A Vietnamese woman, carrying her son, is given a numbered tag as she arrives onboard USS Hancock (CV-19) on April 29, 1975. US Marine Corps Photo
The Pentagon acknowledged on Monday the evacuation of Americans and other U.S. diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan and Afghan emigrants is a “non-combatant evacuation operation,” a mission for U.S. forces to safeguard the exit of civilians and other non-combatants from a country. Read More
Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) launches a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) during Exercise Pacific Griffin on Oct. 1, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Chinese military sees the Littoral Combat Ship armed with anti-ship missiles as a key element of a U.S. distributed maritime force in the Western Pacific, according to a translation of a 2020 Chinese government research paper on the U.S. Navy’s distributed lethality concept reviewed by USNI News. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) successfully completes the third and final scheduled explosive event for Full Ship Shock Trials while underway in the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 8, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s newest aircraft carrier finished shock trial testing on Sunday after the service detonated the third and last explosive charge near the ship’s hull off the coast of Florida. Read More
The Senate confirmed the White House’s nominee to lead the Department of the Navy in a voice vote late Saturday. Read More
U.S. Central Command Photo
A one-way, explosive-laden drone made in Iran attacked an Israeli-operated merchant tanker last week off the coast of Oman, U.S. Central Command said on Friday. Read More
USS Lassen (DDG-82) escorts the merchant vessel Tomahawk through the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 18, 2019. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Electronic spoofing, jammed communications and navigation systems, armed drone attacks and pirates are challenges American crews on U.S.- flagged ships in the Ready Reserve Force and Military Sealift Command already face, a panel of maritime experts said Wednesday. Read More
James F. Geurts
This story has been updated to include a statement from a Navy spokesperson and a former spokesperson for James Geurts.
James Geurts, the Navy’s former acquisition chief who for the last several months has been performing the duties of the under secretary of the Navy, is stepping down this month. Read More
F/A-18F Super Hornets, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, fly over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) in the Atlantic Ocean, May 9, 2019. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — If Congress mandates the Navy keep buying the current F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the airframes will be in the fleet into the 2050s. But by then, the fourth-generation fighters likely couldn’t stand up to future threats, a service official said Tuesday. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday speaks at the Sea Air Space 2021 symposium on Aug. 2, 2021. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The head of the Navy said defense contractors directly lobbying Congress to buy certain defense systems is taking attention away from the service’s spending priorities. Read More
Undated photo of Tanker Mercer Street. Photo via Marine Traffic
This post has been updated with a map of the approximate location of the attack.
An exploding drone killed two crew members aboard a merchant tanker off the coast of Oman, U.S. 5th Fleet said in a late Friday statement. Read More
