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US Navy Destroyer Shows Off New Launcher For Mystery Weapons

The U.S. Navy has quietly equipped one of its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with a previously unseen launcher, reflecting a broader effort to counter the growing threat posed by drones in contested maritime environments, according to TWZ.

USS Carl M. Launcher mounted on Levin (DDG 120) (U.S. Navy, VIRIN: 260329-M-FP389-1205)

A U.S. Marine Corps photograph released April 8, taken March 29 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, shows the USS Carl M. Levin fitted with the system on its aft upper deck. The multi-cell launcher, positioned between the port-side torpedo tubes and the aft Mk 41 Vertical Launch System, was not visible in imagery of the ship as recently as December 2025, TWZ reported.

A Japanese-language defense blog first noted the addition on social media, prompting speculation that it may be designed for counter-unmanned aerial systems missions.

USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) got a new Hellfire/JAGM launcher improving C-UAS capability.

はてなブログに投稿しました
米海軍DDGへのC-UAS用Hellfire/JAGM発射機搭載 - OSINFO https://t.co/R8hyf4B6L6#はてなブログ

— おるか (@hone_hone_bone_) April 8, 2026

Similar launcher configurations appeared last year aboard the USS Bainbridge and USS Winston S. Churchill for Raytheon’s Coyote counter-drone interceptors, which have been used to engage low-cost aerial threats in the Red Sea and other regions, according to TWZ.

It remains unclear whether the system installed on the Levin is intended to deploy interceptors, loitering munitions, decoys or a combination of capabilities. Navy officials did not respond to requests for comment from TWZ.

The upgrade comes as President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to impose a naval blockade on Iranian ports beginning April 13. The operation, launched after the collapse of weekend talks in Islamabad, is aimed at interdicting maritime traffic to and from Iran, including along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, in an effort to increase economic pressure on Tehran. The blockade, applied across vessels of all nations, has contributed to volatility in global oil markets, with prices rising above $100 a barrel.

In the first 24 hours of the blockade, under direction from U.S. Central Command, no vessels succeeded in breaching the cordon, according to the Pentagon. Six merchant ships complied with instructions from U.S. forces and turned back to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman. More than 10,000 U.S. sailors, Marines and airmen, supported by more than a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft, are involved in the operation.

More than 10,000 U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen along with over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports. During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 merchant vessels… pic.twitter.com/dpWAAknzQp

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 14, 2026

Trump has warned Iranian military ships against interfering with the blockade.

“Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated – 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, ‘fast attack ships,’ because we did not consider them much of a threat,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/16/2026 - 23:00

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India's Central Bank Tells Oil Refiners To Stop Buying Dollars On Spot Market

By Julianne Geiger of OilPrice.com

India’s central bank has told state-run oil refiners to stop buying dollars in the spot market and instead use a government-backed credit line.

That matters because oil is priced in dollars, and refiners are some of the biggest buyers of dollars in the country. When they all go into the market at once to pay for crude, it puts direct pressure on the rupee. That pressure has been building for weeks.

The Reserve Bank of India is now stepping in to manage the demand.

State refiners, including Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, have been asked to draw dollars through a special credit facility routed via State Bank of India. Together, these companies account for about half of India’s 5.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity.

Instead of going into the open market to buy dollars on the spot—meaning immediate purchase at current exchange rates—they can either access this credit line or buy dollars at a reference rate set by the central bank—potentially adding costs to India’s oil refiners.

The goal is simple: reduce visible demand for dollars in the market.

India’s currency has been under pressure. The rupee has fallen more than 3% this year and hit a record low past 95 per dollar in March, driven by higher oil prices and foreign capital outflows. Oil imports are a major factor. India imports the bulk of its crude, and every cargo requires dollar payments.

By centralizing those flows through SBI and shifting demand off the spot market, the RBI is trying to smooth out volatility and limit sharp moves in the currency.

The measures have been in place for about two weeks. Traders say activity from oil companies in the spot market has already slowed.

The move follows additional direction from India’s government in February, which asked refiners to consider buying more crude oil cargoes from the US and Venezuela, steering clear of Russian crude.

The central bank has also sold dollars from its reserves and tightened rules around certain currency trades. The rupee has since recovered about 2%, last trading near 93.20 per dollar.

For now, the strategy is focused on managing dollar demand at the source: oil imports

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/16/2026 - 22:35

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Last US Convoy Exits Syria After Brutal 14-Year Regime Change Proxy War

Widespread reports on Thursday say the very last US military convoy has finally departed Syrian territory, with the years-long occupation of the primarily northeast oil and gas rich sector over in a 'mission accomplished' fashion.

It brings to a final close the 14-year long bloody proxy war which overthrew the Assad government and ultimately installed a pro-US/Saudi axis puppet, in the person of founding Syrian Al Qaeda Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, now known as President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

via Le Monde

Hundreds of thousand of people lost their lives in the regime change war, with the country and its economy left in a sanction-starved and conflict-demolished state of ruins.

The US-backed Syrian Foreign Ministry declared Washington had decided to "complete its military mission" in the country. "The Syrian state is today fully capable of leading counter-terrorism efforts from within, in co-operation with the international community," it said, happy to now be back in control of the domestic oil and gas supply.

The ministry "welcomes the completed handover of military sites where United States forces were previously present in Syria to the Syrian government," adding that "the handover of these sites was carried out ... in full coordination between the Syrian and American governments."

While Pentagon propaganda had for years touted an 'anti-ISIS' mission, the real purpose of the troop presence was to cut off Damascus under Assad of its sovereign natural resources, and to arm and prop up a Kurdish-Arab coalition called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 

All the while, the CIA supported Sunni hardline jihadists who were indistinguishable from ISIS in their ideology in the fight against the Syrian Army, and the civilian population which often largely supported the secular Ba'ath government. The broader strategy has long been to destroy the Tehran-Baghdad-Hezbollah 'Shia axis' - even if that meant using ISIS as a tool of regime change.

Ironically, in the process of this US handover of oil and gas facilities back to post-Assad Damascus, the Kurds were thrown under the bus. Their dream for an autonomous enclave (Rojava) once again proved illusory, and in the long term the Kurds will find themselves at the mercy of Sunni fanatics on the one hand, and Turkish state under Erdogan on the other.

The United States did not withdraw from Syria. The United States privatized Syria. The man President Trump installed as the sovereign face of the Hormuz bypass architecture was on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list with a ten million dollar American bounty on his head… pic.twitter.com/mhmX7g2x6p

— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) April 16, 2026

Following the US withdrawal, Jolani regime troops moved into Qasrak Base in Hasakah Governorate in north-eastern Syria on Thursday. Earlier, in February, the US exited the Shaddadi in eastern Syria and Al-Tanf on the Syria–Jordan–Iraq border.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the completion of the process for "turning over all of our major bases in Syria." But it also said US forces "continue to support partner-led counter-terrorism efforts."

* * *

Repositioning troops related to ongoing anti-Iran operations...

It seems that the US has ended its ground presence in Syria, which lasted for 12 years.

The last convoy has just rolled out of the Qasrak base in northeastern Syria and is now moving toward Jordan.

We all know what that means. pic.twitter.com/kUlk0r5zsf

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) April 16, 2026 Tyler Durden Thu, 04/16/2026 - 22:10

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