Kim Jong Un in front of a the North Korea intercontinental ballistic missile. KCNA Photo
The United States needs to deploy its Next Generation Interceptor by 2028 or sooner to keep pace with North Korea’s accelerating ballistic missile program, most recently demonstrated in Pyongyang’s successful test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Read More
On Nov. 16, U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Navy sailors aboard USS John Finn (DDG 113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System-equipped destroyer, fired a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA guided missile that successfully intercepted and destroyed a mock Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) during a flight test demonstration in the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii in November 2020. MDA photo.
The Missile Defense Agency proved that a Navy destroyer with a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA can stop a simple intercontinental ballistic missile threat, but more work remains to prove whether this combination could contribute to homeland defense, the MDA director said Wednesday. Read More
An F-22 Raptor assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson intercepts a Russian Tu-95 Bear on June 9, 2020. US Air Force Photo
This story has been updated to distinguish between Gen. Glen VanHerck’s role leading North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.
The Russian military is spending “hours” in airspace near Alaska when it performs flyovers in the region, the head of North American Aerospace Defense Command said on Wednesday.
Read More
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) transits the Gulf of Alaska on May 25, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy and Marine Corps will team up with the Air Force for the first time in an Alaska exercise that will serve as a testbed for emerging joint warfighting ideas in all three services, planners told reporters on Thursday. Read More
Adm. John Aquilino, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet speaks during the 79th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. US Navy Photo
U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. John Aquilino is the Biden administration pick to be the next head of all U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon announced on Saturday. Read More
Maj. Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander of US Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, presents the Legion of Merit to Colonel Raymond O’Mara, August 12, 2016. US Air Force photo.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Glen VanHerck was nominated to serve as the next commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Read More
U.S. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Sailors with the Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 8 provide security for the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) during Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) in the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 22, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. 2nd Fleet is having deploying units test out new complex tactics on their way across the Atlantic, with each of these so-called Fleet Battle Problems contributing to an overall maturation of the concepts the Navy would use in a peer adversary fight, the commander said on Tuesday. Read More
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew surveys the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas on Sept. 7, 2019. US Coast Guard Photo
NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS — With 700 islands spread over 180,000 square miles of bright blue ocean, it’s difficult to imagine the airspace over the Bahamas becoming crowded. But so many U.S. military, government, private and other aircraft have flown to the rescue in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian that the skies are “tight,” according to one Coast Guard pilot. Read More
Coast Guardsman passes water to those affected by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas on Sept. 8, 2019. Coast Guard Photo
Due to source error, the post was updated to reflect the current number of Army and Navy helicopters operating in The Bahamas.
THE PENTAGON – Over the weekend, amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) joined the international effort delivering supplies, transporting U.S. relief personnel and providing medical evacuations from the Bahamas a week after Hurricane Dorian slammed into the island nation. Read More
New Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov in late 2014.
This post has been updated with a statement from U.S. Nothern Command.
A U.S. destroyer is off the coast of Havana, Cuba, shadowing a detachment of Russian naval ships that includes one of the country’s most advanced surface ships, USNI News has verified. Read More
