Latest news with #C17
Telegraph
15 minutes ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Ukraine can survive without Donbas, it can't without Black Sea access
As is often the way, the Black Sea slips under the radar. Not to everyone: earlier today, an OSINT account reported a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum providing top cover for a cargo ship heading into Odesa. Our own Air Force is flying a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft there as I type this. The military have not forgotten the strategic importance of this sea. And they are right not to do so – the ability to navigate freely on it is hugely important and is not a foregone conclusion. Right at the start of the 2022 invasion, the interaction at Snake Island set the tone for subsequent Ukrainian doggedness. In the face of the Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, off Snake Island, the Ukrainian forces there used some extremely naval language to suggest they go away. It didn't work, and the island was lost, but two months later, the Moskva was sent to the bottom in what was a simple but devastating counter-attack. Symbolic as this sinking was as a single military action, and despite getting Snake Island back shortly afterwards, it was part of a wider maritime tapestry which Ukraine were not winning. Russia was now denying them freedom of navigation – blockading them, to use the wartime term – and it worked, initially halting up to 90 per cent of all sea exports. July 2022 to July 2023 saw the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey. This partially alleviated the pressure with exports increasing up to 50 per cent – 33 million tons of grain over 1,000 voyages. Putin ended this initiative in July 2023 – for obvious reasons – recommenced attacks and mining, and numbers dipped again. But by this point, Ukraine's long-range counter-strategy was in full flight. Rapid development and use of uncrewed surface vessels, combined with more conventional missile and special forces strikes, worked to drive the Black Sea Fleet out of Sevastopol and virtually into hiding. It's risky in warfare to say anyone has lost until the surrender is signed, but in terms of what the Black Sea Fleet set out to achieve, against how it was forced to operate for most of 2024 it is not far off. They certainly lost their fighting cohesion at sea. By July 2024, pre-war export levels were restored, and there they have largely remained. This is not by chance and has taken considerable effort to maintain, and it is a balance that could be upset quickly if the importance of the Black Sea is overlooked. A Black Sea Fleet out of hiding and able to restock and rearm could upset this balance almost immediately causing war risk insurance to climb again and shipping companies to no longer take the risk. At least Russia won't be able to sail more warships in there, the Montreux Convention prevents it, but rearmament takes many forms. And besides, that convention works both ways. Most estimates are that if Ukraine lost freedom of navigation by up to 80 per cent, it would damage their overall economy by 10-12 per cent of GDP. Indirect losses could be as much as 30 per cent. They simply can't afford for this to happen again. Add in loss of influence, access and the effect on other countries who need those exports, then layer how much this all inversely helps Russia, and you can start building a case for maintaining freedom of navigation in the Black Sea being more important than the division of land being contested and now discussed. In war, most people naturally focus on the land. In peace, no one focuses on the sea until it stops working, at which point it can wreck your security and prosperity. This isn't a competition, just a plea not to ignore the sea as this conflict progresses to a conclusion, whatever form that takes, over land.
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- General
- Malay Mail
The lost dreams of Kabul: A mother's pain years after her son's fatal flight
KABUL, Aug 13 — The day after the Taliban stormed into the Afghan capital in August 2021, Afghans desperate to evacuate clung to the fuselage of a departing American plane at Kabul airport—only to fall to their deaths. Four years later, their families still relive those desperate acts and endure wounds they say will never heal. The images sped around the world: hundreds of people running alongside a military plane about to take off, with some clinging to it. Other videos show figures falling from the C-17, plummeting through the air. One of them was Shafiullah Hotak. Aged 18, he dreamt of becoming a doctor, but lacking the money for his studies, was forced to work doing odd jobs. On August 16, 2021, the day after the Taliban seized Kabul, Hotak was swept up by rumours that the departing Americans, after 20 years of war, were taking with them Afghans eager to flee. 'I'm leaving for the United States!' he told his parents at dawn that day, with only 50 Afghanis (less than a dollar today) in his pocket. The airport was swarmed with families clutching any scrap of paper they thought might help them leave with the swiftly departing foreigners. 'Shafiullah had hope. He said that if he made it to the United States, I could stop working, that he would repay us for everything we had done for him,' recalled his mother, Zar Bibi Hotak. 'I gave him his ID card and he left. Then we heard he was dead.' Fell to their deaths More than 120,000 people were evacuated in August 2021 by Nato countries, including 2,000 who had directly worked with the organisation against the Taliban. Thousands of others left the country in the following months. 