VIDEO: Carrier Gerald R. Ford Gets Underway

VIDEO: Carrier Gerald R. Ford Gets Underway

The following is April 8, 2017 video of aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) departs Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding for builder’s sea trials off the coast of Virginia. Read More

How the U.S. Planned and Executed the Tomahawk Strike Against Syria

How the U.S. Planned and Executed the Tomahawk Strike Against Syria

USS Porter (DDG-78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated with additional information on the intellgence findings that informed U.S. leaders’ decision to carry out the attack on Thursday.

THE PENTAGON — Senior U.S. defense officials today briefed reporters on the planning and execution of a Tomahawk strike on al-Shayrat Airfield in Western Syria Thursday night, which involved two guided-missile destroyers launching 59 missiles at targets. Read More

Russia Suspends Air Space Deconfliction Agreement With U.S. After Chemical Weapons Retaliation Strikes

Russia Suspends Air Space Deconfliction Agreement With U.S. After Chemical Weapons Retaliation Strikes

A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet flies off the wing of a KC-135 Stratotanker over Iraq after refuel Sept. 28, 2016. US Air Force Photo

THE PENTAGON — Russia said it suspended an airspace deconfliction agreement with U.S. forces operating in and around Syria, in a statement deriding the U.S. for its Thursday night attack on a Syrian airfield with 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles launched from two destroyers operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, but senior U.S. military officials said the deconfliction hotline is still open and Russians are answering their calls. Read More

Russia Sends Frigate to Mediterranean Following U.S. Retaliation Strike; U.S. Destroyers Remain On Station

Russia Sends Frigate to Mediterranean Following U.S. Retaliation Strike; U.S. Destroyers Remain On Station

Russian Admiral Grigorovich frigate leaving the Black Sea on April 7, 2017 following US Tomahawk strikes in Syria. Photo by Alper Böler used with permission

The Russian Navy has sent its most advanced Black Sea frigate into the Eastern Mediterranean on Friday following a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airfield, according to ship spotters in Turkey. Read More

VIDEO: U.S. Destroyers Fire 59 Tomahawks on Syrian Airfield in Retaliation for Chemical Attack

VIDEO: U.S. Destroyers Fire 59 Tomahawks on Syrian Airfield in Retaliation for Chemical Attack

This post has been updated to include additional information and will continue to be updated as new details become available.

Two U.S. guided-missile destroyers fired 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in a series of strikes on a Syrian airfield believed to be the origin point of a chemical weapons strike in the northern part of the country, several military officials told USNI News on Thursday night. Read More

Marines: Ground, Aviation Readiness Depends On Increased Funding for Spares; Pilot Program Aimed at Keeping Hornets Available to Pilots

Marines: Ground, Aviation Readiness Depends On Increased Funding for Spares; Pilot Program Aimed at Keeping Hornets Available to Pilots

Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 323 “Death Rattlers” inspect an F/A-18C Hornet at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev., on Feb. 15 2017. Marine Corps Photo

Marine Corps leadership told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee that it needs a Fiscal Year 2017 budget and the supplemental spending request to not only address aviation and ground equipment readiness challenges but also to keep global operational requirements on track. Read More

Panel: Arctic Tensions, Competition Continues to Increase

Panel: Arctic Tensions, Competition Continues to Increase

Fast attack submarine USS Seawolf (SSN-21) surfaces through Arctic ice at the North Pole on July 30, 2015. US Navy Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Arctic is often characterized as a region of “high attention and low tension,” but that is changing as nations claiming the region look to their future economically, environmentally and possibly militarily as the ice continues to recede, a panel of international maritime experts agreed on Tuesday. Read More

Opinion: Navy Build Up Needs Comprehensive Approach

Opinion: Navy Build Up Needs Comprehensive Approach

The Virginia-class attack submarine North Dakota (SSN-784) is rolled out of an indoor shipyard facility at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. US Navy Photo

If a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, then the drive towards a larger Navy starts with last year’s updated Force Structure Assessment – the shipbuilding plan of the future. Read More

Navy, Marines Continue to Warn of the Perils of A Continuing Resolution

Navy, Marines Continue to Warn of the Perils of A Continuing Resolution

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 15, 2016. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Navy and Marine Corps leadership issued full-voiced warnings against extending a continuing resolution funding measure and implored Congress to pass a Fiscal Year 2017 budget with an additional supplemental funding package to shore up readiness shortfalls in the services. Read More