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DARPA demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system (UAS). DAPRA Image
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Marine Corps and Navy are preparing for a high-end fight that will require ships to be distributed across the ocean rather than clustered around an aircraft carrier, and the Marines’ future Group 5 unmanned aerial system will give them the airborne early warning capability to break free from the carrier and its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye early warning aircraft. Read More
A crane moves the lower stern into place on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) at Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. on June 22, 2017. HII Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee is looking for more information from the Navy before it will support buying additional ships in Fiscal Year 2019, which its House counterparts wholeheartedly endorsed doing. Read More
Architect of the Capitol photo.
With a focus on restoring readiness and lethality to the military, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, approving their funding plan for the military and mapping out some policy priorities.
Students at Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) train on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Full Mission Bridge (FMB) simulator in 2016. US Navy Photo
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) is pushing a trio of legislative reform efforts to professionalize surface warfare officer training and simplify command and control for forward forces in an effort to prevent avoidable mishaps like the two fatal collisions the U.S. Navy suffered in 2017. Read More
A naval soldier of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) views through a pair of binoculars onboard China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning as it visits a military harbour on the South China Sea. Xinhua Photo
As tensions with the West continue to rise, Beijing will continue to defend its interests economically, diplomatically and militarily if necessary, China’s chief envoy to the U.S. said on Friday. Read More
An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Blue Hawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 78 participates in a change of command ceremony near the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on Jan. 15, 2018. US Navy Photo
The House Armed Services Committee added to its annual defense bill provisions allowing the military to buy more F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters if the program could achieve sufficient cost-savings, addressing the health and future of the MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopter, encouraging the Navy to continue buying aircraft carriers every three years, and more. Read More
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem (DDG 63) and USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) undergo routine maintenance at Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka on June 16, 2017. Stethem is forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. US Navy photo.
The House Armed Services Committee debated how to balance ensuring that all forces throughout the Navy are equally ready for battle when they deploy versus ensuring the U.S. Pacific Fleet is nimble enough to respond to whatever military crisis or natural disaster may arise – with the majority of lawmakers ultimately deciding they wanted the Navy to enforce a single standard of readiness. Read More
Pilots stand on the flight deck of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) on July 30, 2017. US Navy Photo
A policy that would let Navy and Marine Corps pilots flow in and out between active duty, the reserves and civilian work may be the way for the sea services to address aviation retention shortfalls, the nominee for the department’s top civilian manpower post told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday. Read More
From the left, Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary James Mattis; and David Norquist, Defense Department comptroller and chief financial officer; give testimony on the DoD budget posture on May 9, 2018. DoD photo.
Defense Secretary James Mattis called Moscow’s strategy of threatening to use low-yield nuclear weapons to get its way “bellicose and cavalier,” and he said the administration’s plan to develop America’s own low-yield nuclear weapons and deploy them on submarines would checkmate the Kremlin. Read More
President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly look on as Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft speaks during the 136th Coast Guard Academy commencement exercise in New London, Conn., May 17, 2017.
US Coast Guard photo.
Repealing the law that requires coastal cargo shipping to be done in American vessels with American crews “could have severe repercussions” for the United States such as leading to the closure of federal and state maritime academies and imperiling the long-term health of the nation’s shipbuilding industry, the Coast Guard commandant warned Tuesday. Read More
