Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley speak during a press conference held in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, Washington, D.C., July 21, 2021. DoD Photo
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Southeast Asia later this week, as China increased protests of U.S. military operations in the Western Pacific and enflamed territorial disputes with nations bordering the South China Sea.
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Sailors from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) man the rails as the carrier pulls into Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on July 18, 2021. USNI News Photo
ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER – The busiest aircraft carrier on the East Coast is back home after two grueling, back-to-back deployments that kept the ship on station in the Middle East for a total of seven and a half months. Read More
USS Benfold (DDG-65) in the South China Sea US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy has denied China’s claim that its military chased an American warship out of the South China Sea. Read More
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) transiting the Suez Canal on July 1, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is in the Mediterranean Sea, heading home after three months in the Middle East, Navy officials confirmed to USNI News. Read More
USS Charleston (LCS-18) arrives for a contactless port visit ahead of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Sri Lanka on June 23, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy will have six Littoral Combat Ships deployed by the end of the year – a record for the program, several Navy officials have confirmed to USNI News. Read More
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), steams in the Indian Ocean on June 24, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s Japan-based carrier strike group is now operating in the North Arabian Sea to support the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the service announced on Friday. Read More
Chinese surveillance assets at Fiery Cross Reef on June 9, 2021. Maxar Image used permission
As the U.S. attempts to pivot its national security focus to the Pacific, the situation in the South China Sea continues to grow more complex. China claims almost the entire area as its own and has running territorial disputes with nearly all of its neighbors, while tensions remain high in part due to the presence of a more aggressive People’s Liberation Army Navy. Read More
The Independence-variant littoral combat ships USS Montgomery (LCS 8) and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) operate in the South China Sea, accompanied by an MH-60S Sea Hawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, Jan. 28, 2020. US Navy photo
The Navy is now pushing the Littoral Combat Ships out into the Pacific in force after more than a decade of stops and starts and studies. Read More
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) steams off the coast of Iwo To on May 22, 2021. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with a statement from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The American aircraft carrier based in Japan will make a rare deployment to U.S. Central Command to support the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan later this summer, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday. Read More
Sailors prepare to man the rails on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) as it departs Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on May 19, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier left Japan to complete qualifications ahead of its spring patrol on Wednesday, U.S. Navy officials told USNI News. Read More
