USS Boxer had a bizarre and dangerous encounter with an Iranian chopper right before
 

USS Boxer had a bizarre and dangerous encounter with an Iranian chopper right before the ship destroyed a drone
By: Ellen Loanes - BusinessInsider - 7-19-19
RE: https://www.businessinsider.com/tens...n-drone-2019-7

Photo link: https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...b3-960-480.jpg
A Marine Corps Super Stallion CH-53 lands on USS Boxer on June 24. The Wall Street Journal reported that an Iranian helicopter came within a few yards of landing on the amphibious carrier. Lance Cpl. Dalton S. Swanbeck/US Marine Corps

- Wall Street Journal reporter Rory Jones recounted the tense hours just before the US took down an Iranian drone in the Persian Gulf, where tensions between the US and Iran have played out in recent months.

- According to Jones, who was embarked on the USS Boxer, an Iranian helicopter flew within yards of ship's flight deck, and an Iranian vessel trailed it by 500 yards before the Boxer jammed an Iranian drone and destroyed it.

Wall Street Journal reporter Rory Jones was aboard the USS Boxer in the hours before the US amphibious flattop downed an Iranian drone and recounted a series of tense encounters that led up to the engagement.

According to Jones, the Boxer was leading a flotilla of Navy ships through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf, where Iran has repeatedly harassed international vessels. Just after 7:00 AM local time, Jones reported, an unarmed Iranian Bell 212 helicopter came so close to the Boxer it could have landed on deck. A US helicopter chased away the Iranian craft, cutting short an incident that Capt. Ronald Dowdell, the commander of the Boxer, called "surreal."

Late note: The US is reportedly preparing to send 500 troops to Saudi Arabia amid friction with Iran
RE: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-w...ia-iran-2019-7

Photo link: https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...2-1136-568.jpg
The B-52 with all its ammunition. Tech Sgt. Robert Horstman/US Air Force

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Personal note: the B52 photo shown above would make a great framed photo to hand up.
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