At least 10 people have died and 10,000 properties have been damaged in the fires, and officials expect figures to grow as firefighters and first responders struggle to contain the flames.

The Santa Ana winds annually threaten to stoke the flames during California's wildfire season, but extreme drought combined with the powerful offshore winds catalyzed the record-breaking wildfires that continue to burn through Southern California.

Since California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County, tens of thousands of residents have been impacted by evacuation orders.

More than 600 personnel, 10 rotary-wing aircraft, and two C-130 Hercules aircraft from the California National Guard were deployed to battle the blaze.

The Biden administration ordered the Pentagon to send eight MAFFS-equipped C-130s from Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado to support firefighting efforts in Los Angeles. Some were expected to start fire-suppression flights on Friday.

Hazardous weather conditions prevented the DoD from getting the planes in the air earlier and from sending additional assets to respond to the massive fires.

"We can surge assets, and the president has directed this department to bolster whatever California needs, but we have to work with California," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during a press conference Wednesday, "and right now, we can't even get assets up in the air because the fires are so bad and the winds are so bad."

"Until we can get more assets in the air, there's only so much we can provide," she continued. "So we're going to be standing by to support in every single way that we can."

In the meantime, the Defense Department is also sending 10 Navy helicopters with water delivery buckets for immediate aerial suppression, in addition to two firefighting teams and four military police groups on the ground.

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a versatile workhorse plane with a spacious cargo hold that can be equipped for a wide range of operations.

When deployed as a firefighting aircraft, the C-130 can be equipped with a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) unit to support other air tankers in aerial suppression.

The MAFFS units can be filled with water or a fire retardant called "slurry," which is mostly made of water with the addition of ammonium sulfate, a jelling agent, and red coloring to make it visible to pilots when dropped.

The US military has eight MAFFs units ready for use nationwide, operated by National Guardsmen stationed in California, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado.

The MAFFS Program was launched by Congress in the 1970s after a massive wildfire in Long Beach, California, overwhelmed the responding civilian air tanker fleet and destroyed hundreds of homes.

The unit can fit inside the cargo hold with no structural modification to allow for quick loading on short notice, taking about four hours or less for a crew of five to set up, fill, and load the 11,000-pound unit.

The C-130 drops its contents through a discharge tube installed on the rear left side of the C-130 and through the open cargo bay door, releasing 3,000 gallons in less than five seconds and covering an area over 1,300 feet long and 100 feet wide.

Because the fire retardant slurry is released in a mist, it doesn't cause damage to buildings and structures while acting as a fertilizer, but it can be harmful to the environment and local wildlife if used in excess.

The unit can be refilled and airborne again in under 20 minutes.

Produced by the Russian manufacturing company Kurganmashzavod, the BMP-3 — an abbreviation of Boevaya Mashina Pekhoty, or infantry fighting vehicle in Russian — was first used by the Soviet army in 1990.

The armored, tracked, and the amphibious vehicle was designed to transport troops across varied combat terrain and water while protecting troops and providing direct fire support.

The combat vehicle was developed to replace Russia's aging fleet of BMP-1 and BMP-2 vehicles, upgraded with a thicker armour made of steel and aluminium and equipped with more modern weaponry with improved precision.

The 23-foot-long light tank is operated by a crew of three — a commander, gunner, and driver — and can accommodate up to seven additional personnel with space for storage.

Weighing about 20 tons, the aluminum-hulled vehicle is still light enough to be fully amphibious, propelled by two water jets at the rear. With a range of about 372 miles, it can reach speeds of up to 43 mph on land and about six mph while afloat.

The BMP-3 is armed with a 100mm cannon, a 30mm automatic cannon that fires up to 330 rounds a minute, as well as three machine guns. The crew can also fire anti-tank guided missiles through the main gun's barrel.

The fighting vehicle features advanced sights that allow crews to operate at night and in low visibility, as well as a two-plane weapon stabilizer that can precisely aim at targets while traveling at speeds up to 18 mph.

Equipped with the firepower to engage fortified positions and armored vehicles, Ukrainian troops have operated IFVs in both direct and indirect fire support roles as light tanks, closing the capability gap as Ukraine faces a shortage of battle tanks.

Ukrainian forces have suffered heavy losses in their mechanized forces, including combat vehicles like the Bradleys and refurbished Russian BMPs.

Russian BMPs are equipped with heavier armament compared to the American Bradley vehicles, whereas the latter has heavier armor that better protects troops inside from small arms and artillery.

So while more lethal Russian BMPs have been battering Ukraine's mechanized forces, Ukrainian troops have a better chance of survival in Western-made vehicles.

But repairing and redeploying captured Russian vehicles hasn't been an easy task. Ukrainian troops struggled to find parts to fix the seized equipment, which they view as "trophies" of the ongoing war, The Washington Post reported in 2022.

A commander of a Ukrainian maintenance squadron told The Post that it's "obvious it should be fighting the enemy and not sitting in a hangar."

There are several variants of the BMP-3, adapted to its combat environment.

The upgraded BMP-3M features more advanced automatic fire control systems and thermal imaging, as well as a new ammunition loading system that can launch laser-guided projectiles.

The BMP-3F was purpose-built for at-sea operations, designed with improved buoyancy and seaworthiness that allow it to operate on amphibious assault missions for up to seven hours.

The BMP-3K, a tactical command variant, can act as a mobile command center, lacking the machine guns mounted at the front of the hull and instead equipped with additional radio and navigation systems.

As drone warfare redefines the battlefield in Ukraine, IFVs like the BMP-3 are no exception. Earlier this year, Russian state media reported that the BMP-3 could soon carry mini-drones.

