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[1/2] Visitors look at displays of military aircraft and a ground-to-ground missile at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing, China October 8, 2022. A Chinese military expert told Reuters the high-powered engine, shown for the first time, is key to China's development of medium- and heavyweight helicopters. It could be used as an aircraft carrier escort. Western analysts have noted that China has lagged behind in anti-submarine warfare, which are vital to protect long-range aircraft carrier operations. A media report quoted a Chinese military expert as saying the new frigate can serve as a "mini destroyer".

Persons: Florence Lo, Albee Zhang, Greg Torode, Ryan Woo, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Military Museum of, REUTERS, NEW, Reuters, China, WS, PREPPING, People's Liberation Army Navy, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Taiwan, Tianjin, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, U.S, South Korea, Japan, Guam, Fujian

More than 120 small boats arrived in Lampedusa in the span of roughly 24 hours, bringing the number of people at the local reception center to 7,000 people at one point. But consecutive arrivals on the small island in a short period of time made things difficult to manage, Di Giacomo said. Most of those boarding smugglers' boats for Europe are young men and unaccompanied minors, though women and children are seen but in smaller numbers. As soon as the weather improved, they launched more than 100 small iron boats from Tunisian beaches carrying between 30 to 40 people. Migrants pay smugglers between 1,500 and 5,000 Tunisian dinars (roughly $500-$1,600) for a spot on the dangerous boats.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Kais Saied, Flavio Di Giacomo, Di Giacomo, Daniel, “ It's, ”, Chris Borowski, Saied's, Giacomo, Ursula von der Leyen, It's, ” Abderrahim, Saied, doesn’t, “, ___ Frances D'Emilio Organizations: Union, Italy's Interior Ministry, International Organization for, WHO, IOM, Border, Coast Guard Agency, Global, Transnational, EU Locations: BARCELONA, Spain, Lampedusa, Tunisia, Italy, North Africa, Italian, Europe, Ukraine, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan, Sfax, Tunisian, African, Greece, Rome

☆ China has the capacity to build PLA combat ships at 200 times the rate that the US can, per leaked US Navy intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's shipbuilding capacity has dwarfed US capabilities, per leaked US Navy intelligence. A Navy spokesperson confirmed the leaked material's authenticity to Fox News Digital. China has the world's largest navy and could have a fleet of 440 ships by 2030, per the Pentagon. A leaked US Navy briefing slide with the information circulated online in July, per The War Zone, an online newsletter. AdvertisementAdvertisementA US Navy spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an article published on September 14 that the briefing slide is authentic.

Persons: Defense Mark Esper, Esper Organizations: Navy, Fox News Digital, Pentagon, Service, US Navy, USN Naval Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, US Naval Institute, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Defense, RAND Corporation, of Naval Intelligence Locations: China, Wall, Silicon

☆ Elon Musk's control of Starlink gives him unchecked power over elected governments
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Elon Musk's control over Starlink is in the spotlight after he thwarted a Ukrainian attack. "If the Ukrainian attacks had succeeded in sinking the Russian fleet, it would have been like a mini Pearl Harbor and led to a major escalation," Musk told Isaacson. (Musk later reassured a Russian ambassador that Ukraine would not be able to use Starlink for offensive operations, according to Isaacson). AdvertisementAdvertisementAs Ukrainian officials see it, sinking Russia's fleet, if that was indeed a possibility, would have prevented hundreds of missiles from raining down on the country's infrastructure, and spared civilian lives. Even if it wanted to change Musk's mind, it is not clear that it can actually compel him to do anything when it comes to Ukrainian attacks on territory controlled by Russia.

