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Subic Bay, about 55 miles northwest of Manila, sits within striking distance of China. The United States is moving forward with plans to establish what could become the world’s largest weapons manufacturing hub in the Philippines’ Subic Bay, once home to the biggest US naval base in Asia, to counter China’s expanding military presence in the region. The plans got a real push when Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inaugurated HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines’ new shipyard at the former Hanjin complex, now renamed Agila Subic by American investment firm Cerberus Capital Management. Backed by US and South Korean...

The US Navy wanted the F-14 Tomcat for long-range fleet defense against Soviet bomber threats, requiring a large radar, powerful air-to-air missiles, and the ability to operate across a wide range of airspeeds to carry heavy ordnance and maintain maneuverability. The variable-sweep wing design, combined with advanced fire-control systems and the AIM-54 Phoenix missile, made the F-14 capable of engaging multiple targets at long distances while still being able to perform close-in combat and dogfighting.

The U.S. Navy faces a dangerous shortage of attack submarines, leaving it stretched too thin to meet global demands. While the fleet is already below its 66-boat goal, the reality is worse: about one-third of subs are non-deployable at any time due to massive maintenance backlogs and crew shortages.

As a tugboat captain pulled an unmanned U.S. military drone boat out of Naval Base Ventura County in California recently, there seemed little danger. But then, the robot vessel suddenly turned itself on, zoomed forward and bashed into the vessel towing it, capsizing the tug and throwing the unfortunate skipper overboard. Weeks later, in another exercise, a military robo-boat stalled and was smashed into from the side by another speeding drone vessel. The fast-moving robot boat hit the stationary one's bow, flew into the air and over it, and landed with a splash. Details of the damage are unknown, but...

Five aviation companies are under contract to develop armed, unmanned aircraft and control systems for use on the Navy’s fleet of 11 aircraft carriers, USNI News has learned.General Atomics, Boeing, Anduril and Northrop Grumman are on contract for the conceptual design of the so-called collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, according to a Navy presentation reviewed by USNI News. Lockheed Martin is under contract to build the common control system.The Navy wants “uncrewed, modular, interoperable, interchangeable and versatile platforms” that it can field from an aircraft carrier, reads the slide from Naval Air Systems Command’s program executive office for unmanned aviation...

Photogrammetric reconstruction of the submarine USS F-1 on the seafloor west of San Diego, Calif. Credit: Zoe Daheron/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Deep-sea vehicles revealed detailed images of the USS F-1 submarine wreck. The expedition also honored lost sailors and trained future scientists. A recent deep-sea training and engineering mission off the coast of San Diego allowed researchers to capture unprecedented images of the U.S. Navy submarine USS F-1. The vessel sank on December 17, 1917, after a fatal accident that claimed the lives of 19 crew members. Thanks to interagency collaboration and state-of-the-art imaging tools, the century-old submarine’s resting place...

Donald Trump has warned that, if Venezuelan jets fly over US naval ships and "put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shot down". The president's warning comes after Venezuela flew military aircraft near a US vessel off South America for the second time in two days, US officials told the BBC's US partner CBS News. The reports follow a US strike against what Trump officials said was a "drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela" operated by a gang, killing 11 people. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has said that the US allegations about his country are not true, and that differences between...

Actress Mia Farrow raged over a drug boat strike that killed eleven Tren de Aragua terrorists who were en route to the United States, bizarrely accusing President Donald Trump of “murder.” “Trump is now doing extra judicial killings,” Farrow claimed in a Thursday post on the leftist echo chamber social media platform BlueSky. Trump is now doing extra judicial killings. He ordered a boat on the high seas bombed. Killed 11 people. We have not been shown any proof they were drug smugglers It was murder. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u… — Mia Farrow (@miafarrow.bsky.social) September 4, 2025 at 9:49 PM

resident Donald Trump warned on Friday that Venezuelan planes will be "shot down" if they put the United States in a "dangerous position." Why It Matters Trump's warning comes after the Pentagon said two Venezuelan planes flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters amid an expanded U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean. The comment comes as Washington and Caracas trade increasingly sharp warnings following a U.S. strike this week on a boat the administration says was tied to the Venezuelan-linked Tren de Aragua gang. The exchange raises questions about the risk of further military escalation in the...

The last thing you want to see out of the window during the middle of your flight is a frigate of a foreign navy firing its guns. This was unfortunately the case for the passengers on a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Queenstown, New Zealand in February. The Boeing 737 had inadvertently flown within the vicinity of three Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea, an incident that sparked controversy as Australia's military was unaware that the Chinese Navy had vessels just 300 nautical miles off the country's east coast. The audio recording of the conversation between the flight crew...

The Department of Defense cautioned Venezuela after saying two of its military aircraft flew near a Navy vessel, the USS Jason Dunham, on Thursday. The military struck a Venezuelan drug boat earlier this week in the Caribbean and positioned vessels near the South American nation. In response to the flyby, made by two armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets, the Trump administration accused Venezuela of being run by the cartels. "Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters," a Department of Defense release said. "This highly provacative move was designed to interfere with our...

A group of Navy SEALs emerged from the ink-black ocean on a winter night in early 2019 and crept to a rocky shore in North Korea. They were on a top secret mission so complex and consequential that everything had to go exactly right. The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump. The mission had the potential to provide the United States with a stream of valuable intelligence. But it meant putting American commandos on North Korean...

The Ohio-class’s carrying capacity is about 50 percent of the entire supply of the U.S. Navy’s Tomahawk missiles. And since these SSGNs have been used recently to great effect, why take them away now? Some experts even argue that there is a strong case for attempting a refit of at least some of these powerful missile submarines until more Virginia-class boats equipped with cruise missiles can replace them.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth savagely fired Janelle Marra, a she/her DEI Navy Commander and medical director for “transgender healthcare” at a naval center in California. “Navy Cmdr. Janelle Marra, a native of Massachusetts, began her Naval Service by the Health Professions Scholarship program in 2004,” her bio read. “She is currently serving as the Senior Medical Officer over the medical clinics on MCRD-SD, the Deputy Medical Director of Transgender Care for the Navy and Director of Medical Services for Expeditionary Medical Facility Bravo,” Marra’s bio said. Social media users asked Hegseth to look into this DEI hire who was still...

BREAKING: President Donald Trump says U.S. shot out a "drug-carrying boat" coming from Venezuela, says more details coming soon.pic.twitter.com/nBGLjiDaQv— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) September 2, 2025

Summary U.S. naval buildup exceeds usual deployments in Caribbean Venezuelan officials claim U.S. targets their government, not drug cartels Experts suggest U.S. aims to pressure Maduro regime, not just combat drugs WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A large buildup of U.S. naval forces in and around the Southern Caribbean has officials in Caracas and experts in the United States asking: is the move aimed at combating drug cartels, as the Trump administration has suggested, or is it for something else entirely? Seven U.S. warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, are either in the region or are expected to...

The United States is strengthening its naval presence in the waters off Venezuela to counter threats posed by drug cartels. More than 4,000 personnel will be deployed to the area, amid growing tension between Washington and Caracas. The U.S. government has not indicated any intention of a land incursion into the South American nation. The news follows confirmation last week of three U.S. Aegis guided-missile destroyers being deployed to the waters. Then, more recently, Venezuela announced it would send military vessels to the Caribbean Sea and elsewhere to help combat drug trafficking. According to the U.S. Navy’s new chief of...

Legendary fighter pilot and first US ace of the Vietnam War Randy “Duke” Cunningham passed away the afternoon of Aug. 27, 2025 at the age of 83 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was born 8 Dec 1941 in Los Angeles. Cunningham has been in and out of the hospital for the eight months with heart problems and other issues. Cunningham was a retired US Navy commander and former F-4 Phantom pilot in VF-96, who along with his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Willy “Irish” Driscoll was the first US ace of the Vietnam War. He was an officer and pilot in...

Someone in the cartel is in trouble. The U.S. Coast Guard, in partnership with the Department of Defense, seized over 75,000 pounds of illegal narcotics. The value of the rugs is estimated to be nearly $500 million. Most of the drugs were seized near the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Washington Examiner reported more in-depth details about the drug seizure: The Coast Guard seized more than 75,000 pounds of illegal narcotics, valued at $473 million, from late June to mid-August, the service announced on Monday. The 76,140-pound haul, which was obtained in 19 different interdictions in the Eastern...

A single DF-21D warhead striking a carrier’s flight deck would be a mission-kill. It wouldn’t sink the ship, but it would crack the deck, making it impossible to launch or recover aircraft. The carrier, for all intents and purposes, would be out of the fight. Several successful hits could very well sink the vessel, resulting in the tragic loss of over 5,000 American sailors and a $13 billion national asset. It would be a Pearl Harbor-level catastrophe, a blow from which American prestige might never recover.