"The work to introduce drones into the armament of armored vehicles is one of the tasks for specialists of SKBM [Special Design Bureau of Machine-Building] at present," according to a statement from High Precision Systems, a subsidiary of the state-owned military conglomerate Rostec, to Russian news agency TASS.

Rostec previously announced plans to integrate drone countermeasures on light armored platforms, as well as the addition of first-person view drones to assist in reconnaissance and live surveillance.

The company's press office added that "draft organizational decisions and a schedule of joint work for integrating mini-UAVs into the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle" are still in the works, per the TASS report published in August.

"Drones are planned to be introduced into the design documentation of armored vehicles after the results of type testing," according to the statement.

Construction on the next-generation assault ship began in early 2024, according to the Pentagon's annual congressional report on China's military.

With a displacement of 40,000 tons, satellite images show the Sichuan measures more than 850 feet long and about 170 feet wide, making it considerably larger than its Chinese predecessor, the Type 075, but smaller than the Fujian, the People's Liberation Army's newest and largest aircraft carrier.

The Type 076 is also much larger than Japan's Izumo-class helicopter carriers. While the Sichuan is about as long as the US Navy's America-class LHAs with a similar displacement, it is more than 60 feet wider.

The Chinese warship's larger size and deck space allow it to accommodate both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, with additional storage capacity for more personnel and equipment.

Unlike traditional light aircraft carriers, the Sichuan is equipped with a catapult system and arresting gear for the launch and recovery of fixed-wing aircraft — an operative capability typically reserved for aircraft carriers.

"This is not something that we've seen before," Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow with the China Power Project at CSIS, told BI previously. "No other country has an LHA that has a catapult system on it."

The electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) is likely similar in design to the catapult aboard the US Navy's advanced Ford-class supercarriers.

The only warship in operational service that employs EMALS is the US Navy carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which has been undergoing shake-down trials at sea, also features three EMALS-style catapults, but the Sichuan's catapult trench, which is over 425 feet long, is significantly longer by comparison.

Earlier Chinese carriers had ski-jump-style ramps for launching aircraft without catapults, leaping past steam-power catapult technology to pursue the more advanced electromagnetic launch system.

Operating for a little over a decade, China's relatively young carrier force could still face a"steep learning curve" in employing modern catapult technology, retired Adm. Raymond Spicer, the CEO and publisher at the US Naval Institute, previously told BI. But the installation of the technology aboard the Type 076 could indicate China's confidence in the design.

The Chinese navy has yet to confirm what kind of air wing will operate aboard the Sichuan, but it could have a future role as a massive drone carrier, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The vessel's catapult, wider flight deck, and unobstructed runway make it highly capable of large-scale drone operations as China expands its arsenal of UAVs, like the Hongdu GJ-11 stealth combat drone, Guizhou WZ-7 reconnaissance drone, and the CASC CH-4B Rainbow strike UCAV.

While the exact timeline for the Type 076 still remains unclear, the Pentagon estimated the ship could join China's naval fleet by the second half of the decade.

Operating more than nearly 400 naval platforms, China has the world's largest maritime fighting force but has long been considered a green-water navy, meaning it operates mostly near its shores. Amphibious assault ships and carriers change that equation.

"I think it is as important, if not more important, to emphasize how mind-bogglingly impressive China's ability to build ships is," Funaiole said.

While not much is known about the capabilities or primary mission of China's next-gen amphibious flattops, the CSIS said the Sichuan "represents a substantial step forward" toward the PLAN's blue-water ambitions, projecting power in waters thousands of miles away.

Hailed for its tank-killing capabilities and operational flexibility, France sent Ukraine more than three dozen AMX-10RC armored vehicles to bolster its frontline defenses.

Developed in the late 1970s, the so-called "wheeled tank" was designed for reconnaissance and close-fire support. It was used to scout and identify enemy positions while armed to rapidly fire on hostile threats.

The 30-foot, 18-ton armored vehicle has a range of about 500 miles and travels at speeds of about 37 mph on roads and about 9 mph off-road; it has less off-road maneuverability than tracked vehicles like tanks.

After about a decade of service, France stopped producing the AMX-10RC in favor of more advanced combat vehicles like the ERBC Jaguar, an armored scout vehicle armed with two anti-tank missiles and a 40mm gun.

The AMX-10 has a turret with two 7.62mm machine guns and a 105mm cannon, which is powerful enough to destroy a tank at close range.

Ukrainian forces operate both the AMX-10RC and AMX-10RCR, an improved variant of the armored vehicle featuring upgraded ceramic armor, more advanced optronics systems like thermal sights, and a self-defense system that automatically launches smoke grenades and decoys.

The AMX-10 can carry a crew of four people — a machine commander, a gunner, a loader, and a driver.

It can carry up to 38 shells for its main gun and 4,000 rounds for its machine guns. An AMX-10 crew featured on Ukraine's state-run Army TV said the vehicle's rate of fire can range from five to 12 rounds per minute, depending on the loader's efficiency.

Ukrainian troops initially struggled to integrate the AMX-10RC into their frontline strategy. The vintage armored vehicle's light aluminum armor left it vulnerable in high-intensity conflict zones, especially against Russia's more advanced artillery and defense systems.

Instead, Ukrainian forces took advantage of the wheeled platform's maneuverability and repurposed the armored fighting vehicles as self-propelled artillery that could engage hostile targets from afar.

Army TV, run by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, captured the AMX-10's capabilities in action in a video posted last week.