'We were told stories about the previous Taliban regime, how even flour was hard to find,' said Intizar Hotak, Shafiullah's 29-year-old brother, referring to the Taliban's first rule in 1996-2001. 'With those stories in mind, we were worried. We thought there would be no more work.' In the eastern Kabul neighbourhood where they live, crisscrossed by foul-smelling drainage channels, the only people who managed to get by were those with family sending money from abroad. 'Shafiullah said the situation wouldn't improve, that it was better to leave,' his mother said, clinging to a portrait of the young man with neatly combed hair and piercing eyes, posing next to a rose bush. His body landed on the roof of a house in northern Kabul, a few kilometres from the airport. So did that of 24-year-old Fida Mohammad Amir, who according to his father Payanda Mohammad Ibrahimi, hated the Taliban. On August 16, he pretended to have an appointment at his dental clinic and left the family home in Paghman, a quiet village west of Kabul. Later that morning his family tried to reach him. When the phone finally rang early in the afternoon, a stranger claiming to be at the airport asked, 'Do you know Fida? He fell from a plane.' The young dentist had slipped his father's number into his pocket—just in case. 'I didn't understand anything' Zar Bibi Hotak was alerted by relatives who saw a photo of Shafiullah shared on Facebook by witnesses at the airport. 'I screamed, I ran like a madwoman. Some neighbours were embarrassed, unsure how to react. Another grabbed me and brought me back home,' she said. To this day, the number of those who died during the evacuation remains unknown. In 2022, the US military cleared the plane's crew of wrongdoing. The crew had 'decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible' due to a deteriorating security situation as 'the aircraft was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the airport perimeter', according to a spokesperson. It's not enough, said all the families interviewed by AFP, who said their grief was only made worse by the lack of accountability. 'No one has called us—not the previous government, not the Taliban, not the Americans,' said Zar Bibi Hotak. 'The planes have cameras... the pilot knew what he was doing, that it was dangerous, he could have stopped,' said Zakir Anwari, whose brother Zaki was crushed by the plane on the tarmac. A promising football player at 17 years old, Zaki went to the airport out of curiosity with another of his brothers. But in seeing the crowd, he decided to take his chances, Anwari believes. 'Everyone wondered how Zaki, so smart, took such a risk. But he wasn't the only one: I met at the airport a father of six who proudly said he had tried three times to climb onto a plane,' Anwari said. At the airport, where he rushed to try to find his brother, he recalled bodies piled into a pickup, blood on the ground, and being struck by a Taliban fighter. 'I had nightmares for a year. Impossible to forget,' he said. — AFP
United News of India
25-06-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Operation Sindhu: 224 Indians arrive from Israel, 282 from Iran
New Delhi, June 25 (UNI) More Indian nationals evacuated from Iran and Israel arrived in New Delhi, as part of Operation Sindhu. One flight arrived from Israel today carrying 224 Indian nationals from Israel, while another arrived in the wee hours, carrying 282 Indian nationals from Iran, according to updates provided by the MEA spokesperson. Another flight is expected to arrive from Iran later today. The spokesperson said in posts on X: '#OperationSindhu update 'MoS Ms. Shobha Karandlaje received 224 Indian nationals who returned to India from Israel on an IAF aircraft at 10:30 Hrs on 25th June. 'Safety and security of Indian nationals remains a priority for the government. 'Till date, 818 Indian nationals have returned home from Israel as part of Operation Sindhu.' On the flight from Mashhad in Iran that arrived in the wee hours today, he posted: '#OperationSindhu '282 Indian nationals were evacuated from Iran on a special flight that arrived in New Delhi from Mashhad at 00:01 hrs on 25th June. 'With this, 2858 Indian nationals have been brought home from Iran.' The Indians who arrived from Israel were brought on a C17 Indian Airforce aircraft, which landed in Palam air base. Another evacuation flight from Mashhad will be arriving later in the day. India launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate its nationals from Iran and Israel amid the war between the two nations. UNI RN
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Military Matters: A Birdseye View of Altus AFB
