USNI News

The U.S. Navy’s first carrier aviation-based hypersonic missile is one step closer to achieving early operational capability following a recent flight test. An F/A-18E/F Super Hornet took off with a pair of the Castelion-made Mach 5+ missiles from Naval Air Station Patuxent, Maryland, the Navy announced Sept. 30. The test, which took place on Sept. 18, was meant to validate the missile’s capability to be carried aboard the fighter. Blackbeard, also known as the Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector, was procured by the sea service to rapidly integrate an extended-range hypersonic strike capability on its fighters. The acquisition comes amid the

Defense technology company Anduril will build a new facility in Maryland focused on submarine component construction for the U.S. Navy’s attack boats, according to a Tuesday announcement. While Anduril will start with components like torpedo tubes, the company wants to work toward building submarine modules and eventually entire sections of the hull, an industry official told reporters. “The very aspirational goal, kind of off in the future, is to be able to produce full ship sections, you know, bows, sterns, etc,” the official said during a Tuesday call. “Again, Anduril is not going to be producing entire submarines. That’s not

All service members in Okinawa will undergo an operational pause following the arrest of a Marine accused in the robbery and death of a woman in Naha, Japan. From noon Wednesday to noon Friday, all service members will undergo a period of training, according to a Tuesday memo from Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, Okinawa area coordinator and commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, posted on the III MEF Facebook page. Operations will cease during the 48-hour period with off-base liberty prohibited and alcohol banned on and off-base. During the pause, commanders and senior enlisted leaders are expected to lead

U.S. and Japanese forces will amass in Japan’s southwest region to rehearse island defense as part of the annual Keen Sword exercise later this month. Exercise Keen Sword, which runs from Oct. 19-29, will see integrated air and missile defense, surface warfare, amphibious landing, airborne operations, island deployment and reinforcement and live fire drills, according to documents released Friday by the Japan Ministry of Defense. The island defense exercise has been conducted on a mostly annual basis since 1985. “Through this exercise, the JSDF (Japan Self-Defense Force) and U.S. Forces will maintain and strengthen the posture and capabilities necessary to

U.S. forces with Joint Task Force Southern Spear struck a go-fast vessel on Sunday, the first such attack on an alleged drug boat in 15 days. Four people were killed in the strike, bringing the total number of people killed in the U.S. attacks to 238, according to USNI News data. The boat was allegedly operating along narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean, according to a U.S. Southern Command post on social media site X. The post does not include what drugs the boat was allegedly ferrying. While the Trump administration has touted the strikes as lowering fatal overdoses in the