Balikatan 2026: DESRON-7, Task Force Ashland Commence Multinational Maritime Event
WESTERN PHILIPPINE SEA — Members of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7 and Task Force (TF) Ashland, composed of Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) and embarked Marines from I Marine Expeditionary Force, began participation in Exercise Balikatan 2026, April 20.
Navy Commissions Submarine USS Idaho
GROTON, Conn. —The Navy commissioned the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Idaho (SSN 799) in a traditional ceremony held Saturday, April 25, at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.
Uribe Departs, McIntyre Takes Helm of NAVSUP Business Systems Center
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Capt. Don McIntyre relieved Capt. Juan Carlos “JC” Uribe, as commanding officer, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Business Systems Center (BSC), during a change of command ceremony onboard Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg, April 24.
MQ-25A Stingray achieves successful first flight, advancing future of naval aviation
The U.S. Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray™ successfully completed its first test flight from Boeing’s facility at MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, April 25, achieving a key step for unmanned carrier operations.
The US Protected Ships from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz in the ’80s. Could It Again?
The “Tanker war” grew out of the fierce eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.
US Says it’s Hunting for Explosive Mines in Latest Push to Open the Strait of Hormuz
Sweeping for underwater explosives could take months despite a tenuous ceasefire between the United States and Iran in the weekslong war, experts say.
Remains of USS Arizona crew buried as unknowns after Pearl Harbor to be identified
The Navy and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) have dropped their initial opposition to disinterring the graves of battleship Arizona crew members buried more than 80 years ago as unknowns for possible identification and return to their families. In a late Thursday release, DPAA announced that the Operation 85 advocacy group led by family member Kevin Kline had met the 60% threshold of ...[Read More]
A century of the ‘Ma Deuce’: How the M2 Browning became America’s workhorse machine gun
For over a century the M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun, known affectionally among troops as “Ma Deuce,” has been the staple small arms weapon in the United States military arsenal. While certain enhancements have been made throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the core of the gun has remained relatively unchanged. So much so that a doughboy could likely pick up the modern-day M2 and operate ...[Read More]
US sailor deploying to Middle East injured in monkey attack in Thailand
A U.S. sailor assigned to a mine countermeasures ship was scratched by a monkey in Thailand, sidelining him from a minesweeping mission in the Middle East, according to Navy officials. The monkey attack occurred in Phuket, where the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship USS Chief was moored briefly to refuel. Axios first reported the monkey attack Thursday. “The sailor received medical care and ...[Read More]
3 sailors injured after fire breaks out aboard USS Zumwalt
Three sailors were injured this week in a fire aboard a destroyer in Mississippi, a Navy spokesperson confirmed. On Sunday, April 19, at approximately 9:45 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, a fire broke out aboard the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer as it was stationed pierside at a Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard. According to the spokesperson, the “crew responded immediately and extinguished ...[Read More]
The US military wants a fleet of missile-killing laser drones
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. Subscribe here. The U.S. military is once again pursuing flying directed energy weapons to counter threats to American airspace, according to the Defense Department’s missile defense boss. Speaking to members of Congress during a House Armed Services Subco...[Read More]
Three’s company: Trio of US carriers operating in Middle East for first time in decades
Three U.S. aircraft carriers are operating simultaneously in the Middle East for the first time since 2003, U.S. Central Command said on Friday, marking the largest concentration of naval power in the region in decades. The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R. Ford and USS George H.W. Bush are currently operating in the area’s waterways, the command said on social media, in addition to their carrier...[Read More]