Category Archives: Aviation

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

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

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

Joint Task Force – Red Hill Finishes Defueling Surge Tanks

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

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: July 31, 2023

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: July 31, 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 July 31, 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

China Taking Hard Line on Military Flybys, Freedom of Navigation Operations, Says Panel

China Taking Hard Line on Military Flybys, Freedom of Navigation Operations, Says Panel

A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the PLA Air Force soars into the sky during a high-intensity flight training exercise in early Feb. 2023. PLA Photo

Dialing back Western Pacific freedom of navigation operations and military flights runs a “very high risk” of sending the wrong message to Beijing about U.S. intentions in the Indo-Pacific, security experts said Wednesday. Read More

Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Ready to Deploy After COMPTUEX

Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Ready to Deploy After COMPTUEX

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the Italian navy Carlo Bergamini-class frigate ITS Virginio Fasan (F 591) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) steam in formation while conducting a simulated strait transit July 4, 2023. US Navy Photo

The second oldest U.S. aircraft carrier is back in port after wrapping a month’s worth of exercises ahead of a deployment later this year. Read More

Marines Activate First Tomahawk Battery

Marines Activate First Tomahawk Battery

Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Manwarren, the senior enlisted advisor and field artillery chief for Long Range Missile Battery A, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, salutes the colors during the battery’s activation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps stood up its first-ever Tomahawk cruise missile battery at Camp Pendleton, Calif., last week. Read More

HII Wins $528M San Diego Aircraft Carrier Maintenance Contract

HII Wins $528M San Diego Aircraft Carrier Maintenance Contract

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), lead ship of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, returned to Naval Air Station North Island on Aug. 11, 2022, after a deployment to U.S. 3rd and 7th Fleets in support of maritime secuirty operations to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. U.S. Navy Photo

Newport News Shipbuilding won a $528.4 million contract to maintain U.S. Navy aircraft carriers in California, according to a Monday Pentagon contract announcement. Read More

25,000 Sailors, Marines to Prepare for Global Conflict in Large Scale Exercise 2023

25,000 Sailors, Marines to Prepare for Global Conflict in Large Scale Exercise 2023

Operations Specialist 2nd Class Jeffery Barton, from San Diego, updates a status in the combat information center (CIC) onboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) on June 30, 2023. US Navy Photo

The Navy and Marines are taking a second crack at an exercise that will simulate a massive global conflict and connect the actions from a single sailor at a radar console up through the decisions made by the Secretary of Defense, service officials announced on Monday. Read More