USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile April 7, 2017. US Navy Photo
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s arsenal of Tomahawk cruise missiles will all become a Block V configuration, with older models to be retired and demilitarized, according to the program manager.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017. Kremlin Photo
Russia pledged a response to a Sunday test of a U.S. ground-based cruise missile the Pentagon conducted two weeks after the expiration of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty in early August. Read More
A target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii during Flight Test Standard Missile-45. USS John Finn (DDG-113) detected and tracked the target missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar using the Aegis Baseline 9.C2 weapon system. US Navy Photo
A pair of recent missile tests – by Russia in near Arkhangelsk and by the U.S. off the coast of California – indicate the race among nations to create a wide range of capabilities is speeding up, a missile defense expert told USNI News. Read More
The following is the U.S. Navy’s new Surface Force Strategy, which was released on Jan. 9, 2016. Read More
Guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG-72) conducts a replenishment at sea with Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) on Dec. 28, 2016. US Navy Photo
A new strategy for the surface force – released today – creates an outline for a navy that anticipates a return to high-end warfare it hasn’t known since the Cold War. Read More
Japan increasingly finds itself amid an unsettling security environment. The growing capabilities of the Chinese and Russian militaries coincide with intensified air and naval activity against the backdrop of unresolved territorial disputes. On the Korean Peninsula, the erratic regime of Kim Jong-un alarms its neighbors with provocative rhetoric and missile tests. And in Bangladesh and Indonesia, violent Islamic extremism extends its reach with ISIS-supported attacks. 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
USS Roosevelt (DDG-80) left,the guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) on Feb. 19, 2014. US Navy Photo
The evolving Distributed Lethality (DL) concept ––announced last year –– offers a new approach for how the nation might use its naval surface forces as potential adversaries acquire naval capabilities designed to control the sea. Read More
USS Barry (DDG=52) fires Tomahawk cruise missiles in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn on March 11, 2011. US Navy Photo
The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) has long been a mainstay of the U.S. strike weapon inventory. Launching from ranges out to 1,000 miles and armed with a 1,000-pound warhead, it is the Navy’s “Kick Down the Door” weapon, attacking well-defended high-value land targets. The BLK IV missile is the latest variant in a steady progression of capability, incorporating mission planning, navigation and guidance, and command and control upgrades designed to improve responsiveness and target flexibility. Combat-proven and operationally reliable, Tomahawk remains a weapon of choice for planners and commanders alike. The FY 2016 budget maintains production and inventory levels, reflecting a continued high demand signal. Read More
A Harpoon missile is launched from the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG-67) during a live-fire exercise on Sept. 15, 2014. US Navy Photo
During the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis (1995–96), United States naval dominance was demonstrated through the deployment of two carrier battle groups as a show of force within 100 miles of the Chinese mainland. Then-Secretary of Defense William Perry could state that while the Chinese “are a great military power, the premier—the strongest—military power in the Western Pacific is the United States.” Read More
