A Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) operates with guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) in the Arabian Gulf during exercise Phantom Scope, Oct. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo
The United States and its allies want a force of 100 unmanned surface vessels patrolling waters from the Red Sea into the Persian Gulf by next summer, the commander of U.S. 5th Fleet said on Tuesday. Read More
A Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) sails in the Gulf of Aqaba off of Jordan’s coast on Dec. 12, 2022. US Army Photo
The story has been updated to include a statement from the U.S. Navy.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy briefly captured two U.S. unmanned surface vehicles in the Red Sea on Thursday, a U.S. Navy official confirmed to USNI News. Read More
An aritsits rendering of a Shahid Soleimani-class missile corvette. HI Sutton image used with permission
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC-N) is building a new class of warships, as first reported in Naval News last week based on satellite imagery. The catamaran design appears relatively large, modern and capable compared to existing IRGC commercial-based designs. Read More
H I Sutton Image. Used with permission
The Middle East remains a volatile area for merchant shipping into the new year, according to the analysis of attacks on ships in the region. Read More
Motor Tanker (M/T) Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel who fast roped aboard the ship from an Iranian Sea King helicopter as it hovered above on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
Like the U.S., international navies grappled with not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but regional security concerns from China’s naval expansion and operations in the Pacific to Iranian and Russian operations in the Middle East. Read More
HI Sutton Image used with permission
Emblazoned with the pennant number “1” in on its superstructure, Shahid Roudaki joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) as its latest and most visible warship during a ceremony held in Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. Read More
HI Sutton Image used with permission
The Red Sea forms a physical and geopolitical choke point on much of the world’s trade. At its northern end the Suez Canal constricts the flow of ships, and at the southern end the Bab el-Mandeb Strait does. Millions of barrels of oil and other critically important goods transit the Red Sea every year, much of it destined for North America and Europe. Read More
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) commemorates its 169th consecutive day at sea on July 3, 2020. US Navy Photo
Aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) is no longer operating in the North Arabian Sea, a Navy official confirmed. Read More
The following names are those of Marines and sailors who died in 2018 while at sea, in combat or during training accidents, according to USNI News records and Navy and Marine Corps reports. Read More
The following is the Aug. 24, 2018 Congressional Research Service report, Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention. Read More