Persons: Elon, Musk, —, Walter Isaacson, Isaacson, Starlink, Biden, Pettyjohn, it's, Paul Hennessy, David Frum, George W, Bush, Nicholas Grossman, Grossman, Joe Biden, Josh Marshall, cdavis@insider.com Organizations: Service, SpaceX, Fleet, Russian, Pentagon, Ukraine, Center, New, New American Security, Defense Department, Falcon, Getty, University of Illinois, Daily, Washington, Twitter Locations: Wall, Silicon, Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine, Crimean, Russian, Sevastopol —, United States, New American, Washington, Ukrainian, Russia

☆ China Is Flooding the World With Cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Keith Bradsher | More About Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At a time when many of China’s exports are faltering and its consumers are spending less at home, the country is flooding the world with cars. Chinese automakers have leaped to dominance in Russia since war began in Ukraine, transporting cars by train. The companies have also captured large shares of markets in Southeast Asia, Australia, South America and Mexico. With lingering Trump-era tariffs holding back sales to the United States, China’s automakers are preparing a big push into Europe — once they have enough ships. Shipyards along the Yangtze River are building a fleet of car-carrying ships that act as giant floating parking lots, capable of carrying 5,000 or more cars at a time.

Persons: Europe — Organizations: Shipyards Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine, Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Mexico, United States, Europe

☆ A sunken World War 1-era wooden ship potentially the size of a football field was discovered in a Texas river by a man on a jet ski after severe drought revealed the wreckage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The wreckage turned out to belong to a large, wooden ship built during World War 1. The Texas Historical Commission said more than two dozen of these sunken ships are in Texas rivers. Milner sent photos of his find to the local Ice House Museum, which then contacted the Texas Historical Commission. AdvertisementAdvertisementTexas Historical Commission sonar data from 2019 showing the submerged hulls of two of the abandoned World War I vessels in the Neches River. The Texas Historical Commission said in a statement on Facebook that "the summer heatwave and low rainfall" revealed the hidden shipwreck.

Persons: Bill Milner, Milner, Sabine Rivers, Amy Borgens, Sabine, Borgens, Susan Kilcrease, Kilcrease Organizations: Texas Historical Commission, Service, Ice House Museum, The, The Texas Historical Commission, US Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, Facebook, Ice, US Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, Texas Standard, . Texas Historical Commission, US Drought Monitor Locations: Texas, Wall, Silicon, The Texas, Sabine, Beaumont , Texas, . Texas, Beaumont

☆ State-owned VTB bank to control Russia's biggest shipbuilding firm for five years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with CEO of VTB bank Andrei Kostin in Moscow, Russia, August 10, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERSSummaryCompanies VTB to control United Shipbuilding Corporation for five yearsVTB boss Kostin says the news is unexpectedPutin says there are problems at USCMOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the state-owned VTB (VTBR.MM) bank would be given control of the state's 100% stake in United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov specified that VTB would manage the stake in trust for five years. United Shipbuilding Corporation builds vessels for both the civilian and military sectors, operating about 40 shipyards, design offices and repair yards across Russia and employing 95,000 staff. Putin told VTB CEO Andrei Kostin at a televised Kremlin meeting that he supported a government proposal to transfer the stake.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Andrei Kostin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Kostin, Putin, Denis Manturov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, Manturov, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Sputnik, United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC MOSCOW, USC, Trade, Industry, Kremlin, USC JSC, VTB Bank, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin

"It is not going to be easy for them (Russia)," said one industry executive with knowledge of grains exports. Last year, Russia exported a record volume of wheat on ships chartered from international companies and traders. "Most of what is coming out is dealt with by Russian traders using (shadow) fleet ships, which international traders would not touch". The Black Sea remains a critical area for Russian exports, with other locations more complicated and costly. Russia's Black Sea terminals handle about 70% of the country's grain exports.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Eduard Zernin, Zernin, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, Viterra, Dreyfus, Bunge, Denmark's, Mike Salthouse, Rosagroleasing, Victoria Mitchell, Jonathan Saul, Nigel Hunt, Polina Devitt, Gus Trompiz, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: General's, REUTERS, Russia's, Grain, Reuters, International Grains Council, Russian, Control, Thomson Locations: Russian, Odesa, Ukraine, Russia Russia, Moscow, Africa, Novorossiysk, Russia's Union, Russia, Turkey, China, Denmark's NORDEN, Bulgaria, Romania, United States, Europe, Taman, Russia's, ., London, Paris

