War Monitor

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has released footage from tonight’s large-scale retaliatory operation against ISIS strongholds and affiliated sites in Syria, known as Operation Hawkeye Strike. American and Jordanian forces employed more than 100 precision munitions, launched from aircraft and ground-based systems, to strike and destroy over 70 ISIS targets across northern and central Syria.

Court documents say that Jeffrey Epstein threatened to burn down an unidentified victim’s home if she disclosed that he had stolen and sold photographs of her sisters, who were 12 and 16 at the time, taken at a swimming pool in September 1996.

A U.S. Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) was loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III at a base in the Middle East on Friday, December 19, in preparation for tonight’s retaliatory strikes against ISIS in Syria, known as Operation Hawkeye Strike.

U.S. Air Force F-15E “Strike Eagle” multirole strike fighters and A-10C Thunderbolt II “Warthog” close air support aircraft, along with U.S. Army AH-64E “Apache” attack helicopters, launched from bases across the Middle East to take part in tonight’s large-scale retaliatory strikes against ISIS-affiliated targets in Syria.

On Tuesday, December 16, the U.S. Navy conducted the first-ever launch of a new one-way attack drone—modeled on Iran’s Shahed-136—from the flight deck of the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) while transiting the Arabian Sea. The drone, known as the Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), was launched and operated by Task Force 59 under Task Force Scorpion Strike, a one-way attack drone unit recently deployed to the Middle East.

Footage appears to show ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles being launched from U.S. Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) during tonight’s large-scale retaliatory strikes on ISIS-affiliated targets in northern and central Syria.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle announced today that, less than a month after canceling the Constellation-class frigate program being built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, the Navy has chosen the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutter as the foundation for a new class of frigates. The ships will be constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Huntington Ingalls Industries recently ended production of the Legend-class National Security Cutter for the U.S. Coast Guard after completing ten vessels. Due to significant ongoing delays and a substantial construction backlog at HII, the first frigate based on the NSC design is not expected to be completed until 2030 or later.

A Russian Orlan-10 surveillance drone has been found intact in the İzmit District of Kocaeli Province in northwestern Turkey, about 50 miles east of Istanbul and more than 350 miles from Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Russia, in what appears to be another significant violation of NATO and Turkish airspace.

US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker: Ukraine should also be prepared to fight in 2026.

Putin dismissed claims of a Russian attack on Europe as “nonsense,” saying such rhetoric is driven by internal political motives. He argued it is meant to mask years of economic and social policy failures, questioning what happened to Europe’s green agenda and when power plants would reopen. He described the situation as “mistake after mistake,” adding that leaders are now trying to shift responsibility onto “evil Russia.”