Latest news with #B-52s
Newsweek
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Satellite Image Shows US Air Power Buildup at Island Base Near Iran
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. New satellite images showed U.S. forces increasing their air power at an Indian Ocean base that could be a staging point for any attack on Iran, according to an open source intelligence analyst. Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) for comment. Why It Matters Ongoing activity at the Diego Garcia airbase, a strategic operating location for both the U.K. and British armies, comes amid tensions with Iran over its nuclear program. Although nuclear talks continue, President Donald Trump has threatened military action if diplomacy fails to produce a new agreement on curbs that could prevent it obtaining nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Iran has ramped up its military buildup, threatening U.S. targets in the region in the event of any attack. Imagery captured on May 24, 2025, by U.S. Landsat satellites shows U.S. military aircraft positioned at an air base on the island of Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Imagery captured on May 24, 2025, by U.S. Landsat satellites shows U.S. military aircraft positioned at an air base on the island of Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Landsat/Sentinel Hub What To Know The U.S. Air Force has recently augmented its aerial refueling capabilities at Diego Garcia, deploying additional KC-135 Stratotankers to the strategic Indian Ocean base, according to satellite imagery shared by open-source intelligence analyst MT Anderson on X. 🇺🇸NSF Diego Garcia🇺🇸 4x B-52s still operating out of Diego Garcia While resolution is too low for a positive ID, likely spot of 2-3x F-15s 7x Additional aircraft, likely to include KC-135, C-5M and potentially C-17 Src📷: @USGSLandsat 24 May 2025 — MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) May 27, 2025 A recent deployment of F-15 fighter jets adds to a growing U.S. military buildup at Diego Garcia, where four B-52 bombers and a contingent of six B-2 stealth bombers operate. In March, satellite imagery showed the deployment of C-17 cargo planes as well as KC-135 refueling tankers. The remote airbase, over 2,000 miles away from Iran, hosts Space Force operations and is a key port for U.S. Navy vessels, including nuclear submarines, and shelters a Sealift Command Prepositioning Ship Squadron. Tehran has yet to unveil a platform capable of reaching that range, but as a significant missile power, it continues to make strides in expanding long-range capabilities. The status of Diego Garcia has recently been in question and the subject of heated political debate with Britain signing an agreement last week to had sovereignty of the contested Chagos islands — of which it is a part — to Mauritius. Britain says that the agreement will ensure the future of the air and naval base and allow its contimued use by the United States. What People Are Saying Commander Matthew Comer, Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson, told Newsweek earlier: "We have multi-layered defense systems on Diego Garcia that ensure the security and protection of our personnel and equipment." What Happens Next Beyond Iran, the continued U.S. buildup at Diego Garcia signals broader power projection with a potential view to threats in the Red Sea, activity by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen and China's growing naval reach in the Indian Ocean.
The Star
23-05-2025
- Science
- The Star
Defying war to complete her thesis
How it came to be: Sinh talking about her thesis, shown in the hard-cover printed version she is holding, in Hanoi. — AFP As American bombers flew overhead, pioneering professor Hoang Xuan Sinh completed her thesis by the light of a kerosene lamp in the Vietnamese jungle, with letters from French maths genius Alexandre Grothendieck as her only guidance. Vietnam's first female mathematics professor, Sinh, now 91, recalled trying to write in December 1972, as the B-52s of the US Air Force unleashed a deluge of bombs on Hanoi and surrounding provinces. They patrolled 'all night', Sinh said, her voice trembling as she remembered the so-called Christmas bombings of the Vietnam War that saw 20,000 tonnes of explosives dropped over 12 days that month. 'We narrowly escaped death.' Sinh was born in Hanoi during the French colonial period and her life offers a snapshot of modern Vietnamese history. Part of the country's final generation of intellectuals born under French rule, she lived through decades of conflict – including wars with France, the United States and China – before helping lay the foundations for its ongoing economic miracle. Ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit tomorrow, she spoke in fluent French of the meeting with revolutionary mathematician Grothendieck that changed her life and the private university she founded in 1988 – the country's first. Sinh met Grothendieck, one of the most important figures of 20th-century mathematics, in 1967 when he was teaching algebra to students and teachers in northern Vietnam. Despite the bombs, Grothendieck – considered to have revolutionised maths in the way Albert Einstein did physics – spent a month in the country, driven by a sense of duty to fellow academics working in impossible circumstances. 'He was a very good teacher. He knew how to make difficult things easy,' recalled Sinh. At the time, the University of Hanoi was scattered across several villages in the countryside to escape bombings targeting the capital. Grothendieck, Sinh and the other students lived with farmers, without electricity or running water. 