Latest news with #WarshipCam
Newsweek
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
US Stealth Jet Carrier Patrols Waters Near China
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An American amphibious warship—capable of carrying stealth fighter aircraft—has been patrolling the East China Sea, where Japan, a United States ally, has territorial disputes with China. Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Ministry of Defense for comment via email. Why It Matters The East China Sea lies to the west of the First Island Chain—formed by Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. This defensive line, conceived as part of a U.S. containment strategy, aims to restrict China's access to the wider Pacific Ocean by using U.S.-aligned territories. Japan has accused China of constructing a structure in the East China Sea for potential fossil fuel production, violating an unimplemented agreement. Meanwhile, China has claimed Japan's Senkaku Islands in the region—also known as the Diaoyu Islands—as its territory. What To Know According to photos released by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious assault ship USS America—homeported in Sasebo, Japan—conducted flight operations with a group of F-35B stealth fighter jets while underway at an undisclosed location in the East China Sea on Tuesday. An amphibious warship is a vessel designed to transport and deploy troops, vehicles, and equipment from the sea to land during amphibious operations. Two United States Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets prepare to land on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS America in the East China Sea on May 20, 2025. Two United States Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets prepare to land on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS America in the East China Sea on May 20, 2025. Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Sam McNeely/U.S. Navy The America, with a full displacement of about 45,000 tons, was spotted departing Sasebo the previous day. It arrived in the Philippine Sea—located to the east of the First Island Chain—on Wednesday and continued to support flight operations of U.S. Marine Corps fighter jets. It was not immediately clear whether this will be the America's final deployment in the Western Pacific Ocean prior to its planned homeport shift to San Diego in California. The warship is scheduled to be replaced by its sister ship, the San Diego-based USS Tripoli. Meanwhile, the Tripoli left its home port on Monday and arrived at Seal Beach—located north of San Diego—the following day. The U.S. Navy has yet to announce the official departure dates for either of the two amphibious warships from their respective home ports. USS Tripoli (LHA 7) America-class amphibious assault ship coming into Seal Beach, California - May 20, 2025 SRC: TW-@BulletOneOneTwo — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) May 20, 2025 The rotation of U.S. amphibious warships comes amid an expansion of China's amphibious fleet in support of potential island-landing operations in contested waters such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. A flotilla of five Chinese naval vessels—including a Type 075 amphibious assault ship—was observed by the Japan Self-Defense Forces last week transiting the Miyako Strait in Japan's southwestern waters, moving from the East China Sea into the Philippine Sea. What People Are Saying The public affairs office of the U.S. amphibious assault ship USS America said: "America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the U.S. [Seventh] Fleet area of operations. U.S. [Seventh] Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region." The U.S. Pacific Fleet previously said: "The forward presence of [USS] Tripoli supports the United States' commitment to the defense of Japan, enhances the national security of the United States and improves its ability to protect strategic interests. Tripoli will directly support the Defense Strategic Guidance to posture the most capable units forward in the Indo-Pacific Region." What Happens Next It remains uncertain whether the America will enter the South China Sea, where China's sweeping sovereignty claims overlap with those of several neighboring countries.
Newsweek
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
US Ally To Test Futuristic Weapon for Hypersonic Missile Defense
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Japan plans to test its rail gun, which uses electricity to fire projectiles, aiming to enhance its defense against Chinese and North Korean hypersonic missiles, according to local media. Newsweek has emailed the Japanese and Chinese defense ministries for comment. North Korea's embassy in China did not immediately respond to a written request for comment. Why It Matters Japan, a treaty ally of the United States, faces threats from North Korea and China. Both nations have claimed to have tested and deployed hypersonic missiles, which can travel at over five times the speed of sound, making them capable of evading most defense systems. A rail gun is equipped with two rails that are used to fire projectiles. It uses an electric pulse to generate an electromagnetic force that accelerates the projectile to up to six times the speed of sound. The projectile, a kinetic energy warhead, hits its target with extreme speed. A rail gun prototype stands mounted aboard the experimental ship JS "Asuka" on April 9, 2025. A rail gun prototype stands mounted aboard the experimental ship JS "Asuka" on April 9, 2025. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force What To Know A Japanese experimental ship will conduct a test of a rail-gun prototype in the waters off Japan's coast "in the near future," The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday. The event will mark the first sea test of a near full-scale prototype. It aims to determine whether the weapon can accurately hit its target. The prototype is the same size as those intended for actual deployment—approximately 19.6 feet long and weighing 8 tons. Japan publicly unveiled the rail gun prototype last month, showing it mounted aboard the experimental ship JS Asuka. The Japanese navy says that the weapon's development is intended to strengthen the defense capabilities to protect Japan's citizens and territorial waters. It was not immediately clear whether the test will be conducted by the Asuka. The ship was seen departing Yokosuka, a major naval port near Tokyo, Japan's capital city, on May 7, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter. Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force experimental ship JS Asuka (ASE-6102) leaving Yokosuka, Japan - May 7, 2025 SRC: TW-@Gov_Vessel_fan — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) May 7, 2025 The Japanese Defense Ministry is planning to install rail guns on warships equipped with the Aegis combat system, which provides "simultaneous integrated air and missile defense," as a potential countermeasure against ultrafast hypersonic weapons, The Yomiuri Shimbun said. In 2023, Japan conducted a rail gun firing test at sea, claiming it could protect ships with "high-speed bullets." However, according to the specialist outlet The War Zone, the rail gun was mounted on a test platform rather than the "full naval turret" installed on the Asuka. #ATLA has accomplished ship-board firing test of railgun first time in the world with the cooperation of the JMSDF. To protect vessels against air-threats and surface-threats by high-speed bullets, ATLA strongly promotes early deployment of railgun technology. — Acquisition Technology & Logistics Agency (@atla_kouhou_en) October 17, 2023 What People Are Saying The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force said: "The Self Defense Fleet maintains readiness and contributes to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, not only for the defense of Japan but also for the realization of a 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' in cooperation with allied and like-minded navies." The specialist outlet The War Zone wrote: "Railguns, which use electromagnets rather than chemical propellants to fire their projectiles at very high velocities, do present significant technological challenges. Most immediately, weapons of this type, historically, have had immense power demands, especially if the goal is to allow for any kind of even relatively rapid-fire capability." What Happens Next The War Zone said there are still what it called "significant questions" about when, and if, a practical rail gun may be put into Japanese service for use on warships or any other platform.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Warships Caked In Rust Prompting Late Night Trump Texts To Navy Secretary Nominee
President Donald Trump, through his pick to be the next secretary of the navy, has thrust long-running criticisms of what is commonly called 'running rust' on American warships back into the mainstream limelight. Navy Secretary nominee John Phelan told senators yesterday that he gets late-night text messages from Trump complaining about the issue. Unaddressed rust and corrosion on Navy ships has downstream effects on maintenance and readiness, as well as less quantifiable impacts from how the service presents itself publicly at home and abroad. Phelan, a long-time businessman and prominent Trump donor with no prior military experience, testified at a confirmation hearing yesterday before the Senate Armed Services Committee about how he would run the Department of the Navy. If confirmed as secretary of the navy, Phelan would also be the top civilian official in charge of the U.S. Marine Corps. 'I jokingly say President Trump has texted me numerous times very late at night, sometimes after one [o'clock] in the morning' about 'rusty ships or ships in a yard, asking me what am I doing about it,' Phelan said in response to a question from Angus King, an independent senator from Maine. 'I'm not confirmed yet and have not been able to do anything about it, but I will be very focused on it.' Full clip: — John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) February 27, 2025 'Please don't give that to President Trump because I'll get a text at like one in the morning,' Phelan also said after Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, showed a picture of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Dewey coming into port in Singapore last week. The picture in question, seen again in the social media post below, was taken by a local ship spotter and has been circulating online since at least Feb. 18. Dewey's outward appearance, which appears to be significantly worse looking on the port side than the starboard one, had already drawn new criticism around the 'running rust' issue from commentators on social media. USS Dewey (DDG 105) Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer coming into Singapore – February 18, 2025 #ussdewey #ddg105SRC: INST- yplanesonly — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) February 18, 2025 USS Dewey (DDG 105) Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer leaving Singapore – February 19, 2025 #ussdewey #ddg105SRC: INST- thesummonuncle — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) February 19, 2025 Correct. The other side is much worse. Check out the shot I posted today of her leaving Singapore. — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) February 19, 2025 Which ship looks more rusty?The US Navy warship or the ship that has been laid up since 1969? — Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) (@mercoglianos) February 20, 2025 As already noted, the rusty appearance of Dewey and other Navy warships reflects real wear and tear that requires maintenance attention. Rust and corrosion, which are exacerbated by persistent exposure to salt water, can cause serious structural integrity and other problems, something the Navy does not deny. 'The harsh environment in which we operate degrades our ships, and our Sailors work hard to address corrosion along with all the maintenance and crew training required to sustain our Navy's warfighting readiness,' a Navy spokesperson told TWZ back in 2021 in response to questions about 'running rust' on the highly advanced stealth destroyer USS Zumwalt. USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer coming into San Diego – December 9, 2021 #usszumwalt #ddg1000* photos courtesy of @cjr1321 — WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) December 10, 2021 Depending on the severity of the rust and corrosion, the remediation work required can be significant. This, in turn, can translate to more lengthy and costly maintenance periods and decreases in overall readiness. Keeping the ship in tip top shape! BM3 Curtis aboard USS Beloit (LCS 29) is putting in the hard work in grinding away rust to ensure its structural integrity and prepare for the upcoming AVCERT (Aviation Certification) inspection.