ALTUS (KFDX/KJTL) — From an outsider's perspective, one might expect to see smaller planes like fighter jets at an air force base. That's not always the case. Altus Air Force Base is a bit different, housing planes that are slightly larger than fighter jets. One of which is the C-17, piloted by Lt. Col. J.D. Shaw. 'Altus's mission is to train pilots and loadmasters how to operate this airplane so they can go out to their base, whether it be Charleston, McChord, Dover, McGuire and then employ this airplane around the world,' Shaw said. Altus Air Force Base specializes in air mobility. All three planes they train, the KC-135, KC-46, and C-17, accomplish this through their unique missions. The C-17 is most specialized toward cargo delivery, according to Loadmaster trainer, Sr. Master Sgt. Kris Mack. 'We're more concerned with the cargo compartment as far as loading cargo, and you have to be prepared,' Mack said. 'It could be a tank in there, it could be a palette, it could be something quite easy. It could be humanitarian aid. It could be, you know, things that take a little bit more concentration as far as the restraint.' Another aspect of air mobility is ensuring that planes can travel from point A to point B, regardless of the distance. Lt. Col. Broderick Lockett trains crews to refuel planes in midair with the KC-135. 'You know, think you're going 400 miles an hour down the highway and actually reaching out with another car and holding on to each other, and you know, shaking hands,' Lockett said. 'That's what we do. Except at 26,000 feet, you know, going up to 600 miles an hour.' Not all air refueling looks or works the same. Altus Air Force Base also has one of the more advanced aircraft designed for mid-air refueling, the KC-46 Pegasus, which can both give and receive fuel. A unique trait that Lt. Col. Scott Heinlein believes makes it a vital tool in any situation the aircraft is in. 'Instead of having to fly all the way back to our base, get gas again, we can find another tanker that has already taken off from that base, take that fuel in the air so that it extends that range even closer,' Heinlein said. 'So, the net result is we get our receivers closer to the fight, making them more effective in combat.' At the center of it all, for the base, though, is the relationship it has with the city of Altus. Lt. Col. Shaw says he's been more involved with the surrounding community at Altus than at any other base he's ever been to. 'The city is super welcoming,' Shaw said. 'I think they recognize the value that Altus brings to the city. And so, it is a true relationship that one could not survive without the other.' Both city and base, dedicated to the same mission for over 80 years. Keeping America's Air Force mobile and strong. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Jim Irsay, Indianapolis Colts owner and force behind Tokitae's return to PNW, dies at 65
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who had led the team since 1997 and presided over one of the storied franchise's greatest eras, died at the age of 65. Locally, Irsay became a huge part of the movement to bring Tokitae back to Puget Sound waters. Tokitae, an endangered southern resident orca, was taken from Penn Cove on Aug. 8, 1970 in a mass capture of orcas. She was just four years old. She was taken to the Miami Seaquarium, where she remained until her death in August 2023-- 53 years. Tokitae was forced to perform for a public audience and lived in a 20-foot deep tank. She was given the name 'Lolita' at the Seaquarium. Tokitae was the only surviving whale of the seven captured on Aug. 8, 1970 until her death. She also outlived other whales captured after her who were sold to theme parks. Following a documentary about her in 2003, which pre-dated the famous 'Blackfish' documentary, word began to spread about her health and living conditions. When an agreement with the Seaquarium was reached in 2023 to bring Tokitae back to Puget Sound to live out her last few years, one of the biggest issues raised was the logistics of getting a 7,000 pound whale from Florida to Washington. That's where Irsay came in. The cost to move her was estimated to be up to $20 million and would need approval from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. That doesn't include the cost it would be to create a safe home for her with barricades and provide constant care, food and veterinary exams On the Pat McAfee show on ESPN, Irsay committed to bankroll her transport and ongoing care. Before her death, she was trained to get into a sling that would have eventually been used to get her into a C-17 military transport plane. 'I'm into this thing with my hands on as a producer, and it was going nowhere,' Irsay said on the Patt McAfee Show. 'I'm putting up tens and tens of millions of dollars. I said, 'Let's go. She's healthy, I got the money. Let's move and get all these permits.' 'We're going to get a big C 17 or 747. We have her tanks. She's been practicing getting in her netting so she can get put in the tank,' Irsay said. 'It's four feet of natural water with whale whispers and vets with her. All the vets are moving out there, all the trainers, I'm getting housing for them. This is being planned to the detail with aggressive nature of saying, let's try to get this done.' Unfortunately, Tokitae died before these plans could be put in place. On top of efforts to free Tokitae, Irsay is remembered for his other philanthropic acts. He started an organization aimed at tackling advocacy and resources for those experiencing a mental health crisis in Indiana, and has advocated for music programs and animal welfare. In 1997, he was the youngest NFL franchise owner with the Colts. Under Irsay's watch, the Colts advanced to two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLI after the 2006 season. Irsay died at the age of 65 on May 20. His cause of death is unknown but Colts chief operating officer Pete Ward said he 'died peacefully in his sleep.' Irsay is survived by his daughters Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson; his ex-wife and his daughters' mother, Meg Coyle; and 10 grandchildren. Irsay is survived by his daughters Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson; his ex-wife and his daughters' mother, Meg Coyle; and 10 grandchildren, according to ESPN.
