USS America (LHA-6), left, and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) transit the South China Sea on April 18, 2020. US Navy Photo
Beijing is downplaying the presence of U.S. warships operating near an international maritime dispute between China and Malaysia in the South China Sea, Chinese officials said during a Tuesday briefing with reporters. Read More
China’s drive to win political friends was stumbling over unmet trade expectations and mounting public debt, until the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on economies offered Beijing new possibilities in Europe, two foreign policy experts said Monday. Read More
A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter assigned to 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 takes off from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) on April 18, 2020. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — USS America (LHA-6) is steaming towards waters in the South China Sea where a Chinese government survey ship and its China Coast Guard escorts are in an international maritime dispute with Malaysia. Read More
China Coast Guard Cutter taken by Vietnamese fishermen. Photo via South China Sea News
Last week’s collision between a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Paracel Islands exposes Beijing’s “charm” and “coercion” strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, regional experts say.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly speaks at a Pentagon press briefing, Washington, D.C. on April 2, 2020. DoD Photo
The acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly said the former commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-72) may have broken the law in how he sent a March 31 message warning leaders of a COVID-19 outbreak on the carrier. Read More
This illustration of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). CDC illustration
The COVID-19 pandemic underlines the importance of international cooperation to contain the deadly virus but also spotlights the dangers of over-reliance on global supply chains in manufacturing everything from cars to pharmaceuticals, three international relations scholars said on Tuesday. Read More
U.S. Navy Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Logan Brown, from Joplin, Montana, scans the horizon from the bridge wing aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) while underway conducting operations in the Taiwan Strait. Navy photo
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) transited the Taiwan Strait earlier this week, eliciting a terse response from Chinese military officials.
Adm. John C. Aquilino pays respect during the 78th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Remembrance Commemoration in 2019. US Navy Photo
Before COVD-19 restrictions gripped the U.S., the U.S. Pacific Fleet was already starting to become wary of the threat. Spread from India to California, Pacific Fleet is the largest Navy operating area containing more than half of the service’s warships at any given moment. Read More
An M1 Abrams Tank with mine plow attachment conducts fire and maneuver training operations with 2d Tank Battalion, 2d Marine Division at Fort Stewart, Ga., in 2018. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marine Corps will soon lay out its path to achieve a 2030 force optimized for conflict with China in the littorals – a force that will completely divest of its tanks and slash most of its artillery cannon battalions, instead focusing on developing light mobility options to get around island chains with the assistance of unmanned systems and mobile anti-ship missiles. Read More
The following is the March 18, 2020 Congressional Research Service, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
