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Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) John Jacob directs an F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) on March 5, 2018. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON — All U.S. and international variants of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter operations were paused to conduct a fleet-wide inspection of a part in the aircraft’s engine, according to a Thursday morning statement. Read More
The following is the Oct. 10, 2018 Government Accountability Office report, Air Force Readiness: Actions Needed to Rebuild Readiness and Prepare for the Future. Read More
Airman Louis Calderon wipes down the window of an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the “Fighting Checkmates” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 211 on the flight deck aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on June 2, 2018. US Navy Photo
Pentagon leadership has set an aggressive timeline to improve the health of the Navy’s strike fighter force, according to a new directive from Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis obtained by USNI News. Read More
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71), right, approaches the Lewis and Clark-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) for a replenishment-at-sea in the Mediterranean Sea, Oct. 6, 2018. Ross, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is on its seventh patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests Europe and Africa. US Navy photo.
THE PENTAGON – U.S. and NATO ships are focused on conducting freedom of navigation operations in Europe to push back against a Russia that is increasingly harassing commercial shipping and introducing new anti-access weapons into the theater, according to the head of U.S. naval forces in Europe. Read More
Hurricane Michael’s projected five-day path, National Hurricane Center graphic.
THE PENTAGON — The Navy is in the process of securing aircraft stationed on the Florida panhandle as the Department of Defense monitors Hurricane Michael’s track into the Gulf of Mexico, officials told USNI News on Tuesday.
Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Keelan Freedman, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25, performs maintenance on an MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter in the hangar bay of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. Wasp on Sept. 30, 2018. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Technological advances in production and distribution can strengthen the Navy and Marine Corps aviation parts supply chain the services’ aviation leaders said on Friday. Read More
USNI News Graphic
The USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker is sponsored by CNA. These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Oct. 8, 2018, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the map reflects the location of the capital ship. Read More
The following is the Sept. 27, 2018 Congressional Research Service report, The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions. Read More
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) conducts flight operations in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 18, 2018. US Navy photo.
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is in the midst of an unusual deployment – currently operating in the North Sea, in Act II of its deployment that had a working port visit intermission – but the strike group commander said the deployment has allowed his sailors to focus on high-end warfare and train in ranges not usually available to them. Read More
Test pilot Billie Flynn pilots an F-35C Lightning II test aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., April 4, 2018. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin/Released)
Seeking to install long-term cost savings into what is routinely derided by critics as an overly expensive aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program director worked a new incentive regime into the recently inked contract with Lockheed Martin.
