The following is a Nov. 9, 2016 memo from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to the U.S. Department of Defense following the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Read More

The following is a Nov. 9, 2016 memo from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to the U.S. Department of Defense following the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Read More
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks with reporters at theU.S. Air Force Academy after touring the campus in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 12, 2016. DoD Photo
This post has been updated with a statement from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says the House version of the Defense Authorization bill to shift money from emergency war spending to the base budget is gimmickry that is “gambling with warfighting money at a time of war.” Read More
USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) launches a Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s aegis weapons system on June 19, 2014. US Navy Photo
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error a previous version of this post had the incorrect hull number for the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones. The ship is designated DDG-53 — not DDG-32. The designation DDG-32 was assigned to the decommissioned Forrest Sherman-class destroyer also named John Paul Jones.
The former frigate USS Reuben James (FFG-57) was sunk in January during a test of the Navy’s new anti-surface warfare (ASuW) variant of the Raytheon Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), company officials told USNI News on Monday. Read More
A Raytheon SM-6 launched from an Aegis guided missile destroyer. US Navy Photo
The Navy fared well during late-in-the-game Fiscal Year 2017 budget negotiations with the Defense Department, despite a widespread initial concern about cuts to the Littoral Combat Ship/Frigate program, Navy leadership told USNI News. Read More
Sailors man the phone and distance line aboard the Arleigh Burke-Class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG-57) on Nov. 7, 2014. US Navy Photo
This is the final version of this post.
PENTAGON — The Department of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2017 lower-than-expected budget submission follows closely with an overall Department of Defense drive to build higher end warfighting capabilities — but at a cost, according to budget documents released on Tuesday. Read More
Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar (left) and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (center) observe flight operations on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). US Navy Photo
ONBOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER — In a blast of rotor wash from a Marine MV-22 Osprey, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar came aboard one of the largest and most technical expressions of American power projection — a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Read More
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter testifes before the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. military strategy in the Middle East Oct. 27, 2015. DoD Photo
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee the United States has shifted its emphasis from training forces outside of Syria to return to fight Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) to one of identifying “capable and motivated” leaders inside the country who put defeating the extremists ahead of removing Bashar al-Assad from power in Damascus. Read More