Map Shows US Missile-Tracking Ship Pinging Off China's Coast
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Seventh Fleet, which is responsible for America's naval operations in the western Pacific, and China's Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Under the Special Mission program, the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command operates approximately 20 ships, including the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen, the country's only missile range instrumentation ship, which provides support for military and other government missions.
The presence of the Howard O. Lorenzen—capable of collecting data on missile launches—near the Chinese coastline comes as the Pentagon warns of a growing missile threat posed by China to U.S. bases, allies, and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
Another U.S. "Special Mission" ship, the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious, was tracked operating in the contested South China Sea from late May to early June. The ship is designed to collect undersea acoustic data in support of anti-submarine warfare development.
Using open-source ship-tracking data, a Newsweek map shows that the Howard O. Lorenzen was underway in Sasebo Bay, located in western Japan, on June 6. It later transited across the East China Sea and reached the Yellow Sea to the northwest, near China's eastern coast.
The American missile-tracking ship was last tracked in the Yellow Sea on June 26, about 100 miles off the Chinese coastline—well beyond the country's 13.8-mile-wide territorial waters—and near Yuchi Naval Base, home to China's first aircraft carrier, CNS Liaoning.
The mission of the Howard O. Lorenzen near China remains unclear. Equipped with a radar system known as Cobra King, the 12,642-ton ship serves as the sea-based component of the Pentagon's Cobra program, monitoring missile and space launches, according to the U.S. Air Force.
The Chinese military has yet to announce any missile launches, and it is unclear whether the Howard O. Lorenzen was shadowed by the Chinese navy while operating in the Yellow Sea.
In addition to the deployment of a missile-tracking ship, a U.S. Air Force RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft—capable of collecting optical and electronic data on ballistic targets—was spotted flying over the Yellow Sea on June 24, according to open-source flight-tracking data.
The sensor-equipped aircraft was launched from Kadena Air Base, a U.S. airpower outpost on Japan's Okinawa Island. It arrived for forward deployment in early June, replacing another Cobra Ball aircraft that was returning to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command said: "Missile range instrumentation ships serve as platforms for monitoring missile launches and collecting data that can be used to improve missile efficiency and accuracy. These ships monitor foreign missile and weapons tests that may pose potential threats to air or surface navigation."
The U.S. Air Forcesaid: "The RC-135S, equipped with a sophisticated array of optical and electronic sensors, recording media, and communications equipment, is a national asset uniquely suited to provide America's leaders and defense community with vital information that cannot be obtained by any other source."
It remains to be seen how long the Howard O. Lorenzen will remain deployed in the Yellow Sea, and whether other "Special Mission" ships will operate in waters surrounding China.
Related Articles
Map Shows Major US Naval Presence in West Pacific Amid China RivalryUS Military Issues Update on China's Rocket Force ThreatChina Research Ship Spotted on NATO's DoorstepRepublican Says 'Most' of Iran's Uranium Is Still There
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Rental Market Starts to See Effects of Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The sharp about-turn in immigration levels since January looks set to have an impact on the U.S. housing market — particularly when it comes to rentals — though its wider effects could take longer to be felt. New analysis from economic and housing experts shows that the surge in demand for housing seen over the past four years is easing slightly, as fewer immigrants arrive in the U.S., and President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan is put into action. "The big thing that had happened the past few years is we saw a huge burst in immigration on a net basis into the United States, much of that through the southern border," Lance Lambert, founder of the housing-market research site Resi Club, told Newsweek. "So, what that did to the housing market is it created more demand, rental demand in particular, at the bottom of the market." Lambert said the markets that will see the biggest impact of lower migration numbers will be those metropolitan areas which saw high numbers of legal and illegal new arrivals in recent years, such as New York City, Miami and Houston. These