While filming a segment aboard the AMX-10, the Ukrainian soldiers and the television crew came under attack by a Russian drone. The personnel and TV crew weren't harmed, and the vehicle was not damaged.

In September, thousands of Ukrainian troops — most of whom had only a few weeks of basic training — were sent to eastern and southern France to hone their skills on the battlefield against Russia.

Named "Anne of Kyiv" after the former Ukrainian princess who became a queen of France, French authorities said the brigade will eventually consist of up to 4,500 troops specializing in infantry battalions, engineering units, artillery teams, and other roles.

The newly trained brigade is set to be armed with various French-supplied military assets and weaponry, including armored vehicles, artillery cannons, and anti-tank and antiaircraft missile systems.

A military task force of about 1,500 French soldiers trained Ukraine's troops on effective fighting strategies and skills and how to use and maintain the French-supplied equipment. Over 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers completed the training in France in late November.

"They have improved a lot," a French colonel told the Associated Press. "Now, they are able to fight. They are able to maneuver. They are able to use the different specialists and to use the different equipment they will have on the battlefield."

The US was among several countries around the world ushering in a new era of fighter aircraft toward the end of World War II.

The T-33 Shooting Star was instrumental in transitioning early military aviators — then already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft — to fighter jets. The jet trainer was a direct offshoot of the single-seat P-80 Shooting Star, one of the first operational jet fighters flown by the US Air Force, adding another seat to the cockpit to accommodate both student and instructor.

Equipped with a turbojet engine, the T-33 could reach speeds of up to 600 mph and altitudes of up to 45,000 feet. Just shy of 40 feet long, the jet trainer had a large clear bubble canopy, providing ample visibility to the pilots in the two-seat cockpit decked out with various flight indicators and engine gauges.

Lockheed manufactured over 5,000 so-called "T-Birds" between 1948 and 1959, used by air forces around the world until the fleet was slowly phased out starting in the 1980s. The US Air Force retired its last T-33, a variant modified for aerodynamic research, in 1997, ending the storied aircraft's five-decade tenure with the service.

While the T-Bird no longer trains military pilots, the aircraft's legacy has been preserved in aerial museums and heritage flights.

I flew with Greg "Wired" Colyer, a longtime performer at the Pacific Airshow. Colyer founded Ace Maker Aviation, operating three T-33 aircraft for aerial demonstrations like airshows.

A US Army veteran and aviation enthusiast, Colyer completed his fixed-wing training while studying at the US Navy's Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

He told Business Insider he wanted to fly military helicopters until a knee injury prompted him to instead work as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration for nearly three decades.

In 2008, Colyer restored his first T-Bird, aptly naming the historic jet trainer the "Ace Maker," teaching himself aerobatic maneuvers for airshows across the US. Aside from airshows, the California native also works as a test pilot instructor for the US Navy and Air Force.

Over the next decade, he added two more T-33s, the Ace Maker II and Ace Maker III, the latter of which I flew in.

"It was just one of my favorite planes as a kid," Colyer said. "It was our very first jet trainer and just an iconic piece of US history."

During the Pacific Airshow, Colyer put the T-33's capabilities on full display, dazzling spectators below with his self-taught aerobatic maneuvers.

The airshow also featured performances from the F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation stealth jet considered to be the top US air superiority fighter. The Thunderbirds, the Air Force's aerial demonstration squadron, also wowed crowds at the airshow, flying in tight formations at near-supersonic speeds in F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

After haphazardly climbing atop the T-33's wing, I peered into the cockpit and was immediately intimidated by the crowded display of gauges and controls.

As a Cold War-era aircraft, the T-33 didn't feature the digital displays or avionics that are routine on more advanced fighter jets. The T-Bird had primarily analog controls, leaving the pilot responsible for manually controlling the plane's speed, altitude, and flight path.

Colyer walked me through a crash course of the T-33's rear instrument panels — the airspeed indicator, altimeter, turn coordinator, heading indicator, radio controls, and various fuel and engine gauges monitoring temperature, pressure, and fuel state.

As a tandem trainer, the backseat also had a yoke and rudder pedals, allowing student pilots to practice controls and maneuvers. I was explicitly instructed not to mess with either.

Though rudimentary to an experienced pilot, I could see how it would benefit early military aviators to develop essential skills for operating the advanced jet aircraft of the time.

As a journalist, however, the mechanics of the aircraft were lost on me, but I paid close attention to two controls in the cockpit:

1. The switch that muted my transceiver so I wouldn't distract the pilot.
2. The lever that operated the plane's rocket-powered emergency ejection seat — for obvious reasons.

As Colyer strapped into the pilot seat, I settled in the seat behind him, my head barely peeking over the edge of the cockpit.

I adjusted my flight helmet and oxygen mask, snapping a few shameless selfies to show off in group chats with my friends and family after the flight.

Colyer's voice crackled in my headset as he communicated with the control tower. In an instant, the plane's engine roared to life as the plane taxied the airfield in Orange County.

With one final check-in, I signaled my OK with a meager thumbs-up to the pilot before we sped down the runway and into the air.

The acceleration pinned me against the seat, and I peered at the blurring silhouettes of buildings and aircraft surrounding us, slowly shrinking as we gained altitude.

I had to stifle my gasp — lest I distract Colyer while he operated the aircraft — as we were soon graced with an unobstructed view of the skies through the glass canopy.

While Colyer spared me from the thrills — and terrors — of complex airshow maneuvers, I was still acutely aware of the G-forces pressing down on me with every sharp movement of the aircraft.

