Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) transits waters near Guam on Jan. 21, 2016. US Navy Photo
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation on Wednesday near the home of Russia’s Pacific fleet.
Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin greet participants of Joint Sea-2014 exercise at Wusong naval port in Shanghai, east China, May 20, 2014. Xinhua Photo
Without predictable funding and realistic concepts of operations, the National Defense Strategy doesn’t meet the challenges of a rising China expanding in the Indo-Pacific and an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe, the co-chairmen of the panel reviewing the document warned the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Read More
According to the Google translation of a Ukraine Ministry of Defense timeline, “Armored artillery boats ‘Berdyansk’ and ‘Nikopol’ were attacked by the enemy. Harbor tug ‘Yana Kapu’ was also forced to stop. Ukrainian ships are seized by Russian Special Forces. There is also information about two wounded Ukrainian sailors.” Ukraine Ministry of Defense photo.
Russian maritime forces have fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels that were attempting to sail from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov. Read More
The following is the Nov. 8, 2018 Congressional Research Service report The Global Research and Development Landscape and Implications for the Department of Defense. Read More
Screen capture from video of a Su-27 conducting an unsafe intercept of a Navy EP-3E Aries II over the Black Sea on Nov. 5, 2018, US Navy Image
A Russian Su-27 intercepted a U.S. EP-3 Aries II aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea today, the Navy announced. Read More
Norwegian frigate HNoMS Otto Sverdrup part of a ‘screen’ of NATO warships during a drill as part of NATO exercise Trident Juncture on Oct. 25, 2018. Royal Norwegian Navy Photo
NATO and the European Union need to spend significantly to reestablish high-end naval presence and invest in rail cars and maritime containers, ports, bridges, highways, tunnels and airfields if they want to successfully deter potential Russian aggression, a panel of Northern European security experts said on Wednesday. Read More
Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kuzbass in 2016. Sputnik Photo
This post has been updated to correct the spelling of the Severodvinsk-class Russian submarine.
THE PENTAGON – Continued research and development into stealth technologies for U.S. submarines will be important as Russia continues research into undersea warfare and long-range missiles, the head of U.S. naval forces in Europe said on Friday. Read More
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71), right, approaches the Lewis and Clark-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) for a replenishment-at-sea in the Mediterranean Sea, Oct. 6, 2018. Ross, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is on its seventh patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests Europe and Africa. US Navy photo.
THE PENTAGON – U.S. and NATO ships are focused on conducting freedom of navigation operations in Europe to push back against a Russia that is increasingly harassing commercial shipping and introducing new anti-access weapons into the theater, according to the head of U.S. naval forces in Europe. Read More
The following is the Oct. 5, 2018, Congressional Research Service report, Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Marines with Marine Rotational Force-Europe 18.1 prepare to bound across a road during a live-fire range at Giskas, Norway, Aug. 21, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo
THE PENTAGON – The upcoming Trident Juncture 2018 exercise will be the first opportunity to test out the premise of NATO’s new “Four Thirties” initiative – the idea that NATO may need to move a lot of people and platforms quickly to defend an ally whose sovereignty has been violated – the head of naval forces in Europe said today. Read More
