A U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II maritime patrol aircraft. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON — A U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II surveillance aircraft was intercepted at close range by a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter over the Black Sea on Monday.
Adm. Kurt W. Tidd, commander, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), speaks to the crew of amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) in 2016. US Navy Photo
Rather than concentrating on cutting off goods moved via illegally trafficking – people, cocaine, opioids, gold, exotic animal and plants – U.S. Southern Command and its national partners are now looking at the best way to disrupt the criminal networks that control that flow, SOUTHCOM commander Adm. Kurt Tidd said at a Coast Guard Academy leadership event Tuesday. Read More
A U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II maritime patrol aircraft. US Navy Photo
Beijing accused a U.S. Navy surveillance plane of acting unsafely during a Sunday intercept by People’s Liberation Army Air Force fighters, according to state-controlled press. Read More
A P-3C Orion aircraft in 2016. US Navy Photo
Two Chinese fighters unsafely intercepted a U.S. Navy P-3C Orion anti-submarine warfare aircraft over the South China Sea this week, a U.S. defense official told USNI News on Friday. Read More
A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft from to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron (VP) 4 conducts a fly-by with the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) on Nov. 15, 2014. US Navy photo.
The Pentagon is reviewing an unsafe encounter between a People’s Liberation Army and U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea, a defense official told USNI News on Friday. Read More
The following is a Nov. 20, 2016 timelapse video of USS Sampson (DDG-102) entering Wellington Harbour formation with ships from New Zealand, Australia and Canada after participating in earthquake relief efforts in Kaikoura, New Zealand. Read More
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102), right, conducts a replenishment-at-sea with Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ship Endeavour (A11) on Nov. 13, 2016. Sampson will report to U.S. Third Fleet, headquartered in San Diego, while deployed to the Western Pacific as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet-led initiative to extend the command and control functions of Third Fleet into the region.The destroyer’s stop at a New Zealand port would be the first for a U.S. warship in more than 30 years. US Navy photo.
The U.S. Navy is responding to a 7.5 magnitude earthquake off the coast of New Zealand, diverting a destroyer from a historic visit to New Zealand and instead evacuating local civilians and tourists and delivering humanitarian aid supplies. Read More
An Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from the 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment lands on the flight deck aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) while conducting deck landing qualifications (DLQs). Lassen is currently underway in support of Operation Martillo, a joint operation with the U.S. Coast Guard and partner nations within the 4th Fleet area of responsibility. SOUTHCOM commander Adm. Kurt Tidd said he’s been pushing for greater inter-agency and international collaboration as well as innovation in his theater, all of which was showcased in Operation Martillo. US Navy photo.
U.S. Southern Command wants to be a hub for innovation, both in serving as an early tester for new technologies and ideas that can be brought into theater and also in seeking creative ways to get more ships into theater to train with regional partners. Read More
F-35C Lightning IIs, attached to the Grim Reapers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101, and an F/A-18E/F Super Hornets attached to the Naval Aviation Warfighter Development Center (NAWDC) fly over Naval Air Station Fallon’s (NASF) Range Training Complex on Sept. 3, 2015. US Navy photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy has begun integrating its newest airplanes into the air wing and joint forces during training and finding that these platforms, including the EA-18G Growler and F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, are extending the range and increasing the sophistication of operations, the Navy’s Air Boss said. Read More
Two P-3Cs Assigned to Patrol Squadron 4 “Sneaky Dragons” (VP-4). DoD Photo
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post used the incorrect nickname for Patrol Squadron 4. The unit is known as the “Skinny Dragons” not the “Sneaky Dragons.” USNI News regrets the error.
Acting on a request from the searchers looking for the missing EgyptAir flight that crashed early Thursday local time, the Navy has sent a maritime surveillance aircraft to look for the missing aircraft, a U.S. defense official told USNI News. Read More
