Newport News Navy barracks to receive $1.7 billion upgrade
The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Navy announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Hunt Military Communities to construct or renovate 8,098 beds in downtown Newport News, Virginia. The agreement, spanning five years and totaling $1.7 billion, will “reshape unaccompanied housing for thousands of sailors across the Hampton Roads region,” according to a ...[Read More]
US Navy should target carriers in fight with China, report says
China is devoting enormous efforts — from submarines to ballistic missiles — to destroy America’s aircraft carriers. The strategy prompted a U.S. think tank to ask why America couldn’t do the same and sink China’s growing fleet of carriers. The think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, devised a plan to target Chinese carriers by using many of the same tactics that China woul...[Read More]
FRCE cuts ribbon on new Global TransPark facility, strengthening capacity for future growth
Officials from the Department of War, Department of the Navy and the state of North Carolina cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art repair complex at the North Carolina Global TransPark Sept. 17, significantly boosting Fleet Readiness Center East’s (FRCE) ability to deliver mission-ready aircraft to warfighters.
US Navy awards defense startup $200 million for Blackbeard hypersonic missile
The U.S. Navy awarded defense startup Castelion $200 million for the production of its Blackbeard hypersonic missile, a low-cost, scalable weapon that can be fielded across carrier strike groups, the service announced Tuesday. The Navy championed the contract as one of the first successful examples of the Department of the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office and how it “has adapted its acquisition stru...[Read More]
Stingray Cleared for Takeoff: MQ-25A Achieves First Flight, Milestone C Approval
The Navy’s path toward unmanned carrier aviation took a major step forward this spring. After a successful first flight April 25, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao announced May 19 that the MQ-25A Stingray received Milestone C approval, clearing the way to move into Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP).
80 Years of Building the Threat: How Point Mugu’s Target Mission Shapes Fleet Lethality
Point Mugu has spent eight decades doing something counterintuitive: trying to sink the fleet. The fleet is stronger because of it.
AI military targeting may move faster than humans can authenticate, critics warn
Human approval may not be enough to ensure manual control over AI-enabled decisions, witnesses told Congress Wednesday, as artificial intelligence takes on a greater role in military target identification and recommendations, and in turn, compresses time available to intervene. The concern, critics say, is not limited to weapons that can select and engage targets on their own. At the hearing, titl...[Read More]
US military must adapt as formations will be ‘hunted’ by autonomous systems, Caine says
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized that the joint force must prove readiness ahead of a conflict in a time when adversaries are becoming increasingly interconnected amid the changing character of war. The force needs to be “clear-eyed” about the environment ahead as future conflicts will be progressively contested and defy simpler solutions, Caine said in a Wednesday...[Read More]
Naval Base Kitsap Cuts Ribbon on New Child Development Center, Adds 204 childcare spaces to capacity
Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) leaders, Sailors, civilian team members, and families gathered Tuesday to cut the ribbon on the new NBK-Bangor Child Development Center (CDC). This new state-of-the-art facility will add 204 much-needed spaces for children of military personnel in the region – nearly double the capacity of the CDC it replaced. The 16 classrooms in the new center will open across three phase...[Read More]
Iran war has cost $38 billion, depleted two-thirds of US missile interceptors, CBO says
The U.S. military has incurred about $38 billion in costs from combat operations against Iran through Aug. 1, while the conflict’s main opportunity cost has been the missile-defense interceptors the Pentagon has expended defending U.S. forces and allies, according to a new Congressional Budget Office analysis released today. CBO estimates the conflict has consumed between one-half and two-thirds o...[Read More]
Study finds ‘forever chemicals’ levels higher in younger vets than general population
U.S. veterans ages 20 to 39 had higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in their bloodstream compared with civilians of comparable age, according to a new study published Monday by Brown and Harvard researchers. Known as “forever chemicals” because they resist breaking down and can accumulate in the body over time, PFAS are used in a host of products and equipment such as fi...[Read More]
Iranian strikes damaged hundreds of US military buildings, dozens of aircraft
Iranian strikes have damaged hundreds of U.S. military and diplomatic buildings, according to a new report by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. U.S. Central Command told IG investigators that “Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict.” Wh...[Read More]