Members of a special battle force stand on China’s missile destroyer Haikou at a naval port in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, June 9, 2014. Xinhua Photo
American allies and partners in the Pacific don’t Washington or Beijing, “to do anything stupid” that would lead to war after the Trump administration takes office in January, retired Rear Adm. Mike McDevitt, USN, said Tuesday. Read More
The following is the 2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that was released this month. Read More
Marines and sailors stand at parade rest while manning the rails of the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) on Oct. 14, 2016. US Marine Corps Photo
Moscow is a “formidable” potential adversary while the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps as “marginal” in meeting today’s requirements, according to a new report from the Heritage Foundation released on Wednesday. Read More
President-elect Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
With an upset win President-elect Donald Trump has an opportunity to positively reset deteriorating U.S.-Philippines relations. The news of his victory was received with much elation by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. While the two executives may appear to be birds of a feather—certainly in their personalities, tactical use of strong language and statements of extreme policy—there are key differences that bring clear limits to the honeymoon period. Read More
U.S. Pacific Command commander Adm. Harry Harris on Feb. 25, 2016 addressing reporters in the Pentagon. DoD News Image
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The head of U.S. forces in the Pacific has not received any official word from Manila to change its defense relationship with the Philippines – despite months of statements to the contrary from firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte. Read More
THE PENTAGON — Much is still unknown about how President-elect Donald Trump will approach defense and foreign policy issues upon taking office in January, given the less than clear and at times contradictory campaign rhetoric over the past 17 months. Read More
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks with Randy Forbes in Forbes’ office on June 13, 2013. Forbes is the likely pick for a Trump administration Secretary of the Navy. US Navy Photos
THE PENTAGON — An advocate for a 350-ship Navy and $20-billion annual shipbuilding budgets and a vocal opponent of Chinese aggression in the Western Pacific will likely be the pick for the next Secretary of the Navy in a Donald Trump Administration, USNI News has learned. Read More
A soldier with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) during the Rim of the Pacific 2014 Exercise. US Navy Photo
Japanese and U.S. forces are set to stage amphibious exercises off of Guam and Tinian as part of a series of bilateral drills that kicked off this week. Read More
Aircraft CF-02, an F-35 Lightning II Carrier Variant attached to the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 completes a flyover of the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). US Navy Photo
The driving concept behind the Pentagon’s Third Offset Strategy comes down to : If we’re not changing, we’re losing to “pacing competitors” like Russia and China in conventional warfare. Read More
USS Mason (DDG-87) pulls into the Port of Djibouti escorted by Coastal Riverine Squadron 8 Sea Ark patrol boats on July 23, 2016. US Navy Photo
The Navy should prepare for a future operating environment where anti-ship weapons propagate globally and attacks such as the recent ones against guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87) are more commonplace, one the service’s top budget officials said. Read More
