Reuters – As the United States embarks on clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz, it could draw on an arsenal of drones, explosive‑laden robots and helicopters to reduce risks, though de‑mining crews could still be vulnerable to Iranian attacks.

USNI News – The U.S. reserves the right to search any Iranian vessels, sanctioned vessels and ships suspected of carrying a list of contraband items, according to a Thursday notice to mariners from U.S. Central Command. Contraband items include weapons, ammunition, explosives and military equipment, the notice reads. Conditional contraband –meaning contraband for aiding Iran’s military operations – includes crude oil, nuclear material, metals and machinery. A full list is included in the blockade update. To that end, the U.S. will pursue ships outside of the U.S. Central Command area of response, Chief of the Joint Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters Thursday.

Naval News – An upgraded Coyote Counter-UAS (C-UAS) launcher has been installed on the Pearl Harbor-based USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), marking the first known dedicated shipboard launcher for Raytheon’s combat-proven C-UAS on a U.S. Navy ship.

USNI News – The crew of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) are now the record holders for the longest carrier deployment since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy prevented an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel from leaving Iran on Tuesday after it attempted to evade the maritime blockade that began Monday, U.S. Central Command announced.

The War Zone – The MQ-4C had been flying over the Persian Gulf on April 9 when it suddenly disappeared from online flight tracking sites.

The War Zone – The migration of U.S. Navy minesweeping assets west from the Pacific indicates preparations are underway for a major de-mining operation.

The War Zone – Maritime restrictions have been put in place by the U.S. along the entire Iranian coastline, not just the Strait of Hormuz.

USNI News – Two Navy guided-missile destroyers entered the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the first American warships to transit the strait since the U.S.-Israel offensive in Iran began on Feb. 28.

The War Zone – The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carl M. Levin has received an interesting new addition to its aft upper deck.

USNI News – One of the youngest Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines will be inactivated after waiting more than a decade for an overhaul, the Navy announced on Friday.

The War Zone – U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drone disappeared abruptly and unexpectedly from online flight tracking sites after declaring an in-flight emergency while flying over the Persian Gulf today. The uncrewed aircraft was also tracked rapidly losing altitude right beforehand, prompting widespread questions about its fate. This comes just two days after the United States and Iran agreed to a still very fragile ceasefire, which is heavily contingent on the reopening of the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz.

USNI News – The Pentagon plans to open a new depot in the Southern Philippines by 2028, setting the stage to expand Washington’s growing network of forward-based Western Pacific refueling hubs alongside upcoming sites in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy rehearsed wartime repairs and maintenance on an amphibious assault ship at a port located within the central interior of the Philippines last month in an exercise designed to validate the service’s expeditionary sustainment capabilities in the Western Pacific.

War on the Rocks – Sensing vulnerability, the United States and its regional allies and partners are ramping up procurement of air and missile defense assets, though progress is likely to be constrained by competing spending priorities and already overstretched defense industrial bases. These constraints underscore the need for complementary approaches that can deliver near-term gains without relying solely on expanded procurement. Networking missile sensors and interceptors across the United States and its Indo-Pacific allies and partners is one such approach. Coalition air and missile defense can generate operational efficiencies in sensing and interception that have the potential to shrink Chinese air and missile advantages. While compelling in theory, is it feasible in practice? Can the United States and its allies and partners navigate the challenging geography and politics of the Indo-Pacific to counter Chinese air and missile advantages through coordinated air and missile defense?

USNI News – USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) departed Split, Croatia, following a five-day port visit, the Navy announced Thursday. It is unclear where the aircraft carrier is headed. Ford has been out for 282 days and is set to have a record-breaking deployment.

CIMSEC – The Navy needs hedge strategies that keep the force relevant in high‑end conflict without breaking the bank in peacetime—ways to augment the general purpose force and cover the most dangerous scenarios, which specifically includes a potential war with China. Layered non-kinetic defenses—employed as a combined system—offer one such hedge. For surface forces, the Navy should update the PCMS program with a new tile‑and‑paint system and pair it with radar reflectors that distort imaging seekers. For air forces, it should field decoys and radar reflectors, as seen in Ukraine, to cast doubt on the precise location of U.S. air assets. Finally, the Navy and joint force should combine small, mobile jammers and dazzlers to saturate adversary ISR and degrade battle damage assessment, preserving operational surprise.

Breaking Defense – Adm. Daryl Caudle’s Fighting Instructions aims to guide the Navy’s future, but it does not make the tradeoffs or force-design decisions a true strategy requires.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy spent at least six months resurrecting a high-energy laser weapon that previously graced the bow of a warship for a new military exercise last year, the service recently revealed.

USNI News – The sun peeked over the horizon tinting the haze gray hull of carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) orange while sailors on Pier 14 busied themselves preparing for the carrier to shove off across the Atlantic.

CIMESC – America’s strategic map must change. The two-ocean Navy of the past secured victory in World War II and sustained deterrence preventing great power conflict throughout the Cold War. With the inability to field high-end, multipurpose warships globally, we need a four-ocean Navy that recognizes the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific as distinct theaters with unique requirements. This is a call for clarity: matching missions to oceans and tailoring warships with crews to oceans.

CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy faces a period in which its missile-firing capacity is declining as strategic threats are rising. Distributing long-range fires across existing additional classes of ships with the help of containerized launchers offers a solution to fill the VLS gap, provide reload flexibility, and expand the number of shooters at sea. While some vessels might not possess the same organic communications, radars, and command and control capabilities as destroyers and cruisers, Navy efforts to improve the fleet’s connectivity and battle network could eventually mean these missiles can be used with the help of other ships in the theater. In distributing lethality this way, the Navy could dig itself out of its VLS hole faster, and achieve the virtues of mass without the vulnerabilities of concentration.

CIMSEC – Archers need arrows. If Congress and the U.S. Navy do not act now to ensure submarines stay armed and ready for battle, munitions problems will only worsen – leaving the force, the fleet, and country more vulnerable.

War on the Rocks – The sinking of the IRIS Dena was a stark reminder that naval warfare follows its own logic. Engagements can occur far from home waters, unfold with little warning, and carry consequences well beyond the immediate tactical exchange. In this case, a single submarine strike intersected with global trade flows, alliance dynamics, contested information environments, and the legal realities of conflict at sea.

USNI News – The Navy cancelled the Modular Attack Surface Craft program launched last year and is creating a new acquisition strategy for unmanned vessels, a service official told reporters Thursday.