The U.S. Department of Defense announced this morning that forces under the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) carried out a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Panamanian-flagged crude oil tanker M/T AQUILA II in the Indian Ocean overnight without incident, after tracking the vessel - which was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels linked to Venezuela - from the Caribbean Sea.

Participating in the operation were MH-60S “Seahawk” Multi-Mission Helicopters with the “Golden Falcons” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12 (HSC-12), attached to Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) and usually onboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).

Airmen with the U.S. Air Force’s 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing (332 AEW), currently forward deployed to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, pictured saluting during the National Anthem in the lead up to last night’s Super Bowl LX, while standing in front of several F-15E Strike Eagles assigned to the 391st Fighter Squadron (391th FS) based out of Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance arrived in the Armenian capital of Yerevan this morning aboard Air Force Two, in the first visit ever by a sitting President or Vice President of the United States to Armenia.

Both Iran and Oman were notified in advance of White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, at the invitation of Adm. Brad Cooper, the Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), sources tell N12 and CNN.

Mona Juul, Norway’s former ambassador to Jordan who resigned on Sunday after it was revealed she had significant financial links to convicted sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and her husband Terje Rød-Larse, were charged Monday with gross corruption as well as aiding and abetting by the Norwegian economic crimes unit, Økokrim, citing their inclusion in the Epstein Files.

Channels affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) posted a video earlier today, clearly created using Artificial Intelligence (AI), which appears to show a attack using drones, gunboats, missiles, and submarines on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and her Carrier Strike Group in the Arabian Sea.

Six F-35A Lightning lls with “The Green Mountain Boys” of the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing arrived earlier tonight at RAF Lakenheath in England from the United States, supported by three KC-135 “Stratotanker” Aerial-Refueling Tankers, GOLD81/82/83, who themselves landed at RAF Mildenhall.

The F-35s that arrived tonight in the U.K. join six other F-35s with the 158th that arrived in Europe last week from Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico, all of which participated in last month’s operation against Venezuela and are now forward deployed to Naval Station Rota in Spain.

All twelve of the F-35As are likely bound for their ultimate destination of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, in order to relieve twelve F-15E Strike Eagles assigned to the 391st Fighter Squadron based out of Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, that have been deployed to the region since early 2025.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has published footage of and announced, that at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the Commander of SOUTHCOM, military forces under Joint Task Force-Southern Spear (JTF-SS) carried out a strike today, February 9, against an alleged narco-trafficking vessel operating in the Eastern Pacific. According to SOUTHCOM, intelligence indicated that the vessel was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route and carrying illicit narcotics, with two suspected narco-terrorists killed in the strike while one survived, all believed to have been members of a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Following the strike, search-and-rescue assets were launched by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Israel’s far-right government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, took unilateral steps on Sunday to give itself and settlers greater control over the current occupation of the West Bank and Palestinians, despite direct opposition to the plan by President Donald J. Trump and his administration who are concerned that the move could seriously harm ongoing diplomatic talks between Arab allies in the region and Israel, according to the New York Times.

Changes to Israeli policy in the West Bank were decided by the Israel’s security cabinet during a closed-door meeting on Sunday, primarily making it easier for Jewish settlers to buy land and undercut the Palestinian Authority in areas under its control in the West Bank, while paving the way for the potential future annexation of the territory by Israel.

Neither Prime Minister Netanyahu nor his government publicly announced the changes, instead leaving the details to be published after the meeting by two far-right government ministers, specifically Bezalel Smotrich - Israel’s finance minister - who said in a statement after the meeting, “We are deepening our roots in all parts of the Land of Israel and burying the idea of a Palestinian State.”

Netanyahu is expected to meet President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, with a White House officials telling Axios regarding the Israel’s change in policy toward the West Bank, “A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” once again alluding to its opposition to any Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

Four KC-135R/T “Stratotanker” Aerial-Refueling Tankers, BLUE61/62/71/72, departed this morning from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and are currently heading westward across the Mediterranean, briefly orbiting south of Crete, likely supporting the return of twelve F-15E Strike Eagles assigned to the 391st Fighter Squadron, out of Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, back to the United States from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.

The F-15E Strike Eagles will be replaced at Muwaffaq Salti by two flights of six F-35A Lightning lls with the “The Green Mountain Boys” of the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing, that over the last week have pre-staged at RAF Lakenheath in England and Naval Station Rota in Spain.

President Donald J. Trump told Axios in an interview Tuesday that he's considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to prepare for military action against Iran if ongoing negotiations fail, with Trump telling Barack Ravid, “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”

A U.S. official confirmed to Axios that there had been discussions about sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region, though officials could not say which carrier that would be and how long it could take to reach the U.S. Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility.

“Last time they didn't believe I would do it,” President Trump said during the interview, alluding to his decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities last June. “They overplayed their hand,” but this time the talks are “very different,” claiming that “We can make a great deal with Iran.”

Besides the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) already in the Arabian Sea, only one other carrier is deployed right now and could immediately head to the region, that being the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) currently operating in the Caribbean. However, for a number of reasons, one being that the carrier has already been deployed for going on eight months as well as several problems recently aboard the Ford, she will not be going to the Middle East.

The only carrier that could deploy anytime soon to the Middle East would be the USS George H.W. Bush, who is currently completing her Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) off the coast of Virginia for a scheduled deployment later this year, with the exercise likely taking roughly two more weeks and then at least two weeks to reach the U.S. Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility near Iran. The USS George Washington (CVN-73) is available to deploy from Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Japan, however this would leave the Indo-Pacific without an aircraft carrier to counter China.