U.S. Naval Institute

The People’s Liberation Army Ground Force trained last week to use armed drones against unmanned surface vessels, according to state media. A Chinese military media post on Thursday highlighted the armed KVD002 unmanned combat aerial vehicles engaging fast moving drone boats with missiles. The footage depicted at least 13 of the drones attached to the PLA’s ground force unit. In recent years, UCAVs have been deployed by the U.S. and Ukraine to strike small craft, fast boats and drones in the Caribbean, Black Sea and the Middle East. Since the start of the U.S-Iran conflict on Feb. 28, American Reaper

The dual-hatted Naval Sea Systems Command and Portfolio Acquisition Executive Industrial Operations Vice Adm. Jim Downey retired last week, the Navy announced. Downey, who took charge of NAVSEA in early 2024, retired from both roles in a Thursday ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. “What we do and how we treat people matters,” Downey said in a statement. “This legacy strengthens the Navy and all of us who ready the ships that our warfighters take to sea.” Downey commissioned into the Navy in 1987 after graduating from the State University of New York. He’s a career surface

South Korean Shipbuilder Hanwha has made a $1 billion bid for the U.S. subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal, Austal disclosed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday morning Australian time. Austal also revised its previous guidance from an estimated $77.6 million (AUD 110 million) in profits to a loss of $79.73 million (AUD 113 million) based on an accounting event around the Mobile, Ala., yard’s contract setbacks with the Navy’s Navajo-class tow, salvage and rescue ships (T-ATS), the Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium (AFDM) and the Landing Craft Utility 1700 program, according to a statement the company posted to the Australian

The following is the Aug. 5, 2026, Congressional Research Service report, Taiwan: Background and U.S. Relations. From the Report Taiwan, which also calls itself the Republic of China (ROC) and was once known as Formosa, is a self-governing East Asian democracy located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. Taiwan’s popularly elected leaders govern 23.3 million people on the main island of Taiwan; the archipelagoes of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu; and other outlying islands. Taiwan is a semiconductor manufacturing powerhouse and, in 2025, was a top-five United States merchandise trading partner. Since 1979, when the United States broke diplomatic relations

Russian activity around the U.K. and in the North Atlantic has risen 25 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same time frame in 2025, according to the Royal Navy. The year-on-year data was included in a Saturday news release, with the Royal Navy attributing the increase to Russian Navy warships escorting sanctioned ships in the region. The data fell within Jan. 1-July 31, 2026, and was compared with Jan. 1-July 31, 2025. In the month of July alone, RN frigate HMS Somerset (F82) and offshore patrol vessels HMS Tyne (P281), HMS Severn (P282) and HMS

Destroyers USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) and USS Pinckney (DDG-91) returned this week to their homeports following more than eight-month-long deployments, the U.S. Navy announced. Thomas Hudner returned Sunday to Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The destroyer’s deployment took the crew to the U.S. 4th, 5th and 6th fleets – seeing it sail the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Red seas. The destroyer left on Dec. 1 for the U.S. 4th Fleet, USNI News previously reported. As of Feb. 23, five days before the U.S. and Israel launched an offensive against Iran, Thomas Hudner was in the Mediterranean. On April 6, Thomas Hudner was

The following is the Aug. 12, 2026, Congressional Research Service report, MQ-25 Stingray: Background and Issues for Congress. From the Report The U.S. Navy is developing a carrier-based uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) to perform aerial refueling and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The MQ-25 Stingray, if the system is fielded as planned, would be the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) first uncrewed tanker and the Navy’s first carrier-based uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone). (DOD is “using a secondary Department of War designation,” under Executive Order 14347 dated September 5, 2025.) Congress has expressed an interest in the Navy’s

The second Ford-class aircraft carrier — John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) — left Wednesday afternoon for acceptance trials after years of delays and Navy and congressionally mandated equipment changes to the ship.

Where can the sea take you? That’s what the Navy’s 2026 commercial, the latest in the Forged By The Sea campaign, asked young Americans. It was a challenge, the head of Navy Recruiting Command told USNI News. “The marketing theme is challenging them to say, ‘Are you good enough to join this elite world class organization?’” Rear Adm. James Waters said. The Forged By the Sea commercials are part of a modernization of Navy marketing meant to help the sea service meet its recruiting goals. And it appears to be working. The Navy met its Fiscal Year 2026 recruiting mission

NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN – Taiwanese forces mobilized mechanized units, engineering troops and mines across a river estuary crucial for the defense of the island’s capital city during the opening days of Han Kuang 42. Among the paths for a potential Chinese invasion of the island’s capital, the approach from the Tamsui River will be critical for both attacker and defender. Within a few dozen miles of the estuary is Taiwan’s largest airport, a deepwater port, several military facilities, a beach suitable for an invasion force with a straight shot via the river to downtown Taipei. For Chinese forces, the