Today's D Brief: Iranian warship sinks; NATO defense chiefs’ agenda; Ransomware hits meat industry;

[rangerrebew]

 Today's D Brief: Iranian warship sinks; NATO defense chiefs’ agenda; Ransomware hits meat industry; No new Air Force Two; And just a bit more.
By Ben Watson
June 2, 2021 10:46 AM ET

    The D Brief

Iran’s largest navy ship caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman, Tehran’s state-run media reported Wednesday.

Involved: a vessel called the Kharg, which Iran’s Tasnim news agency referred to as a “training and logistical ship.” The New York Times calls it “a naval replenishment ship” that is also “Iran’s largest vessel by tonnage weight.”

It had been in service for more than four decades, but went under Wednesday after “Twenty hours of efforts by military and civilian organizations to extinguish the fire were futile as the fire spread to different parts of the naval ship, which finally sank,” according to the Iranian navy.

The fire began around 2:30 a.m. local, and forced the 400-member crew to flee, 20 of whom were injured in the process, Iranian Fars news agency reported.

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/06/the-d-brief-june-02-2021/174438/

[AARguy]

The Kharg was a helicopter tender. While designed to repair helicopters, it was outfitted with more than a few elevators that could raise/lower helicopters to/from below decks. This capability allowed it serve as a helicopter carrier of sorts. This capability could also be used to raise/lower SCUD rocket TELs (Transporter.Erector/Launcher) from below decks into firing position on the main deck. The Kharg was often parked in mid Atlantic to serve as a support ship for other vessels going to/from Cuba. Speculation had it that this mission was also used to practice possible future use as a SCUD launching station once nukes became available. The Kharg was totally capable of accommodating North-Korean-provided "SUPERSCUDS" which are designed to hold larger payloads than conventional SCUD's.