The following is the Department of the Navy document, A Strategic Blueprint for the Arctic that was released on Jan. 5, 2020. Read More
Category Archives: Aviation
UK Royal Navy Declares IOC for Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group Ahead of Spring Deployment
HMS Queen Elizabeth R08 arriving back in Portsmouth July 2, 2020 after a period at sea conducting Operational Sea Training. UK Royal Navy Photo
The U.K. Royal Navy’s first carrier strike group in 38 years has reached Initial Operating Capability (IOC) ahead of its first operational deployment later this year, the U.K. government announced today. Read More
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Jan. 4, 2021
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 Jan. 4, 2021, 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
Pentagon: Carrier USS Nimitz Will Stay in Middle East After Threats from Iran
USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) sail in formation during a scheduled transit of the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 9, 2020. US Navy Photo
Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and its strike group will remain in the Middle East in the wake of threats from officials in the Iranian government on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. killing of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, the Pentagon announced late Sunday. Read More
Nimitz Carrier Strike Group to Return Home from Middle East Deployment
Vice Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, watches the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) from the bridge wing of the coastal patrol ship USS Squall (PC-7) in the Persian Gulf on Nov. 8, 2020. US Navy Photo
USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and its carrier strike group will begin transiting from Africa to their West Coast homeports after the acting defense secretary announced today their deployment would be coming to a close. Read More
Top Stories 2020: International Naval Operations
Motor Tanker (M/T) Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel who fast roped aboard the ship from an Iranian Sea King helicopter as it hovered above on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
Like the U.S., international navies grappled with not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but regional security concerns from China’s naval expansion and operations in the Pacific to Iranian and Russian operations in the Middle East. Read More
Report to Congress on Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense
The following is the Dec. 23, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Top Stories 2020: Marine Corps Acquisition
The Bell V-247 tiltrotor is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) that will combine the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, and would provide long-endurance persistent expeditionary and surveillance and fires capabilities. The Marines had been considering this type of capability for their shipboard Group 5 UAS program, MUX, before the program was restructured in mid 2020. Bell Image
This post has been updated to clarify that the Marine Corps has begun experimenting with a Marine Littoral Regiment formation, but has not yet formally stood up the unit.
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
The Marine Corps’ acquisition efforts this year focused on pursuing its modernization priorities for force redesign, while balancing years-long acquisition programs. Read More
Fresh from Shipyard and Quarantine, Coast Guard Cutter Stone Heads Out for Southern Atlantic Patrol
USCGC Stone (WMSL-758) departs port in Mississippi on Dec. 22, 2020. Coast Guard Image
The Coast Guard’s newest national security cutter is setting out on its first operational patrol to the Southern Atlantic to counter illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing off South America. Read More
Top Stories 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic
Sailors prepare to man the rails as the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), returns to Yokosuka, Japan following a six-month underway period. US Navy Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic affected almost everything the Navy did in 2020, from the way the service deploys forces, to the way its contractors built ships and weapons, to the way sailors and officers were educated and trained. Read More
