USS Roosevelt (DDG-80) and Spanish frigate ESPS Reina Sofia came together for a formation and photo exercise, as Roosevelt transited from its homeport in Rota, Spain, to Iceland for NATO Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2020. US Navy photo via Facebook.
An advanced U.S. attack submarine and guided-missile destroyer are among the forces participating in the NATO anti-submarine warfare exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2020, which kicked off this week off Iceland. Read More
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) training ships JS Kashima (TV 3508), left, and JS Shimayuki (TV 3513), right, sail alongside the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) during an exercise, June 23, 2020. Gabrielle Giffords, part of Destroyer Squadron Seven, is on a rotational deployment, operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with partners and serve as a ready-response force. US Navy photo.
The House and the Senate agree they need to prioritize the Indo-Pacific region in their annual defense policy and spending bills. They don’t quite agree on how far to go in doing that, but an overriding sense that they need to start somewhere this year will likely get them to the creation of a Indo-Pacific fund to counter China, akin to the European Deterrence Initiative created in 2014 to push back against Russia. Read More
Romanian Aegis Ashore site. U.S. Missile Defense Agency Photo
Japan has formally ended its plans to procure two Aegis Ashore missile defense sites, citing concerns that the booster on the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor missile couldn’t be guaranteed to land on military property instead of nearby civilian communities. Read More
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78), front, the Royal Navy Type-23 Duke-class frigate HMS Kent (F78), the fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE 6) and USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) conduct joint operations to ensure maritime security in the Arctic Ocean, May 5, 2020. Royal Navy photo.
The head of U.S. naval forces in Europe would like to see more coordination and more dialogue in the Arctic, where military and commercial traffic are increasing, and so is the risk of miscalculations. Read More
Republic of Korea Army soldiers stand resolute at the iconic Joint Security Area where South and North Korean soldiers stand face to face across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Panmunjom, South Korea, June 19, 2018. US Army Photo
Tensions on the Korean peninsula are on the rise as North Korea is reasserting an aggressive military posture — cutting hotline communications, blowing up a liaison office and issuing threats to send armed soldiers into guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone. Read More
Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown responds to a question, May 7, 2020 on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider his nomination to be the next Air Force chief of staff. US Air Force Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The U.S. Air Force is expanding their maritime capabilities in the Western Pacific and mulling creating its own operating concept similar to the U.S. Marine Corps Force Design 2030, the Air Force’s next top commander told reporters on Wednesday. Read More
USS Nitze (DDG-94) steams through the Gulf of Aden on June 14, 2019. US Navy Photo
A U.S. guided-missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation off the coast of Venezuela, U.S. Southern Command announced on Tuesday. 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 Corps Photo
This year’s deployment to Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, hasn’t gone as initially planned. Travel restrictions and quarantining requirements due to the novel coronavirus drove the Marine Corps to send a smaller, 1,200-member force for the rotational deployment program, now in its ninth year. That’s less than half the size that deployed in 2019, the first time Marine Rotational Force-Darwin reached its 2,500-personnel maximum. Read More
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii. MDA photo.
This post has been updated to include additional context noting that any Standard Missile interceptor would cause the same safety concerns for the Japanese Aegis Ashore sites.
The U.S. military considers the development of the Standard Missile 3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor to be complete and the weapon ready for production, even as co-developer Japan has changed its mind about using the interceptor as part of a shore-based ballistic missile defense site. Read More
NASA Photo
Frustrations are mounting in Congress over the limited insight lawmakers and the public have into the Navy’s future fleet, and the service now faces fiscal consequences in upcoming defense bills. Read More
