Pentagon Chief Trolls Iran On Effectiveness Of Weapons After Israel Attack US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday weighed in on the April 13 Iranian attack on Israel, which was the Islamic Republic’s first-ever direct attack on the Jewish state. It included some 300 drones and missiles launched at Israel – the vast majority of which were intercepted by Israeli anti-air defenses, but also with US and Western help, and the deployment of warplanes which shot inbound drones out of the sky. Austin in a press briefing appeared to mock the Iranian attack as weak and ineffective. This comes following Tehran officials deriding Israel’s apparent ‘limited’ retaliation which came on April 19. “They should be questioning the effectiveness of their weapons systems and their planning,” Austin told reporters in reference to the Iranians and their military. Via AP “Hopefully they don’t walk away from this over-confident that they can do this at will, because I think Israel has demonstrated that it has a significant ability to defend itself,” Austin added. While it’s clear that some of Iran’s ballistic missiles did hit a couple of Israeli airbases in the central and south of the country, many more were intercepted or fell harmlessly in the desert. A fresh report in Jerusalem Post notes that people are still randomly finding nearly intact missiles in the Negev desert: …the missiles launched towards Nevatim and other targets in the Negev fell in the South but far from the targets they were aimed at. When they are lying in the Negev devoid of the warheads, they are just metal scraps, which the IDF slowly collects for research and analysis of the enemy’s capabilities. Travelers who were walking in the Arad area of the Judean desert, enjoying the starry night, were surprised to find themselves standing next

UK Navy Reports Two Vessels Attacked In Red Sea, One Damaged  Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels may have launched attacks on two vessels transiting southwest of Mukha, a port city on the highly contested southern Red Sea.  Bloomberg says the UK Navy has confirmed two attacks on vessels in a series of headlines hitting the Terminal around 1400 ET.  UK NAVY: REPORTS 2 ATTACKS ON VESSEL SW OF AL MUKHA, YEMEN There are also reports that one of the vessels is “damaged.”  UK NAVY SAYS ATTACKS RESULTED IN DAMAGE TO VESSEL The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations confirmed an incident 14 nautical miles from Mukha earlier.  The Houthis, who support the Palestinian terror group Hamas, have been launching drone and missile attacks on Western vessels since November, disrupting a critical maritime chokepoint known as “Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.”  About a week ago, 16 maritime industry associations and social partners co-signed an open letter to the United Nations urging increased military patrols on heavily traveled shipping routes. This comes after commandos seized a container ship affiliated with Israel as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz two weeks ago.  We have diligently published notes highlighting how maritime chokepoints across the Middle East are under threat, including the Suez Canal, Bab-El Mandeb Strait, and Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of all global trade flows.  The Red Sea disruption is far from over. The United States and its allies in the West are losing the battle in defending the world’s major shipping lanes, as Biden’s Operation Prosperity Guardian has been an absolute failure.  All of this symbolizes the world fracturing into a multipolar state, one full of chaos. And it will only get worse from here, hence why military spending worldwide is in a massive bull market.  Tyler Durden Fri, 04/26/2024 – 18:00