#Readiness# — SURFLANT (@surflant) January 9, 2025 This is also not a new issue for the Navy and previously came to particular public attention during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw American warships make fewer port visits to help shield crews from the virus. As a result, those ships had fewer opportunities to more seriously address rust and corrosion. This had also put new emphasis on longer-standing debates about Navy safety regulations, which impose limits on the kinds of maintenance work that crews can do, especially at sea, as well as past switches to less toxic paints and coatings that critics say wear more readily. 'NAVSEA [Naval Sea Systems Command] has worked successfully for decades to improve the corrosion-control performance of coatings while simultaneously reducing the adverse impact of coatings on the environment. In the 1990s, Navy tank coatings had a performance life of five to seven years, but emitted paint solvents when applied,' a spokesperson for the command told Naval News in 2023 in response to questions about how new paints and coatings, specifically, had factored into the 'running rust' issue. 'NAVSEA worked with domestic and foreign commercial coating manufacturers to develop ultrahigh solids epoxy tank coatings that do not contain any paint solvent. Since these coatings were first applied in the early 2000s, many coated tanks have remained corrosion-free for 15 to 20 years. These coatings are required on all Navy ships and have contributed to extending the drydocking periodicities.' All of this rolls into the Navy's larger and very serious struggles with maintaining its ships and submarines, which have been well documented over the years, and is something TWZ has covered extensively. 'Our prior work found that the condition of the naval shipyards is poor, and their capital equipment is generally past its useful life. Their dry docks are unable to support newer ship classes, such as the Ford class aircraft carrier and some Virginia class attack submarines, and are vulnerable to flooding and seismic risks,' the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a Congressional watchdog, said in a new report released just yesterday. 'In addition, the shipyards' inefficient layouts contribute to thousands of days of maintenance delay for aircraft carriers and submarines. Absent improvements, the shipyards will be unable to support about a third of the Navy's planned maintenance availabilities for aircraft carriers and submarines through 2040.' Shipyard capacity for maintenance, or a lack thereof, also reflects broader concerns about the ability of the U.S. shipbuilding industry to meet the Navy's current and future needs. The Navy itself has previously briefed members of Congress on the extremely worrisome disparity in shipyard capacity between the United States and China, the latter being America's current chief global competitor. The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) has previously assessed that Chinese shipbuilders are 200 percent more capable of producing warships and submarines than their counterparts in the United States. The Navy has been trying for years now to help facilitate an expansion of the U.S. industrial base. The service has also been looking to see where foreign firms in allied and partner nations may be able to help provide additional capacity. All of this has been further compounded in recent years by often extended deployments for ships and submarines across the Navy's currently shrinking overall force structure, as well as recruiting and other manpower challenges. Last year, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a broad-sweeping proposal to try to address many of these issues dubbed the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act, which you can read more about here. At the time of writing, the SHIPS for America Act has progressed little through the legislative process. At yesterday's hearing, Phelan was also grilled on these larger issues. He said he would bring a new 'sense of urgency' to shipbuilding and shipyard related matters if confirmed. The matter of 'running rust' on ships, specifically, has other important, if more subjective impacts. As highlighted by the USS Dewey recent stopover in Singapore, U.S. warships in foreign ports are very public symbols of American military prowess and general global influence. As such, them being well kept, especially externally, carries additional significance. There may also be negative impacts to general morale. 'It's terrible. I think they should be ashamed,' Phelan said at the hearing yesterday when shown the picture of the Dewey. 'Would you want to go on that ship?' Trump already has his own history of opining on the general aesthetics of Navy warships. 'The ships that they were building, they looked terrible,' Trump said during a speech at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin at the tail end of his first term in 2020. 'I said, 'That's a terrible-looking ship. Let's make it beautiful. It'll cost you the same, and maybe less.'' 'I said, 'This is not a good-looking ship. Let's change the design of it.' And I got people in, and we looked at different designs,' Trump continued. 'And as long as we're going to do it — and look at what you're doing, how beautiful it is. They gave me a beautiful model that's absolutely — it's like a yacht with missiles on it.' Trump was talking at that time about what is now known as the Constellation class frigate, which is derived from the Fregata Europea Multi-Missione (FREMM), or European Multi-Mission Frigate, developed jointly by France and Italy. The Navy has been roundly criticized since then for extensive changes to the Constellation design, which now shares relatively little with its Franco-Italian parent, leading to significant cost growth, delays, and technical issues, as you can read more about here. Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who served during Trump's first term, also wrote in his 2022 book A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times that the president was highly critical of the look of U.S. warships, especially the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. Esper said that Trump described unspecified Russian and Italian designs as looking 'nicer, sleeker, like a real ship,' as well. What new steps Phelan might take to address rust and corrosion on American warships, as well as the other shipyard-related issues facing the Navy, if confirmed as service's next top civilian, remain to be seen. He is already facing pressure from Trump to do more. Contact the author: joe@
