Washington: While China is still decades away from fielding an aircraft carrier, putting a domestically-built carrier in the water will be a huge political victory for the rising superpower, experts say. Steaming a Chinese aircraft carrier into naval bases in Italy, or conducting exercises off the west coast of the U.S. would send a strong… Keep reading →

Washington: Sen. John McCain, son of an admiral and a legendary naval aviator in his own right, dispensed a little tough love today to the Navy on its management of its current and future fleet. The Arizona Republican blasted away at Navy’s less-than-stellar record in shipbuilding during today’s confirmation hearing for presumptive Chief of Naval… Keep reading →

Washington: The Navy, like the rest of the services and the Pentagon, is adamant that all options are on the table when it comes to trimming the service’s bottom line. But from aircraft carriers to overall force structure cuts, details on those options coming from the Navy have been sparse. And in recent weeks, it… Keep reading →

Washington: Anyone who has tracked the defense budget battles inside the beltway knows the rhetoric can get repetitive if you listen long enough. The services versus the Pentagon, the services versus each other or the department versus other government agencies — the details differ, but the sentiment basically the same. Each program, be it a… Keep reading →

Washington: The armed services are tired, broke and running near empty. And if Capitol Hill looks to the Pentagon to shoulder any more of the debt burden, those forces will break, according to the vice chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the Air Force. During today’s hearing of the House Armed Services Readiness… Keep reading →