The company has also begun offering retired workers meals at the canteen so they can share knowledge of recently re-started lines producing Soviet-era ammunition for Ukraine, he added. Jiri Hynek, president and executive director of the Defence and Security Industry Association (DSIA) of the Czech Republic, told Reuters a lack of workers could push production out of central Europe. The association, which represents more than 160 companies, said exports accounted for around 90 percent of the industry's production of weapons and military-related supplies. Of that, Hynek estimated that supplies of military equipment to Ukraine accounted for 40% of exports. PITCHING PATRIOTISMOther sectors in Poland – emerging Europe's biggest economy – and the Czech Republic have struggled in recent years to find workers: a situation that has driven up labor costs and dampened growth.

Persons: David Hac, Hac, Jiri Hynek, Hynek, Lukas Visingr, Artur Zaborek, Zaborek, Michael Kahn, Anna Koper, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Europe's, STV, Reuters, European Union, Defence and Security Industry Association, WB Group, Central, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Thomson Locations: PRAGUE, WARSAW, Europe, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Policka, Prague, Czech, Central Europe, Stockholm, Poland's

☆ War with China would be an 'onslaught' like the US hasn't faced in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

War would also have severe consequences for China and US allies in the Western Pacific. Any war with China would be fought on multiple fronts — from the air and sea to the web and financial markets. The US maintained this capacity for decades, but America's manufacturing prowess has atrophied since the end of the Cold War. Control of the Pacific would be a crucial part of any war with China, and Beijing boasts the world's largest navy. Cash warsWhile a military conflict between the US and China is only a hypothetical, the two countries are already competing on the economic battlefield.

Persons: Joe Biden, Mark Milley, Dan Blumenthal, it's, Blumenthal, Ujian, didn't, Glenn O'Donnell, Forrester, stymie, Ann Wang, William Alan Reinsch, Reinsch, Russia —, Scott Kennedy, Kennedy, aren't, Ramping, Jake Epstein, Jacob Zinkula Organizations: US, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Armed, US Navy, American Enterprise Institute, US Department of Defense, US Marine Corps, Pentagon, Navigation Plan, Ford, Nimitz, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Beijing, Russia, Columbia University, Marine Locations: China, Western, Beijing, Pacific, Taiwan, South China, America, Nebraska, Pearl, Normandy, Mongolia, Ukraine, Russian, Nanchang, Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian, wean, Washington, United States, Japan, Philippines, Netherlands

☆ Nearly 40% of US attack submarines in or awaiting repair as shipyards face worker shortages, supply chain issues
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Nearly 40% of US fast attack submarines are in repair or awaiting maintenance as shipyards face a shortage of workers and and supply chain issues, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Of the 49 fast attack submarines in the Navy, a total of 18 are either in depot maintenance or awaiting maintenance, known as idle. “As planned, about one third of our fast attack submarines are currently in maintenance receiving critical repairs to sustain a mission ready force. The strain on the submarine fleet will be exacerbated by the agreement between the US, UK and Australia to provide Canberra with three to five fast attack submarines in the early 2030s. The Navy has three classes of fast attack submarines in service: older Los Angeles-class attack subs, Seawolf-class subs, and the newer Virginia-class subs.

Persons: ”, Jackie Pau Organizations: CNN, Congressional Research Service, Navy, Bloomberg, “, United Locations: United States, Australia, Canberra, China, Los Angeles, Virginia

☆ U.S.-India relations enter a new chapter and could unlock even more tech and defense deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesU.S.-India relations entered a new chapter as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden announced a slew of technology and defense deals. "We were strangers in defense cooperation at the turn of the century, but now the United States has become one of our most important defense partners." That includes more military agreements, according to Atul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, and former charge d'affaires at the United States Embassy in New Delhi said. And that is not contingent upon India supporting the United States down the line. "The U.S. understands that the human tech capital is a very important part of U.S. global leadership in innovation," said Singh, who previously served as India's ambassador to the United States.

