USS America (LHA-6) conducts a fueling-at-sea with the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH155) in support of flight deck operations during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21 on July 27, 2021. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR – The latest the Talisman Sabre exercise proved that the U.S. and its Pacific allies could form a unified and capable naval force in a matter of days, the commander of the U.S. Navy’s Japan-based expeditionary strike group said this week. Read More
An MQ-8B equipped with the AN/DVS-1 Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system conducts data test flights at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. COBRA, an airborne mine detection system, has achieved initial operational capability. US Navy photo.
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – The Navy completed the first phase of its initial operational test and evaluation on the AN/DVS-1 Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) airborne mine detection system and is awaiting Littoral Combat Ship availability to complete the remaining testing. Read More
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, take part in the final Battlegroup Samichon assault at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area during Exercise Talisman Saber on July 20, 2017. Australian Defence Force photo.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is nearing full operational capability of its amphibious force, after a six-year effort to turn an Army battalion into the heart of a joint-service expeditionary capability akin to the U.S. Marine Corps. Read More
U.S. Marines and Sailors with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) exit a U.S. Navy landing craft utility (LCU) during Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON)-MEU Unit Integration Training (PMINT) at Onslow Beach, N.C., July 16, 2017. US Marine Corps photo.
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO — The Marine Corps is continuing to develop and practice its Marine Corps Operating Concept and the Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE) offshoot, but Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller told USNI News the most of the work needed to support transitioning to those new concepts is already underway. Read More
Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Steven Montgomery, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, directs an amphibious assault vehicle during exercise BALTOPS 17 in Putlos, Germany. US Navy Photo
ABOARD AMPHIBIOUS WARSHIP USS ARLINGTON — BALTOPS 2017, now in its 45th year as an annual naval exercise, took place during the first two weeks of June in a Baltic Sea region that continues to be tense with Russia’s continued assertiveness, which became apparent with the violent annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Read More
U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines deployed from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, land their amphibious assault vehicles ashore at Uto, Sweden, on June 10, 2016, during BALTOPS 2016. The 2016 exercise focused on challenging amphibious landings in the northern part of the Baltic Sea, whereas this year will focus on air integration and will primarily take place in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. US Navy photo.
THE PENTAGON — Fifty ships set sail in the Baltic Sea this week for the annual NATO exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS), with this year’s event including a larger aviation component and a larger adversary “red force” in the hopes of creating a realistic scenario for high-end warfare in Europe, the Navy’s 6th Fleet commander told reporters today. Read More
An unmanned aerial vehicle launches from a multi-utility tactical transport vehicle after exiting an autonomous assault amphibious vehicle during the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation (S2ME2) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) 2017 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. US Navy Photo
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A 10-day exercise in experimentation that wrapped up Friday was all about speed – namely, getting advanced technologies into the hands of warfighting Marines operating with the Navy from the sea – and as soon as fiscally possible. Read More
USS TRENTON, At Sea – USS Trenton Sailors assist two young American citizens departing Lebanon in 2006. US Navy Photo
When the Navy and Marine Corps began to plan and execute an evacuation of American citizens in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, it may have seemed like a generic non-combatant evacuation operation they train for before any Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit deploy.
But when Hezbollah launched a Noor anti-ship missile at an Israeli corvette operating nearby, that NEO took on new risks and got a lot of military planners thinking. Read More
Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division air crew, scientists and engineers successfully deploy a MK-18 underwater unmanned vehicle in Panama City, Fla., on Feb. 1, 2017. The MH-60 helicopter deploying and recovering unmanned underwater vehicles will be one of about 50 technologies demonstrated at the upcoming Advanced Naval Technology Exercise. US Navy photo.
TRIANGLE, Va. – The Department of the Navy will host an amphibious warfare technology demonstration next month that, in the short term, will highlight some promising new technologies that could modernize how the Navy and Marine Corps conduct amphibious landings in contested or uncertain environments. In the longer term, though, the process surrounding this tech demo could change the way the Department of the Navy looks at prototyping and rapid acquisition.
Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Bailey on Jan. 2, 2016. US Marine Corps Photo
This post has been modified to reflect that only USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3) will be modified to support MV-22 operations, not the Navy’s two Expeditionary Transfer Dock ships.
THE PENTAGON – Marine Corps operations are set for some big changes in 2017 with the deployment of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter overseas, a move towards distributed operations as called for in the Marine Corps Operating Concept, and the potential addition of more ships to move Marines around high-threat areas, the deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations told USNI News. Read More
