Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. US Navy Photo
A contracted offshore supply vessel left Virginia bound for the crash site of the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, USNI News has learned. Read More
Able Seaman Combat Systems Operator Benjamin Stewart participates in an Anti-Submarine Warfare exercise with a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine during Exercise ARC21 in 2021. Royal Australian Navy Photo
Developing a nuclear-powered submarine with Australia could happen in less than 30 years if “we put our shoulders to the task” and commit to a tight timetable, retired Adm. Harry Harris told lawmakers Tuesday. Read More
Cmdr. Brad Fancher, commanding officer of the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD-50), observes the debris field of a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 4, 2023. US Navy Photo
A U.S. amphibious warship, explosive and ordnance divers and underwater robots are off the coast of South Carolina surveying about a square mile off the Atlantic Ocean for the remains of a high-altitude Chinese spy balloon a U.S. fighter shot down on Saturday, defense officials told reporters on Monday.
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Video stills of the Chinese Spy Balloon after it was hit with an AIM-9X anti-air missile fired from a F-22 Raptor on Feb. 4, 2023.
A trio of Navy warships, service divers and the FBI are on the hunt for the wreckage of a high-altitude Chinese spy balloon that was shot down on Saturday by an Air Force F-22 Raptor off the coast of South Carolina, Defense Department officials told reporters Saturday. Read More
French Navy Graphic
French Navy amphibious warship FS Dixmude (L9015) and frigate FS La Fayette (F710) will depart on Feb. 8 for the Mission Jeanne d’Arc 2023 deployment, which will see the two ships circumnavigating the globe. Read More
USS Nitze (DDG-94) at anchor near the entrance to the Bosporus Strait on Feb. 3, 2023. Photo by Yörük Işık used with permission
USS Nitze (DDG-94) stopped on the edge of the Bosphorus Strait, on its way to make a port call in Turkey, USNI News understands. It’s the closest a U.S. warship has been to the Ukraine-Russia war since it started nearly a year ago. Read More
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is welcomed to the Philippine Department of National Defense in Manila, Feb. 2, 2023. DoD Photo
MANILA – The United States and the Philippines have designated four additional bases for U.S. troops to operate from as both countries agreed to accelerate the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that will house American troops and their equipment in Philippine military camps located in strategic areas of the country. Read More
Artist concept of General Atomics bid for DARPA’s Liberty Lifter Program
This post has been updated with additional contract information.
The Pentagon’s emerging technologies research arm awarded two aviation companies contracts to develop seaplanes that would fly less than 100 feet off the ground and carry 90 tons of cargo more than 6,500 nautical miles, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday. Read More
Lt. Razvan Melen reenlists Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Braden Richardson in front of an MH-60S Knight Hawk attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., on May 12, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Navy exceeded retention goals for Fiscal Year 2022 and is on track to beat them in Fiscal Year 2023, according to data from the Office of the Chief of Naval Personnel obtained by USNI News. Read More
USS Pinckney (DDG-91) undocks SEWIP Block 3/SLQ-32(V)7 structures under either bridge wing on Aug 26, 2022. Screengrab of a General Dynamics NASSCO Video
ARLINGTON, Va. – The plan to upgrade the Navy’s fleet of Flight IIA Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers with new radars and electronic warfare suites is estimated to cost about $17 billion and take anywhere from a year and a half to two years to upgrade each warship, USNI News has learned. Read More
