US carrier strike group headed towards Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions

[Ethan]

US Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 is headed towards the Western Pacific Ocean near the Korean Peninsula amid escalating tensions in the region.

"US Navy (USN) Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Command, has directed the Carl Vinson Strike Group to sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific Ocean after departing Singapore 8 April," the USN announced in a statement on 8 April.

The CSG, which includes Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson , Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), as well as Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), will operate in the Western Pacific rather than executing previously planned port visits to Australia.

The CSG will remain under the operational control of US 3rd Fleet as part of the Third Fleet Forward initiative, the statement added.

The Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) officials as confirming media reports stating that the CSG was headed to waters near the Korean Peninsula amid increasing military provocations by the regime in Pyongyang.

Speaking on the ABC News political affairs TV programme 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos', US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on 9 April that what concerns Washington the most are North Korea's advancements in delivery systems, especially those regarding Pyongyang's rocket programme and the type of fuel being used for it. The same is true for the communist regime's efforts towards testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), he said.

"These are the kinds of progress that give us the greatest concern, so we've been quite clear with the regime in Pyongyang that that's what we want them to cease.

"So what we would hope is that with no further testing, obviously their programme doesn't progress. And that's what we've asked for is for them to cease all this testing before we can begin to think about having further talks with them," said Tillerson.
http://www.janes.com/article/69436/...towards-korean-peninsula-amid-rising-tensions

 

[Ethan]

Carrier Vinson and strike group ordered back to Korean waters

WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and her strike group have been ordered to cancel planned visits to Australia and head back to Korean waters, the U.S. Navy announced Saturday night. The carrier was already operating in the western Pacific and had just visited Singapore.

“U.S. Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson Strike Group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific,” Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the command, said in a statement.

“Third Fleet ships operate forward with a purpose: to safeguard U.S. interests in the Western Pacific,” Benham continued. “The number one threat in the region continues to be North Korea, due to its reckless, irresponsible, and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.”

North Korea has an aggressive campaign to develop ballistic missiles with a stated aim of attacking the United States. The most recent launch, on April 5, featured what U.S. defense officials called an extended range Scud missile, a medium-range weapon. The missile apparently suffered an in-flight failure and crashed in the Sea of Japan after travelling about 40 miles.

In another test on March 6, North Korea simultaneously launched four ballistic missiles which flew about 620 miles before falling into the sea. Apparently as a result, the United States accelerated the planned deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, to South Korea.

The Vinson strike group is under the operational control of the Navy’s San Diego-based Third Fleet, a departure from the standard command structure of having the Japan-based US Seventh Fleet control U.S. ships in the western Pacific. The move, dubbed the Third Fleet Forward Initiative, is intended to increase complexity by giving potential opponents more commanders to outguess. The Third Fleet is commanded by Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, reporting to the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. Pacific Fleet in turn reports to Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, who ordered the Vinson group north.

While Third Fleet has controlled surface action groups on Western Pacific deployments, this is the first time since World War II the command has controlled a carrier strike group west of the International Date Line, a spokesman said. The fleet in World War II was led by legendary Adm. William Halsey

The Vinson left for deployment on Jan. 5 and, like the last few Pacific fleet carrier cruises, is expected to spend its time patrolling the western Pacific rather than move on to the Middle East under U.S. Central Command control. The Vinson and her strike group operated in the South China Sea in February, exercised with Japanese warships in early March, and most recently took part in Exercise Foal Eagle with South Korean forces, during which the carrier spent five days pier side in the Korean port of Busan.

The Vinson, cruiser Lake Champlain and destroyer Wayne E. Meyer were visiting Singapore’s Changi naval base and left April 8 as scheduled. The destroyer Michael Murphy was operating in Malaysian waters and will rejoin the strike group, a Navy spokesman said. Vinson is carrying the aircraft of Carrier Air Wing Two.
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/carrier-vinson-and-strike-group-ordered-back-to-korean-waters

 

[Ethan]

Xi stresses China's North Korea concerns in talk with Trump

BEIJING — Beijing is willing to work with Washington on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program but wants a peaceful solution to the escalating conflict, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Donald Trump in a phone call Wednesday.

Xi's comments came after Trump tweeted that China should do more on an issue that Washington sees as an increasingly urgent threat, or else the U.S. would go it alone.

China's calls for calm come as tensions have risen with the dispatch of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the area and the deployment of thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry for their biggest-ever joint military exercises.

During their phone call, Xi told Trump that China is willing to continue working with the U.S. on denuclearization, according to a brief description of the call released by the Chinese foreign ministry.

"China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula, insists on maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula, and advocates resolving the problem through peaceful means," Xi was quoted as saying.

