USS Freedom (LCS 1) gets underway on May, 17. Freedom is underway as part of the Republic of Singapore Navy’s Western Pacific Multi-lateral Sea Exercise (WMSX). US Navy Photo
The Navy’s first littoral combat ship — USS Freedom (LCS-1) — has suffered a maintenance issue forcing it back to port during its first extended underway from Singapore, according to reports from Defense News and Aviation Week. Read More
Rear Adm. Ted Branch, commander of Naval Air Force, Atlantic, speaks to Sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in 2012. US Navy Photo
A previous version of this story cited an incorrect figure for the number of lost aircrew in the Navy and Marine Corps from 1949 to 1988. That actual number of was not 5,000, but 8,500. USNI News regrets the error.
It will take less time for China to learn how to effectively operate aircraft carriers than it took the U.S., the commander of the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic air arm, Rear Adm. Ted Branch said Wednesday. Read More
Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander, United Nations Command, Republic of Korea – United States Combined Forces command, and United States Forces Korea onboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on May, 11 2013. US Navy Photo
Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) has left Busan, Korea for joint exercises between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea, according to a Monday statement from U.S. 7th Fleet.
“The operations are taking place beyond the territorial seas of any coastal nations and are intended to reinforce regional security and stability, enhance interoperability with our allies, and increase operational proficiency and readiness,” read the statement. Read More
USAF Gen Philip Breedlove assumed command of EUCOM from retiring Adm James Stavridis on May, 10.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove has officially taken the helm as Commander U.S. forces in Europe; as Commander, European Command; and as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in a Friday ceremony in Stuttgart, Germany.
Breedlove was previously commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa. He is a 1977 graduate of Georgia Tech, a command pilot with 3,500 hours primarily in F-16s and was previously Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Read More
A naval honor guard at the in 2012 on board the Liaoning. Xinhua News Agency Photo
China’s acquisition of its first operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has generated headlines of late. Those reports have included questions about how many additional carriers Beijing intends acquiring.
Air power is crucial to naval power, and Chinese officers have long expressed interest in acquiring aircraft carriers. Many reports of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) carrier construction were published during the final quarter of the last century; President Jiang Zemin may have given the Navy permission to begin carrier design in the mid-1990s. Read More
From the summary of the U.N. Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns. The report calls for a suspension of lethal robotic technology until international rules can be drafted:
Lethal autonomous robotics (LARs) are weapon systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. They raise far-reaching concerns about the protection of life during war and peace. This includes the question of the extent to which they can be programmed to comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law and the standards protecting life under international human rights law. Read More
The following is from the executive summary of the Pentagon’s report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2012, released Thursday.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) remains one of the United States’
most critical security challenges in Northeast Asia. North Korea remains a security threat because of its willingness to undertake provocative and destabilizing behavior, including attacks on the Republic of Korea (ROK), its pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, and its willingness to proliferate weapons in contravention of its international agreements and United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Read More
Henry Rollins at the US Naval Academy Museum on April, 30 2013. US Naval Institute Photo
Henry Rollins is a musician, activist and world traveler. Though a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, he participated in several USO tours for troops involved in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
USNI News spoke with Rollins on Tuesday about his experiences on tour with the U.S. Navy, a trip to North Korea and visit to the USS Pueblo (AGER-2). Read More
Marine with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 12.2. US Marine Corps Photo
Marines are building on decades of experience in fielding responsive Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs)—embarked on board Navy Amphibious Ready Groups, (ARGs)—to deliver an even faster first punch.
The new Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response (MAGTF-CR), will operate in the Mediterranean to give the United States quicker response times to trouble in Africa and the Middle East. Instead of a ship-deployed force, the unit will be based around a company of infantry Marines, six MV-22 Ospreys, and two KC-130J Hercules fixed-wing aircraft. This is a surprising move for a Marine Corps that wants to return to amphibious roots. Read More
Syrian protestors asking for a no-fly zone in 2011. European Pressphoto Agency
With the human toll mounting, the United States getting more involved in training, aid, and arms transfers, and continued calls for intervention, U.S. policymakers are grappling with the administration’s relatively non-interventionist stance on Syria. U.S. concerns about the increasing power of jihadist groups within rebel ranks, the possibility of loose chemical weapons, and the overarching desire to shorten the conflict remain. How has the course of events changed the logic of a no-fly zone, or intervention to secure chemical weapons? Read More