Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)), prepare to board a UH-1Y Venom during a defense of amphibious task force (DATF) rehearsal aboard amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), Red Sea, Aug. 7, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
A force of 100 Marines, newly trained by Navy personnel, stand ready to respond, if ordered, to provide armed security aboard foreign commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, USNI has learned. Read More
A U.S. Marine with India Co., 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 23 provides security during Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 at Lakeside Airpark, Queensland, Australia, July 28, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
What began with 250 American Marines and sailors at Australia’s “Top End” 12 years ago has grown into a Marine air-ground task force of 2,500 that spends its seven-month rotation spread across Australia and the western Pacific. Read More
Amphibious warship Richard M. McCool, Jr., (LPD-29) on Aug. 4, 2022. USNI News Photo
Construction of new U.S. amphibious warships is still on pause despite a small business solicitation indicating the Navy was preparing to enter a multi-year deal for San Antonio-class ships, USNI News has learned. Read More
Philippine Military resupply mission was hit with a water canon from a Chinese Coast Guard cutter. Philippine Military Photo
China Coast Guard cutters disrupted an Armed Forces of the Philippines resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, including instances where they fired water cannons, a Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson said Monday. Read More
JSDF Image
A joint Russian and Chinese flotilla sailed near Alaska and the Aleutian Islands earlier this week, two Alaska lawmakers said on Sunday. Read More
Pre-commissioning unit (PCU) Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795) seen prior to a christening ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard facility in Groton, Conn., on July 31, 2021. US Navy Photo
To keep an edge against the rapidly expanding Chinese navy and still-potent Russian submarine force, the U.S. needs a widely distributed force of crewed and uncrewed surface and undersea vessels, as well as satellites and uncrewed aerial systems, according to a new study in undersea warfare. Read More
Artist’s Rendering of Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter
The design for the U.S. Coast Guard’s long-gestating heavy ice breaker won’t be ready until next year and the first hull likely won’t deliver until 2028 – three years later than the original estimate – according to a new Government Accountability Office report reviewed by USNI News. Read More
Adm Lisa Franchetti, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, delivers opening remarks during a concert in celebration of the Navy’s 247th Birthday in 2022. US Navy Photo
NAVAL BASE POINT LOMA, Calif. – As teams of college and high school students pored over their home-built robotic submarines and others prepared to place theirs in a huge, hillside water tank, Adm. Lisa Franchetti couldn’t be happier with what she saw. Read More
A Marine Corps F-35B Lighting II pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepares to land on the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8), March 31, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s recently-completed deployment across the Pacific started out with the Marine Corps’ first operational deployment of a full squadron of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and closed out with a sinking of an old warship during an exercise in the South China Sea. Read More
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles visit U.S. and Australian service members participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre, the United States’ largest military exercise with Australia in Townsville, Australia, July 30, 2023. DoD Photo
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – U.S. and Australian officials laid the groundwork to host more U.S. forces in Australia, officials from both countries said on Saturday. Read More
