Category Archives: News & Analysis

Navy Expanding 'Cold Spray' Welding Alternative in Fleet Repair

Navy Expanding ‘Cold Spray’ Welding Alternative in Fleet Repair

David Wible, a welder at Letterkenny Army Depot, demonstrates the cold spray advanced manufacturing initiative Feb. 2, 2022. US Army Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – If a part breaks on a ship or submarine sailing in a conflict zone or moored at its homeport, the fix just might be done with a portable welder or a mobile workshop set up on the pier in an unconventional way, using an innovative technology known as “cold spray.” Read More

Australia, Philippines Commit to Strategic Partnership, Pledge Joint Patrols

Australia, Philippines Commit to Strategic Partnership, Pledge Joint Patrols

HMAS Anzac sails with BRP Conrado Yap during Exercise LUMBAS as part of a regional presence deployment on June 17, 2023. Royal Australian Navy Photo

Australia and the Philippines agreed to joint patrols in the South China Sea on Friday as the two countries elevated their ties to a strategic partnership. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Philippine President Bongbong Marcos inked several agreements and a joint declaration during their first-ever bilateral meeting in Manila amid tensions with China. Read More

Chinese Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Operating Again Near Japan

Chinese Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Operating Again Near Japan

CNS Shandong (17) underway on Sept. 10, 2023. JMSDF Photo

Five months after it made its first deployment to the western Pacific, People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier CNS Shandong (17) is back conducting drills, according to Taiwan Ministry of National Defense. Also on Monday, Japan’s Ministry of Defense reported a total of eight PLAN ships transited the Miyako Strait to enter the Philippine Sea. Read More

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Sept. 11, 2023

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Sept. 11, 2023

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 Sept. 11, 2023, 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

U.S., Canadian Warships Transit Taiwan Strait

U.S., Canadian Warships Transit Taiwan Strait

Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class George Wilson, from Bolivar, Missouri, stands watch on the flight deck aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) on Sept. 9, 2023. US Navy Photo

An American guided-missile destroyer and a Royal Canadian Navy frigate sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a tandem Saturday transit, U.S. 7th Fleet announced. Read More

Drone Lands and Takes Off from U.K. Royal Navy Carrier for the First Time

Drone Lands and Takes Off from U.K. Royal Navy Carrier for the First Time

Royal Navy airman secures a W Autonomous Systems (WAS) drone following a trip from the Lizard Peninsula and onto the deck of HMS Prince of Wales off the Cornish coast. UK Royal Navy Photo

A drone took off from and landed on a British warship for the first time during HMS Prince of Wales’ (R09) autumn deployment, which will see the Queen Elizabeth–class aircraft carrier assemble its air wing off the U.S. East Coast. Read More

Chinese Warships Shadow Canadian, U.S., Japanese Warships in East China Sea, the Philippines Resupply Second Thomas Shoal

Chinese Warships Shadow Canadian, U.S., Japanese Warships in East China Sea, the Philippines Resupply Second Thomas Shoal

HMCS Ottawa (FFH-341), JS Izumo (DDH-183) and USS Ralph Johnson underway in the East China Sea. JMSDF Photo

A Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer shadowed U.S., Japanese and Canadian warships as they conducted a trilateral exercise in the East China Sea on Wednesday according to an report by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Philippines successfully carried out a resupply mission to its outpost at Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed Spratly Islands, despite opposing actions by China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia ships. Read More

U.K. Defense Chief Bullish on Ukraine's Spring Offensive

U.K. Defense Chief Bullish on Ukraine’s Spring Offensive

ADm. Tony Radakin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2022. UK MoD Photo

Ukraine has regained about half of the land Russia seized since the invasion began in February 2022, the United Kingdom chief of the defense staff said Thursday. Read More