U.S. Central Command Reveals Drone-Boat Presence Inside Iranian Waters

Published Sep 7, 2026 11:13 PM by The Maritime Executive

Whether deliberate or an accidental security breach – likely the former – US Central Command has revealed that it has an active physical presence well inside Iranian territorial waters.

In response to an attempted and thwarted Iranian attack on an unnamed US aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Oman employing a ballistic missile, CENTCOM carried out a series of retaliatory attacks on Iranian targets in return. Two tankers were hit in the Gulf of Oman: the Comoros-flagged tanker Kylo (IMO 9189146) in ballast, which sank, and the Iranian-flagged tanker Stark-1 (IMO 9171450) disabled off Jask, having loaded oil at Kooh Mobarak Single Point Mooring (SPM) to the west of Jask a few days earlier. The 275m Stark-1 had been hanging on the Kooh Mobarak SPM for most of August. Within the Gulf, the Iranian-flagged tanker Downy (IMO 9218480) in ballast was disabled off Kharg Island.

The Iranians are unlikely to want to use the Kooh Mobarak SPM again until the conflict is over. There may previously have been a temptation to load tankers there in an attempt to then sail along the Iranian coast, and thence into Pakistani waters and import terminals.

The video footage of the Kylo on fire and sinking originally showed close-in video footage of the tanker taken from sea-level, indicating the presence in the water of a US naval sea drone within meters of the hull. Social media footage has shown that the Kylo was close in to the coast and Iranian territorial waters.

The Fifth Fleet unmanned sea drone capability, developed extensively by Task Force 59 since it was established to conduct unmanned surveillance operations in September 2021, is clearly a powerful tool, and also likely to be a deterrent even to the small craft of the IRGC Navy taking to the water. It is a capability which is likely behind the US Navy’s ability both to clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz and also to prevent Iranian craft from laying any more – and hence the resort to laying mines through the expensive and inefficient use of Fajr-5 rockets instead.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-central-command-reveals-drone-boat-presence-inside-iranian-waters

U.S. Navy Tests Out a System to Refuel USVs at Sea

Published Sep 7, 2026 12:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. Navy is beginning to move in earnest towards deployment of unmanned vessels for "dull, dirty and dangerous" missions on the high seas, from persistent ISR and ASW to high-risk strike roles. The advantages are obvious: unmanned vessels are far less expensive to build and operate, they would fill a hole in the Navy's small combatant fleet, and they can be expended without sustaining casualties. There are substantial technical challenges, though. There is no one on board to conduct maintenance, nor to hook up the cables and fuel lines for underway replenishment. One Navy command is trying to solve the latter issue with a towable "robotic refueling" system, which catches the USV in a dock-like structure and accepts a fuel probe to transfer over a supply of diesel.

The push for this system isn't being driven by surface combatant units, which get most of the attention, but by the Naval Air Warfare Center's Weapons Division, which has nothing to do with day-to-day front line combat - or even warships. The division's Blue Water Instrumentation lab wants to use USVs to collect sensor data during long-range weapons testing over open ocean, putting more sensors on station for longer without increasing the number of manned ships it uses. The big limitation for these small-craft USVs is range.

"[Weapons test] flight profiles can extend thousands of miles beyond fixed-range boundaries and require data-collection assets to be distributed across a vast area,” said Spencer Holloway, director of BWI’s Future Capabilities Office. “But the underlying challenge applies more broadly— every time an unmanned vessel must return to port for fuel, we lose persistence, reduce coverage and redundancy, and interrupt the mission.”

To reduce the need for port calls, BWI brought in Sealartec, maker of a towable docking system for USVs. The training support vessel USNS Vindicator towed Sealartec's device during a trial off Virginia and conducted fuel transfers totaling about 400 gallons. In all, the team conducted about 100 docking cycles to try out the system, with generally favorable results.

BWI and Sealartec took the idea for a trial into practice within seven months - a rapid turnaround for the Navy. Fleet Forces Command has picked up on the idea for general application out in the fleet.

“This will allow us to have greater reliance on unmanned vessels instead of manned and we can push the USV into higher threat areas without risking manned vessels and personnel,” Ronald Raymer, branch head for capability, innovation, science and technology integration at U.S. Fleet Forces Command. “It will also allow us to distribute greater capability into an area without having to invest in large expensive manned vessels and the refueling supports that.”

MARTAC, maker of the T38 unmanned surface vessel, supported the trials and said that the lessons-learned would inform future developments. Ultimately, BWI wants to develop a fully autonomous refueling cycle with the vessel driving itself into the dock and all subsequent procedures following automatically. Command-and-control latency during precise maneuvering was one issue identified during testing, Spencer Holloway, director of BWI’s Future Capabilities Office, said in a statement.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-navy-tests-out-a-system-to-refuel-usvs-at-sea

>>25018393

CNN meltdown after AfD Party in Germany’s historic victory

News24 September 8, 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYmunxC5G7s

Sapporo to move some beer production from Canada to US after tariffs

Francisco Velasquez Business reporter, New York September 8, 2026

Japanese brewer Sapporo says it will move some beer production from Canada to the US after new tariffs on Canadian beer took effect on Tuesday.

The move follows the introduction of a 50% tariff on beer imported from Canada. For companies shipping beer across the border, that means significantly higher costs.

