Armed Forces Journal – The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was born of controversy and is likely to remain one of the most hotly debated ships in the Navy inventory.
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New York Times – The United States and Britain will begin moving additional warships and strike aircraft into the Persian Gulf region in a display of military resolve toward Iran that will come as the United Nations continues to debate possible sanctions against the country, Pentagon and military officials said Wednesday.
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Associated Press – The Pentagon is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf.

The Guardian – US considers naval build-up as warning to Iran.
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Virginian Pilot – A spy is born???
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San Diego Union Tribune – The USNS Mercy’s hugely popular humanitarian missions to Asia in the past two years may have saved the San Diego-based hospital ship and its East Coast sister vessel, the Comfort, from a trip to the scrap yard.
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Defense and the National Interest – William Lind comments on the recently reported Chinese submarine tracking of US aircraft carriers.
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Associated Press – The U.S. Navy will deploy its guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell at Japan’s Yokosuka naval base, taking over from frigate USS Gary as the navy moves to replace some of its aging fleet. The deployment of McCampbell is to increase missile defense capabilities around Japan. The U.S. Navy will have nine Aegis-equipped vessels at Yokosuka.
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Virginian Pilot – Spurred by a surge in international goodwill after one of their hospital ships completed a five-month humanitarian cruise to Southeast Asia last summer, the Navy’s top leaders are considering regular deployments of the floating medical centers.
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Virginian Pilot – Ending an unusual deployment to four fleets and two wars, the aircraft carrier Enterprise will return Saturday after six and a half months at sea.
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Virginian Pilot – The Atlantic Fleet has been disestablished for want of another name: the U.S. Fleet Forces Command. The command has new responsibilities for more than just the Atlantic Fleet. It is responsible for the training, maintenance and operation of ships, planes and people on the East Coast and West Coast, where the Pacific Fleet will retain its name.
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Associated Press – Ships from the United States and five other countries will interdict a British vessel in the Persian Gulf on Monday in a mock interception of dangerous weapons technology, an exercise the U.S. expects nearby Iran to notice.
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Sea Power – The Navy and Marine Corps have established a new operations concept that ìdescribes how the Navy-Marine Corps team will contribute to the defense of our nation.î The 36-page document calls for ìmore widely distributed forcesî and ìincreased forward presenceî as the guiding principles of how the services will operate in an ever-changing national security environment.
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Virginian Pilot – By year’s end, the US Navy will have at least six ships able to track down and destroy ballistic missiles in space. The effort comes amid increasing worry over North Korea and Iran.
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Virginian Pilot – Once considered a short-term program, the Navy and defense experts acknowledge individual augmentees are now a permanent part of today’s ground force.
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Stratfor – In the next five years, the familiar drone of U.S. P-3C Orions will fade over the North Atlantic. Though the United States has not forgotten about the Russian navy, the move is symbolic of an evolving U.S. defense doctrine and the future of global surveillance and global reach for the U.S. military.

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Virginian Pilot – The Navy wants to identify specific areas along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico where it would conduct large-scale sonar exercises and address the potential environmental effects.
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Virginian Pilot – The aircraft carrier Eisenhower is going to sea again after being sidelined for nearly six years for a major overhaul and a nuclear refueling.
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New York Times – The United States Navy reached a modest but noteworthy milestone last week when it conducted an exercise with a Chinese ship off the coast of southern California
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Virginian Pilot – Sailors from Little Creek are scheduled to deploy to Iraq in March to patrol a 60-mile stretch of the Euphrates River around Baghdad.
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Virginian Pilot – For two straight days, planes from the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Enterprise attacked ground targets in Afghanistan in support of NATO-led troops.
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Naval War College Review – Today, in attempting to transform itself to meet twenty-first-century requirements, the Navy is emphasizing not only increased readiness but also the ability to deploy naval forces quickly in response to crises and conflicts around the world, notwithstanding homeland defense needs. One element of that transformation is likely to be the joint “sea base.” If so, a series of questions will need to be answered from a medical perspective.
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San Diego Union Tribune – Navy budget cutters are about to achieve what flood and fire could not: sink the research submarine Dolphin.
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Japan Times – The Aegis-equipped cruiser USS Shiloh, which can intercept ballistic missiles, arrived Tuesday to take up new duties at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka.
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Virginian Pilot – Aboard the US Navy’s newest attack submarine, USS Texas.
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Virginian Pilot – Reserve submariners will join other Navy reservists being trained for land-based support missions ñ with an eye toward aiding the military effort in Iraq. Reservists had asked how they could contribute.
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