PENTAGON: With a new military strategy emphasizing Asia and alliance-building, the U.S. Pacific Fleet today kicked off its largest international exercise in years, known as “Rim of the Pacific” (RIMPAC).
Some 42 ships are representing 22 countries, including India, which the US has been wooing as a counterweight to China, and Russia, once the presumed enemy in the annual “Rim of the Pacific” (RIMPAC) exercise. The Chief of Naval Operations told reporters today that, heck yeah, the Chinese would be welcome too: “The more the better,” he said. Keep reading →
ABOARD THE USS WASP: Putting the best face on a potentially grim future, the Navy’s top officer is telling his sailors that the active fleet will be about the same size in five years as it is now, despite recently announced plans to retire a bunch of ships early and to not build as many new ones as planned.
Colin Clark
Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr.