An F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), prepares to land aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2), while another F-35B Lightning II flies over on Dec. 4, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo
THE PENTAGON – Officials in Tokyo have requested Marines deploy F-35B fighters aboard Japan’s largest warships, a U.S. defense official confirmed to USNI News on Friday. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday delivers his first remarks as the 32nd CNO during a change of office ceremony held at the Washington Navy Yard. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – The next head of the U.S. Navy promised to continue the service’s drive to reposition itself as a high-end fighting force with a “sense of urgency,” he said during a brief speech at his change of command ceremony on Thursday. Read More
A target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii during Flight Test Standard Missile-45. USS John Finn (DDG-113) detected and tracked the target missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar using the Aegis Baseline 9.C2 weapon system. US Navy Photo
A pair of recent missile tests – by Russia in near Arkhangelsk and by the U.S. off the coast of California – indicate the race among nations to create a wide range of capabilities is speeding up, a missile defense expert told USNI News. Read More
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein speaks to Airmen during an all call at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 14, 2019. US Air Force Photo
MANILA — The U.S. Air Force and the Navy will continue a combination of air and sea patrols in the Indo-Pacific region in an effort to keep the waters and skies open to overflight and international navigation, the head of the U.S. Air Force said in the Philippines, his first stopover during a visit to the air forces in the region. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson addresses guests during the U.S. Naval Academy’s change of command ceremony on July 26, 2019. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The U.S. Navy and the world it operates in are a far cry from what they were four years ago. Read More
Chinese maritime militia vessel in 2009. US Navy Photo
MANILA – The Philippines have begun to push back against the strong and sustained presence of Beijing’s paramilitary ships in the South China Sea, calling the deployment of Chinese militia ships in huge numbers a threat. Read More
A Naval Sea Systems Command-developed Iraqi 60-meter Offshore Support Vessel. US Navy briefing material indicate that early versions of the service’s large unmanned surface vessels could be based on OSV designs. US Navy Photo
The Navy has put a call out to industry to send in ideas for its planned fleet of corvette-sized unmanned surface vehicles, according to a draft request for proposal announced on Wednesday. Read More
The X-51A Waverider, shown here under the wing of a B-52 Stratobomber is set to demonstrate hypersonic flight. US Air Force Graphic
The Department of Defense has made significant progress in the past 15 months in offensive and defensive hypersonic capabilities to counter developments from China and Russia, its chief engineer said Tuesday. Now, the Pentagon is aiming to make the same kind of progress in developing 5G networks and microelectronics. Read More
The following is the Aug. 5, 2018 Congressional Research Service report, Russia’s Nuclear Weapons: Doctrine, Forces, and Modernization. Read More
USS Green Bay (LPD-20) and USS Lake Erie (CG-70)
THE PENTAGON – Chinese officials are denying two U.S. warships port visits to Hong Kong amidst ongoing protests against the government in Beijing. Read More
