US navy launches Middle East drone task force amid Iran tensions

US navy launches Middle East drone task force amid Iran tensions
An MQ-9 Sea Guardian unmanned maritime surveillance drone flies over the USS Coronado (US Navy/Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shannon Renfroe, via AP)

The US navy’s Middle East-based 5th Fleet is to launch a new task force that incorporates airborne, sailing and underwater drones after years of maritime attacks linked to ongoing tensions with Iran.

Navy officials did not identify which systems they would introduce from their headquarters on the island nation of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf but they promised that the coming months would see the drones stretch their capabilities across a region of chokepoints crucial to both global energy supplies and worldwide shipping.

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