A plan for an 8,600-person residual U.S. force in Afghanistan after any peace agreement came from military leadership — not President Trump — and such an agreement must be based on conditions and not on trust in the Taliban or…
Alerts Sound on Maritime Logistics: Several Experts See Seriously Lacking Sealift Capability
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are aggressively changing course and refocusing their resources and training to prepare the fleet and expeditionary forces for a “Great Power Competition” with China and Russia. But a growing number of Navy officers and…
Top Marine Combat Development Officer: Corps Seeks Families of Unmanned Systems
The Marine Corps’ top combat development officer told an unmanned systems forum that the Corps is looking for families of unmanned systems that will allow small units to persist and survive inside an enemy’s weapons-engagement zone, such as those China…
Top Pentagon Future Technologies Official Pushes Offensive Hypersonic Weapons Capability
The Defense Department is developing a space-based sensor system and an associated communication network to defend the nation against hypersonic weapons. But the military’s top future technologies official also wants to field an offensive capability. Although the United States led…
Mission in Gulf of Guinea a ‘Learning Experience’ for American Personnel, Navy Officer Says
The U.S. military training engagements with less-developed militaries, such as the ongoing African Partnership Station mission in the Gulf of Guinea, are also a learning experience for the American personnel because it can expose them to the level of military…
July ANTX Exercises in N.C. Yield Wealth of New Ideas, Three Navy Officials Say
The latest in a series of advanced naval technology exercises (ANTX) provided a lot of new ideas on how to improve maneuverability, communications, logistics and force protection in the highly contested environments expected in a future fight against a peer…
New Surface Warfare Chief: Navy Still Determining LSC, Unmanned Solutions
The U.S. Navy’s new surface warfare director said the sea service is still working on what it wants in a proposed large surface combatant and also what to do with the large unmanned surface vessels that the Navy plans to…
Berger Takes Over From Neller as Marine Corps Commandant
Gen. David H. Berger relieved Gen. Robert B. Neller on July 11 to become the 38th commandant of the Marine Corps in a ceremony at Marine Corps Barracks, Washington. Acting Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said of Berger: “In this…
International ‘Gray Zone’ Actions Challenge Blue-Water Navy
Despite the current heavy focus on great power competition, the Navy must retain and build its ability to engage in irregular maritime conflict, which historically has always been a fundamental part of maintaining maritime security, a panel of historians and…
Analysts: Congress Shifting Money to Readiness, Seems Less Willing to Boost Shipbuilding, Unmanned Systems
Congress this year is less willing to boost shipbuilding funding above the Trump administration’s request than in recent years and has shown some skepticism over the U.S. Navy’s push for rapid adoption of unmanned systems, the two top congressional analysts…