The jet “experienced an incident involving collapse of the nose landing gear” on Jan. 26, a Marine spokeswoman said. The Pentagon acknowledged an American MQ-9 Reaper drone went down recently in the Red Sea amid an ongoing battle with Houthi militants in the region. U.S. Pacific Fleet head Adm. Samuel Paparo announced the new unit at the West 2024 conference in San Diego. The autonomous MQ-4C Triton intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting drone can fly for more than 24 hours. The U.S. struck more than 85 Iran-backed targets on Feb. 2 in retaliation for the deaths of three American soldiers in January. Two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said that a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander was targeted in a U.S. strike on Wednesday in Iraq. U.S. troops will likely be staying put at Tower 22 and other remote outposts in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, according to the Pentagon. The Pentagon has insisted that the barrage of attacks by Iran-backed militants, and United States retaliatory strikes, don’t amount to war. The U.S. launched retaliatory strikes on sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias in retaliation for the weekend drone attack in Jordan. Dignified transfers have become relatively uncommon in recent years as the U.S. has withdrawn from conflicts abroad. Load More