cities have seen demand for housing surge, with data regularly showing soaring rental costs and a lack of available units. In Manhattan, rents steadily climbed after a pandemic-era low to a median asking price of $4,745 in July, with a total rental inventory of 18,936 units, compared to 21,317 the year before, per StreetEasy. Not all of this would have been driven by immigration, but it was likely a contributing factor in the city's ever-present housing shortage. Miami saw similar surges in costs, despite an ever-expanding metropolitan area, as Florida's immigrant population grew. Migrants Blamed for Housing Squeeze During the 2024 presidential election campaign, Vice President JD Vance was among those on the right who put the blame for America's housing squeeze squarely on immigrants. In a speech at the Republican National Convention last July, the then-VP nominee spoke about U.S. homebuilders that went out of business during the financial crisis of 2008, putting a dent in new-home construction that has continued. "Then the Democrats flooded this country with millions of illegal aliens," Vance said. "So citizens had to compete with people who shouldn't even be here for precious housing." This messaging was one of the factors driving support for mass deportations and other stricter immigration measures. Since President Trump and Vice President Vance took office, there has been a noticeable shift in immigration patterns. Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the center-right American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Newsweek that net migration was likely to dramatically fall in 2025, potentially by as much as 650,000. "That's mostly driven by a reduction in flows both at the southern border, but also various legal pathways that have been cut off or reduced, including the Refugee Resettlement Program and humanitarian programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Ukrainians, and Afghans," Veuger said. "So that, in turn, will have an impact on various macro-outcomes." The Impact of Trump 2.0 Policies Veuger and his colleagues predict that GDP growth will be reduced by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points this year, partly because of the reduction in migrants leading to a loss of in employees in sectors like construction. In the months leading up to and following the 2024 election, others also made similar predictions, warning that a loss of immigrants, both legal and illegal, would have a drastic effect on the U.S. economy. When it comes to housing, those impacts may not be felt just yet, Lambert told Newsweek, with the market not necessarily reflecting the drop in net migration or the effects of tariffs on building materials. "At the moment, builders are not seeing any meaningful increases in material cost nor labor cost," said Lambert, of Resi Club. "If we potentially see a long sustaining pullback in immigration through the border, could that over time create some tightening impact to the labor market and the residential construction sector? Yeah, potentially. He added: "But at the end of the day, right now, the bigger macro features of the housing cycle are playing a much bigger role to builders." Construction workers build homes at a new housing development on August 08, 2025 in Henderson, Nevada. Construction workers build homes at a new housing development on August 08, 2025 in Henderson, pointed to an overall slowdown in the housing market since the pandemic, including affordability issues, a rising number of available units sitting for longer and a drop in demand as the real issues facing housing rather than immigration policies. "Keep in mind that immigration essentially had a pull-forward where there was more immigration the past few years than would have otherwise occurred," Lambert said. "So even with a pullback or a net decline in immigration this year, we still have more people who immigrated the past few years than the trend expected. "So it would take several years of very little immigration through the southern border or even net declines to fully smooth out that big burst that we saw in 2023-2024." Veuger said that AEI is predicting a dramatic slowdown in migration numbers over the next two years, which could impact the economy more widely, but those levels could return to normal soon after depending on federal policy and who wins the White House in 2028 — meaning only time will tell how big an impact the administration's policies will have on long-term housing and construction. "Part of what drives the very low net migration number now is that there are millions and millions of people in the country who arrived relatively recently," Veuger said. "If you are a recent arrival, you're much more likely to leave, either voluntarily or through extradited removal. "Two, three years from now, after we will have had a number of years with many fewer arrivals, we will have fewer recent arrivals who are so likely to leave."
