They have a "much greater effect, typically, than a missile," and can inflict millions of dollars worth of damage for just a few thousand bucks a pop. And they're pretty effective too: naval mines have caused 77% of all U.S. Navy ship casualties since 1950, per the Strauss Center at the University of Texas.
In port, the 80,000-tonne Fujian aircraft carrier would be impossible to miss. More than 300 metres long and capable of carrying about 60 aircraft, the 5.4bn super-vessel places China second among the world's navies, with three aircraft carriers, though still a long way behind the global leader, the US, which has 11. Yet for all the great power projection of the new warship, nearly 5,000 miles away from its home port another conflict appears to suggest size may not matter.
It's a matter of days now before Battlefield 6 comes out, so EA is celebrating with not just a launch trailer, but a "launch hype trailer." The new video for the FPS features all sorts of explosions, demolition, crashing helicopters, and even a soldier wielding a sledgehammer for a deadly attack. Seen below, the Battlefield 6 launch trailer is all about showing off large-scale warfare. We see buildings getting blown up, aerial combat, and tanks rolling around.
Amid rapid changes in naval warfare, a ship today could find itself suddenly facing a swarm of small, fast, uncrewed vessels ready to strike hard right at the waterline - a potentially critical hit.
