U.S. Navy checks China, establishes new norm for Taiwan Strait

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale. / U.S. Navy photo

 

There is no more volatile and sensitive an issue for Beijing than the U.S. military presence in the Taiwan Strait which China considers its own dominance area.

Yet the U.S. Navy for the first time since 1969 has re-established its routine presence in the 100-mile wide strategic choke-point, much to China’s frustration. Continue reading

North Korea SURROUNDED: US warships, bombers, missiles and 80,000 soldiers READY

The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier leads a formation of ships (UIG Via Getty Images)

 

NORTH Korea is nearly totally surrounded by a wall of US warships, bombers and missiles with more than 80,000 soldiers on alert as Donald Trump heads for Asia.

The US President is jetting into the Pacific this week for a whistle-stop tour of the nations surrounding North Korea.

Trump will be popping in for one-on-one meetings with the leaders of China, South Korea and Japan – with Kim Jong-un’s nukes right at the top of the agenda. Continue reading

U.S. Navy Investigating If Destroyer Crash Was Caused by Cyberattack

 

The military is examining whether compromised computer systems were responsible for one of two U.S. Navy destroyer collisions with merchant vessels that occurred in recent months, Vice Admiral Jan Tighe, the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, said on Thursday.

Naval investigators are scrambling to determine the causes of the mishaps, including whether hackers infiltrated the computer systems of the USS John S. McCain ahead of the collision on Aug. 21, Tighe said during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.   Continue reading

Russian aircraft approach USS Ronald Reagan, prompting US fighter jet scramble

Another day, another Russian provocation. At least this time they were polite enough not to shut off the carrier like they did the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea — which you do not hear about in this article.

 

http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.375712.1446113673!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_804/image.jpg

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and South Korean navy ships steam in formation during an exercise Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, in international waters to the east of the Korean Peninsula. Two Russian aircraft flew within one nautical mile at a height of 500 feet, prompting the carrier to launch four fighter jets in response. The Russian aircraft left without further incident. Nathan Burke/U.S. Navy

 

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The USS Ronald Reagan scrambled its fighter jets earlier this week after two Russian naval reconnaissance aircraft flew within one nautical mile of the U.S. aircraft carrier as it sailed in international waters east of the Korean Peninsula, according to 7th Fleet officials.

In the latest in a series of incidents involving Russian aircraft, two Tupolev Tu-142 Bear aircraft flew as low as 500 feet Tuesday morning near the Reagan, which has been conducting scheduled maneuvers with South Korean navy ships. Four F/A-18 Super Hornets took off from the Reagan’s flight deck in response to the Russian advance, 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Lauren Cole said Thursday. Continue reading

Navy sailors suffer strange deformities after Fukushima exposure

KOMO 4 News transcript, Feb 11, 2015 (emphasis added): Men and women sworn to serve, now suffering from mysterious health problems… Local rescuers find themselves battling for the truth — and their own survival… They had no idea of what was happening in coastal Fukushima… 3 of 6 nuclear reactors suffered meltdowns, then several explosions… prevailing winds sent most of that radiation over the Pacific, where the 7th Fleet was positioned… the sailors say no one aboard ship took any extra radiation protection measures [for] “probably about a week”… [Aviation Structural Mechanic Ron] Wright remembers one time the scanners went crazy over his trousers. “It was just being like beep, beep, beep, beep… I lost my pants.”… The Navy continuously reassured them… Within a month of Operation Tomodachi… he started experiencing painful swelling in his groin.  He’s undergone 3 surgeries but expects to suffer pain the rest of his life.  Even more frightening — Wright’s diagnosis of varicocele can lead to male infertility. Continue reading