160929-N-OT964-120 NORFOLK (Sept. 29, 2016) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson speaking at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. on Sept. 29, 2016. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Pentagon terms-of-the-moment go, Anti-Access-Area Denial has been on the forefront of strategic conversation across the services and military academia for more than 15 years. Now, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said his service will stop using the term for the sake of clarity. Read More
Wreckage of the Flight MH-17. Dutch Openbaar Ministerie Photo
The carefully prepared and detailed analysis released this week by Dutch authorities showing that a 9M38 anti-aircraft launched from a Buk-Telar 17 shot down the MH17 flight on July 17, 2014 is probably not a surprise to anyone. What is noteworthy is the extraordinary level of detail – even by Dutch standards – of the investigation, and the strategic choices it foists upon Vladimir Putin and his boyars in the Kremlin. Read More
Philippine and U.S. Marines provide supporting fire with U.S. Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicles to simulate suppressing enemy forces during a mechanized assault as part of Amphibious Landing Exercise 15 at Naval Education Training Command, Zambales, Luzon, Philippines in 2015. US Marine Corps Photo
The controversial president of the Philippines said his country will stop military exercises with the U.S., according to local press reports. Read More
United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket successfully launched the U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane on May 20, 2015. ULA Photo
The House panel focused on national security space activities is set to explore reforms how the military uses space and could call for the creation of a new command or agency as early as next year, legislators said during a Tuesday hearing. Read More
An undated picture of a Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrol craft.
Some critics attribute the increased number of aggressive air-to-air intercepts and incidents at sea to what they argue is the current administration’s weak foreign policy. That claim raises some interesting points when analyzed. There is a strong counter-argument to such claims. Read More
Russian troops participating in the Kavkaz-2016 exercise
Russia is simultaneously conducting operations along the eastern Ukraine border, participating in large bilateral naval exercises with China in the South China Sea and conducting large-scale amphibious exercises in the Black Sea around the Crimean peninsula. The Russian Navy has subs operating in the Baltic Sea off Latvia, continues to professionalize its force, and is attempting to sustain a large upgrade in force capabilities matched with no-notice military inspections in most military districts. At the same time, it continues operations in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, demonstrating resolve and constancy there. Read More
Chinese sailors welcome the Russian Navy destroyer Admiral Tributs (564) in Zhanjiang, China on Sept. 12, 2016. Xinhua Photo
China and Russia kicked off more than a week of naval exercises in the South China Sea that will include an “island seizing” exercise, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on Monday. Read More
A screen shot of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrol boat from a video taken by the crew of USS Nitze. US Navy Image
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Chief of Naval Operations called for a set of rules to guide at-sea interactions between the U.S. Navy and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, calling recent harassment from IRGCN small boats “not helpful.” Read More
Kremlin
Three national security experts said Thursday that one of the next administration’s most important tools in dealing with an aggressive Russia could be seriously undermined if the European Union decides in December not to renew strong economic sanctions to curb Moscow’s ambitions along its borders. Read More
P-8A Poseidon. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional information on U.S. P-8A deployments to Europe.
A Russian fighter has come within 10 feet of a Navy surveillance flight over the Black Sea on Wednesday, defense officials told USNI News. Read More