A slight nudge of the yoke sent us banking into a turn, the horizon tilting dramatically. I was repeatedly startled by urgent beeping from the control panel, only to be reassured by Colyer that it was because the plane was idling to maintain slower speeds.

He said the T-33 was only going around 250 mph — a fraction of what the jet trainer was capable of and nearly half the speed he normally goes during airshow performances.

We were accompanied by a former US Navy Texan T-6 during the flight demonstration. A fellow trainer aircraft, the T-6 is a two-seat jet trainer produced by Raytheon Aircraft in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The T-6 was primarily used to train students in basic flying skills through the Air Force and Navy's entry-level training program known as the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System.

Time seemed to pass more slowly as we flew for about an hour, constrained by the fuel capacity of the T-33, which burns about 300 gallons per hour.

Descending back toward the runway, the adrenaline began to ebb before Colyer informed me that he would partially pop open the canopy to create additional drag upon landing. Lowering the visor on my flight helmet, I braced myself against rushing winds as the T-33 touched down with a thud and rolled to a halt on the tarmac.

After sharing the cockpit selfies and views with friends and family, I fielded a number of questions about the flight and whether I got to deploy any onboard weapons (trainer aircraft are not armed). It was a chance to reflect on the unforgettable experience.

In short, we flew in circles over Orange County, cruising at speeds slower than commercial passenger planes. I then spent the rest of the time ahead of the Pacific Airshow talking with demo pilots who operated more advanced frontline fighters.

But the experience was more than just a golden-hour flight in a vintage military jet trainer. The intense rumble of the turbojet engine, the array of analog gauges and controls, and sweeping views through the canopy offered a glimpse into what it must have felt like for early military aviators mastering jet-powered flight for the first time.

While I'm still holding out on future familiarization flight rides on modern fighter jets, my flight on the T-Bird will serve as a constant reminder of just how far US military aviation has come.

The Navy's Ticonderoga-class cruisers were the first warships to be equipped with the Aegis Combat System, an automated weapon control system designed to detect, track, and engage aerial, surface, and subsurface threats.

These warships were equipped with 122 vertical missile launchers capable of launching Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles, among other weapons, forward and aft deck guns, and two close-in weapons systems.

In 2001, the Navy started work on a new cruiser as it prepared to phase out the Ticonderoga fleet. Nine years later, it abandoned the next-generation program and instead procured upgraded versions of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to fill the gap before the arrival of future destroyers.

New destroyers are still being developed after the failure of the Zumwalt program and delays with the DDG(X) program.

Worried about China, some lawmakers resisted the Navy's initial proposal to decommission the ships faster than it could replace them, so the modernization program was implemented instead.

The overhaul aimed to modernize the ships' aging infrastructure by replacing corroded and worn hull components, upgrading mechanical and electrical systems, and integrating more advanced sensor and radar systems. It was also designed to make the warships compatible with more advanced missile defense systems and next-generation missiles.

During its over three decades of service, the cruiser USS Hué City provided humanitarian aid off the coast of New York in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and embarked on seven deployments in support of US operations in Afghanistan and other areas in the Middle East.

Despite allocating $161.15 million to upgrade the cruiser after entering the modernization program in 2018, the Navy decided to decommission the Hué City in 2022, before work even started.

The Anzio was decommissioned along the Hué City in 2022 after 30 years of service. The cruiser participated in operations in the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Black Sea. The Anzio's crew also disrupted pirate activity in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea and fired over a dozen Tomahawk missiles in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom while stationed in the Persian Gulf.

The service spent $250.54 million to upgrade the Anzio but later discontinued work on the ship due to cost overruns.

The Cowpens is known for Tomahawk missile action. In 1993, the Cowpens fired 10 Tomahawks into Iraq after violating no-fly zone sanctions. A decade later, the Cowpens launched the first Tomahawk missile into Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Navy invested $678.56 million to upgrade the Cowpens, but service officials inadequately managed the ship's maintenance and upgrades. Properly repairing and modernizing the vessel would have cost another $88 million. The Cowpens was decommissioned in August after 33 years of service.

The Navy decommissioned USS Vicksburg at the end of June after 32 years in the fleet. It was the first ship to undergo modernization in 2016.

The Navy spent $745.05 million to upgrade the ship, but after the cruiser spent four years in the shipyard, the Navy found that the work was only 85% complete. Contractors dropped the ball on quality control while the Navy let maintenance slip to the point that key systems on the ship were simply not salvageable.

In September 2023, Navy officials found that the Vicksburg was still "years away" from completing its modernization, which would have cost another $120 million to finish.

Only three ships are expected to complete the modernization program — USS Gettysburg, USS Chosin, and USS Cape St. George. The cruisers will serve until fiscal year 2030 due to a service-life extension that the Navy announced in November.

The Gettysburg was the first of the three vessels to complete its modernization in February 2023. Less than a year later, a Navy review identified defects in the ship's weapon systems and several structural issues. It wasn't until this past summer that the warship passed a missile launch test using its updated combat systems.

In September, the cruiser deployed to the Middle East with the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group to help defend against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

USS Chosin completed its modernization in early 2024 after its nonfunctioning ventilation caused problems with the Aegis' computer equipment, delaying operational testing before it was redelivered to the Navy.

The Chosin was involved in the Navy's first successful attempt to reload a warship at sea. The Transferrable Reload At-sea Mechanism uses an apparatus of cables, rails, and pulleys to transfer missile canisters directly to a cruiser's vertical missile launchers, streamlining the reloading process at sea rather than traveling to the nearest port.

Commissioned in 1993, the Cape St. George is the youngest active Ticonderoga-class vessel. The cruiser is still undergoing modernization and slated to undergo sea trials next year. The Navy plans to deploy the cruiser at least once before decommissioning.

