![The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) conducts routine patrols in international waters of the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands as the People’s Liberation Army-Navy [PLA(N)] guided-missile frigate Yancheng (FFG 546) sails close behind, on May 11, 2015. US Navy photo.](https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1927317.jpg)
The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) conducts routine patrols in international waters of the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands as the People’s Liberation Army-Navy [PLA(N)] guided-missile frigate Yancheng (FFG 546) sails close behind, on May 11, 2015. US Navy photo.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Sen. John McCain in 2015.
THE PENTAGON — The chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee again criticized Defense Secretary Ash Carter for a reluctance to detail U.S. presence operations in the South China Sea during a Thursday Senate hearing. Read More
USS Lassen (DDG-82) departs Yokosuka for the final time as part of the forward-deployed naval forces on Jan. 6, 2016. US Navy Photo
The guided missile destroyer that made international headlines in late October left for its final patrol as a forward deployed ship in U.S. 7th fleet on Wednesday, according to the Navy. Read More
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2015. Read More
USS Lassen (DDG-82) is underway in the Philippine Sea in 2013. US Navy Photo
Much has been made about the recent transit of the USS Lassen (DDG-82) within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef in the South China Sea. To review, that is because China has built an artificial island on top of Subi Reef, claims it as sovereign territory, and claims territorial rights to the seas around the reef. Read More
Adm. John Richardson attends the 10th Regional Seapower Symposium (RSS) for the Navies of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Countries in Venice, Italy on Oct, 22 2015. US Navy Photo
The military leaders of the U.S. and Chinese navies held a video teleconference on Thursday to discuss South China Sea naval and freedom of navigation operations that have inflamed the Chinese government, a Navy official told USNI News. Read More
Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG-82) conduct a man-overboard drill on Sept. 28, 2015 in the South China Sea. US Navy Photo
A recent U.S. Navy freedom of navigation mission in South China Sea was not limited to China’s artificial islands. Read More
Chief Of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson, address Sailors during an all-hands call in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) on Oct. 15, 2015. US Navy Photo
The new U.S. Chief of Naval Operations said potential U.S. Navy freedom of navigation missions in the South China Sea are not meant to provoke nations but rather “part of exercising international rights in international waters.” Read More
USS Benfold (DD 65) is at anchor off Koror, Republic of Palau in 2012. US Navy Photo
Two guided missile destroyers with the U.S. Navy’s latest ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems will be added to the service’s forward deployed forces in Japan by 2017, U.S. Pacific Fleet announced late Thursday. Read More
