TOKYO (Reuters) – In fresh show of naval force in the contested South China Sea, a U.S. guided missile destroyer conducted drills with a Japanese aircraft carrier, two Indian naval ships and a Philippine patrol vessel in the waterway claimed by China, the U.S. Navy said on Thursday.
An internal Navy study has faulted the sea service’s failure to prevent the leaking of secrets and technology to foreign adversaries, including China and Russia.
China has mobilized nuclear-capable intermediate-range missiles in response to the passage of a Navy warship near disputed islands in the South China Sea this week, according to state-run Chinese media.
A Marine Special Forces officer has been promoted in retirement after the Navy acknowledged that he was falsely accused of war crimes for leading his men through a terrorist ambush.
A Navy warship conducted an operation to contest China’s claims of controlling international waters in the South China Sea, the Pacific Fleet said Monday.
The government’s top watchdog agency on Tuesday warned President Donald Trump and Congress that two war-fighting mapping applications widely used in combat, and disseminated to U.S. allies, have made U.S. troops vulnerable to cyberattacks by Russia, China, and other hostile actors.
The Trump administration’s plan to grow the Navy’s fleet to 355 ships would cost an estimated $28.9 billion per year over the next 30 years, representing the largest naval buildup since the Reagan administration if completed, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
China is stepping up the use of intelligence-gathering ships to spy on U.S. and allied targets and last year secretly monitored an American missile defense test near Alaska, according to the Pentagon.
The United States Navy is hoping to accelerate the development and construction of its Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines in order to get them in service as soon as possible.