Chief strategy officer Rieko Shofu described tariffs as "something out of our control," telling Bloomberg that the beer giant would "move ahead with local production."

Sapporo did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment. The company plans to shift production of its non-alcoholic beer, currently made in Canada for US customers, to the US by the first half of 2027.

The US is one of Sapporo's most important overseas markets, and any shift south of the border will directly affect operations at its Canadian subsidiary, Sleeman Breweries.

To mitigate rising costs, the Japanese brewer is considering adding production capacity on the US West Coast. Options include building or buying a brewery, or partnering with a third-party manufacturer.

Sapporo has been building its presence in the US for years and says its flagship Sapporo brand is the country's best-selling Asian beer brand.

The company is also investing heavily outside Japan where a shrinking population has weighed on alcohol sales.

Sapporo plans to invest up to ¥400bn ($2.6bn) by 2030 as it seeks to expand overseas and boost profits. Around 30% of the capital is earmarked for overseas markets.

The brewer is also looking beyond North America. In July, it announced a partnership with Danish brewer Carlsberg to expand in Southeast Asia.

Sapporo's decision to move production comes as companies adapt to a growing number of tariffs worldwide.

In July, the US announced new tariffs on dozens of trading partners, including Canada, raising costs for businesses that rely on cross-border supply chains.

The move highlights how some companies are reconsidering where they make goods as trade barriers increase the cost of serving customers from overseas.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c87ve09pgqzo

Dear Washington State, do not screw this up

New Shipbuilding Company Launches at the Former Kaiser Yard in Vancouver

Published Sep 8, 2026 5:04 AM by The Maritime Executive

It's not every day that the U.S. shipbuilding industry gains a new entrant, especially one that builds civilian hulls, so the launch of a new facility in Vancouver, Washington this month is catching attention.

New Pacific Industrial (NP) is a new venture helmed by experienced shipyard executives, and it is making its formal debut with a two-vessel contract for American Marine Corporation - the first time in AMC's 50-year history that it has ordered a newbuild tug.

NP leverages the WWII-era infrastructure of Kaiser Shipbuilding's Vancouver Shipyard, now known as the Columbia Business Center on Vancouver's Columbia Way. The historic Kaiser yard's 80-year-old assembly bays are leased out to a variety of steel fabricators and suppliers, and NP now occupies about 180,000 square feet at the site. In addition to the high-bay fab spaces, the site has laydown areas, heavy lift cranes, and barge and rail access; NP describes it as "scalable infrastructure."

Glosten provided the design for the yard's first vessel, a 122-foot, 6,000-HP, 85-TBP line haul tugboat built for AMC's ocean towing business. "It had to be a true ocean roamer—a capable, practical tug that’s comfortable to live and work on, and built to tow hard for decades," said Glosten business development principal Peter Soles.

“New Pacific was founded around a straightforward idea: complex projects need experienced people, capable infrastructure, and an operating model that works for the customer,” said Joe Corvelli, CEO of New Pacific and an alumnus of Gunderson, Vigor and Gibdock. “Starting with a newbuild program alongside American Marine and Glosten puts that model into practice from day one.”

https://maritime-executive.com/article/new-shipbuilding-company-launches-at-the-former-kaiser-yard-in-vancouver

>>25018484

Germany announced that it would transfer Patriot missiles from the Bundeswehr's stockpiles to Ukraine

UA NEWS 08 September 2026

Germany will transfer PAC-2 interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine directly from its own military stockpiles. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced this decision before the start of a meeting of the Ramstein-format Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense.

The head of the German Defense Ministry also called on other allies to review their own stockpiles and make similar deliveries of interceptor missiles.

According to Pistorius, air defense remains Ukraine’s most urgent need, as Russia is attempting to destroy the country’s economic base and critical infrastructure through airstrikes. He noted that as temperatures drop, Russian airstrikes are expected to increase in frequency, so decisions to support Ukraine are critically important for strengthening its resilience. The minister emphasized that, from NATO’s perspective, further substantial deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles by allies are entirely acceptable.

This was reported by the publication “European Truth.”

The United Kingdom is allocating 100 million pounds sterling for a winter aid package to support Ukraine’s air defense. It will include hard-to-find interceptor missiles for Patriot systems, which are intended to help protect the lives of Ukrainians during the winter.

Ukraine is continuing negotiations with the United States regarding licenses to manufacture missiles and components for the Patriot air defense systems. U.S. President Donald Trump has already responded positively to Ukraine’s proposal, but a final decision on the licenses has not yet been made.

https://ua.news/en/world/nimechchina-ogolosila-pro-peredachu-ukrayini-raket-patriot-z-arsenaliv-bundesveru

Related:

Germany to send Patriot PAC-2 interceptors to Ukraine from its own stocks

Clement Charpentreau

EU approves funding exemption for Patriot purchases

Also on September 8, 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said member states had agreed an exemption allowing Ukraine to buy critical products for Patriot systems under the Ukraine Support Loan, whose rules otherwise cap non-European content. She said a tranche of €3.2 billion ($3.7 billion) would follow the €8.4 billion ($9.7 billion) already disbursed under the facility.

Production is the wider constraint. The Pentagon signed framework agreements on August 31, 2026, intended to triple PAC-3 MSE output capacity, an expansion that will take years to reach the line.

More:

https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/germany-pac-2-interceptors-ukraine-bundeswehr-stocks

>>25018624

>>25018655