USS Lassen (DDG-82). US Navy Photo
Last week the United States sent a guided missile destroyer past a Chinese artificial island to challenge questionable claims in the South China Sea, but confusion still reigns from Washington, D.C., to the Western Pacific as to exactly what message was supposed to be transmitted. Read More
USS Lassen (DDG-82) underway in 2013. US Navy Photo
Last week’s South China Sea freedom of navigation mission — in which a U.S. guided missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese facility on an artificial island on Subi Reef — was conducted as an “innocent passage,” a defense official with knowledge of the operation confirmed to USNI News on Monday morning. Read More
Adm. John Richardson attends the 10th Regional Seapower Symposium (RSS) for the Navies of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Countries in Venice, Italy on Oct, 22 2015. US Navy Photo
The military leaders of the U.S. and Chinese navies held a video teleconference on Thursday to discuss South China Sea naval and freedom of navigation operations that have inflamed the Chinese government, a Navy official told USNI News. Read More
Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG-82) conduct a man-overboard drill on Sept. 28, 2015 in the South China Sea. US Navy Photo
A recent U.S. Navy freedom of navigation mission in South China Sea was not limited to China’s artificial islands. Read More
USS Lassen (DDG-82) underway in the Philippine Sea in 2015. US Navy Photo
After months of deliberation, the U.S. has sent a guided missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island in the South China Sea in a move that practically rejects Chinese claims to the reclaimed reefs and has inflamed Beijing. Read More
Type 52 Luyang II guided missile destroyer Jinan
A trio of Chinese warships in the middle of a world tour are in route to Naval Station Mayport, Fla. for a scheduled goodwill port visit next month, U.S. Navy officials told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Chief Of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson, address Sailors during an all-hands call in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) on Oct. 15, 2015. US Navy Photo
The new U.S. Chief of Naval Operations said potential U.S. Navy freedom of navigation missions in the South China Sea are not meant to provoke nations but rather “part of exercising international rights in international waters.” Read More
Ships and submarines from the Republic of Singapore navy and U.S. Navy gather in formation during the underway phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Singapore 2015 on July 21, 2015. US Navy Photo
Amidst U.S. and Australian concerns of Chinese military expansion in the South China Sea, officials with China’s foreign ministry are claiming military facilities on a series of artificial islands are “for defense purposes only” in reaction to “high-profile display[s] of military strength and frequent and large-scale military drills by certain countries and their allies in the South China Sea,” according to a Wednesday press briefing. Read More
Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 13, 2015. US Navy Photo
“The greatest threat I face on a day-to-day basis is North Korea,” the commander of Pacific Command said Friday to the Washington annual conference of Military Reporters and editors. Read More
Airstrip construction on the Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea is pictured in this April 2, 2015.
China has completed a 10,000 foot runway on a reclaimed island in the South China Sea, according to a new round of satellite photos released Friday. Read More