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Abigail Spanberger Wins Backing of Group That Endorsed Glenn Youngkin
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the endorsement of a police organization that backed GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin in his 2021 run, as polls suggest Spanberger has carved out a polling lead over her Republican rival, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Newsweek reached out to the Spanberger and Earle-Sears campaigns for comment via email. Why It Matters Virginia voters will elect their next governor in November, as Youngkin cannot run again due to term limits. The party outside of the White House has historically performed well in the off-year elections in the former battleground that has shifted toward Democrats over the past few decades. But the race will be a key test for both parties. Democrats will be hoping to win back voters who shifted rightward and test their message ahead of the midterms. Republicans, meanwhile, will be aiming to hold onto those same voters, particularly Latino and Asian voters with whom President Donald Trump made inroads last year. What to Know Spanberger rolled out the endorsement of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association (PBA) on Wednesday, less than three months before Virginia voters cast their ballots in the race. Joe Woloszyn, president of the Virginia PBA, wrote in a statement that he believes Spanberger "understands the responsibility of putting on the badge" as a former federal law enforcement. Former Representative Abigail Spanberger attends a rally in Alexandria, Virginia on April 10, 2025. Former Representative Abigail Spanberger attends a rally in Alexandria, Virginia on April 10, 2025."As a Member of Congress, she repeatedly voted to increase funding for local police departments and sheriff's offices — and she was relentless in pushing her bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act across the finish line to secure the earned benefits of thousands of Virginia's retired police officers," he wrote. In 2021, the organization backed Youngkin for governor and Earle-Sears in the lieutenant governor race. Both went on to narrowly win their elections against Democratic candidates in November—Youngkin by 2 points and Earle-Sears by 1.5 points. At the time, Woloszyn wrote that Youngkin had an "in depth understanding of the complex issues currently facing law enforcement in the commonwealth. The endorsement came after the Democrats' 2021 nominee, former Governor Terry McAuliffe, declined to meet with the group. Virginia Governor Race: What Polls Show The latest polls of the Virginia governor race show Spanberger with a lead. A Virginia Commonwealth University poll released last month showed Spanberger leading by 12 points (49 percent to 37 percent). It surveyed 764 registered voters from June 19, 2025, to July 3, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.16 percentage points. A HarrisX poll from earlier this year showed a closer race, showing her up four points (52 percent to 48 percent). It surveyed 1,000 likely voters from May 9 to May 13, 2025. What People Are Saying Woloszyn wrote in the statement: "Abigail has a deep, expert-level knowledge of the unique challenges facing Virginia's law enforcement officers, and she is a leader who shares our goal of building trust across our communities and working towards a safer, stronger Commonwealth. The VAPBA Board of Directors is proud to publicly endorse Abigail Spanberger for Governor of Virginia." Spanberger wrote in a statement: "Virginians deserve a Governor who recognizes the tremendous sacrifice that comes with swearing an oath to protect and serve our neighbors. As Governor, I will always make sure our brave men and women in blue have the tools, resources, and training they need to do their jobs and keep us safe. I look forward to working directly with VAPBA and the communities they serve as Governor to have the backs of our fellow Virginians who go to work each day to put others first." Political scientist Larry Sabato wrote to X: "Interesting. I always look for endorsement flips. VA Police Benevolent Association--which backed all Rs in 2021-- just endorsed Spanberger (D). They stuck with Rs for Lt Gov (Reid) and AG (Miyares). In '21 the group backed Earle-Sears for Lt Gov." Journalist David Weigel wrote on X: "One of McAuliffe's 2021 fumbles was skipping the VPBA meeting; he had trouble navigating the post-George Floyd landscape where police unions didn't trust Dems, was annoyed that his record wasn't enough." What Happens Next The Virginia gubernatorial general election is scheduled for November 4, 2025.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump's unconventional chip gambit might leave Nvidia and AMD with more questions than answers