The Navy's failed efforts to modernize its Ticonderogas highlighted the need to address flaws in the service's approach to maintaining a combat-ready fleet.

"The Navy did not effectively plan the cruiser effort," the GAO report said, adding that "this led to a high volume of unplanned work — 9,000 contract changes — resulting in cost growth and schedule delays."

The watchdog report said the Navy "has yet to identify the root causes of unplanned work or develop and codify root cause mitigation strategies to prevent poor planning from similarly affecting future surface ship modernization efforts."

The GAO report released earlier this week spotlighted the flaws in the Navy's modernization efforts for its cruisers. The new report followed the Navy's recently announced $10 billion effort to refurbish its older Arleigh Burke-class destroyers "to keep more ready players on the field" while it works on other shipbuilding projects, like newer Burkes and the Constellation-class frigates.

After a decadeslong dictatorship, rebel forces seized control of the Syrian capital of Damascus over the weekend, forcing Assad to relinquish power and flee the country.

"We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad," Hassan Abdul-Ghani, commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, wrote in a post on social media. "To the displaced people around the world, free Syria awaits you."

Former Syrian prime minister Ghazi al-Jalali remained in the country after the collapse of the Assad regime, saying the government is willing to cooperate and support "any leadership chosen by the Syrian people."

While Israel supported ousting Assad, a staunch ally of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation in Syria is still "fraught with significant dangers" from the extremists now governing the country.

In the days after the dayslong rebel offensive ousted the Syrian dictator, Israel launched hundreds of strikes targeting Syrian military assets over 48 hours to prevent them "from falling into the hands of terrorist elements." HTS publicly split with the Al Qaeda affiliate from which it formed, but US officials believe it may still have links to Al Qaeda leaders.

"We have no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs, but we clearly intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security," Netanyahu said.

"I authorized the air force to bomb strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian army so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists," he said, adding that Israel "would like to form relations with the new regime in Syria."

The IDF said the strikes were part of a larger-scale mission known as Operation Bashan Arrow, intended to create a "sterile defense zone" by neutralizing potential threats from the neighboring country.

Israeli forces attacked key Syrian naval facilities in the port cities of Al-Bayda and Latakia late Tuesday, where more than a dozen Syrian naval vessels were docked.

Photos of the decimated port showed half-submerged Syrian warships. Some of the damaged vessels were Osa-class missile boats, Soviet-era vessels whose 30mm turrets and mounted missile launchers could be seen in the wreckage.

The Syrian navy, the smallest branch of the country's armed forces, operated over a dozen of the high-speed — albeit outdated — vessels developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz said Israeli Navy missile ships "destroyed Syria's navy overnight and with great success." It's not clear how many Syrian vessels were destroyed by Israeli warships in the overnight attack.

Satellite images of Latakia, a former stronghold of Assad, showed the charred wreckage of the naval ships. The IDF wrote in a post on X that "dozens of sea-to-sea missiles" with "significant explosive payloads" were also destroyed.

The IAF carried out an airstrike on the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, once a key stronghold of the Assad regime's air force.

At least three major Syrian army air bases were attacked by Israeli warplanes, damaging dozens of helicopters and fighter jets, The Times of Israel reported. Locals living near the bases said they heard several explosions after the Israeli strikes appeared to ignite the ammunition stored there, the Associated Press reported.

In addition to decimating Syria's aerial and naval fleet, the IDF said it carried out strikes on 130 military assets, such as firing positions, antiaircraft batteries, missile and radar systems, and weapons production sites.

Israeli forces also destroyed the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in Damascus, a key facility thought to be testing and operating the country's covert chemical and biological weapons programs under the Assad regime.

The Barzeh facility was previously bombarded in 2018 by US, UK, and French forces in response to a poison sarin gas attack in Douma, Syria. The US found Assad's government responsible for the April 2018 chemical warfare attack that killed at least 40 people and injured over 100.

However, the head of the center's polymers department told Reuters at the time that the facility, now reduced to rubble, was used to research medicinal components that couldn't be imported, such as anti-venom and cancer treatments.

The fall of the Syrian regime weakens Iran's regional influence and could pose logistical and strategic challenges to Iran's regional proxies like the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran," Netanyahu said during a Monday press conference. "The axis has not yet disappeared, but as I promised — we are changing the face of the Middle East."

Despite the widespread strikes across Syria, Israeli military officials said the country's armed forces were operating beyond the Israeli-occupied demilitarized buffer zone in Golan Heights but not toward the Syrian capital.

"IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way," IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said at a briefing. "We are not involved in what's happening in Syria internally, we are not a side in this conflict, and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens."

Katz, Israel's defense minister, said the country was advancing beyond Golan Heights to impose a "security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures" in southern Syria.

"With regard to what will be in the future, I'm not a prophet," Katz said. "It is important right now to take all necessary steps in the context of the security of Israel."

The Royal Navy Colossus-class aircraft carrier HMS Ocean was commissioned just months before it was a part of the historic carrier landing.

Shortly after commissioning in August 1945 — the same month Japan surrendered after the US dropped two nuclear bombs — the ship was upgraded to conduct night fighter operations, equipped with improved radar and direction-finding equipment.

The light fleet carrier's flight deck measured nearly 700 feet and accommodated more than three dozen aircraft. The Ocean was armed with close-in antiaircraft weaponry, including a Bofors 40 mm gun and a two-pounded naval gun known as the "pom-pom" due to the sound it makes when firing.

