Transport Module Being Set Up on a LCAC

01/25/2016
01/25/206: Sailors, assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5, and Marines, assigned to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, build a Personnel Transport Module aboard a Landing Craft, Air Cushion in the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group is underway off the coast…

Australian and Chinese Naval Exercises: Shaping a Way Ahead

01/23/2016
2016-01-23 Recently, the Royal Australian Navy conducted an exercise with the Chinese Navy on its way to the Middle East. And last Fall, the RAN visited China and made port calls and performed a rescue exercise as well. According to the Australian Ministry of Defence in a piece published on January 4,…

The Rolling Air Frame Missile: A Very Successful International Program

01/23/2016
2016-01-23 When the US Navy declared IOC on the Rolling Air Frame Missile Block 2 in 2014, you would barely know of its origins. The Navy declared initial operational capability (IOC) on Raytheon’s Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2, which brings greater accuracy and maneuverability to the self-defense system, the company…

Training Peshmerga

01/22/2016
01/22/2015: Earlier, we have argued that the training of the Peshmerga is a significant element of not only defeating ISIS but in building a post-Baghdad transition in Iraq. Here we are providing a series of updates on that training effort, being engaged in by the United States and several key…

Arrival in Afghanistan of First Four A-29s

01/21/2016
01/21/2015: The sun was shining and the mountains around Kabul were clearly visible, when the first A-29 Super Tucanos touched down at Hamid Karzai International Airport. The A-29 is a light-support aircraft capable of conducting close air support, aerial escort, armed overwatch and aerial interdiction. Four A-29 aircraft arrived to intense…

Helos At Sea: Unfolding the Wings of a Venom Aboard the USS Boxer

01/20/2016
01/20/2016: Marines, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 166, unfold the rotor blades of a UG-1Y helicopter on the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) is seen underway off the coast of southern California completing a certification exercise (CERTEX). CERTEX…

Harriers Train Aboard the USS Boxer

01/15/2016
01/15/2016: An AV-8B II Harrier, assigned to Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron (VMM) 166 (Reinforced), lands on and takes off from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) is seen underway off the coast of Southern California completing a certification exercise…