USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) launches a Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s aegis weapons system. OSD and the Navy are modifying the SM-6 to strike surface targets. US Navy Photo
How the Navy repurposed its Standard Missile 6 into an anti-surface weapon should be a model each service and the Pentagon follow to inject new thinking into the way they fight and bring new life into the industrial bases, the former chief of Air Force acquisition said Thursday. Read More
China’s Type-001A Carrier following its launching ceremony on April 26, 2017. Ministry of National Defense Photo
While China’s known military spending has remained consistent as a percentage of its gross domestic product for decades, but this provides only a rough measure of what Beijing has actually committed to a broad range of obscured or classified expenditures, two experts on defense spending said Tuesday. Read More
USS Nimitz (CVN 68) enters Apra Harbor prior to mooring at Naval Base Guam for a scheduled port visit on June 24, 2020. US Navy Photo
The defense of Guam should be the centerpiece of the Biden administration’s focus on countering threats from China in the Indo-Pacific, an expert on missile defense said Wednesday. Read More
Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, speaks during the 2021 State of the Coast Guard Address in San Diego March 11, 2021. US Coast Guard Photo
Retaining talent in the Coast Guard is a looming problem for the service as members choose to retire younger, commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said Tuesday. Read More
USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) conducts routine operations near the Panamanian flagged drill ship, West Capella on May 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
While Washington acknowledges its allies and partners are willing to back a “free and open” Indo-Pacific policy, the keys to American success in confronting Chinese bullying is having smaller nations see a “consistent and reliable” presence from the U.S., according to a former senior diplomat. Read More
Guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) steams in the Persian Gulf on Sept. 29, 2020. US Navy Photo
The 21st century is again the time to show off the “power of naval diplomacy” — from ship visits to officer exchanges — to counter China’s global maritime ambitions, two security experts said last week. Read More
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) sails in the Philippine Sea while two MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopters assigned to the ‘Golden Falcons’ of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12, embarked aboard Ronald Reagan, transit during a replenishment-at-sea on Aug. 13, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s and Marine Corps’ capability, capacity and readiness to counter major powers like China and Russia or regional threats like Iran and North Korea was graded as “marginal” in a new survey of military power. Read More
US Marines with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team-Europe stand in formation beside Estonian soldiers during a rehearsal for the Estonian National Day parade outside the Estonia Academy of Security Sciences in Tallinn, Estonia on Feb. 23, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
In explaining his tiny Baltic nation’s commitment to NATO membership by sending soldiers to Afghanistan and deploying ground forces to Iraq, the prime minister of Estonia told an audience earlier this week, “we try to punch above our weight.” Read More
U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB) 8, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, carry simulated casualties to a MV-22 Osprey during motorized operations course as part Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 1-20 on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Oct. 6, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
The Navy and the Marine Corps have been assessed as “marginal” in their ability to meet the challenges from rival powers in Beijing and Moscow, as well as regional threats coming from Tehran and Pyongyang, according to annual report on U.S. military strength from The Heritage Foundation. Read More
An Estonian soldier stands at attention as U.S. Marines with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team-Europe approach in formation during a rehearsal for the Estonian National Day Parade outside the Estonia Academy of Security Sciences in Tallinn, Estonia, Feb. 23, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
The foreign minister of one of the smallest nations in Europe said NATO only works when all the territories in the alliance are sacred and every member is committed “to die for your neighbor” if it is attacked. Read More
