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Defense contractor Raytheon has been tasked with designing, building, and testing a pair of directed energy weapons for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. Unlike cutting-edge laser systems that use the power of light to down airborne threats, the new weapons will use ultra-powerful microwave emitters to fry the electronics of attacking drones, missiles, and other electronically guided ordinance. According to RTX Corporation, which owns Raytheon, the two prototypes are expected to be delivered in 2024 and 2026, respectively. DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS INCREASINGLY VALUABLE IN ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE Traditional munitions like bullets use kinetic force to damage or destroy attacking...

As they were boarding it in rough seas, around 8 p.m. local time, one SEAL got knocked off by high waves and a teammate went in after him. Both are missing. The team boarding the small boat was facing about a dozen crew members. The crew members, who were taken into custody, had no paperwork, which allowed a search of the vessel. The weapons were confiscated, and the boat was sunk, a routine procedure that usually involves blowing open holes in the hull.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An armed unmanned surface vessel launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen got within a “couple of miles” of U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea before detonating on Thursday, just hours after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Iran-backed militia group to cease the attacks or face potential military action. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Navy operations in the Middle East, said it was the first time the Houthis had used an unmanned surface vessel, or USV, since their harassment of commercial ships in the...

The United States Navy is significantly increasing its presence around Yemen, with 43 warships currently positioned in strategic areas such as the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, Bab al-Mandab, and the Red Sea. Moreover, over 50 additional warships are reportedly en route to join the coalition. This heightened naval activity raises concerns about escalating tensions in the region. Amidst these developments, a hacking group with reported links to Israel has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that allegedly disabled a substantial portion of gas pumps across Iran. According to the group, the attack affected approximately 70% of Iran’s gas stations....

The United States Navy's F/A-XX fighter is expected to receive almost full funding, NavalNews.com reported on Monday. It comes as a compromise in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to fund a special access program (SAP) believed to be for the next-generation stealth fighter. Earlier this year, the House Armed Service Committee had cut $1.1 billion from the Link Plumeria line, citing "unjustified requirements." The U.S. Navy had requested $2.1 billion for Link Plumeria in its budget request for FY2024. However, the current version of the bill cut just $50 million from Project 2937, which is...

An Iranian drone flew over the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in an unsafe manner, Central Command said in a Wednesday statement. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was conducting routine flight operations in the Central Arabian Gulf Tuesday when it spotted a drone later identified as Iranian. At one point, the drone got within 1,500 yards of Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to a Central Command release.

A Marine-turned-Navy SEAL operator is under investigation for having ties with extremist groups such as the Proud Boys after local reporters and activists, as well as major media outlets, revealed he attended many protests and events throughout Southern California. Chief Special Warfare Operator Bryce Henson is under investigation following allegations of "possibly participating with, or supporting, extremist causes," Nancy spokesman Cmdr. Ben Tisdale confirmed to Military.com.Henson rose to prominence over the past year while attending protests as well as school board and city council meetings, where he pushed anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric under a false name and often in the company of...

A Navy SEAL is under investigation for suspected association with unspecified extremist organizations after photos and videos surfaced of him speaking with members of the Proud Boys at parental rights protests, according to media reports and the visual documentation.Chief Special Warfare Operator Bryce Henson, who also goes by the pseudonym Ben Richards, became a known figure in his community for participating in parental rights protests and advocating against LGBTQ+ indoctrination at school board and city council meetings, Military.com reported. A local photographer began compiling photos and videos of Henson standing with Proud Boys members and documenting allegations of verbal harassment.He’s...

A California federal court judge has ordered a preliminary injunction against enforcement of two California statutes. The statutes ban gun shows at the Orange County Fairgrounds and on any state property in California. Gun shows have been very popular in California for decades.A Crossroads of the West Gun Show scheduled for November of 2020 was canceled due to Covid 19.Crossroads of the West, an enormous gun show, has held them in Orange County for over 30 years. They held a show there as late as November 2021.According to gun show owner Bob Templeton, in the video above, the gun show...

July 18, 1792 is the date of John Paul Jones' death in France, following his service to the United States during the Revolutionary War (along with brief service to Russia afterward). During the Revolutionary War, he commanded Ranger in the defeat of HMS Drake, then later commanded Bonhomme Richard in the battle with HMS Serapis. Although Jones captured Serapis, the Richard sank following the battle, and Jones sailed the Serapis to Holland. To help Jones avoid charges of piracy, the "Serapis Flag" was entered into Dutch records as the flag he flew when he captured the ship, and it became...

