USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) transits the East China Sea in 2013. US Navy Photo
An American guided missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation within 12 nautical miles of a disputed island claimed by China in the South China Sea Paracel island chain, Pentagon officials confirmed to USNI News on Saturday morning. Read More
Russia’s blurring of the line between using tactical and strategic nuclear weapons in a crisis coupled with its saber-rattling statements is compelling the United States and its NATO allies to rethink their positions on deterrence, modernization and conventional forces, four national security experts told a key Senate panel. Read More
Adm. Harry B. Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet in 2014. US Navy Photo
Calling freedom of navigation “a matter of fundamental principle” to the United States, the top military officer in the Pacific said that more operations in the South China Sea not only will continue but will become more complex. Read More
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
After two months, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter provided a clear explanation of an U.S. Oct. 27 South China Sea freedom of navigation operation (FON op) that both enraged China and left domestic maritime observers with lingering questions on American intentions. Read More
The following is the Dec. 22, 2015 letter from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) outlining the U.S. Oct., 27 2015 freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea. Read More
The nominee for the Navy’s number two civilian post told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that she shares its concerns with the cost overruns and delays in the delivery of the Ford–class nuclear aircraft carrier and was “open to all options” in considering alternatives. Read More
A panel of former U.S. defense and national security officials told a Senate panel the Pentagon’s key public strategy document — the Quadrennial Defense Review — may work better as a secret report. Read More
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has asked Secretary of Defense Ash Carter for more details on last month’s U.S. freedom of navigation (FON) mission in the South China Sea, according to a Monday letter obtained by USNI News. Read More
The following is a Nov. 9, 2015 letter from Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sen. John McCain to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter asking for more information on the U.S. Oct. 27 freedom of navigation mission in the South China Sea. Read More
U.S. Capitol on July 31, 2015, NASA Photo
Rethinking the role of the regional combatant commands, cutting the Pentagon’s support structure and putting the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff back in the operational chain of command structure were ideas offered to the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday as it revisited the almost 30-year-old Goldwater-Nichols Act. Read More