Persons: Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Modi, Atul Keshap, CNBC's, Biden, Raymond Vickery, Pant, Arun Singh, Singh, ORF's Pant Organizations: Joe Biden India's, White, Bloomberg, Getty, U.S . Congress, CNBC, U.S ., India Business Council, United States Embassy, India's, Washington Post, The Washington Post, F414, . Navy, Washington, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Observer Research Foundation, Carnegie India Locations: Washington , DC, India, U.S, United States, New Delhi, Republic of India, Washington ,, China, Delhi

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden meet India?s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2023. In a rare gesture, Modi has agreed to take questions from reporters with Biden at the White House on Thursday. He has not conducted a news conference since becoming prime minister nine years ago. At the same time, Biden plans to raise human rights concerns with Modi amid worries about democratic backsliding in India. Biden is under pressure by his fellow Democrats to discuss human rights with Modi.

Persons: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Narendra Modi, Biden, Modi, Modi's, Elon Musk, Musk, Steve Holland, Nandita Bose, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: India's Press, REUTERS, Indian, Washington, Oval Office, White, Senior Biden, United, General Electric Co, U.S . Navy, U.S ., U.S, chipmaker Micron, Modi . Rights, Wednesday, Tesla, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, REUTERS WASHINGTON, U.S, Washington, India, China, United States, Australia, Gujarata, backsliding, New York

☆ U.S. and India set to announce flurry of deals spanning defense, chips and A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty ImagesThe U.S. and India are set to announce a slew of defense and technology collaborations on Thursday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit, U.S. officials said. India has overtaken China as the world's most populous country and is set to become the third-largest economy in the coming years. According to Reuters, Modi has not addressed a single press conference in India since he became prime minister in 2014, making this an extremely rare occasion. India and the U.S. are expected to announce a deal to jointly produce F414 jet engines in India, involving General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics. Thirdly, the so-called India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem will aim to integrate India's growing private sector defense industry with the U.S. defense sector.

Persons: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Narendra Modi, Mandel Ngan, Narendra Modi's, Modi, Elon, Ray Dalio, we've, Gary Dickerson, Dickerson, Brendan Mullarkey Organizations: India's, White, Afp, Getty, Tesla, Bridgewater Associates, Biden, Reuters, General Electric, Hindustan Aeronautics, U.S, U.S . Defense, Tech, NASA, Indian Space Research, Embassy Locations: Portico, Washington , DC, India, U.S, China, United States, Pakistan, Russia, France, Great Britain, Israel

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden meet India?s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2023. In a rare gesture, Modi has agreed to take questions from reporters with Biden at the White House on Thursday. Modi has not conducted a news conference since becoming prime minister nine years ago and his visit has drawn attention to concerns over human rights in India. Washington wants India to be a strategic counterweight to China and sees India as a critical partnership. Biden is under pressure from his fellow Democrats to discuss human rights with Modi.

Persons: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Narendra Modi, Biden, Modi, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio, Ilhan Omar, Rashida, Cortez, Elon Musk, Musk, Steve Holland, Nandita Bose, Shri Navaratnam, Heather Timmons, Sharon Singleton Organizations: India's Press, REUTERS, Indian, Washington, Oval Office, White, Senior Biden, United, General Electric Co, GE, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, U.S . Navy, U.S ., U.S, chipmaker Micron, Representatives, Rights, Wednesday, Tesla, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, REUTERS WASHINGTON, U.S, India, Washington, China, United States, Australia, Gujarat, The U.S, backsliding, Cortez, New York

☆ US nuclear-powered submarine that ran into an underwater mountain in the South China Sea is going to be stuck in repairs for years
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A US Navy nuclear-powered submarine ran into an underwater mountain in 2021. The Bloomberg report cited a Navy statement saying that submarine repair delays are caused by "planning, material availability, and shipyard execution." An HH-60H Sea Hawk helicopter from the Chargers of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 14 flies over the Seawolf-class attack submarine USS Connecticut. An April 2022 declassified Navy report found that the accident was the result of a number of failings, and was entirely preventable. The vessel actually struck a pier in San Diego a few months prior to the South China Sea accident.

