Sailors and maritime forces of ASEAN member states salute while standing in formation together during the opening ceremony for the ASEAN-U.S. Maritime Exercise (AUMX) at Sattahip Naval Base, Thailand. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The U.S. has kicked off a new exercise in the Western Pacific with participation of the maritime assets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN Maritime Exercise (AUMX) began on Sunday at the Sattahip Naval Base, Thailand. Read More
Photo provided by Thai Navy Seal shows trapped teenagers in a cave in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, on July 2, 2018. Twelve teenagers and their football coach, trapped in a cave in northern Thailand for nine days, have been found alive on Monday night, Narongsak Osottanakorn, governor of Chiang Rai province said.
U.S. military personnel are supporting an international effort to rescue 13 members of a Thai youth soccer team that became trapped in a cave complex when water levels quickly rose, defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Tuesday.
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An artist’s representation of a Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile. Boeing Image
Boeing won a $207.5 million contract for 51 Lot 90 Harpoon anti-ship missile weapon systems for Egypt, South Korea and Brazil, according to a Wednesday contract announcement from the Pentagon. Read More
The Pentagon recently began funding maritime security projects with countries in the South China Sea aimed at giving them the capability to monitor activities in their territorial waters and air space amidst concerns of regional Chinese expansion. Read More
The following is the April 1, 2016 Congressional Research Service report, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China. Read More
Destruction in Katmandu on April 26, 2015. Photo by Krish Dulal
As terrible as the loss of life and damage has been since the April 25, Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, an American and Nepalese training exercise a week before the quake predicted an even worse result, U.S. officials involved with the relief effort told USNI News on Wednesday. Read More
This week’s visit by People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to the Russian port of Novorossiysk comes amid reports Russia is considering a purchase of PLAN Type 054A frigates. Unthinkable just ten years ago, it’s a reminder of how far China’s domestic arms industry has come since the West imposed an arms embargo. Read More
Vice Adm. Robert Thomas, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, delivers remarks during a change of command ceremony aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73). US Navy Photo
The head of U.S. naval forces in the Western Pacific said the U.S. would support an emerging plan to create multi-national patrols in the South China Sea that could bear similarities to anti-piracy patrols in the Strait of Malacca. Read More
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works of Kobe Harbor in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, Japan in 2006. via Wikipedia
The recent relaxation of Tokyo’s ban on arms exports has introduced Japan as a budding player in the international arms market. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has given the go-ahead for Japanese firms to compete internationally for arms contracts. Read More
A 1947 map of China’s maritime claims.
The following is from the March, 14 2014 Congressional Research Service report, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress
China’s actions for asserting and defending its maritime territorial and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims in the East China (ECS) and South China Sea (SCS), particularly since late 2013, have heightened concerns among observers that ongoing disputes over these waters and some of the islands within them could lead to a crisis or conflict between China and a neighboring country such as Japan, the Philippines, or Vietnam, and that the United States could be drawn into such a crisis or conflict as a result of obligations the United States has under bilateral security treaties with Japan and the Philippines. Read More
