Brought to You by the Members of the U.S. Naval Institute
An undated picture of a Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrol craft.
Some critics attribute the increased number of aggressive air-to-air intercepts and incidents at sea to what they argue is the current administration’s weak foreign policy. That claim raises some interesting points when analyzed. There is a strong counter-argument to such claims. Read More
MQ-8C Fire Scout returns from a test mission on the Point Mugu Sea Range in Point Mugu, Calif. US Navy Photo
Naval Air Systems Command awarded Northrop Grumman a $108.1 million contract for ten MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned rotary wing aircraft last week, according to a Pentagon contract announcement. Read More
The Navy conducts its first live fire demonstration to successfully test the integration of F-35 with existing Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air architecture, Sept. 12, 2016. US Navy Photo
A Monday test pairing a Lockheed Martin F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) with an Aegis Combat System armed with a Raytheon Standard Missile-6 is the latest step in expanding how the Navy and Marine Corps will share data on future battlefields. Read More
The MK 45 5-inch lightweight gun and superstructure aboard USS Carney (DDG-64) while on patrol in the Mediterranean Sea on Sept. 6, 2016. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to correct that Adm. Phil Davidson was speaking about destroyers when discussing the elimination of sonar shacks onboard ships.
HAMPTON, VA. — The Navy took risk in many of its destroyer fleet’s mission sets during a period of uncontested operations at sea, and U.S. Fleet Forces Command has now been tasked with regaining sea control and all-domain access. Read More
Chinese sailors welcome the Russian Navy destroyer Admiral Tributs (564) in Zhanjiang, China on Sept. 12, 2016. Xinhua Photo
China and Russia kicked off more than a week of naval exercises in the South China Sea that will include an “island seizing” exercise, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on Monday. Read More
Col. Anthony M. Henderson, commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, addresses the Marines and Sailors aboard the USS New Orleans on April, 4 2016. US Marine Corps Photo
CAMP PENDLETON, CALIF. — With a short, “you’re dismissed,” Col. Anthony “Tony” Henderson gave the Marines and Navy personnel staring at him the next order: “Go make babies.” Read More
P-8A Poseidon. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional information on U.S. P-8A deployments to Europe.
A Russian fighter has come within 10 feet of a Navy surveillance flight over the Black Sea on Wednesday, defense officials told USNI News. Read More
Features on a historic photo of USS Independence CVL-22 are captured in a three-dimensional (3D) low-resolution sonar image of the shipwreck in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Coda Octopus Echoscope 3D sonar, integrated on the Boeing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Echo Ranger, imaged the shipwreck during the first maritime archaeological survey. NOAA image.
This post has been updated with additional details of a 2015 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expedition to assess the condition of USS Independence (CVL-22)
The dives of E/V Nautilus’ remotely operated vehicles on a sunken World War II carrier off the Farallon Islands is the first in a “New Vector” partnership between Robert Ballard and his team and the Naval Historical Foundation (NHF)—and the first step in his multi-year “Victory at Sea” exploration plan. Read More
USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test involving the launch of a medium-range ballistic missile target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility located on Kauai, Hawaii on May 17, 2016. MDA Photo
MOORESTOWN, N.J. – A planned October ballistic missile defense test from an Aegis destroyer will be the first outing for Lockheed Martin’s upgraded integrated air and missile defense software build, company officials told USNI News last week. Read More
The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), left, and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. US Navy photo.
As a navalist, think-tanker, and defense consultant, I get to spend a lot of time among very intelligent people thinking about the future of naval operations. Over the course of my work this past summer, I’ve come to focus on what I believe to be a serious problem for a Navy faced with increasingly difficult great-power contenders. Read More