'Their houses were small (but) they kept a corner for us, just enough to put a work table,' she said. Despite the hardship and destruction, Grothendieck – who in 1966 won the Fields Medal, regarded as the Nobel Prize for mathematics – wrote in a travel report that his hosts maintained 'a quiet confidence in the future'. Sinh proposed a thesis topic to Grothendieck, who immediately accepted, and so began a struggle to complete it that would last nearly eight years, without a library or typewriter. Sinh devoted herself to her work at night after the classes she taught. Although she completed her work in late 1972 under the thunder of the B-52s, her thesis defence had to wait until May 1975, a few days after the fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the war. On the jury at Paris Diderot University were Grothendieck and Laurent Schwartz, a fellow Fields Medal laureate who was also sympathetic to the Vietnamese cause. Thanks to Grothendieck's intervention, the university accepted her handwritten thesis – likely the first they had ever received, Sinh said with a smile, remembering that even finding paper during the war was a luxury. Portraits of Grothendieck and Schwartz now hang in the entrance to lecture halls at Hanoi's Thang Long University, which she founded. Students tapping on their phones in front of the paintings confessed they hadn't heard of the two men. Today, Sinh visits the institution once a week, where she likes to feed the pigeons. The students are 'happy', she reflects. 'When you tell them things that happened, how life was, they can't believe it. They are lucky,' she said. — AFP
France 24
23-05-2025
- Science
- France 24
The pioneering Vietnamese professor taught by French maths genius
Vietnam's first female mathematics professor, Sinh, now 91, recalled trying to write in December 1972, as the B-52s of the US Air Force unleashed a deluge of bombs on Hanoi and surrounding provinces. They patrolled "all night", Sinh told AFP, her voice trembling as she remembered the so-called Christmas bombings of the Vietnam War that saw 20,000 tons of explosives dropped over 12 days that month. "We narrowly escaped death." Sinh was born in Hanoi during the French colonial period and her life offers a snapshot of modern Vietnamese history. Part of the country's final generation of intellectuals born under French rule, she lived through decades of conflict -- including wars with France, the United States and China -- before helping lay the foundations for its ongoing economic miracle. Ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit on Sunday, she spoke in fluent French of the meeting with revolutionary mathematician Grothendieck that changed her life and the private university she founded in 1988 -- the country's first. Farmers' huts Sinh met Grothendieck, one of the most important figures of 20th-century mathematics, in 1967 when he was teaching algebra to students and teachers in northern Vietnam. Despite the bombs, Grothendieck -- considered to have revolutionised maths in the way Albert Einstein did physics -- spent a month in the country, driven by a sense of duty to fellow academics working in impossible circumstances. "He was a very good teacher. He knew how to make difficult things easy," recalled Sinh. At the time, the University of Hanoi was scattered across several villages in the countryside to escape bombings targeting the capital. Grothendieck, Sinh and the other students lived with farmers, without electricity or running water. "Their houses were small (but) they kept a corner for us, just enough to put a work table," she said. Despite the hardship and destruction, Grothendieck -- who in 1966 won the Fields Medal, regarded as the Nobel Prize for mathematics -- wrote in a travel report that his hosts maintained "a quiet confidence in the future". Sinh proposed a thesis topic to Grothendieck, who immediately accepted, and so began a struggle to complete it that would last nearly eight years, without a library or typewriter. She received two letters from her mentor, who by that time had left Vietnam, but they were "very brief" to avoid censorship, she explained. Paper was a luxury Sinh devoted herself to her work at night after the classes she taught. But at sunset, "I was eaten by mosquitoes", she said, recalling her dreams of a battery-powered light to replace her kerosene lamp -- a fire hazard -- so that she could shelter under a mosquito net. Although she completed her work in late 1972 under the thunder of the B-52s, her thesis defence had to wait until May 1975, a few days after the fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the war. On the jury at Paris Diderot University were Grothendieck and Laurent Schwartz, a fellow Fields Medal laureate who was also sympathetic to the Vietnamese cause. Students and teachers were surprised to see two laureates on the panel, she recalled, still visibly moved by the memory. Thanks to Grothendieck's intervention, the university accepted her handwritten thesis -- likely the first they had ever received, Sinh said with a smile, remembering that even finding paper during the war was a luxury. Portraits of Grothendieck and Schwartz now hang in the entrance to lecture halls at Hanoi's Thang Long University, which she founded. Students tapping on their phones in front of the paintings confessed to AFP they hadn't heard of the two men. Today, Sinh visits the institution once a week, where she likes to feed the pigeons. The students are "happy", she reflects.