The landmark landing could only be carried out by an aviator of equal renown. Capt. Eric "Winkle" Brown was the chief naval test pilot for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, the UK's leading flight research facility at the time.

As a highly experienced test pilot, Brown already had a number of broken records under his belt — he was the first to land a twin-engine aircraft on a carrier, the first to land a tricycle gear aircraft on a carrier, and the first to land a rotary-wing aircraft on a ship at sea.

The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm developed three prototypes as part of their efforts to create a fighter jet that could operate aboard carriers, as well as new deck-landing techniques.

The flight trials for the Sea Vampire prototype took place off the south coast of England. The Sea Vampire trial planned to have the aircraft land on the Ocean's flight deck at 95 mph, though strong gusts caused the plane to land faster than anticipated.

Due to the aircraft's tail-down angle and the pitching of the carrier's flight deck, the plane's trailing edge wing flaps hit the deck, breaking their hinges upon landing.

Brown, however, was determined to pull off a perfect landing. He made several more takeoffs and landings on the Ocean, accomplishing the feat on the fourth try despite the initial damage to the Sea Vampire.

Carrier landings were considered some of the most challenging maneuvers at the time, so demonstrating that higher-speed fighter jets could safely land marked a turning point in naval aviation. The first successful jet-powered carrier landing catalyzed the innovation of carrier technology and design to better accommodate jet aircraft, including angled flight decks, steam-powered aircraft catapults, and more advanced arresting gear.

The advancements ushered in a new era, expanding and enhancing the capabilities of both the flattops and the aircraft they carried. Jet engines have greater thrust than propellers, allowing aircraft to fly much faster and at higher altitudes. These changes led to a strategic shift in naval warfare with a greater focus on air superiority at sea.

"The only thing we can say is, we took the bull by the horns, accepting the limitations in engine performance, to show jet propulsion was conceivable for naval operations," Brown said in a 2015 interview published in the British aviation magazine Aeroplane Monthly.

Following the successful fight landing and take-off, the FAA ultimately decided to use the Sea Vampire as a more cost-effective training aircraft rather than a first-line fighter.

In 1947, the mass-produced version of the Sea Vampire featured the model's larger flaps and airbrakes and a modified arresting hook. The Navy ordered 30 Sea Vampires, but only 18 were actually delivered to the Royal Navy.

A few years after the 1945 carrier landing, the Sea Vampire went on to test the feasibility of landing a jet with wheels retracted on a flexible 150-foot "carpet" atop a carrier deck.

While the tests aboard the light carrier HMS Warrior were ultimately successful, wheelless aircraft couldn't land on conventional airfields or runways without the shock-absorbing "carpet," making the innovation more trouble than it was worth.

After pilots reported issues with the Sea Vampire's slow takeoff without a catapult, the training jets were pulled in the late 1950s and scrapped by 1960.

While Brown's landing and takeoff on the HMS Ocean is remembered as the first jet-powered aircraft carrier landing, some argue that the US Navy accomplished the feat a month earlier.

On November 6, 1945, US Navy Ensign J.A. West landed a Ryan FR-1 Fireball fighter jet, the Navy's first jet-engine fighter aircraft, on the deck of the escort carrier USS Wake Island using jet power after the plane's main piston engine malfunctioned.

The Fireball was a mixed-propulsion aircraft, meaning it was powered by both a piston and jet engine. Standard takeoffs and landings from carrier decks at the time were typically powered by the aircraft's piston engines because early jet engines alone were not powerful or reliable enough for sustained flight.

While West was approaching the carrier deck, the American-made jet's main piston engine failed, causing the plane's propeller to spin out of control. In a last-ditch effort to safely land the Fireball, West switched to the Fireball's turbojet engine and successfully landed on USS Wake Island using jet power alone.

Although West's landing was ultimately successful — albeit unintentional — the credit for the first jet-powered carrier landing is more often given to Brown's pure-jet Sea Vampire, as the Fireball was a hybrid aircraft.

The Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers are considered the most advanced surface warships in the world, equipped with innovative naval technology.

Named after Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., the youngest chief of naval operations in US history, the lead ship USS Zumwalt is the largest destroyer in the world at 610 feet long. It can house a crew of nearly 200 sailors and accommodate one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter in its hangar.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries were behind the design and construction of the three stealth destroyers.

The warships feature an all-electric propulsion system and a composite deckhouse covered with radar-absorbing material to hide their sensors and communication systems. But the US Navy has struggled to arm them.

Due to the ship's manufacturing issues and soaring costs, the Navy reduced the Zumwalt class's overall size from 32 ships to just three: the Zumwalt, USS Michael Monsoor, and the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, which is expected to commission after its combat systems are fully installed and activated.

The stealth destroyers were armed with two 155 mm deck guns for shore bombardment, but ballooning manufacturing costs made the ammunition for the guns ridiculously expensive.

The Navy halted the ammo procurement in 2016, the same year the Zumwalt was commissioned, and publicly announced in 2018 that it was scrapping the now-useless main deck guns for a new weapon system.

In 2021, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said the stealth destroyers would be the first Navy warships to be armed with hypersonic missiles instead of its Block V Virginia-class submarines, saying that it would be an "important move" toward turning the surface ships into strike platforms.

The Navy said the first-in-class stealth destroyer's "upgrades will ensure Zumwalt remains one of the most technologically advanced and lethal ships in the US Navy."

Photos showed the Zumwalt's main deck gun mounts were removed. The cannons will be replaced with four all-up round canisters containing three hypersonic missiles each. These come in addition to its conventional missile arsenal of 80 vertical launch cells.