Persons: —, Sen, Roger Wicker, Petty, John Hageman Organizations: US Navy, Bloomberg, Service, Navy, Office, USS, Republican, Senate Armed Services Committee, Chargers, Helicopter, Submarine Squadron, Washington's Naval Base Kitsap, Connecticut, South China, Pentagon Locations: USS Connecticut, Washington, Connecticut, South, China, San Diego, Taiwan, Beijing

☆ These may be the world’s best warships. And they’re not American
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

A challenger for China’s world-beating Type 055sThe Pentagon estimates China’s navy to have around 340 warships at present, while the US has fewer than 300. Take China’s Type 055, in many eyes the world’s premier destroyer. The three Sejongs, which cost about $925 million each, are the pride of the South Korean fleet. All these Japanese and South Korean vessels are designed to incorporate US technology, weapons, spy radars and the Aegis command and control system. But then if the US, Japanese and South Korean ships use similar technology and can operate together, why does the law prevent the US from building some of its ships in Japanese and South Korean shipyards?

Persons: South Korea CNN —, China’s, Lloyd Austin, Li Shangfu, ”, Blake Herzinger, Carl Schuster, –, Schuster, Herzinger, it’s, Arleigh Burke, ., Kim, Sejong, ” Kim, Alessio Patalano, Arleigh Burkes, ” Patalano, Japan’s, ” Schuster, It’s, Travis Callaghan, “, Nick Childs, There’s, Childs, ” Herzinger Organizations: South Korea CNN, United, US Navy, US, CNN, Beijing doesn’t, United States Studies Center, Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, South Korea’s Sejong, South Korean, South Korean Navy, country’s Defense Media Agency, South, Korea Association of Military Studies, King’s College, Arleigh, Aegis, Maritime Administration, US Coast Guard, Shipbuilding, USNI News, Navy Locations: Seoul, South Korea, China, South, Taiwan, Singapore, Austin, Washington, Beijing, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Xianyang, South Korea’s, London, Asia, Washington’s, United States, America

☆ The Russian navy's biggest warships are becoming its biggest headaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ongoing problems with the Russian navy's biggest warships illustrate that trend. This seems most evident with Russia's largest surface warships: its Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisers, Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy, and the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's sole aircraft carrier. Admiral Kuznetsov in a floating dry dock in a shipyard in Murmansk in August 2010. Other Russian navy sources quickly denied the report to another state media outlet. Izvestia has also reported that the Russian navy is reforming the Kuznetsov's crew, which was mostly disbanded when the ship began its refit.

☆ The US Navy has its eyes on a new submarine base that will help it keep track of China's growing undersea fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

As part of the AUKUS agreement, US and British subs will operate out of western Australia by 2027. The deal on the base comes as rivals, mainly China, increase their submarine activity in the region. Ray Mabus, then US navy secretary, departs a Chinese Yuan-class submarine in Ningbo in November 2012. The Defense Department report also says China's six operational Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile subs are likely already conducting "near-continuous at-sea deterrence patrols," a sign that China's submarine force continues to improve its operational capabilities. For the US Navy, those developments make the ability to base subs closer to the Western Pacific a greater priority.

