An F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), takes off from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) during an air defense exercise March 23, 2020. US Marine Corps
KUALA LUMPUR — The State Department signed off on a Japanese buy of 105 F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters and associated equipment, according to a Thursday notification to Congress. Read More
U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin receive COVID-19 test at Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin in NT, Australia on June 18, 2020. US Marine Photo
A Marine assigned to the rotational force in Northern Australia has tested positive for COVID-19, the service announced early Friday. Read More
Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don heading for the Mediterranean Sea. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet recently has been deploying its submarines to the Mediterranean, despite a decades-old international treaty which many thought would prevent those deployments. Read More
The following is the June 30, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Russian Armed Forces: Capabilities. Read More
The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) transit the South China Sea on July 6, 2020. US Navy Photo
The U.S. and Chinese navies are holding competing naval exercises in the South China Sea, as the Beijing accuses Washington of militarizing the region. Read More
Sailors perform pre-flight checks on an E-2D Hawkeye from Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 125 on the flight deck aboard the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) during flight operations on Aug. 16, 2019. US Navy Photo
The State Department approved a possible sale of three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to France, in a deal that would bring the U.S. and French carrier air wings even closer together. Read More
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 6, 2020, 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
Chinese leader Xi Jinping aboard a PLA NAvy ship. Xinhua photo
Confrontational or irrational moves by Chinese warships and planes may not be actions of a “rogue commander” but rather decisions by a political commissar, a new report describes. Read More
Russia’s Baltic Fleet. Russian Ministry of Defense photo.
Russia’s massive 70-warship Ocean Shield exercise in the Baltic Sea last year signaled the Kremlin’s intention to be the dominating Arctic power militarily and economically, two international security experts said Tuesday. Read More
A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time on March 19, 2020. US Navy Photo
The best way to counter China’s and Russia’s high-tech advances is to change the Pentagon’s and Congress’ risk-aversion culture and embrace quicker – but still robust – testing and fielding of programs, a senior defense official said Tuesday. Read More
