Category Archives: Aviation

Large Scale Exercise 2023 Was Custom Built to Push Fleet to the Limit, Say Planners

By: Sam LaGrone

August 16, 2023 8:44 PM

Airman Steven Wilcoxson, from Visalia, California, pulls a refueling hose aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 2023. U.S. Navy Photo

ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER – Fresh from a training exercise off the coast of Virginia, the Navy’s second oldest carrier is getting minor repairs while moored at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. But just below the flight deck of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), the staff of Carrier Strike Group 2 was fighting a war in Europe. Read More →

Navy, Marines Send Aid to Hawaii, Papua New Guinea Following Disasters

By: Heather Mongilio

August 10, 2023 7:02 PM

Coast Guard, along with federal, state, and local partners continue to respond following the Lahaina wildfires in Maui, Hawaii on Aug. 9, 2023. Coast Guard Photo

Naval and Marine Corps assets are responding to natural disasters in Hawaii and Papua New Guinea, the Pentagon announced Thursday. Read More →

Spying Targets Point to Chinese Interest in Amphibious Warfare, Experts Say

By: Sam LaGrone

August 10, 2023 5:47 PM

USS Essex (LHD-2), front, transits the Indian Ocean with the guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG-77) on Jan. 9, 2022. US Navy Photo

The material two alleged spies for China provided to their handlers point to a sustained interest from the People’s Liberation Army in amphibious operations as threats to Taiwan grow, two naval experts told USNI News. Read More →

First Marine Corps MQ-9A Reaper Squadron Now Operational

By: Aaron-Matthew Lariosa

August 8, 2023 6:29 PM

Marine Corps MQ-9A MUX/MALE is formally unveiled during a ceremony for Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU-3), Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Aug 2, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU 3) introduced its new Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles in a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, last week. Read More →

CO: In Australia, Marine Rotational Force-Darwin is at the ‘Cutting Edge’ of Force Design

By: Gidget Fuentes

August 8, 2023 2:28 PM

A U.S. Marine with India Co., 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 23 provides security during Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 at Lakeside Airpark, Queensland, Australia, July 28, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

What began with 250 American Marines and sailors at Australia’s “Top End” 12 years ago has grown into a Marine air-ground task force of 2,500 that spends its seven-month rotation spread across Australia and the western Pacific. Read More →

VIDEO: China Coast Guard Blast Philippine Military Resupply with Water Cannons

By: Dzirhan Mahadzir

August 7, 2023 4:39 PM

Philippine Military resupply mission was hit with a water canon from a Chinese Coast Guard cutter. Philippine Military Photo

China Coast Guard cutters disrupted an Armed Forces of the Philippines resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, including instances where they fired water cannons, a Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson said Monday. Read More →

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Aug. 7, 2023

August 7, 2023 1:46 PM

USNI News Photo

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Aug. 7, 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 →

13th MEU Pacific Deployment Expanded Marine F-35 Operations, Tested Contested Logistics, Says CO

By: Gidget Fuentes

August 1, 2023 2:33 PM

A Marine Corps F-35B Lighting II pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepares to land on the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8), March 31, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s recently-completed deployment across the Pacific started out with the Marine Corps’ first operational deployment of a full squadron of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and closed out with a sinking of an old warship during an exercise in the South China Sea. Read More →

Joint Task Force – Red Hill Finishes Defueling Surge Tanks

By: Heather Mongilio

July 31, 2023 5:33 PM

Civilian personnel assigned to Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH) secure a fuel pump in preparation for draining the surge tanks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (RHBFSF) on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii, July 25, 2023. US Marine Corps Photos

Joint Task Force – Red Hill finished removing fuel from surge tanks Friday, the task force announced in a Friday news release. Read More →

Joint Russian, Chinese Flotilla Underway Off Japan; Recovery Operations Begin for Crashed Australian Helicopter