By "I have not yet begun to fight!" shouted John Paul Jones when the captain of the British ship Serapis asked him to surrender. Their ships were so close their cannons scraped and masts entangled, yet his American ship Bonhomme Richard, named for Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, refused to give up. When two cannons exploded and his ship began sinking, John Paul Jones lashed his ship to the enemy's to keep it afloat. After 3 more hours of fighting, the British surrendered. This was SEPTEMBER 23, 1779. Called the "Father of the American Navy," John Paul Jones commanded the...

Unpublished BiographyJohn Paul (afterwards known as John Paul Jones) was born at Arbigland, in the Parish of Kirkbean, and in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, on 6 July 1747. Born John Paul, his father of the same name was a gardener; his mother's name was Jean MacDuff, the daughter of a small farmer in the neighboring parish of New-Abbey. Of this marriage there were seven children. John was the fourth child. The first-born was William Paul, who went abroad early in life and settled and married in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Of the three daughters, only two will be noted; Janet, who...

They all pledged their “lives, fortunes and sacred honors,” and it was more than just an idle boast. The Founding Fathers were committing treason against the most powerful empire that the world to date had ever seen. It was also their Mother Country, to which many of their friends, family, and neighbors were still loyal. And while they certainly, in the words of Patrick Henry, “made the most” of their treason, the idea that they would establish the most free and powerful nation in the history of mankind was not the most likely outcome. So in singling out these 7...

"I have not yet begun to fight" Today, the most recognizable name of a naval officer of the American Revolutionary War is that of John Paul Jones. John Paul was born at Arbigland, Kirkbean, Kirkcudbright, Scotland, 6 July 1747. Apprenticed to a merchant at age 13, he went to sea in the brig Friendship to learn the art of seamanship. At 21, he received his first command, the brig John. After several successful years as a merchant skipper in the West Indies trade, John Paul emigrated to the British colonies in North America and there added "Jones" to his name....

"I am glad that the new constitution will be, as you tell me, adopted by the nine states. I hope, however they will alter some parts of it; and particularly that they will divest the President of all military rank and command; for though General Washington might be safely trusted with such tempting power as chief command of fleet and army, yet depend on it, in some other hands it could not fail to overset the liberties of America. The President should be only the first civil Magistrate, let him command the military with the pen; but deprive him of...

He is as familiar to American maritime students as Admiral Lord Nelson is to ours – not least for having uttered the immortal words, “Surrender? I have not yet begun to fight” as his ship sank off the Yorkshire coast. But while John Paul Jones went down in history as the father of the US Navy, the final secret of the stricken Bonhomme Richard is only now beginning to emerge from its watery grave.

British satellite historians claim to have discovered the true location of an iconic American revolutionary ship which defeated the Royal Navy off the Yorkshire coast. The famous vessel, the USS Bonhomme Richard, was the first US ship to beat the Royal Navy in British waters before she sank on September 24, 1779. The location of the wreck has long been a mystery, but now a British satellite historian from Harrogate claims to have found it. Tim Akers, 60, used pioneering satellite radar techniques alongside British satellite firm Merlin Burrows to track down the buried vessel.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Four Naval Academy midshipmen and a professor, along with Navy scientists, head to the North Sea on Wednesday to search for the remains of Capt. John Paul Jones' ship, Bonhomme Richard. This search for one of the most famous ships of the American Revolution will combine oceanography, historical analysis and naval engineering and employ cutting-edge technology. A multibeam sonar, for example, will give researchers three-dimensional pictures of objects on the ocean floor, and a gradiometer, a mine-sweeping tool, can detect objects buried under sediment. If the researchers on this two-week expedition find the remains of Jones' ship, which...

The Americans will be taking to the high seas off the Yorkshire coast this summer in search of their nautical "Holy Grail". Martin Hickes reports on an expensive obsession. THIS August, a flotilla of American scientists will mount a £175,000 expedition off Flamborough Head in search of a wreck, more than 200 years after it sank. Two US teams will plunge into the North Sea in search of the flagship of a Scottish captain, known to the Brits as little more than a pirate, but to the Americans as a hero of the American Revolution and the "Father of the...

The Bonhomme Richard sank in about 180ft of water Experts have expressed confidence that they can find the sunken wreck of the ship made famous by legendary Solway born sailor John Paul Jones next month. The Bonhomme Richard went down in 1779 off Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire as Jones famously said: "Surrender - I have not yet begun to fight." Several bids have been made to recover the ship captained by a man credited as the founding father of the US Navy. Now underwater archaeology experts will use hi-tech methods to try to find it. Dr Robert Neyland,...