Both task forces are meant to boost security in the region, and one specifically patrols a key waterway that’s been the site of what the US called Iranian maritime aggression.
By Agnes HelouGA-ASI’s MQ-9B: The right UAV for persistence, power, and performance
When assessing the state of the art of unmanned aerial systems, it’s critical to be very clear about what various aircraft can and can’t do – and could never do.
TEL AVIV: Iran’s largest warship, the Kharg, caught fire on Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman and sank. The fire, sources here say, was very strange and the smoke generated by the fire demonstrates “something big went wrong.” The Kharg caught fire while sailing in international waters. She was engaged in a training exercise, Iranian…
By Arie Egozi
The secretary heads first to CENTCOM to hammer out the details of Operation Sentinel, a plan to monitor and protect shipping from Iran in Persian Gulf.
By Paul McLeary
As troops and hardware are on the move in the Gulf, diplomats signal that no one is eager for war.
By Arie Egozi and Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: In 2016, the Defense Department flew aircraft or steamed ships through territories claimed by Albania, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Malta, and, well, China, according to the Pentagon’s annual report released today. So should Beijing be relieved it was not the sole focus of American Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) or should it feel slighted that it…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Once in a while we feel the need to remind the world that we’ve done something fabulous and are glad to see the competition catch up. Today is one of those days. The New York Times, in a story we are sure will garner close attention on Capitol Hill, at the Pentagon and at NATO…
By Colin Clark
B-21, hypersonics and more: How digital development is driving industry innovation
Technological advancements are key to keeping pace with customer demands and evolving threat landscapes.
This is the second in our exclusive series on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this very real global threat. Only 4.7 percent of the US Navy’s 275 warships are dedicated to mine warfare. Those small numbers face Iran’s several thousand naval mines, North Korea’s 50,000, China 100,000 or…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: With half a million soldiers on active duty, you’d think the Army would be hard to overlook. When the House Armed Services Committee organized a hearing on the hot interservice concept known as “Air-Sea Battle,” though, they kind of forgot to invite the Army. But the largest service elbowed its way onto the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: Full speed ahead and damn the drawdown — that’s the confident note that the Navy’s top admiral struck today. “We’re not downsizing, we’re growing,” declared Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, at the National Press Club. “The ship count is going up and the number of people is going up.” Adding up…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CORRECTED: Fixes Number of Minesweepers in US Ports 9:35 am 10/1/2012 Officially, despite rising tensions with Tehran, the enemy in in the international naval wargames that kicked off in the Gulf this week is not, repeat not, Iran: It’s radical environmentalists. Very, very well-armed environmentalists. Against this fictional Greenpeace gone rogue are set the ships,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.[updated 12:45 Tuesday with VCNO Burke comment] PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA: Improving the Navy’s long-neglected capability to hunt mines is a top priority for the fleet — but it still gets less than 1 percent of the Navy budget. “We do have a sense of urgency and I think we’re applying as much resources as we…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.LAS VEGAS: “Keeping the sailor out of the minefield,” the Navy’s new mantra for mine warfare, means sending the robots in. As part of an annual exercise in July called “Trident Warrior,” the fleet experimented with an unmanned ship developed by Textron subsidiary AAI and known blandly as the Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV). The…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Talks with Iran on its nuclear work have continued but little progress has been made. A diplomat close to the lower-level meeting of technical experts in Istanbul last Tuesday told me “a large gap” remains between the positions of Iran and the six nations negotiating with it – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany…
By Michael Adler
One of America’s first naval heroes, Commodore Stephen Decatur, was challenged by an Algerian admiral in 1815. Decatur’s reply is now enshrined in international law for ships sailing the seven seas: “I go where I please.” This ethos came to define the mission of the U.S. Navy – ensuring the high seas are free and…
By Kirkland Donald and John Bird