The two leaders spoke Tuesday night Washington time after Trump said an "armada" of vessels including the USS Carl Vinson carrier was steaming to waters off the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

Trump tweeted Wednesday: "Had a very good call last night with the President of China concerning the menace of North Korea."

Follow
Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump
Had a very good call last night with the President of China concerning the menace of North Korea.

3:22 PM - 12 Apr 2017

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that it was a "good thing" that the two leaders were in touch again days after meeting in Florida.

Regarding the U.S. Navy strike force's arrival in the western Pacific, Lu said: "We hope all parties will refrain from irresponsible actions that would be very dangerous at the moment."

North Korean state media has warned of a nuclear attack on the United States in retaliation for any signs of aggression, a threat that has been made numerous times before.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump suggested the U.S. could "solve" the North Korea issue unilaterally.

"North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.," Trump tweeted.

Follow
Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump
North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.

3:03 PM - 11 Apr 2017

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In another tweet, he sought to persuade Xi to put pressure on North Korea in exchange for a good trade deal with the U.S. He wrote: "I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!"

Trump and other U.S. officials have repeatedly called on China to leverage its status as North Korea's biggest economic partner and source of food and fuel aid to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

China says it is in full compliance with sanctions enacted under U.N. Security Council resolutions. In February, China suspended imports of coal from North Korea — a key source of foreign currency for Kim Jong Un's hard-line Communist regime.

The U.S. and other foreign governments have long overestimated China's ability to affect Pyongyang's behavior, said Ruan Zongze, a U.S. relations expert at the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank run by the foreign ministry.

"There's a view that China possesses the key to solving the peninsula problem, or that China has the faucet and that all China has to do is shut it off and the peninsula issue is solved," Ruan said.

"In fact, I think the outside exaggerates the sort of role China can play. China isn't really as influential as all that," he said.

Beijing's insistence on a peaceful approach to resolving the issue is rooted in its belief that any attempt to denuclearize the North by force would bring cataclysmic results upon all sides, including China, Ruan said.

"When it comes to the issue of the Korean Peninsula, violence is not an option," he said.

Beijing says it will not countenance measures that could bring about a collapse of the regime that could release a flood of refugees across its border, destabilize northeast Asia and result in a U.S.-friendly government taking power in Pyongyang.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/xi-stresses-chinas-north-korea-concerns-in-talk-with-trump

 

[Ethan]

North Korea calls US aircraft carrier dispatch 'outrageous'

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the U.S. decision to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

The statement from Pyongyang comes as tensions on the divided peninsula are high because of U.S.-South Korea wargames now underway and recent ballistic missile launches by the North. Pyongyang sees the annual maneuvers as a dress rehearsal for invasion, while the North's missile launches violate U.N. resolutions.

"We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions," a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency late Monday.

The statement comes just after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said U.S. missile strikes against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapon attack carry a message for any nation operating outside of international norms.

He didn't specify North Korea, but the context was clear enough.

"If you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken," Tillerson told ABC's "This Week."

U.S. troops patrol during the U.S.-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea, Tuesday, April 11, 2017. North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the U.S. move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.
Photo Credit: Ahn Young-joon/AP

The North has long claimed the U.S. is preparing some kind of assault against it and justifies its nuclear weapons as defensive in nature.

"This goes to prove that the U.S. reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario," the North's statement said. "If the U.S. dares opt for a military action, crying out for 'preemptive attack' and 'removal of the headquarters,' the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S."

North Korea's formal name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang resident Kim Sung Chol told Associated Press Television, "We love peace, but we are never going to beg for it. If anyone tries to provoke us, we will defend ourselves in the strongest way with our own power, and we will keep on doing things our way."

U.S. Navy ships are a common presence in the Korean region and are in part a show of force. On Saturday night, the Pentagon said a Navy carrier strike group was moving toward the western Pacific Ocean to provide more of a physical presence in the region.

President Donald Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, described the decision to send the carrier group as "prudent.
"http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/north-korea-calls-us-aircraft-carrier-dispatch-outrageous

 

[Ethan]

North Korea may have tested new technology in latest missile

SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean missile test ended in failure Wednesday when the rocket spun out of control and plunged into the ocean in a fiery crash, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The launch came shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump's first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week, raising speculation that it might have been timed to get their attention.

The extended-range Scud missile suffered an in-flight failure and fell into the sea off North Korea's east coast, according to U.S. imagery and assessments, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the launch publicly.

Initial U.S. and South Korean assessments had indicated it was an advanced KN-15 medium-range missile, whose first known test by North Korea was in February. But unlike the KN-15, which uses solid fuel, the missile fired Wednesday used liquid fuel and was fired from a fixed location, rather than a mobile launcher, the official said.

