The same memo also formally asked Pentagon officials for “credible military options” to ensure unfettered American access to the Panama Canal, CNN reported at the time. But it also gives US military commanders — and the president — a broad range of options should Trump order military action. One of the officials emphasized that the military buildup is for now mostly a show of force, aimed more at sending a message than indicative of any intention to conduct precision targeting of cartels. The US strikes several key Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Trump says he believes his administration is “very close to a solution” on an Iran nuclear agreement.
June 22: US strikes Iran
A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser are also being allocated to US Southern Command as part of the mission, the officials said. The US military is deploying more than 4,000 Marines and sailors to the waters around Latin America and the Caribbean as part of a ramped-up effort to combat drug cartels, two US defense officials told CNN — a dramatic show of force that will give the president a broad range of military options should he want to target drug cartels. As the US voices concerns that Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency announce they’ve found traces of highly-enriched uranium at a nuclear plant in Iran. Iranians resent the foreign mexican restaurant in toronto interference, fueling anti-American sentiment in the country for decades to come. Even after its retirement, the 100T has been used many times for demonstration runs at events and big races held at Suzuka.
January: US kills Soleimani, and Iran responds
Since August 22, three Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft used for signals intelligence gathering crossed the Atlantic into the Caribbean theater. Several intelligence gathering assets may also have been diverted from surveillance operations in Eastern Europe to the Caribbean, flight data suggests. In a review of open-source flight data, CNN identified over 200 military flights conducted in the Caribbean over the two-month period between August 15 and October 15. A separate image, captured by a local photographer, appears to show another Ghostrider at the same facility.
“What’s in the middle, I think, is a pressure campaign, meant to rattle Venezuela.” Experts generally agree that at this point, the US does not have enough assets or troops in place to launch an incursion to control Venezuela itself. The huge buildup has raised questions about the Trump administration’s intent in the region. In early October, “Little Bird” light attack helicopters first identified by the Washington Post and MH-60M Black Hawk helicopters were also spotted conducting training operations off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
- The maximum boost pressure was lowered from 4 to 2.5 bar, and the maximum fuel capacity was lowered from 195L to 150L.
- Both Prost and Senna lapped faster in the race than Piquet had qualified, putting an exclamation mark on McLaren’s dominant weekend.
- The back-and-forth marks a sudden escalation in tensions between the two countries, raising concerns about the future of the Iran nuclear deal.
- The MP4/4 was voted the greatest Formula One car of all time by a panel of Formula One engineers and designers.
Those lower finishing places in the top 6 actually helped Senna's championship position as, under the Best 11 Scores rule, he could drop both whereas Prost, who only ever finished 1st or 2nd in the 14 races he finished, had to drop three of his 2nd place finishes. Team boss Ron Dennis estimated that the research and development on the revised aerodynamics had cost the team somewhere around £150,000 for something that even Steven Nichols considered a minimal aerodynamic gain and gave no extra horsepower to the Honda engine. Prost failed to qualify on the front row four times during the season (Brazil, Detroit, Britain and Hungary). Britain was also the only race of the season that Ayrton Senna didn't qualify his McLaren-Honda on the front row of the grid. Perhaps the most telling example of the MP4/4's emphatic domination was seen at San Marino in just the second race of the season. The car also sat on pole position in 15 of the 16 races (including a record 13 poles for Senna), locked out the front row in 12 races, and also set 10 fastest race laps.
Nakajima has driven the car at these events, delighting fans with his performance reminiscent of yesteryear. Lotus was 4th in the constructors’ standings, behind McLaren, Ferrari, and Benetton. This legend of the Honda Turbo was be revived in the upcoming 2015 season under completely new regulations.
Here’s what the US military has positioned as Trump pressures Venezuela
Third on the grid was defending World Champion Nelson Piquet in his Lotus 100T, which used the same 1988 specification Honda engines as McLaren. With Prost already out after a rare engine failure, Gerhard Berger claimed an emotional victory for Ferrari just a month after the death of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari. 1988 was almost a walkover for McLaren, who took 15 victories from 16 races, including ten 1-2 finishes, while Prost finished 1st or 2nd in the 14 races he finished (he had 2 retirements – Britain and Italy). The McLaren chassis, the Senna and Prost pairing, and finally the new Honda RA168E engines with 685 bhp (511 kW; 695 PS), looked like a formidable combination.
