The U.S. Navy faces challenges on multiple fronts. At sea, the fleet is stretched thin responding to China’s continued gray-zone aggression and defending shipping in the Middle East from drone or missile attacks. At home, new ship deliveries fall further…
Navy Selects Damen to Build New Medium Landing Ship
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has selected Damen to build the new medium landing ship (LSM) for the service. The ship will be a version of Damen’s LST 100 class. Damen is a…
Future Attack Submarine Utah Christened at Electric Boat
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The future Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine Utah (SSN 801) was christened during ceremonies at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, on October 25, 2025. According to a posting…
Cancer to Capricorn: A Maritime Showdown for the Global South
On Sept. 2, the United States really stepped up its decades-long war on drugs by sinking a boat in international waters filled with narcotics, killing 11 members of the Tren de Aragua gang. This attack, which the current administration has…
Navy Concludes Helicopter Aviator Training in TH-57 SeaRanger
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The. U.S. Navy has retired the Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter from training naval aviators after 57 years of training Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and foreign naval aviators to fly…
Sea Power: The Decisive Factor in the American Revolution
“The Continental Navy, with few exceptions, was a wasteful and humiliating fiasco.” So wrote Ian Toll in his introductory chapter in “Six Frigates” in his effort to set the stage for the construction of the ships that would lay the…
Navy Determines Planned Ship Inactivations for Fiscal 2026
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy plans to inactivate or transfer eight ships during fiscal 2026, including two warships and six auxiliary ships, the service said in a Sept. 12 internal message to the…
Navy Determines Planned Ship Inactivations for Fiscal 2026
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy plans to inactivate or transfer eight ships during fiscal 2026, including two warships and six auxiliary ships, the service said in a Sept. 12 internal message to the…
Naval Aviation at Highest Readiness in Years, ‘Air Boss’ Said
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Virginia — U.S. naval aviation is at its highest readiness in years, a senior naval aviation admiral said to an audience in Washington and online. Speaking Aug. 26 in an event of the…
Coast Guard District is Economic Nerve Center with Complex Northern Border Challenge
Editor’s Note: Since this article first appeared in the July/August issue of Seapower, the 9th District has been renamed the Great Lakes District. The 9th Coast Guard District, or D9 as it is known to the 5,000 people stationed at…



