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Making Sense of Massive China-Russia Arms Deal

Making Sense of Massive China-Russia Arms Deal

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A Su-35 Flanker tactical fighter. Sukhoi Photo

A Su-35 Flanker tactical fighter. Sukhoi Photo

Numerous reports have appeared in the media of late regarding a deal whereby Russia would export 24 Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker fighters and four Ladas-class submarines to China. The Russian government has officially denied these reports. Numerous unofficial sources, however, indicate that S-400 antiaircraft missiles and IL-476 transport planes could be included as part of a large deal. That would be the largest China-Russia sale package since 2002. Read More

Greenert Wants Sailors Thinking About Invisible Threats

Greenert Wants Sailors Thinking About Invisible Threats

Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert addresses a Sailor’s question during an all hands call hosted at Naval Air Station North Island on Jan. 31, 2013.

Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert addresses a Sailor’s question during an all hands call hosted at Naval Air Station North Island on Jan. 31, 2013.

Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, is pushing for the Navy to pay more attention to threats in the Electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. Read More

50 Years Later: The Legacy of USS Thresher

50 Years Later: The Legacy of USS Thresher

A crayon drawing by Bruce Harvey following the loss of the USS Thresher in 1963. Navy History and Heritage Command Photo

A crayon drawing by Bruce Harvey following the loss of the USS Thresher in 1963. Navy History and Heritage Command Photo

A child’s drawing of a lost submarine rests behind Plexiglas in a back corner of the National Museum of the Navy in Washington, D.C., seemingly out of place amid massive ship models and aircraft dangling from the ceiling.

“USS Thresher/ Bruce Harvey/ crayon,” reads its art-museum-style description. “The young son of Commander John Harvey, skipper of Thresher, drew the boat on the ocean floor after hearing of its loss. Bruce’s father and 128 other men died when the submarine sank off the New England coast.” Read More

After Thresher: How the Navy made Subs Safer

After Thresher: How the Navy made Subs Safer

USS San Francisco (SSN 711) in dry dock to assess damage sustained after running aground approximately 350 miles south of Guam Jan. 8, 2005. U.S. Navy Photo

USS San Francisco (SSN 711) in dry dock to assess damage sustained after running aground approximately 350 miles south of Guam Jan. 8, 2005. U.S. Navy Photo

Eight years ago, USS San Francisco (SSN-711) ran full speed into a mountain more than 500 feet below the ocean’s surface.

One sailor died.

Fifty years earlier, the crew might not have been as lucky, said Rear Adm. David Duryea, Naval Sea Systems Command’s deputy commander for undersea warfare told USNI News in an interview. Read More

Report: Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program

Report: Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program

From the March, 27 2013 Congressional Research Service report:

The Navy’s proposed FY2013 budget requests $564.9 million for continued research and development work on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 Ohio- class SSBNs. The Ohio replacement program is also known as the SSBN(X) program. Read More

Report: Changes in the Arctic

Report: Changes in the Arctic

From the March 28, 2013 Congressional Research Service report: The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. On January 12, 2009, the George W. Bush Administration released a presidential directive, called National Security Presidential Directive 66/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25 (NSPD 66/HSPD 25), establishing a new U.S. policy for the Arctic region. Read More