After the 9/11 attacks, Iran quietly helps the US in its war against the Taliban, a mutual enemy of both countries. He is instrumental in spreading Iran’s influence in the Middle East, and soon becomes one of the country’s most powerful leaders. Qasem Soleimani, who has been rising through the ranks of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, is appointed chief commander of the Quds Force, an elite special forces unit that handles Iran’s overseas operations. Though the US says the attack is an accident, Iranians see it as intentional. While American and Iranian ships are exchanging fire in the Persian Gulf, the US mistakes a civilian airliner for a fighter jet and shoots down Iran Air Flight 655. While the US is backing Iraq in its war with Iran, President Reagan’s administration covertly begins looking into ways to improve its relationship with Iran.
Iran is furious and vows retaliation, ultimately firing missiles at Iraqi bases that house American troops a few days later. Thousands of people flood the streets of Iran to mourn him. Trump says he ordered an airstrike in Iraq to kill Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani – a move that previous US presidents had considered far too provocative. Days later, hundreds of pro-Iranian demonstrators attempt to storm the US embassy in Baghdad, scaling the walls and forcing the gates open, in protest of the US airstrikes. At least 25 people are killed, an Iran-backed militia says. US forces conduct airstrikes on facilities in Iraq and Syria, which the Pentagon claims are linked to pro-Iranian militias responsible for attacking US service personnel in Iraq.
The strike group accompanying the Ford brings with it nine air squadrons, two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers – the USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan – the integrated air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill, and more than 4,000 sailors. Here’s what the US military is using to strike alleged drug boats In addition to regular military units, the exercises will involve the Bolivarian Militia – a reserve force made up of civilians that was created by the late President Hugo Chávez and is named after Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary who secured the independence of numerous Latin American countries from Spain. Land, air, naval and reserve forces will carry out exercises through Wednesday, according to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, who described the deployment as a response to the “imperialist threat” posed by the US build-up. Venezuela says it is launching a “massive mobilization” of military personnel, weapons and equipment in response to the build-up of US warships and troops in the Caribbean Sea. The additional assets being moved now, however, will fall under US Southern Command, and are set to support SOUTHCOM for at least the next several months, one of the officials said.
Nuclear cooperation
All operating conditions were reviewed, including boost pressure, intake air temperature, fuel temperature, fuel mixture concentration, fuel injection volume, and ignition timing, and computer control was optimized for every situation. Parts of the turbocharger were magnesium alloy, and the engine had been lightened to 146 kg when fully equipped, through reviewing its specifications and dimensions. Aiming for both improved power output and fuel economy, the RA168E adopted a long stroke design with a cylinder diameter of 79.0mm and a stroke-bore ratio of 0.643, which had been used since the RA166E. Honda was well aware that there was a high risk of problems arising when matching the chassis and engine for a team it had only recently partnered with. Honda would continue to supply engines to Lotus, as well as McLaren replacing Williams. Venezuela has S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, anti-aircraft guns, shoulder-launched air defense systems, and F-16 fighter jets.
The Lotus actually recorded faster speed trap figures (302 km/h (188 mph), 1.5 km/h faster than the McLarens) on the run to Tosa, but around the rest of the circuit the McLaren's acceleration and downforce were unmatched. The dominant run was only interrupted once, at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza for Round 12, when Senna crashed out of the lead with only two laps remaining while lapping Jean-Louis Schlesser, who was making his first and only F1 start for Williams in place of Mansell who was suffering from chickenpox. As the MP4/4 was a new car, it had to conform to FISA's new-for-1988 safety regulations which stipulated that the driver's feet be behind the line of an imaginary front axle. For 1988 Ayrton Senna was signed to partner Alain Prost (at Prost's suggestion) on a three-year contract.