Periscope Depth 05/4/2023

U.S. Navy Struggles To Devise Game Plan for Decommissioning Nuclear Carriers
Aja Melville

The U.S. Navy announced it would be working with Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding to determine the requirements to defuel and dispose of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz (CVN-68). This will be the second nuclear-powered carrier to be disposed of after the decommissioning of the Enterprise (CV-65) in 2017. The size of these ships has posed a problem for the Navy, leaving disposal plans in limbo for several years. However, the collaboration between the Navy and HII will likely establish precedents for dismantling all future nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Six years after being decommissioned, the USS Enterprise is still awaiting dismantlement. Being the first nuclear-powered carrier to undergo the tedious task, the Navy has run into issues, including cost, environmental impact, and general know-how.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates the cost of decommissioning to be over $1 billion, compared to the cost of past nuclear submarines decommissioned at $26 million. Although the Navy has experience deactivating more than 130 nuclear-powered ships, dismantling a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier has proven to be a different kind of challenge...

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Leaves a Large Industrial Footprint
Tom Freebairn

In a recent speech, Hossein Salami, leader of Iran’s influential Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), discussed the importance of investment into local businesses and self-sufficient domestic industry. In particular, he lauded the contributions of the Khatam al-Anbiya, a major IRGC-owned construction and engineering conglomerate, as a testament to the capabilities of a strong and independent Iran. Despite being conceived as guardians of the Islamic revolution, in essence the armed wing of the revolutionary clergy, the IRGC has greatly expanded its portfolio in recent decades. The outsized role of the Guards is dramatically visible in the economic and industrial spheres of the country, with some reports claiming they have taken over the economy entirely.

Following the devastation of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the IRGC was tasked with leading the rebuilding of infrastructure and industry, leading to the creation of Khatam al-Anbiya. Since then, IRGC-affiliated companies have flourished, capitalizing on Iranian economic growth to gain footholds across myriad industries.

A CSIS report from 2020 estimated that Khatam al-Anbiya controlled 812 subsidiary companies worth billions of dollars. The political influence of the IRGC translates heavily to its business interests, which frequently receive no-bid contracts and kickbacks from the government. IRGC companies permeate construction, mining, banking, shipping, and oil ventures across the nation, with both tacit and direct support from Tehran...

ISIS' Bloody April
Julian Lark

Saturday, April 29, 2023, marked the 150th and final day of Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi’s reign as the fourth caliph of the Islamic State (ISIS), reports Reuters.

According to a senior Turkish security official, special forces from the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) blasted their way through the perimeter fence, back door, and walls of his two-story home in Jindires, Syria. While refusing to surrender, Qurayshi detonated the suicide vest he was wearing.

Turkish officials reported that MIT’s forces were protected by a perimeter of Turkish-backed Syrian militants. Northwest Syria has become ISIS’ last haven after it was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, but Turkey backs several militant groups in the area.

According to various sources, Turkish operatives were supported by Iraqi and U.S. intelligence – including human penetration of ISIS and advanced signals intelligence.

Qurayshi’s death marks the end of a bloody April for ISIS...

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