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
U.S. Deploys Bombers Near Iran As Trump Warns Of Strike If Nuclear Talks Collapse
/ May 11, 2025, 01:53PM IST The U.S. has positioned ten strategic bombers, including B-2s and B-52s, at Diego Garcia amid ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. Satellite imagery confirmed two additional B-52 bombers arrived within 24 hours, raising alarms of possible military action. Trump's team signals the return of the military option if talks fail, while Iran threatens massive retaliation. Watch
Epoch Times
10-05-2025
- General
- Epoch Times
The Rescue of Bat 21: A Dangerous Mission to Save One of Their Own
Hopes were fading in the middle of the largest air and ground rescue mission of the Vietnam War. Several attempts to rescue downed airmen had failed. However, the courage and persistence of Lt. Thomas Norris ultimately allowed Lt. Col. Iceal Gene Hambleton to see another day. After completing the mission successfully, the military used much of what they learned to conduct future battlefield search and rescue missions. Taken Unawares On Easter Day, on April 2, 1972, during a brutal assault, in an area occupied by around 30,000 North Vietnamese troops, Lt. Col. Hambleton was the navigator of an EB-66 aircraft, with a call sign of Bat 21, which was flying as escort for a group of B-52s. The Bat 21 was to defend against surface to air missiles (SAMs) while the B-52s were attacking the enemy from the air. Douglas EB-66E Destroyer in flight. Aircraft of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, 41st or 42nd TEWS based at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base over Southeast Asia, on March 30, 1970. US Air Force photo. Public Domain However, as the planes flew north, they realized too late that the North Vietnamese troops had already pushed the South Vietnamese troops south and set up SAM sites further into South Vietnamese territory than they initially thought. The planes immediately started taking fire from every direction. Multiple SAMs were fired and soon Hambleton saw one heading straight towards the Bat 21. The pilot tried to cut south thinking the gunfire was only coming from the north when he steered straight into a missile. With the plane on fire, the pilot signaled to Hambleton to eject. Right after Hambleton ejected from the plane, he made eye contact with his pilot just before another missile struck the plane and disintegrated it in front of him. As Hambleton slowly parachuted down, he noticed that he would be completely surrounded by enemy troops once he landed. He landed in a rice paddy and later hid in a bamboo thicket in an area swarming with enemy troops. Hide-and-Seek Meanwhile, Hambleton's fellow soldiers knew that the enemy troops would be looking for the officer, hoping that he could give them valuable information. Knowing time was of the essence, several aircraft were sent on search and rescue missions to find the missing aviator who had been in contact with his fellow soldiers via radio while parachuting down. Over the next several days, Hambleton remained hidden among enemy troops. He watched as several planes got bombarded with SAMs and machine gunfire attempting to rescue him. By April 9, eight aircraft had been destroyed, 14 American soldiers had died, two had been captured and two more were missing in action—all in attempts to save Hambleton. During one rescue mission, 1st Lt. Mark Clark also needed to be rescued after his plane was shot down trying to rescue Hambleton. Gen. Creighton Abrams then issued a halt to any further helicopter rescue attempts. Instead, Lt. Norris was tasked to launch a ground mission to pull Clark and Hambleton out of the enemy zone. Norris's team consisted of South Vietnamese SEAL Petty Officer Nguyen Van Kiet and four other Vietnamese commandos. Related Stories 4/1/2025 3/3/2025 Knowing that the North Vietnamese soldiers were listening to communications, Hambleton and Clark were given orders to head toward the Mieu Giang River in code. Since Hambleton was the furthest away, giving him directions proved difficult. But knowing that he was an avid golfer, who had memorized the layout of famous golf courses, Hambleton's fellow soldiers guided him through an abandoned village in code by instructing him to 'play' certain holes that he would remember to get him to the river. While trying to secure a free meal, he was stabbed by a villager. This added to the injuries he'd sustained during the ejection. Yet Hambleton eventually made it to the river by relying on his colleagues' instructions. Since he was closer, Norris and his crew first snuck out into enemy territory and rescued Clark after a few close calls. But Hambleton had been surviving in enemy territory for over a week, and his health was fading. Norris wasted no time and headed back into the trenches with just Petty Officer Kiet as the other Vietnamese commandos had started to lose morale. Lt. Norris (R) and Petty Officer 3rd Class Nguyen Van Kiet. The pair went behind enemy lines, disguised as fishermen in a sampan, to rescue Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton. Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor and Nguyen was recognized with the Navy Cross for their actions. Public Domain Norris and Kiet disguised themselves as local fishermen and headed in a boat up river towards Hambleton's position. They traveled for nearly two miles. After passing his position once and backtracking, Norris and Kiet eventually found the stranded Hambleton hiding in a clump of bushes. They put Hambleton in the boat and covered him in bamboo for their journey back. With a little help from air forces to squash attacks from enemy troops, Hambleton finally made it to safety after being stranded in enemy territory for 11 and a half days. Once he returned to Dong Ha, Vietnam, Norris was bombarded by reporters. One, guessing how hard the mission had been, said, 'I bet you wouldn't do that again.' 'An American was down in enemy territory. Of course I'd do it again,' Norris replied. What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to