The South Korean military said the missile was fired from land near the east coast city of Sinpo and flew only about 60 kilometers (40 miles).

This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 1, 2017 shows the Korean People's Army Tank Crews' Competition-2017 at an undisclosed location.
Photo Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images

North Korea is pushing hard to upgrade its weapons systems to cope with what it calls U.S. hostility. Many weapons experts say the North could have a functioning nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. within a few years. North Korea carried out two nuclear tests last year.

Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank in Honolulu, said he was expecting North Korea would do something to coincide with the Trump-Xi summit, perhaps conduct a nuclear test. The missile launch may be a precursor, with more to come as the summit starts Thursday, he said.

"I've joked before that they don't mind being hated but they definitely hate to be ignored," Cossa said.

Recent satellite imagery shows possible preparations for a test at North Korea's main nuclear test site, including the laying of communication cables used to initiate a test and collect data.


North Korea's state media have said the world will soon witness what they called "eventful successes" in the country's space development. The United States, South Korea and others call North Korea's space program a cover for its long-range missile development program.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry called the North's latest missile launch a "reckless provocation" that posed a threat to international peace, while Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said his country lodged a strong protest over the launch.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged the launch in a brief statement but said the U.S. had spoken enough about North Korea and would not comment further.

South Korean marines participate in landing operation referred to as Foal Eagle joint military exercise with US troops Pohang seashore on April 2, 2017 in Pohang, South Korea. South Korea military troops held for joint annual military exercise with the U.S. drawing criticism from North Korea, arguing that these training exercises will worsen the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Photo Credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Trump has said China must do more to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday that all sides needed to be involved.

"If we are serious about solving this issue, we need to tackle the root of it," she said at a regular news briefing. "We need to balance the interest of each side. China wants to make efforts with all sides involved, to make denuclearization a reality, and ensure peace in the region."

Analysts say North Korea might also time nuclear and long-range rocket tests to the April 15 birthday of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.
The North's latest missile launch also came during annual military drills between the United States and South Korea. North Korea sees the drills as an invasion rehearsal.

Two weeks ago, the South Korean and U.S. militaries said they had detected a failed North Korean ballistic missile launch. Earlier in March, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles that flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), with three of them landing in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone. The KN-15 missile tested in February flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles).http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/north-korea-may-have-tested-new-technology-in-latest-missile

 

[Ethan]

Breaking News - China Deployed 150,000 Troops Along Yalu River

 

[Ethan]

Eisenhower Strike Group Begins Sustainment Exercise, Ready To Deploy On Short Notice

 

[Ethan]

U.S. - South Korea Combined Logistic Capabilities Exercise

 

[Ethan]

LIVE BREAKING NEWS! NORTH KOREA , UNITED STATES , MIDDLE EAST , EUROPE & RUSSIA

 

[foos97]

The members talk about it here

http://defense-arab.com/vb/threads/114518/

It is interesting
There's more 900 look at it

 

[GSN]

The war is coming
​

 

[Ethan]

The members talk about it here

http://defense-arab.com/vb/threads/114518/

It is interesting
There's more 900 look at it

I wanted to share them, but I do not know you Arabic, anyway, the last news will be there :]

 

[Ethan]

The war is coming
​

Yep,We will enjoy the show, I can not wait until I see the video that documents that stupid fool.:استريح:

 

[GSN]

Yep,We will enjoy the show, I can not wait until I see the video that documents that stupid fool.:استريح:

fun days

 

[MIA3]

Yep,We will enjoy the show, I can not wait until I see the video that documents that stupid fool.:استريح:

:يو: me too .. lol​

 

[foos97]

Hi
Why do not translate your article by google and share it

We do that too many (all members)
your news is good
many news and military specifications about a machine we take it from European or American sources

and sorry my English is very well i use google to translate

 

[Ethan]

Hi
Why do not translate your article by google and share it

We do that too many (all members)
your news is good
many news and military specifications about a machine we take it from European or American sources

and sorry my English is bad I use google to translate

I don't think that the translation across Google, good enough, I don't speak Arabic, try to translate the article at the top, because I don't know how it will look after the translation, I don't think it brings you the full meaning.

 

[foos97]

I agree with you google translate isn't very good but we use it , and we fix the article's mistakes in our minds
؛ث:

Sorry again I mean: correction (my English isn't very well)

 

[lacom]

I don't think that the translation across Google, good enough, I don't speak Arabic, try to translate the article at the top, because I don't know how it will look after the translation, I don't think it brings you the full meaning.

?Where are you from, Ethan? and are you from an Arabic descent

 

[Ethan]

?Where are you from, Ethan? and are you from an Arabic descent

I am from the UK, I am of European origin purely. :]