President Trump has had a busy week making moves across the US chip industry. And it's only Wednesday. On Monday, Trump revealed his administration will take a 15% cut of sales of Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD's (AMD) chips to Chinese companies in exchange for allowing the AI hardware to flow back into the country. He also met with Intel (INTC) CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Monday after calling for his ouster last week. At the end of the day, Trump appeared to back away from his initial demand, saying Tan's 'success and rise is an amazing story.' On their face, the developments appear to be positive for the trio of chip giants. But Trump's lightning-fast whiplash between stances raises important questions about the companies' futures, including whether Nvidia and AMD will be able to continue selling their chips in China, despite the administration's prior protestations about national security concerns, and what kind of toll the president will extract from Intel moving forward. Nvidia and AMD get a win… for now Trump's decision to restart the sale of Nvidia and AMD chips into China for a fee means both companies will be able to recoup some of the losses they took when he initially banned processor shipments there in April. Nvidia had to write off $4.5 billion due to the ban in Q1, with an additional $8 billion hit expected in Q2, while AMD reported an $800 million loss in Q2. '[The] companies can use some part of their prior written-off inventory so even with 15% penalty they get some gross profit recovery, and … China resumption maintains the original goal of engaging with an important (China) AI ecosystem and of potentially keeping competitors (Huawei) in check,' BofA Global Research analyst Vivek Arya wrote in a research note following Trump's announcement. Nvidia, in particular, could end up passing along the 15% fee to its China-based customers, thanks to the strong demand for its offerings. 'From my perspective, it is a positive for those companies,' Forrester senior analyst Alvin Nguyen told Yahoo Finance. 'As you know, it opens a market where there's still high demand. Nvidia, especially, still has a lot of cache with their name.' But Trump's latest AI chip move also introduces some thorny questions. The first of which is whether Nvidia and AMD will continue to be able to sell their AI processors into China moving forward, or if Trump will change his mind again. After all, the administration originally pulled Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308 on national security grounds, and as Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon explained to Yahoo Finance, this deal doesn't appear to address the matter. Arya similarly warns against getting too comfortable with the idea of China as a reliable source of revenue for either company. 'It isn't clear if [the US government] will continue to provide approvals next year,' he wrote in a research note. 'Restarting supply chains to produce more AI chips could take 8-9 months … [and the] rapidly evolving AI landscape could reduce demand from certain China customers.' There's another problem lurking for Nvidia, though. According to The Information, Chinese officials are urging companies like ByteDance, Alibaba Group (BABA), and Tencent Holdings (TCEHY) to suspend the purchase of Nvidia chips over potential security concerns. Nvidia says its chips don't pose any kind of security threat. 'As both governments recognize, the H20 is not a military product or for government infrastructure. China has ample supply of domestic chips to meet its needs,' an Nvidia spokesperson wrote in an email to Yahoo Finance. 'It won't and never has relied on American chips for government operations, just like the U.S. government would not rely on chips from China. Banning the sale of H20 in China would only harm US economic and technology leadership with zero national security benefit.' All of this comes amid the backdrop of the US and China's ongoing trade negotiations, leaving Nvidia and AMD uniquely vulnerable to further political intrigue. Intel's Trump meeting Intel is also contending with its own Trump-related issues. Last week, the president said in a Truth Social post that Tan was 'highly conflicted and must resign,' adding that there was 'no other solution to this problem.' Trump's statement came after Republican Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel questioning Tan's investments in Chinese companies. It didn't help that the Justice Department announced in July that Cadence Design Systems, where Tan previously served as CEO, would pay a $140 million settlement related to charges about shipping chip design products to a Chinese military university. Tan also has a number of investments in Chinese companies. Intel responded in a statement saying Tan, the company, and its board are aligned with Trump's 'America First agenda.' After Tan's meeting with the president on Monday, the company released an additional statement saying, 'We appreciate the president's strong leadership to advance these critical priorities and look forward to working closely with him and his administration as we restore this great American company.' Trump, for his part, said in a Truth Social post that the meeting was interesting and that his members will meet with Tan to give him suggestions over the next week. It's unclear what the suggestions would be for. In a research note, Rasgon wrote that Intel could petition for 'further support, both monetary and, conceivably, through customer 'encouragement' either for volume … or more direct investment.' The biggest question then is what Trump will seek from Intel in return for his help. 'We do know [Trump] tends to be transactional, and loves making deals where he (and, hopefully, the US too?) come out ahead,' Rasgon wrote. 'Would a successful Intel be enough all by itself to satiate that desire? We aren't sure, but given recent behavior (just yesterday extracting dollars from [Nvidia] and AMD to sell AI chips into China) we feel that his largesse, if obtained, likely won't come free.' Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