The US military is working on hypersonic weapons across all branches. The Zumwalts will be armed with the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) system, the Navy's joint hypersonic weapons program with the Army and US Strategic Command.

Described by STRATCOM as "a strong deterrence message to our adversaries," the "highly lethal platform" would launch like a ballistic missile but instead uses a two-stage solid-fueled rocket booster to get the projectile to travel at speeds faster than Mach 5 speed — nearly 4,000 mph. The booster allows the missile to change trajectory at these speeds, unlike a ballistic missile, and combined with its lower altitude flight complicates efforts to intercept it.

The weapon system features an all-up round (AUR) missile and a separate payload modular adapter, which the Navy is testing along with the missile and eject system.

"It's not like any other type of missile," Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, the Navy's director of strategic programs, told reporters at the Naval Submarine League's annual symposium last month. "You don't light this thing off inside."

The CPS system failed its first test in June 2022, as well as subsequent flight tests in March and September 2023. The first successful test was completed this summer.

"The testing that we need to do to get to the final integration of Zumwalt, that's irrespective of where the Zumwalt's at, whether it's in the water," Wolfe added.

In addition to the CPS system, the Navy is also developing a hypersonic air-launched anti-ship missile expected to be compatible with the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet. However, few details about the $178.6 million program have been released to the public.

Developed to provide off-shore precision fire support from a distance, the Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers were armed with a pair of Advanced Gun System (AGS) mounts to fire naval artillery from up to 100 nautical miles away — in what would've been the US Navy's longest-range shell in use.

However, after the Navy reduced the size of its Zumwalt fleet, manufacturing costs for the Long-Range Land-Attack Projectile-guided shells skyrocketed to about $800,000 to $1 million per round — about the same price as a cruise missile.

The rocket-assisted projectiles also fell short of the intended range, prompting the sea service to cancel production of the munitions, rendering the pair of high-velocity cannons useless.

Before announcing the new hypersonic weapon, the Navy floated other weapon systems to replace the failed gun mounts, including an electromagnetic railgun or futuristic laser weapons.

In recent years, US adversaries like Russia and China have been developing hypersonic weapons, adding pressure on the Pentagon to prioritize its own hypersonic development efforts.

China has "the world's leading hypersonic arsenal," and Russia has already deployed two of its three hypersonic weapon systems in Ukraine, according to congressional testimony from Jeffrey McCormick, senior intelligence analyst at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

The US, however, has yet to field a single hypersonic weapon amid ongoing development and integration challenges across the military, including the Zumwalt-class artillery upgrade.

Research and development for the destroyer cost about $22.4 billion, and General Dynamics spent another $40 million just to construct a shipyard facility large enough to accommodate the giant hull segments.

Each ship cost an average of $7.5 billion — more expensive than the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

Even with all of their costly innovations, the Zumwalt-class vessels continued to be plagued by equipment problems and constantly needed repairs.

Last year, the Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries with a $154.8 million contract to integrate the hypersonic weapon system aboard USS Zumwalt. The Congressional Budget Office also estimated that it would cost nearly $18 billion to buy and maintain 300 of the hypersonic boost-glide missiles for the next 20 years.

As the expenses of fielding US-developed hypersonic weapons pile up, some military analysts say the costs outweigh the benefits.

"This particular missile costs more than a dozen tanks," Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the DC-based think tank Lexington Institute, told the Associated Press. "All it gets you is a precise non-nuclear explosion, someplace far, far away."

"Is it really worth the money?" Thompson continued. "The answer is, most of the time, the missile costs much more than any target you can destroy with it."

While conventional missiles may cost less, long-range hypersonic weapons increase the chances of striking the targets of adversaries protected by advanced air defense systems like those of China and Russia.

"The adversary has them," retired Navy Rear Adm. Ray Spicer, CEO of the US Naval Institute, told the AP. "We never want to be outdone."

Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, told the AP that while the US stealth destroyers were "a costly blunder," the Navy could "take victory from the jaws of defeat here and get some utility out of them by making them into a hypersonic platform."

The jury is still out on whether the Zumwalt hypersonic upgrades are worth the hefty price tag, but it would at the very least give the stealth destroyers a purpose.

"Zumwalt gave us an opportunity to get [hypersonics] out faster," Gilday told USNI News in 2022," and to be honest with you, I need a solid mission for Zumwalt."

The Navy operates two types of littoral combat ships: the Independence-class and the Freedom-class. The former class of ships has suffered from structural flaws, while a litany of maintenance issues has plagued the latter, and several of both classes have been deactivated before their time.

For example, USS Milwaukee, a $750 million Freedom-class ship, was decommissioned last year after just eight years in service. The LCS was originally meant to serve for 25 years. It is one of about half a dozen littoral combat ships — most being from the Freedom class — that have been pulled from active service.

Retired Navy Vice Adm. Dirk Debbink told Business Insider that the Navy has made improvements to the class since then.

"There's a lot of confidence in the engineering plant now, for example, which is a problem with some of the earlier ships of the class," he said of the USS Beloit. "I'm excited about this ship because I think it's going to hopefully redeem the class in general."

Whether the full range of issues with the LCS have been addressed remains to be seen. There have long been concerns about cost, performance, and survivability, and key questions persist regarding the LCS's suitability in a high-end fight against a near-peer adversary like the US military's pacing challenge — China. The Navy has since put some of its hopes for the LCS into the new class of frigate in development.

Built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the Navy describes USS Beloit, its 15th Freedom-variant LCS, as a "fast, agile" vessel that can operate in shallow waters near shore and in the open ocean. It has a much smaller crew than a destroyer and is armed with fewer weapons for sustained combat.

