The following is The Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, released on June 1, 2019. Read More

The following is The Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, released on June 1, 2019. Read More
The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) steams alongside the French FREMM-class frigate FS Provence during a photo opportunity while conducting a bilateral anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Indian Ocean on May 13, 2019. Photo courtesy of the French Navy.
Several multinational exercises focused on interoperability have taken place in the Indo-Pacific region recently, including two involving French Navy aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91) on its first deployment since 2016. Read More
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), left, and the Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), right, sail in formation with 16 other ships from the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) during Keen Sword 19 on Nov. 08, 2018. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The Pentagon will unveil a new Indo-Pacific strategy at the Shangri-La Dialogue this May, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver told a media roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week. Read More
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) as the ship transits the Strait of Gibraltar on Dec. 4, 2018. US Navy Photo
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of a series; please also see U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marine Corps Operations.
If 2018 made anything clear, it’s that the U.S. Navy noticed the increased Russian submarine activity in the Atlantic and won’t let it go unaddressed.
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) transits waters near Guam on Jan. 21, 2016. US Navy Photo
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation on Wednesday near the home of Russia’s Pacific fleet.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Decatur, left, and Chinese warship PRC 170, right, during what the US Navy called an unsafe and unprofessional incident in the South China Sea on Sept. 30, 2018. US Navy photo, obtained by gCaptain.
China ratcheted up its response to U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operation over the weekend, sending a Luyang-class destroyer on a near-collision-course with USS Decatur (DDG-73), but the reasoning behind the move is likely more nuanced than defending territory.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73) operates in the South China Sea on Oct. 13, 2016
Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73) was approached Sunday morning in the South China Sea by a Chinese warship in what Navy officials are calling an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver.
USS Dewey (DDG-105) transits the South China Sea on May 6, 2017. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON — The war of words over last weekend’s U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea continued on Thursday at press conferences in Beijing and Washington.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76), guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG-54). US Navy Photos
Over the weekend, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG-54) and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Higgins (DDG-76) sailed in a two-ship freedom of navigation operation past islands claimed by China, according to media reports first reported by Reuters.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG-89) transits the Philippine Sea on March 14, 2018. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to indicate that the freedom of navigation operation past Mischief Reef was the second, not the first FON op this year. A January mission past Scarborough Shoal was considered a freedom of navigation operation.
A U.S. guided-missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation past an artificial island controlled by China on Friday, a U.S. defense official confirmed to USNI News. Read More