Video: LRASM Test Shot

Video: LRASM Test Shot

The following is footage and photos of a July 18, 2016 test of a Lockheed Martin Long Range Anti-Ship Missile fired from the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship, the former USS Paul Foster. Read More

Lockheed: SM-3 Block IIA Missile Shot Next Month Will Also Test New Aegis BMD Build

Lockheed: SM-3 Block IIA Missile Shot Next Month Will Also Test New Aegis BMD Build

USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test involving the launch of a medium-range ballistic missile target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility located on Kauai, Hawaii on May 17, 2016. MDA Photo

USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test involving the launch of a medium-range ballistic missile target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility located on Kauai, Hawaii on May 17, 2016. MDA Photo

MOORESTOWN, N.J. – A planned October ballistic missile defense test from an Aegis destroyer will be the first outing for Lockheed Martin’s upgraded integrated air and missile defense software build, company officials told USNI News last week. Read More

Opinion: To Buy the Next Fleet, We Must Change the Navy

Opinion: To Buy the Next Fleet, We Must Change the Navy

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), left, and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. US Navy photo.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), left, and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. US Navy photo.

As a navalist, think-tanker, and defense consultant, I get to spend a lot of time among very intelligent people thinking about the future of naval operations. Over the course of my work this past summer, I’ve come to focus on what I believe to be a serious problem for a Navy faced with increasingly difficult great-power contenders. Read More

Author: Iran Needed the Nuclear Deal

Author: Iran Needed the Nuclear Deal

A Russian-built nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran.

A Russian-built nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran. IIPA Photo

The plunging price of oil, the escalating costs of its intervention in Syria and the dramatic effect economic sanctions were having on its economy, “the last thing the Iranians were going to do was walk” away from nuclear arms talks, the author of a new book on relations between Washington and Tehran contends. Read More

Pentagon Conducting New Review of Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program

Pentagon Conducting New Review of Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program

Tug boats maneuver Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) into the James River during the ship's Turn Ship evolution on June 11, 2016. US Navy photo.

Tug boats maneuver Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) into the James River during the ship’s Turn Ship evolution on June 11, 2016. US Navy photo.

The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer is kicking off an independent review into the Navy’s Gerald Ford-class next-generation carrier program citing questions of performance of key systems aboard, according to an Aug. 23 memo obtained by USNI News. Read More