Panel: Pace of Navy Freedom of Navigation Operations Stressing Force

USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) steams near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on July 14, 2020. US Navy Photo

Freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea puts stress on the fleet when the Navy could use that time more effectively “to train up for high-end conflict,” a national security expert who served in the Trump administration said Friday.

Speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies Forum, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary for strategy and...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/09/panel-pace-of-navy-freedom-of-navigation-operations-stressing-force

State Official: U.S. Ties with Japan, India and Australia Should be Model for Region

Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 7, and Royal Australian Army Major Gen. Roger Noble, deputy chief, Joint Operations, Australian Defense Force, salute as the color guard parades the colors during the closing ceremony of the eighth U.S. and Australian exercise Talisman Sabre 2019 on July 27, 2019. US Navy Photo

A senior State Department official stressed the strengthening economic, diplomatic and security bonds between the United States, Japan, Australia and India as...

U.S. Admiral Talks 3rd Chinese Aircraft Carrier: ‘Go Ahead and Build that Big Ship’

Chinese carrier Shandong. PLA Photo

China’s pursuit of more aircraft carriers validates the U.S. Navy’s commitment to building more American aircraft carriers in the future, the U.S. admiral in charge of providing forces to the fleet said on Thursday.

“Good on ‘em. It makes the argument that carriers are important,” Adm. Chris Grady, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, said on Thursday. “We have them. They want them and they’re building them.”

Grady was responding to reports based off a new analysis...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/17/u-s-admiral-talks-3rd-chinese-aircraft-carrier-go-ahead-and-build-that-big-ship

On Korean War Anniversary, Military Tensions Between North and South On the Rise

Republic of Korea Army soldiers stand resolute at the iconic Joint Security Area where South and North Korean soldiers stand face to face across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Panmunjom, South Korea, June 19, 2018. US Army Photo

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are on the rise as North Korea is reasserting an aggressive military posture — cutting hotline communications, blowing up a liaison office and issuing threats to send armed soldiers into guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone.

The...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/25/on-korean-war-anniversary-military-tensions-between-north-and-south-on-the-rise

Panel: COVID-19 Pandemic Could Prompt Changes to National Security Spending

Coronavirus 2019

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. CDC Image

The Pentagon’s budget will fall in the future as Congress sees how little the Department of Defense’s spending was able to protect against the global COVID-19 pandemic, three national...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/15/panel-covid-19-pandemic-could-prompt-changes-to-national-security-spending

New Air Bases, Baby Cabbage Key to Chinese Long-Term Claims on South China Sea

March 27, 2020 image of a Chinese Installation on Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea. CSIS Image

China is tightening its grip on disputed claims in the South China Sea by beefing up its military capability and planting the seeds of long-term habitability on the artificial islands at the core of its regional economic influence strategy.

Last week, Taiwanese officials warned of the threat posed by a Chinese air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to press reports, including an...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/03/new-air-bases-baby-cabbage-key-to-chinese-long-term-claims-on-south-china-sea

Maritime Standoff Between China And Malaysia Winding Down

USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) conducts routine operations near the Panamanian flagged drill ship, West Capella on May 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

A standoff between China and Malaysia over potential natural gas and oil reserves beneath the South China Sea appears to be ending as research vessels from both nations moved away from each other following stepped-up U.S. Navy presence in the last several weeks.

On Tuesday, West Capella, a Panamanian-flagged drillship hired by Malaysia’s state-owned...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/13/maritime-standoff-between-china-and-malaysia-winding-down

U.S. Navy Maintains Operations In Western Pacific as Other Navies Slow Down

Sailors and Marines conduct flight operations from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) with aircraft assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 on April 9, 2020. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy is continuing to run missions to ensure freedom of navigation and show presence in the Western Pacific while other militaries are scaling back their operations amid COVID-19 concerns.

A host of militaries in the region have called-off...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/11/u-s-navy-maintains-operations-in-western-pacific-as-other-navies-slow-down

SECDEF Esper Preparing For Future Defense Spending Cuts

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks to the media during in the Pentagon Briefing Room on April 14, 2020. DoD Photo

When the bill comes due for Congress to pay off nearly $3 trillion in spending bills passed to spur economic activity during the COVID-19 shutdown, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper worries future Pentagon budgets will take a hit.

For the Department of Defense to continue increasing its readiness and modernize its forces, the Pentagon needs its topline budget to grow between 3...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/04/secdef-esper-preparing-for-future-defense-spending-cuts

Navy Speeding Up Science And Technology Spending

Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, Navy surgeon general and chief, US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, visited the Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton (NAMRU-Dayton) on February 25. NAMRU-Dayton biochemist, Lt. Cmdr. Taj King explains current research studies taking place in NAMRU-Dayon’s inhalation toxicology laboratory – the Department of Defense’s largest inhalation toxicology laboratory for non-chemical and biological weapons on Feb. 25, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy’s is doubling-down on science...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/navy-speeding-up-science-and-technology-spending