USS Bataan (LHD-5) transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Aug. 17, 2023. Fars News Image
THE PENTAGON – U.S. officials pushed back against claims that the Iranian military forced a Navy and Marine helicopter to make an emergency landing during a recent transit of the Strait of Hormuz last week.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Monday she had not seen footage of Iranian assets allegedly forcing the helicopter to land, but she said all reports of a U.S. asset being...
USNI News Graphic
These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Aug. 21, 2023, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.
Ships Underway
| Total Battle Force | Deployed | Underway |
| 297 (USS 238, USNS 59) | 100 (USS 67, USNS 33) | 77 (48 Deployed, 29 Local) |
Ships Deployed by Fleet
| 2nd Fleet | 3rd Fleet |
Two U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft operate alongside amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) and guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) in the Gulf of Oman, Aug. 17, 2023. US Navy Photo
Amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) and landing dock ship USS Carter Hall (LSD-50), sailing on orders to the Persian Gulf region, crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, USNI has learned.
Both ships, part of the three-ship, 4,000-member Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, left...
https://news.usni.org/2023/08/18/uss-bataan-uss-carter-hall-and-26th-meu-now-in-the-persian-gulf
Airman Steven Wilcoxson, from Visalia, California, pulls a refueling hose aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 2023. U.S. Navy Photo
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER – Fresh from a training exercise off the coast of Virginia, the Navy’s second oldest carrier is getting minor repairs while moored at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. But just below the flight deck of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), the staff of...
Coast Guard, along with federal, state, and local partners continue to respond following the Lahaina wildfires in Maui, Hawaii on Aug. 9, 2023. Coast Guard Photo
Naval and Marine Corps assets are responding to natural disasters in Hawaii and Papua New Guinea, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
Navy Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37 sent two MH-60 R Sea Hawk helicopters to assist the Coast Guard with search and rescue operations in Maui, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told...
USS Essex (LHD-2), front, transits the Indian Ocean with the guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG-77) on Jan. 9, 2022. US Navy Photo
The material two alleged spies for China provided to their handlers point to a sustained interest from the People’s Liberation Army in amphibious operations as threats to Taiwan grow, two naval experts told USNI News.
U.S. sailors Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Jinchao Wei and Construction Electrician 2nd Class Wenheng Zhao allegedly fed their Chinese handlers were...
Marine Corps MQ-9A MUX/MALE is formally unveiled during a ceremony for Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU-3), Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Aug 2, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU 3) introduced its new Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles in a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, last week.
The Marine Corps UAV squadron, the only one of its kind in the Indo-Pacific,...
https://news.usni.org/2023/08/08/first-marine-corps-mq-9a-reaper-squadron-now-operational
A U.S. Marine with India Co., 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 23 provides security during Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 at Lakeside Airpark, Queensland, Australia, July 28, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
What began with 250 American Marines and sailors at Australia’s “Top End” 12 years ago has grown into a Marine air-ground task force of 2,500 that spends its seven-month rotation spread across Australia and the western Pacific.
As U.S.-Australia...
Philippine Military resupply mission was hit with a water canon from a Chinese Coast Guard cutter. Philippine Military Photo
China Coast Guard cutters disrupted an Armed Forces of the Philippines resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, including instances where they fired water cannons, a Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson said Monday.
As Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessels BRP Malabrigo (MRRV-4402) and BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) approached Sabina Shoal, the rendezvous...
MV-22B Ospreys, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 362 (Rein.), 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked aboard the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, prepare to take off from the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault carrier USS America (LHA-6) during forward arming and refueling ship (FARS) operations while sailing in the East China Sea, Mar. 16, 2023. US Navy Photo
The 13th MEU employed its SIMRAD radar system, a small, mobile sensor, throughout the...