MV Xue Long. Xinhua Net Photo
A Russian ship trapped for two weeks in Antarctica — and the Chinese ship sent to rescue it — have escaped the ice pack, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Read More
US Coast Guard Ice Breaker Polar Star (WAGB-10). US Coast Guard Photo
U.S. Coast Guard Ice Breaker Polar Star (WAGB-10) has been requested by the Russian, Chinese and Australian government to assist two ships that have been stranded in Antarctic ice, the service told USNI News on Saturday. Read More
MQ-9 Reaper. US Air Force Photo
As potent weapons as they have been in the years since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, unmanned aircraft — or drones as they are colloquially known — will have to evolve as the U.S. moves to counter rising challenges in the Western Pacific. Read More
Russia’s proposal from 2012 to expand ten bases on Russia’s Arctic borders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for Russia to expand its military presence in the Arctic following Canadian plans to claim dominion of the North Pole. Read More
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov
Russian officials are calling for the U.S. to stop developing its European land-based missile defense program following a deal reached over the weekend that curtail Iran’s atomic weapons program. Read More
INS Vikramaditya
The Indian Navy has commissioned its Russian-built aircraft carrier in a Saturday ceremony at the Sevmash Shipyard, according to several press reports. Read More
Kilo class submarine Yunes
Vietnam has taken delivery of the first of a planned six Project-636 Kilo-class submarines from Russia, according to several local press reports. Read More
US Navy and Royal Malaysian air force aircraft conduct a fly-by over the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) on Oct. 25. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon is taking its next steps in developing the often misunderstood and occasionally controversial Air-Sea Battle concept, according to several USNI News interviews with Navy and defense officials. Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin
The past several weeks have been surreal for Russia-watchers as the benighted country they follow has enjoyed more media exposure than at almost any other time over the past 20 years. The Russians, often caricatured in the American media as blundering, blustering, and ignorant bullies, have been running diplomatic circles around a disinterested and discombobulated Obama administration. Through skill, persistence, and a fair amount of good luck, Sergei Lavrov and Vladimir Putin managed to get the United States to sign on to a deal that would (with an absolutely enormous “if” around the willingness of the Syrian government to cooperate) peacefully take control of and eventually destroy the Assad regime’s store of chemical weapons. It’s been awhile since the Russians had a moment in the sun that was comparable. Read More
USS Barry (DDG 52) is underway in the Mediterranean Sea on June 16, 2013. US Navy Photo
The Department of Defense will leave four destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean and the Nimitz carrier strike group (CSG) in the Red Sea while the U.S. continues negotiations over Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, a Pentagon spokesman told reporters on Thursday.
“We have no plans at this time to change our military posture in the Mediterranean,” Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters. “We’re prepared for any potential military contingencies that might involve Syria.” Read More
