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A KC-130J with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 descends before landing during a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command aerial refueling exercise, Oct. 13, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.
A Marine Corps KC-130J on a training mission experienced a loss of pressure at 21,000 feet on Aug. 15, leading to five personnel developing decompression sickness symptoms. Read More
Four F-35B Lightning II aircraft perform a flyover above the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on Nov. 20, 2016. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act piles on more ships and aircraft over the Pentagon’s request in a plan that spends more than $20 billion above the Trump administration’s request, according to an executive summary of the legislation that the SASC issued on Wednesday night. Read More
The aft mast lands on the future amphibious transport dock Portland (LPD-27) in August 2015. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
The House Armed Services Committee released its Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act language this evening, in a bill that spends billions more than the Navy had asked for on five additional ships and more than two dozen additional aircraft. Read More
USS Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo
House and Senate appropriators reached an agreement to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year that includes a $593-billion defense spending package to allow the Navy and Marine Corps to continue with planned ship and aircraft procurement and readiness increases. Read More
U.S. Marine Corps pilots maneuver a CH-53K King Stallion as it delivers a 12,000 pound external load after completing a 110 nautical mile mission during the two-week initial operational test (OT-B1) conducted at Sikorsky. Sikorsky photo.
The Marine Corps’ top financial officer told lawmakers that the service considers its modernization programs properly balanced between aviation and ground needs, while acknowledging that there hasn’t been enough money in recent years to buy the ground assets at a proper pace. Read More
The following is a Feb. 23 2017 U.S. Marine Corps video of a CH-53E Super Stallion from Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 refueling midair from a Marine KC-130J Hercules from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234. Read More
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Cartwright, an infantry Marine with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment, launches the Instant Eye MK-2 Gen 3 unmanned aerial system during an exercise for Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s Marine Air-Ground Task Force Integrated Experiment on Camp Pendleton, Calif., July 9, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2016.
With the Navy releasing a “Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority” and the Marines releasing a Marine Corps Operational Concept in 2016 that both call for high-end technologies to succeed in a contested maritime environment, Marine Corps acquisition this year was focused on increasing lethality, situational awareness and maneuverability for the force. Read More
Two Spanish Navy Harriers fly behind a U.S. Marine KC-130J from Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa during an aerial-refueling exercise off the coast of Spain May 15, 2015. US Marine Corps photo.
This post has been updated to correct the name of the sensor ball included in the Harvest Hawk kit. The Marines will use the MX-20 sensor package.
THE PENTAGON – The Marine Corps intends to add improved sensors and precision-strike capability to its entire KC-130J Super Hercules tanker/transport plane and MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor fleets, applying the “Harvest Hawk” concept to make both aircraft more multi-mission, the deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for aviation told USNI News this week. Read More
MV-22 Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 launches from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) on Aug. 24, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Marine Corps would purchase 10 new aircraft, improve the digital interoperability of existing aircraft and boost connectivity through additional communications systems and unmanned aerial vehicles if Congress provided additional funding. Read More
