MOBILE, Ala. — A small audience of dignitaries celebrated the Aug. 29 christening of the future littoral combat ship USS Savannah (LCS 28) at Austal’s advanced ship manufacturing facility. Savannah is the 14th of 19 small surface combatants Austal USA…
Something Special: U.S. SOCOM Continues to Modernize Its Fleet of Smaller Surface Craft
Just as “Big Navy” is conducting programs to modernize its battle fleet, one of its fleets of small boats has been going through a substantial modernization: the small surface craft that support special operations forces (SOF), in particular the Navy’s…
Big Tech in a Small Package: Marines Experiment With SkyRaider UAS
With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan largely in the rearview mirror and a growing emphasis on the Pacific region and littoral operations, the U.S. Marine Corps is committed to returning to its amphibious roots. And that includes a major…
Reinventing ‘Normal’: Long-Term Rules Settle Into Place for Prolonged Siege Against Virus
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, victimized this spring by a COVID-19 outbreak, is back home in San Diego and seemingly healthy. U.S. Marines, no longer using their T-shirts as face masks, are rotating back to Australia but with strict…
The Coast Guard’s Own COVID-19 Challenges
All of the U.S. armed forces have been heavily impacted by the novel coronavirus — perhaps none more acutely than the U.S. Coast Guard. A service focused on activities such as rescuing stranded boaters, apprehending criminals and boarding vessels for…
The ODIN Shipboard Laser: Science Fiction No More
The engineers behind the development of so many cutting-edge U.S. Navy systems have long dreamed of creating a laser weapon that could defeat the fleet’s enemies. Now, they may be closer than ever to making that dream a reality. Earlier…
Radical Realignment: The Marine Plan to Reshape Battalions and Squadrons Over the Coming Decade
Editor’s note: This is the second straight month that Seapower has taken an in-depth look at the profound structural changes ahead for the U.S. Marine Corps. Within the May issue, in “Rejoined at the Hip,” we examined how the Corps…
Senate Confirms Braithwaite as Next SECNAV
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate confirmed retired admiral and current ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite to be the 77th Secretary of the Navy. Braithwaite’s nomination was approved on a voice vote May 21 before the Senate left for a weeklong Memorial Day…
Triton Deploys at Last: The Navy Takes Its New UAV to the Western Pacific
In January, the U.S. Navy’s newest surveillance aircraft, the Northrop Grumman-built MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), embarked on its first deployment, a move to demonstrate what the Navy calls early operational capability. Two MQ-4Cs assigned to…
At War With the Virus: Sea Services Forced to Radically Change Course to Battle the COVID-19 Outbreak
The novel coronavirus has been a stunning and tragic disrupter of U.S. sea service operations — both major and routine, traditional events as well as long-planned operations. Shortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11,…
