Republic of Korea Navy sailor holding U.S. flag
The Korean War of 1950-1953 was concluded by a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, and the three powers—South Korea, North Korea and the United States—are still technically at war. A new conflict on the Korean peninsula would see the commitment of a new, reinvigorated Republic of Korea Navy, an aging, weakened North Korean Navy and an American fleet providing the only ballistic missile defense capability for the region. Read More
USS George Washington (CVN-73) and its strike group in 2013. The House voted to refuel the carrier rather than decommission the ship early Thursday morning. US Navy Photo
House defense lawmakers soundly rejected proposed Pentagon cuts to a number of big-ticket weapons programs in their version of the department’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget blueprint. Read More
An artist’s rendering of Sikorsky’s bid for the VXX presidential helicopter. Sikorsky Photo
The U.S. Navy has selected the Sikorsky S-92 for the VXX Presidential Helicopter program as part of a $1.24 billion contract award. The helicopter will be known as Marine One when the president is aboard, according to a Wednesday Pentagon contract announcement. Read More
Chinese ships firing water cannons at Vietnamese patrol vessels. Vietnam National Border Committee Photo
Vietnamese officials accused Chinese ships of ramming patrol boats on May 3, near the $1 billion Chinese oil rig operating in waters both Beijing and Hanoi claim as their exclusive territory. Read More
INS Vikramaditya on Jan. 6, 2014. Indian Navy Photo
India’s newest aircraft carrier — INS Vikramaditya — is underway on an operational deployment, according to the new head of the Indian Navy said on Wednesday. Read More
USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) launches a Standard Missile (SM) 2 during a live-fire test of the ship’s Aegis weapons system on Feb. 8, 2014. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy’s Aegis program was born as the solution to a physics problem: Given that hostile variable-geometry wing Soviet Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers travel at speeds approaching Mach 2, what would a ship-based radar and missile system need to do to hurl an object into the air to intercept an object flying at almost twice the speed of sound?
The first CH-53K King Stallion US Marine Corps heavy lift helicopter. Sikorsky Photo
Sikorsky Aircraft rolled out the U.S. Marine Corps’ first CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter during a ceremony in Florida on Monday. Read More
Russian ship Moscow in 2009.
Russia will undertake a significant naval increase in the Black Sea following the Russian seizure of Crimea, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a Tuesday teleconference. Read More
An EA-18G Growler launches from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo
ST. LOUIS — The U.S. Navy formally took delivery of the 100th Boeing EA-18G Growler during an elaborate Monday ceremony in which the company stumped for Congress to buy beyond the Navy’s current program of record of 138 aircraft. Read More
China National Offshore Oil Corporation Oil rig. CNOOC Photo
Vietnamese officals are calling the presence of an offshore Chinese oilrig off the coast of Vietnam “illegal and invalid,” fueling ongoing territorial disputes between Hanoi and Beijing, according to a Monday report by the Reuters wire service. Read More
