries in the United Nations Security Council plus Germany have made little progress.

Some U.S. officials are wary that Iran may respond to tightening sanctions on its banking and energy sectors, including a European Union oil embargo, by launching or sponsoring attacks on oil tankers or platforms in the Persian Gulf. Some officials in Tehran have threatened to close the narrow waterway, a choke point for a fifth of the oil traded worldwide.

The first of the SeaFox submersibles arrived in the Gulf in recent weeks, officials said, along with four MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopters and four minesweeping ships, part of a larger buildup of U.S. naval, air and ground forces in the region aimed at Iran.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery