China’s Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe on June 2, 2019. USNI News Photo
SINGAPORE — China’s Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe struck an uncompromising tone on Taiwan and the South China Sea in his Sunday speech IISS Shangri La Dialogue. Read More
U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan arrives in Singapore on May 30, 2019. DoD Photo
SINGAPORE – Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan stressed the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and highlighted key messages from the Pentagon’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy Report in a Saturday speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Read More
The following is The Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, released on June 1, 2019. Read More
The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) steams alongside the French FREMM-class frigate FS Provence during a photo opportunity while conducting a bilateral anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Indian Ocean on May 13, 2019. Photo courtesy of the French Navy.
Several multinational exercises focused on interoperability have taken place in the Indo-Pacific region recently, including two involving French Navy aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91) on its first deployment since 2016. Read More
U.S. Navy F-18F Super Hornets, assigned with Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., park on the flight line prior to Exercise Northern Edge, May 10, 2019, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Northern Edge is an exercise showcasing the lethality of joint forces and the capabilities of U.S. forces in and around the Indo-Pacific region. US Air Force photo.
An aircraft carrier is in Alaska for Exercise Northern Edge for the first time in a decade, as the service continues to prioritize re-learning how to operate in the Arctic. Read More
USS Boxer (LHD-4) transits the Pacific Ocean. Boxer is underway conducting routine operations as a part of USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) in the eastern Pacific Ocean on March 20, 2019. US Navy Photo
About 4,500 sailors and Marines left San Diego, Calif., today for a scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific and Central Command regions with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Read More
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), left, and the Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), right, sail in formation with 16 other ships from the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) during Keen Sword 19 on Nov. 08, 2018. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The Pentagon will unveil a new Indo-Pacific strategy at the Shangri-La Dialogue this May, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver told a media roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week. Read More
Amphibious assault vehicles depart the well deck aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) during Exercise Dawn Blitz 2015 (DB-15).
US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to note that USS New Orleans would be the fifth amphibious ship forward-deployed to Japan. USS Germantown (LSD-42) is also homeported in Japan and was not included in the original version of this story. The future amphibious force in Japan will include two LSDs, two LPDs and an America-class LHA.
The Navy is adding a fifth amphibious ship to its forward-deployed fleet in Japan and is bringing home one of the destroyers that has been forward-deployed the longest, the service announced. Read More
Adm. Phil Davidson participates in an honors ceremony at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in New Zealand in 2018. US Navy Photo
The head of U.S. forces in the Pacific has asked Congress to support several new initiatives to increase American military power in the region beyond what has been set aside in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget request, according to a March 22 letter obtained by USNI News. Read More
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Murray Joe Tynch III, the commander of Logistics Group Western Pacific/Task Force 73 (COMLOG WESTPAC/CTF73), left, briefs U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. Phil Davidson, center, at COMLOG WESTPAC/CTF73 headquarters in Singapore, March 6, 2019. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – The U.S. Navy only has half the submarines it needs in the Pacific, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command told the House Armed Services Committee.
