The War Zone – A total of 22 Swiss F-5E/F Tiger IIs are currently being converted and upgraded to help expand Navy and Marine Corps’ adversary air fleets.

The War Zone – Two F/A-18E/F Super Hornets fired the quartet of AGM-158C missiles, a reflection of how these weapons would be employed in actual combat.

The War Zone – Adding dozens of small, long-range drones to Navy ships would drastically enhance strike, ISR, networking, and defensive capabilities.

War on the Rocks – “We have to build and sustain submarines in the next 15 to 17-plus years the same way we did in the ’80s with an industrial base that’s one-third the size.” On a recent trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana, the executive director of program executive office strategic submarines laid out the stark challenge facing the U.S. industrial base.

War on the Rocks – The United States is faced with mounting, but not insurmountable, challenges in the Indo-Pacific. If security throughout the region is to be maintained, then the United States should pay greater heed to the asymmetric capabilities of its armed forces. Integrated Undersea Surveillance Systems, autonomous vehicles, and mine warfare not only offer the best return on investment but would also align the security interests of the United States and Australia. This opens avenues for increased cooperation under AUKUS pillar two that would be foolish to pass up. Deterrence through denial will play to the strengths of America’s regional allies and mitigate the numerical advantage of Chinese forces.

USNI News – The Navy should “go back to the front end,” thinking about the people needed for building, crewing and maintaining vessels, not just potential threats, a senior naval analyst advised Thursday.

USNI News – The lead ship in a new class of guided-missile frigates for the U.S. Navy may be up to three years late. Constellation (FFG-62), under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, may not deliver to the fleet until 2029, three years later than the original 2026 delivery goal, according to a service shipbuilding review.

The War Zone – The global operational reach of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton fleet has expanded again with the arrival of one of the drones, which are optimized for long-duration overwater missions, at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy. From Sigonella, Tritons will be able to provide valuable additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage over and around parts of Europe, especially for keeping tabs on activity in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. At the same time, this all follows the Navy’s decision to significantly scale back its plans for the MQ-4C.

The War Zone – The Navy wants high-power microwave systems to help ships conserve other weapons, specially ones capable of downing ballistic missiles.