US Navy Turns to AI Firm Domino for Options to Counter Iranian Mineshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5268493-us-navy-turns-ai-firm-domino-options-counter-iranian-mines
US Navy Turns to AI Firm Domino for Options to Counter Iranian Mines
Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 1, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
The US Navy is ramping up its AI capabilities to hunt for Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical shipping lanes, a recently awarded contract shows.
President Donald Trump has said the US Navy is clearing Iranian mines from the strait, a vital sea route for oil shipments, whose disruption is increasingly threatening the global economy.
Sweeping for underwater explosives could take months despite a tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran in their weeks-long war.
The up to $100 million contract for the San Francisco artificial intelligence company Domino Data Lab could quicken this process with software that can teach underwater drones to identify new types of mines in a matter of days.
"Mine-hunting used to be a job for ships," Thomas Robinson, Domino's chief operating officer, said in an interview with Reuters. "It's becoming a job for AI.
The Navy is paying for the platform that lets it train, govern, and field that AI at a speed required for contested waters that block global trade and imperil sailors."
Last week, the US Navy awarded the up to $99.7 million contract to expand Domino's role as the AI backbone of the Navy's Project AMMO - Accelerated Machine Learning for Maritime Operations - a program to make underwater mine detection faster, more accurate, and less dependent on human sailors.
The software integrates data from multiple sensor types, including side-scan sonar and visual imaging systems, and allows the Navy to monitor how well various AI detection models are performing in the field, identify failures, and push corrections to improve performance.
The core of Domino's pitch - and the Navy's wager - is speed. Before the company's involvement, updating the AI models that power the Navy's unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to recognize new or previously unseen mines could take up to six months. Domino says it has cut that cycle to days.
Robinson illustrated the relevance to the Middle East crisis: "If there were UUVs in the Baltic Sea trained on Russian mines, and then they needed to be deployed to the Strait of Hormuz to detect Iranian mines, with Domino's technology, the Navy could be ready in a week rather than a year."
A Navy spokesman was not immediately able to provide comment.
People sit near a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on September 20, 2026. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
Seoul: NKorea Fires Ballistic Missile Into East Sea
People sit near a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on September 20, 2026. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Sunday, South Korea's military said, days after Pyongyang reaffirmed its status as a nuclear-armed state.
The launch came eight days after North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea -- also called the Sea of Japan -- as part of what it later described as a joint firepower drill.
It also followed Pyongyang's rejection this week of a resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog demanding that it halt its nuclear activities.
"Our military detected a ballistic missile launched from the Wonsan area of North Korea towards the East Sea at around 3:00 pm (0600 GMT)," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, according to AFP.
The military said it had stepped up surveillance and vigilance for possible additional launches, while South Korea, the United States and Japan were "closely sharing information" on the missile.
The office of the Japanese prime minister also confirmed the launch, saying on X that the projectile was a "suspected ballistic missile".
Japan's defense ministry later said the projectile had "already fallen", without giving further details.
South Korea's presidential National Security Office convened an emergency security meeting following the launch to review Seoul's response and assess the launch's impact on national security, the presidential office said.
The government called on Pyongyang to "immediately cease" its ballistic missile launches, describing Sunday's firing as a "grave act" that violated UN Security Council resolutions.
North Korea accused "hostile forces" of seeking to end the country's nuclear program during this week's General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A foreign ministry spokesperson said the IAEA resolution "has no effect on the DPRK's position as a nuclear weapons state", using the acronym for North Korea's official name.
North Korea has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state, with its leadership declaring the country's atomic arsenal permanent and irreversible.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, recently said the country's nuclear-armed status was "absolute", and called those hoping for its denuclearization "idiots".
US President Donald Trump said in August that North Korea possessed 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons, while South Korea has put the figure at between 80 and 120.
2 Dead in Mass Drone Barrage on Moscow Aiming to 'Disrupt' Russia's Electionshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5320336-2-dead-mass-drone-barrage-moscow-aiming-disrupt-russias-elections
Emergency services personnel stand around the body of a victim killed in what authorities described as a Ukrainian drone strike on a residential building, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Sofyino settlement in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region, Russia, September, 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
2 Dead in Mass Drone Barrage on Moscow Aiming to 'Disrupt' Russia's Elections
Emergency services personnel stand around the body of a victim killed in what authorities described as a Ukrainian drone strike on a residential building, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Sofyino settlement in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region, Russia, September, 20, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Hundreds of drones targeting Moscow and its surrounding region killed at least two people and damaged a major refinery on the final day of the country's parliamentary elections, the authorities said Sunday.
The capital's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that more than 1,600 drones had been intercepted and shot down, 450 of which were aimed at Moscow.
He accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere with a tightly controlled three-day election that is set to tighten President Vladimir Putin's 26-year grip on power.
