Category Archives: Aviation

UPDATED: U.S. MQ-9 Drone Crashes in Black Sea After Collision with Russian Fighter; Recovery Options Unclear

UPDATED: U.S. MQ-9 Drone Crashes in Black Sea After Collision with Russian Fighter; Recovery Options Unclear

MQ-9 Reaper UAV. US Air Force Photo

This story has been updated to add comments from Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, as well as information on recovery efforts.

The Pentagon is not yet saying whether the U.S. will try to recover an unmanned MQ-9 Reaper aircraft that ditched into international waters Tuesday after a Russian Su-27 aircraft collided with it midair over the Black Sea.
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FY 2024 Budget: Pentagon Asks for  $30.6B to Beef Up Munitions Stockpile Citing Lessons from Ukraine War

FY 2024 Budget: Pentagon Asks for  $30.6B to Beef Up Munitions Stockpile Citing Lessons from Ukraine War

SM-6 launches from guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on Aug. 29, 2017. MDA Photo

THE PENTAGON ­– The rapid drawdown of the U.S. munitions stockpile to feed the demand of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict prompted the Department of Defense to ramp up its acquisition of everything from missiles to artillery shells, senior defense officials told reporters on Monday. Read More

GAO Report on Weapon Sustainment

GAO Report on Weapon Sustainment

The following is the March 2023 Government Accountability Office study, Weapons Systems Sustainment: DOD Needs to Improve Its Reporting for Warehousing Pilot Program. Read More

UPDATED: Chinese Rocket that Delivered Military Spy Satellites Breaks Up Over Texas

UPDATED: Chinese Rocket that Delivered Military Spy Satellites Breaks Up Over Texas

The June 23, 2022 launch of three spy satlittles aboard a Long March rocket. The second stage from this launch broke up over Texas on Wednesday.

This post has been updated with a statement from U.S. Space Command and additional information on the path of the debris. 

The second stage of a Chinese rocket that delivered a trio of military surveillance satellites in June disintegrated over Texas on Wednesday, USNI News has learned. Read More

Congress Notified of Potential $1.4B E-2D Hawkeye Sale to Japan

Congress Notified of Potential $1.4B E-2D Hawkeye Sale to Japan

An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, assigned to the ‘Black Eagles’ of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 113, recovers on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), Feb. 5, 2022. US Navy Photo

The State Department issued a notification of the potential sale of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft to Japan, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced today. Read More

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 6, 2023

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 6, 2023

USNI News Graphic

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of March 6, 2023, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship. Read More