The following is the Oct. 8, 2015 letter from Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall to Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on the independent review of the Navy’s Remote Minehunting System. Read More
Carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt Leaves Middle East, No Firm Date on Replacement to Continue Anti-ISIS Strikes
Lt. Cmdr. Craig Ryan launches an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the Red Rippers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11 from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Aug. 27, 2015. US Navy
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group left U.S. 5th Fleet on Tuesday with no public timeline for when its replacement will reach the Middle East to continue U.S. air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq in Syria (ISIS) targets. Read More
UPDATED: Navy Launches Independent Review of Littoral Combat Ship Remote Minehunting System
scientists and engineers recover a deployed Remote Minehunting System (RMS) during developmental testing of the Littoral Combat Ship’s mine warfare mission module package on Jan. 7, 2012. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to include additional information from a letter from Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Navy has chartered an independent review of its criticized Remote Minehunting System (RMS), a key component of its Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasures mission package, which may affect the service’s decision to move forward with LCS testing and RMS acquisition, a Navy spokeswoman told USNI News. Read More
A Selection of Official Messages Celebrating the U.S. Navy’s 240th Birthday
The following are messages from President Barack Obama, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and several tweets on the occasion of the U.S. Navy’s 240th birthday. Read More
Opinion: Coast Guard Budget Reductions Puts U.S. at Risk
A Coast Guard Cutter Stratton boarding team investigates a self-propelled semi-submersible interdicted in international waters off the coast of Central America on July 19, 2015. US Coast Guard Photo
In his 2015 State of the Coast Guard Address, Commandant Paul Zukunft said, “Since 9-11, 450,000 Americans have died from drug use and drug violence . . . we have actionable intelligence on approximately 90 percent of known maritime drug movement . . . however, with too few surface and air assets to patrol the vast expanses of the transit zone, they can only attempt to target, detect and disrupt 20 percent of that known flow. You can do the math—this is an issue of capacity.”
So what happens when you reduce that capacity? Read More
USS Philippine Sea CO Dies in House Fire at NAS Jacksonville
Capt. Wesley Smith. US Navy Photo
The commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) died Oct. 10 in a house fire at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. Read More
PACOM Commander Harris: North Korea Greatest Day-to-Day Threat
Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 13, 2015. US Navy Photo
“The greatest threat I face on a day-to-day basis is North Korea,” the commander of Pacific Command said Friday to the Washington annual conference of Military Reporters and editors. Read More
Video: Slow Motion Landing of F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
The following is an Oct. 9, 2015 slow motion video of a F-35C Lighting II, assigned to the Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 “Salty Dogs” (VX-23), landing on the deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). Read More
Document: Report to Congress on U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Modernization Program
The following is the Sept. 25, 2015 Congressional Research Service report, Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Royal Australian Navy Bullish on New MH-60R Helos
Australian Lockheed Martin MH-60R helicopters. Commonwealth of Australia – Department of Defence
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has hailed the integration of the Lockheed-Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk into the service’s Fleet Air Arm as the multirole naval helicopter achieves initial operating capability there. Read More