After it was christened in May 2022, the Beloit completed sea trials the following year and was delivered to the Navy in late September.

The warship will be homeported at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

The ship measures 387 feet long and can reach speeds of over 46 miles per hour — outpacing the rest of the fleet with its waterjet propulsion.

Its hangar can accommodate two MH-60 helicopters or one helicopter and one drone, and its flight deck is 50% larger than that of traditional surface combatants, according to the ship's commissioning committee.

LCSs are designed to support maritime security and deter enemy attacks. The Freedom-class ships are armed with a SeaRAM close-in weapon system that fires intercept missiles and a 57mm gun capable of firing up to 220 rounds per minute.

USS Beloit will also be equipped with Naval Strike Missiles, a long-range anti-ship weapon system capable of striking with high precision.

USS Beloit also includes an automated radio room, a decoy launching system, and a gunfire control system.

Retired Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson, the first Black woman to achieve that Army rank in 2011, was chosen to sponsor USS Beloit.

Navy secretaries choose sponsors based on their relationship to the vessel's namesake or mission, and Anderson's hometown is Beloit.

"It is important to recognize that small cities like Beloit have had an outsized impact on our National Security for over 100 years and also have a significant role in the history of our country," Anderson wrote in a statement on the ship's commission committee website.

"We must never forget that the reason our country is so admired around the world is because we have always been a nation that honors and recognizes the devotion and courage of ordinary people," she continued. "The USS Beloit exemplifies and continues that tradition."

The ship's core crew consists of 50 sailors, and its spaces can accommodate up to 98 sailors.

USS Beloit's battle flag features a badger, Wisconsin's state animal. The ship's mascot is named Rocky, after the Rock River in Beloit.

On November 15, Yi Peng 3 departed from Russia's Ust-Luga port on the Baltic Sea carrying Russian fertilizer.

The Ust-Luga port is the largest universal port on the Baltic Sea and the Kremlin's second-largest port after Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. Since Sweden and Finland joined the alliance, the Baltic Sea has been referred to as "NATO lake" because it is almost entirely populated by alliance members.

Two days later, investigators established that the Chinese vessel dropped its anchor around 9 p.m. local time, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. However, the ship continued steaming with its anchor dropped and is believed to have severed an undersea telecoms cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania, per The Journal.

Investigators said Yi Peng 3 continued to sail for another 111 miles with its dragging anchor, which then cut the only communications cable connecting Finland with Germany less than twenty-four hours later.

It was only then that investigators said the vessel raised anchor and continued its route.

It's highly unusual for any vessel to drag its anchor for this long due to the dangers and fuel waste, an impediment that cannot go unnoticed by the ship's watch-standers. A crew typically recovers the anchor, or in the worst case, jettisons it, before steaming ahead.

The Chinese bulk carrier is now anchored in the Kattegat Strait and is being monitored by Danish naval patrol vessels as European authorities continue to investigate the potential sabotage.

Investigators said Yi Peng 3's movements couldn't be charted after it went "dark," meaning that the ship's transponder was shut down or disabled, thus obscuring its position.

Open-source satellite imagery, however, reportedly placed the Chinese ship near the damaged cables at the time of the respective incidents.

An investigator on the case told The Journal that it's "extremely unlikely" that the ship's captain wouldn't have noticed the vessel's dragging anchor.

"It's extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way," the investigator said.

An analysis by Kpler, a global trade analytics firm, provided to The Journal found that "given the mild weather conditions and manageable wave heights, the likelihood of accidental anchor dragging appears minimal."

Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he believed the incident was a result of potential sabotage, telling reporters last week that "nobody believes that these cables were accidentally severed."

"We have to know that, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a hybrid action, and we also have to assume that, without knowing by whom yet, that this is sabotage," Pistorius said.

Yi Peng 3's origin of departure raised concerns over potential Russian involvement in the incident, possibly in connection to the war in Ukraine.

Though the Chinese vessel and associated parties are under investigation over damaged cables, Western officials believe that Russian intelligence agencies orchestrated the incident.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russian involvement, calling the accusations "absurd."

"It's quite absurd to keep blaming Russia for everything without any grounds. It is laughable in the context of the lack of any reaction to Ukraine's sabotage activities in the Baltic Sea," Peskov told reporters on November 20.

Foreign ministers of Finland and Germany released a joint statement on November 18, saying they were "deeply concerned" about the incident, which "immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage [and] speaks volumes about the volatility of our times.

"Our European security is not only under threat from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors," the ministers said in the statement. "Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies."

The incident in the Baltic Sea comes just weeks after US officials warned that Russia would likely target undersea cables and other critical maritime infrastructure.

"We are concerned about heightened Russian naval activity worldwide and that Russia's decision calculus for damaging US and allied undersea critical infrastructure may be changing," a US official told CNN in September.

The official added that "Russia is continuing to develop naval capabilities for undersea sabotage" through its dedicated military unit known as the General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research, or GUGI.

Denmark's foreign ministry said in a statement earlier this week that investigators were engaged in ongoing "diplomatic dialogue" with the countries "most involved in handling this case, including China."

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed the talks in a statement last Friday, saying Beijing "is currently working with relevant parties, including Denmark, to maintain smooth communication through diplomatic channels."

Chinese company Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, which owns Yi Peng 3, is also cooperating with the probe and allowed the vessel to be stopped while Swedish and German authorities negotiate access to the ship and its crew, The Journal reported.

The vessel's crew, which also includes a Russian sailor, has yet to be questioned due to restrictions under international maritime law.