The U.S. military is experimenting with potential future weapon systems at the ongoing Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise in Hawaii, using a weapon known as QUICKSINK during the biennial drill’s sinking exercise.
U.S. forces used QUICKSINK – born out of collaboration...
Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Sydney (DDG-42) successfully fired a Naval Strike Missile and sank former amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA-1) in the waters off Hawaii during the biennial Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise.
The Australian Department of Defense...
USS Charleston (LCS-18) transits the South China Sea at full power on Jan. 22, 2023. US Navy Photo
As maiden deployments go, the one USS Charleston (LCS-18) just wrapped is one for the record books.
The Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship returned to its San Diego, Calif., homeport last week, closing out a 26-month rotational deployment overseas. During that time, the ship operated across the U.S. 7th Fleet and 3rd Fleet regions with five rotations of its two crews, with the gold crew...
SM-6 launches from guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on Aug. 29, 2017. MDA Photo
THE PENTAGON – The rapid drawdown of the U.S. munitions stockpile to feed the demand of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict prompted the Department of Defense to ramp up its acquisition of everything from missiles to artillery shells, senior defense officials told reporters on Monday.
The Pentagon is pushing ahead with multi-year deals for weapons like the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, Standard Missile 6 and the...
Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defense System. Kongsberg Image
Raytheon was awarded a $208 million contract to arm Black Sea state and NATO member Romania with mobile coastal anti-ship missile batteries, the Pentagon announced in a Thursday contract statement.
Working with the Norwegian company Kongsberg, Raytheon will provide Romania an unspecified number of Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defense Systems as part of the deal that could be worth up to $217 million after all the options are exercised,...
https://news.usni.org/2023/01/05/romania-buys-naval-strike-missile-coastal-batteries-in-217m-deal
Electronics Technician 3rd Class Jerry Brown, from Middletown, Ohio, participates in morning colors on the foc’sle aboard the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS-18) during a port visit to Dili, Timor-Leste on Dec. 8, 2021. US Navy Photo
In the next couple of years the Navy hopes to have six Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships operating in the Western Pacific at a given time, the service’s top surface warfare officer said this week.
“In the Indy class, we continue...
https://news.usni.org/2022/08/22/swo-boss-wants-6-littoral-combat-ships-in-western-pacific
Sgt. David Seeley, a squad leader with Battalion Landing Team 3/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and a native of Dunwoody, Georgia, walks past a light armored vehicle (LAV) at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan on Feb. 8, 2021. Marine Corps Photo
Marines are rethinking how the service does reconnaissance beyond its traditional light armored vehicles as part of the ongoing Force Design 2030 effort, officials said last week.
With more unmanned systems on the market and the Pentagon continuing a...
https://news.usni.org/2022/05/20/marines-look-beyond-lavs-as-recon-roles-expand
Expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) departs Naval Base Guam, passing the MSC expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) and marking the start of Pacific Partnership 2019. Navy photo
WASHINGTON D.C. — With the Light Amphibious Warship delayed by several years, the Marine Corps is looking to ship classes already in the fleet as an interim solution to move Marines around the Indo-Pacific.
The Marine Corps’ annual Force Design 2030 update, released on Monday,...
Marines with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment (1/2), 2d Marine Division, board a KC-130J Super Hercules at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, April 22, 2022. US Marine Corps Photo
THE PENTAGON – Reducing the Marines to 175,000 and adding more sensor capability to smaller units are part of a wide swath of adjustments the Marine Corps is pursuing in the latest iteration of its modernization drive.
Released on Monday, the Force Design 2030 annual report is the Marines’ latest refinement of plans to...
Marines board the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) via landing craft, air cushion, March 21, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Marine Corps’ top requirements officer on Wednesday defended the service’s modernization overhaul against recent criticisms that the Marines are on the wrong path.
Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, acknowledged that the Marine Corps has not successfully communicated its Force Design 2030 efforts.
“I clearly...