Surface Forces

Truman Carrier Strike Group Leveraging Unusual Deployment to Work on Undersea Warfare, Strengthen Northern NATO Partnerships

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) conducts flight operations in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 18, 2018. US Navy photo.

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is in the midst of an unusual deployment – currently operating in the North Sea, in Act II of its deployment that had a working port visit intermission – but the strike group commander said the deployment has allowed his sailors to focus on high-end warfare and train in ranges not usually available to them.

Rear...

https://news.usni.org/2018/10/02/truman-carrier-strike-group-leveraging-unusual-deployment-to-work-on-undersea-warfare-strengthen-northern-nato-partnerships

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Oct. 1, 2018

USNI News Graphic

The USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker is sponsored by CNA. These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Oct. 1, 2018, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the map reflects the location of the capital ship.

Total U.S. Navy Battle Force:286Ships Underway

Deployed Ships UnderwayNon-deployed Ships UnderwayTotal Ships...

https://news.usni.org/2018/10/01/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-oct-1-2018

Destroyer USS Decatur Has Close Encounter With Chinese Warship

Guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73) operates in the South China Sea on Oct. 13, 2016

Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73) was approached Sunday morning in the South China Sea by a Chinese warship in what Navy officials are calling an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver.

At about 8:30 a.m. local time, Decatur was conducting freedom of navigation operations (FONOps) in the vicinity of Gaven Reef in the South China Sea. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)...

https://news.usni.org/2018/10/01/37006

Pentagon to Start FY 2019 with Defense Spending Bill Signed Into Law

DoD Photo

President Donald Trump signed the Department of Defense appropriations bill on Friday, providing $674 billion to fund military operations in Fiscal Year 2019, which begins Monday.

By signing the bill into law before the Oct. 1 start to the fiscal year, members of Congress noted this was the first time in a decade the military received funding on time.

“When I became Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, too many of our senior commanders and DOD officials had become resigned to the...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/36944

First F-35Bs Operate off of HMS Queen Elizabeth as U.K. Works Toward a Native Carrier Strike Group

Cmdr. Nathan Gray RN, Makes the first ever F-35B Lightning II jet take off from HMS Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 25, 2018. Royal Navy Photo

ABOARD HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, OFF THE COAST OF NEW JERSEY — The Royal Navy took the next step to reestablishing its own carrier force this week when two F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters landed on the deck of its new carrier for the first time .

Flying a test F-35B from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Royal Navy Cmdr. Nathan Gray touched down on HMS Qu...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/first-f-35bs-operate-off-hms-queen-elizabeth-u-k-works-toward-native-carrier-strike-group

Report to Congress on Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle Program

The following is the Sept. 26, 2018 Congressional Research Service report, Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV): Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report:

On January 6, 2011, after spending approximately $3 billion in developmental funding, the Marine Corps cancelled the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program due to poor reliability demonstrated during operational testing and excessive cost growth. Because the EFV was intended to replace the 40-year-old Amphibious Assault...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/27/report-congress-marine-corps-amphibious-combat-vehicle-program-2

Navy Awards Ingalls 6 Destroyers, Bath Iron Works 4 in Multiyear Deal; Ingalls to Build Both 2018 Ships

The Ingalls-built destroyer Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) launched at first light Saturday morning, Nov. 12, 2016. Ingalls Shipbuilding photo.

The Navy awarded six of its next Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to Ingalls Shipbuilding and four to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, in a combined $9-billion purchase right at the end of the fiscal year.

The two companies had been competing for work in a five-year multiyear procurement (MYP) deal that would cover at least 10 Flight III destroyers. The contracts...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/27/navy-awards-ingalls-6-destroyers-bath-iron-works-4-in-multiyear-deal-ingalls-to-build-both-fy-2018-ships

SASC Quizzes SOUTHCOM Nominee on Drug War Command and Control

US SOUTHCOM nominee Vice Adm. Craig Faller testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 25, 2018. DoD Photo

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee told nominee to lead Southern Command they want to consider new command and control structures to oversee the U.S. fight against narcotics trafficking.

During the Tuesday confirmation hearing for Vice Adm. Craig Faller, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said there was no clear leadership between the Defense Department, Homeland...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/25/sasc-quizzes-southcom-nominee-drug-war-command-control

U.S. Aircraft Carrier Deployments at 25 Year Low as Navy Struggles to Reset Force

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) transits the Pacific Ocean while underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations on Aug. 4, 2018. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated to include a statement from the Navy as well as an explanation of how USNI News tabulated its data.

THE PENTAGON – Aircraft carriers – the most visible tools of U.S. military power – are spending more time in maintenance and at home even as the Pentagon has declared it’s entered a new era of competition with China and Russia.

According...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/26/aircraft-carrier-deployments-25-year-low

Marine Corps Cancels AAV Survivability Upgrade

Marines with Bravo Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, enter the ocean with their Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) on Camp Schwab beach, Okinawa, Japan, June 29, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — The Marine Corps has canceled its Amphibious Assault Vehicle Survivability Upgrade effort with SAIC and will instead focus its efforts on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle that will eventually replace the AAV.

The service issued a stop work order in late August, Manny...

https://news.usni.org/2018/09/25/marine-corps-cancels-aav-survivability-upgrade

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