For the first time in ten months, a U.S. aircraft carrier is now operating in the Persian Gulf, U.S. 5th Fleet announced on Friday morning. Read More
Category Archives: Foreign Forces
Esper: Unmanned Vessels Will Allow the Navy to Reach 355-Ship Fleet
Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks to sailors aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on Sept. 17, 2020, during a visit to California. USNI News photo.
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CARL VINSON, OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA – Defense Secretary Mark Esper told sailors today that heavy investment in unmanned systems would be key to the Navy reaching 355 or more ships and having the lethality and survivability needed if a conflict were to break out with China. Read More
Joint Force Command Norfolk Reaches Initial Operational Capability
Sailors from the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) man the rails as the ship departs Haakonsvern, Norway, on Feb. 4, 2019. US Navy photo.
NATO’s Joint Force Command Norfolk has achieved initial operational capability, with plans to be fully operational by the end of next year, the head of the command said on Thursday. Read More
U.S. Admiral Talks 3rd Chinese Aircraft Carrier: ‘Go Ahead and Build that Big Ship’
Chinese carrier Shandong. PLA Photo
China’s pursuit of more aircraft carriers validates the U.S. Navy’s commitment to building more American aircraft carriers in the future, the U.S. admiral in charge of providing forces to the fleet said on Thursday. Read More
Esper Opens Door to Boosting Navy’s Shipbuilding Budget to Fund New Force Structure
Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks in the Pentagon Briefing Room, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 14, 2020. DoD Photo
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Defense Secretary Mark Esper is open to increasing Navy budgets to support a new shipbuilding plan and future force design, he said today in a speech at RAND Corporation’s Los Angeles office. Read More
Pompeo: ‘Tide Has Turned’ Against China’s Tech Espionage, Financial Pressure on Other Nations
Chinese sailors watch a People’s LIberation Army Navy (PLAN) pull into Djibouti. Xinhua Photo
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China is operating under a “fundamentally false assumption” that the United States is “a declining nation” rather than a country fully committed to preserving a rules-based world. Read More
ASEAN, China Still Negotiating to Keep Law Enforcement Disputes From Becoming Naval Conflicts
USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) conducts routine operations near the Panamanian flagged drill ship, West Capella on May 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
Indonesia and Malaysia increasingly depend on their coast guards to assert maritime sovereignty, but these forces don’t have agreed-upon regional rules of behavior to keep clashes with China over fisheries and energy exploration from escalating into crises, three South China Sea experts said Monday. Read More
U.S. Forces Korea CO: North Korea Showing No Signs of Regime Instability
Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea commander, US Forces Korea at Osan Air Base, ROK on June 12, 2020. US Air Force Photo
North Korea is not showing any signs of lashing out against South Korea or Japan or launching a deliberate provocation as the American presidential election nears, the senior commander on the peninsula said Thursday. Read More
U.S. Carriers Resume Port Visits to Oman After 7-Month Gap
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) docks pier side in the port of Duqm, Oman in 2014. US Navy Photo
After seven months, U.S. aircraft carriers have resumed making port calls in Oman, U.S. 5th Fleet officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Analyst: China Exceeded Expectations in Speed of Naval Growth
Chinese sailors. Xinhua Photo
China surpassed every American security planners’ expectations in its successful building and deploying of the world’s largest maritime fleet in just 20 years, a leading naval strategist said Wednesday. The question now is what Beijing’s military and paramilitary forces will look like in the future. Read More