☆ From sunglasses to milking machines, US halts more exports to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"You can't even ship contact lenses or sunglasses now," said Washington lawyer Kevin Wolf, a former Commerce official, as he reviewed the new rules. Wolf said "it would be simpler to describe the items that are not controlled for export to Russia." The targeted companies include aircraft repair and parts production plants, gunpowder, tractor and automobile factories, shipyards and engineering centers in Russia. The U.S. and a coalition of 37 other countries have imposed unprecedented export controls on Russia since its assault on Ukraine in February 2022. Last week, U.S. authorities arrested two Russian men living in Florida for allegedly sending U.S. airplane parts and components to Russian airlines in violation of export controls.

☆ Exxon says it spent more than $900 million locally in Guyana since 2015
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HOUSTON, May 16 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N) and its contractors spent more than $400 million locally in Guyana in 2022, and more than $900 million since the company's first oil discovery in the South American country in 2015, it said on a statement on Tuesday. The government has approved on Monday Exxon's 2023 local content plan, in which the company describes its strategies to promote local industry. Exxon and contractors had employed over 5,000 Guyanese workers by the end of 2022, the company said, representing more than 65% of the overall workforce in the local oil and gas industry. Among the 2,700 personnel supporting Exxon's operations in Guyana, over 1,300 were Guyanese, it said. Reporting by Sabrina ValleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ After a 35-year break, the US Navy is building frigates again, and it has a lot of catching up to do
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Fincantieri plans to lay the keel of that ship, USS Constellation, this August. It will be the US Navy's first frigate since the retirement of its last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in 2015. FrigatesUS Navy first-in-class frigate USS Oliver Hazard Perry in late 1977. Though not intended to operate alone against enemy capital ships, frigates are now primarily used to support destroyer squadrons and carrier battle groups by performing escort, anti-submarine, anti-air, and limited anti-surface missions. US Navy guided-missile frigate USS Curts in a dry dock at a shipyard in California in January 1982.

☆ The U.S. Navy’s Bud Light Moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tommy Tuberville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

With recruitment rates to the U.S. military falling, attention is turning to the rise of woke politics, which is undermining public confidence in America's military leaders. Images: Department of Defense/YouTube/Go Army Composite: Mark KellyThe Senate Armed Services Committee heard chilling testimony Tuesday from the Government Accountability Office: The Navy’s ship-maintenance backlog tops $1.8 billion; its aircraft are aging; American shipyards are in poor condition. Contrast that with China’s military surge. The Pentagon’s most recent China Military Power report shows that China’s army, navy and space assets are accelerating at a pace one American four-star admiral called “breathtaking.” China already has the largest navy in the world and it’s getting larger. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ’s office reports that China’s air force is “rapidly catching up to Western air forces.”

☆ Exclusive: Venezuela's oil tankers at risk of sinking, fires, spills, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Mircely Guanipa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The report by PDVSA's maritime branch, entitled "Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina's tanker fleet," said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with "low levels of reliability," at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding. The report, dated March 2023, was among eight documents shared with Reuters describing the state of PDVSA's tanker fleet from the oil company's corporate office, trading division and maritime branch, as well as Venezuela's maritime authority. Five of PDVSA's tankers are at least 30 years old, past their recommended lifespan, according to the PDV Marina report. "The tanker fleet is showing a decline in the quality of its operations due to advanced physical deterioration, which implies higher maintenance and repair costs. Planning for sending the tankers to dry docks has been very affected by lack of payment to shipyards and providers," the PDV Marina report said.

☆ For only the second time in its history, the US Navy is beginning the slow, tricky process of taking apart a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In April, the Navy published a notice announcing the beginning of planning to scrap the USS Nimitz. But Nimitz will be only the second nuclear-powered carrier to go through deactivation and defueling. The Nimitz would only be the second American nuclear-powered carrier scheduled to be scrapped. The first is the USS Enterprise, which was commissioned in 1961 and was also the world's first nuclear-powered carrier. The private shipyard will probably be in Alabama, Texas, or Virginia, according to a draft environmental impact statement posted on a special Navy carrier disposal website.

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