"The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed," he said on Telegram, according to AFP.
Moscow regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on the social media platform that at least two people were killed -- a 44-year-old woman and an elderly man -- in two separate locations.
A fire triggered by a drone crashing into a 21-storey building also led to 400 people being evacuated, Vorobyov said. He did not specify the drones' origin.
The attacks come at a time when Kyiv stepped up its long-range drone strike campaign against Russia in recent months, particularly against energy infrastructure to target a vital source of the Kremlin's revenue to fund its war effort, now in its fifth year.
"A facility on the territory of the Moscow Oil Refinery has been damaged, Sobyanin added, noting that no casualties had been reported so far and that emergency services were on the scene.
This major refinery has already been hit by Ukrainian strikes in recent months.
The latest strike comes after US President Donald Trump said Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to target each other's energy facilities.
It also comes after Russians began voting on Friday in the country's first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, setting off a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands.
CENTCOM: Over 1 Billion Crude Oil Barrels Crossed Strait of Hormuz https://english.aawsat.com/world/5320333-centcom-over-1-billion-crude-oil-barrels-crossed-strait-hormuz
CENTCOM: Over 1 Billion Crude Oil Barrels Crossed Strait of Hormuz
A video grab from a clip published by the US Central Command on X, showing its forces operating in the Strait of Hormuz
The United States is working to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as talks between Washington and Tehran remain stalled and the war is in its seventh month.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on Saturday that the US military is continuously working to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and secure, adding that US forces supported the transport of over 1 billion crude oil barrels through the Strait of Hormuz “in the last couple of months” despite an ongoing exchange of strikes with Iran.
“We’ve reached this significant milestone while assisting over 2000 commercial ship transits through the Strait by providing coordinated protection. Clearly momentum is building,” Cooper said in a video posted on social media.
“Thousands of ships have passed through the Strait. Over 1 billion barrels of crude have been shipped from Gulf partners through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has exported zero barrels thanks to our ironclad blockade,” he continued.
The US commander said CENTCOM is working with regional partners, along with insurance and shipping companies, to increase commercial traffic through the waterway.
“We're also working with every partner in the region, enhancing their air defense, forming a new coalition attack drone unit, and keeping the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters open and clear,” Cooper said.
His comments came as the United States and Iran remain locked in a military conflict following the collapse of both the April and June 2026 ceasefire agreements.
The US re-imposed its blockade of Iran's shipping and ports on July 13 in an attempt to cut off oil sales — Tehran's primary source of hard currency — compounding earlier losses from wartime strikes on its energy infrastructure.
CENTCOM said it assisted over 2000 commercial ship transits through the Strait
Iranian-Pakistani Talks
Amid growing concerns over the safety of oil supply routes, Pakistan has recently intensified its contacts with Tehran on regional developments.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi discussed regional developments over the phone on Saturday.
Dar emphasized the importance of “uninterrupted energy supplies and the safe and expeditious passage of ships,” particularly given their impact on developing countries and global supply chains, according to a Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement.
He stressed that dialogue and diplomacy remain the “only viable means” of ensuring peace and stability in the region.
The two sides agreed to maintain close cooperation and meet in New York on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly next week.
On Friday, The Financial Times said Pakistan’s army chief has urged Iran to try to rein in Houthi escalation in the region.
Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Tehran last month to meet Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and other political leaders and has held multiple phone calls with Araghchi — most recently on Thursday, according to Iranian news agency IRNA.
South Korea Does Not Object
Meanwhile, South Korea’s presidential office said Saturday that President Lee Jae Myung’s earlier remarks ruling out troop deployments that could involve the country in a war, did not amount to a “refusal of US President Donald Trump’s request for Seoul to send forces” to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Myung said on Friday he would not deploy military assets to the Middle East in a way that could draw the country into conflict, but Seoul was reviewing whether to play a greater role in safeguarding navigation in the region.
According to The New York Times, Myung pushed back against pressure from the Trump administration when he declared that his country would not deploy troops or military assets to support the US-led war against Iran.
“Lee did not turn down Trump’s request for South Korea’s cooperation on Middle East-related issues during yesterday’s press conference,” the Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday, citing a presidential official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The official said the government was reviewing “practical ways to contribute” in close coordination with the international community.
Seoul will continue to examine concrete options under its stated principle of not intervening in wars or combat, the official added.
Trump’s Major Decision
In Washington, US President Donald Trump has again raised the possibility of a major new military escalation against Iran while keeping the door open to negotiations.
Trump told Axios on Thursday that he was approaching a major decision over whether to restart large-scale attacks against Iran, asking whether he wanted to “go in and annihilate” the Iranian regime.
Trump on Wednesday said he hoped an end to the war against Iran was near. But US officials warned that the conflict had entered an “unsustainable stalemate that is neither full-scale war nor stable peace.”
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